Bob Hoover's TULZ (tools) series - TONS of Great Advice!

[Zen]

I've posted these before, but I can't find the thread now.  Anyway, while I was looking them up I figured I'd post them again for anyone that hasn't read them.  If you own an air-cooled VW, this should be required reading . . . and you should read Part Six TODAY!

TULZ - Part One: "Holy Trinity of Maintenance – Shop, Skills &
Tools"

TULZ - Part Two: "You can't maintain your vehicle without the manual"

TULZ - Part Three: "What do you want to do with your Volkswagen?"

TULZ - Part Four: "Soldering and On-board Spares"

TULZ - Part Five: "Gimme a Brake"

TULZ - Part Six:  "FIRE!"

TULZ - Part Seven: "Dead Whales on the Moon (lubrication)"

TULZ - Part Eight: "Getting Your Shift Together"

TULZ - Part Nine: "Keeping Your Balance & Going Straight"

TULZ - Part Ten: "Front End Maintenane & Alignment"

TULZ - Part Eleven: "Click . . . "

TULZ - Part Twelve: "Carbs"



Edited By Zen on 1072656039

[Zen]

Bump . . .

Just bringing this back up for anyone who hasn't had the opportunity to read it yet.   :cool:

[vwherb]

You specifically mentioned part six Zen..........this deals with fires............are you giving us a subliminal (sp?) message here? Have you had an unfortunate incident since I talked to you last?

We are awaiting your reply

                                                                  :cool:

[Zen]

No "new" fires . . . just a few flashbacks.   :O

[journey]

This was REALLY good info...very helpful.  I can't believe I just now read this.  

[Ret.Bugtech]

It is good reading and Hoover has a lot of very good tips.
    The only thing I take Issue with is, if you did everything he says , It would take you 3 weeks to put a piece of fuel line on. But maybe thats what it takes for some people who are very new to the house of VW.
     I think I read somewhere that Hoover was/is a areonautical engineer which explanes a lot of things. You just don't pull your 747 over to the side of a cloud and jump out to see why a wing fell off :shock:  :?  :oops:
     'puts a whole new meaning in the word " perfection " from the onset :lol:  

[Javabirds]

Thanks for the links to that series...  I had to duck a few blows from his tire iron though.  Man, that guy is hard-core!  The kind of uncle that I wish I didn't wish I had.  No kidding though, he lays down the gauntlet.  For me, I am still trying to decide if I am going to "take the plunge" (and if so, when and where) so I am grateful for that kind of straight talk so that I don't jump in unaware.  I am of two minds... Part of me wants that cushy, mindless, convienience of a vehicle afforded by today's autos.  I am selling a Rover that I have loved and learned from its needyness.  And the temptation is there: "Clunker" it!  Put your money in a 2010...  But these articles have also stoked another side of me: the side that wants to take it all apart, learn how it works, and make it run well.  If I fail, so what if I go out in a 25 foot wall of flames!  At least I will have learned some cool new names for carb-science!  I will have spent more and worked twice as hard to drive half as far (reminds me of my Rover) than if I had bought a slick new ride...  I just wish I didn't feel so squeemish.  To dub or not to dub, that be the question!

[Zen]

OK, you took the time to do a little reading BEFORE you made the plunge . . . that puts you ahead of about 75% of the folks that own an old VW!  When that "cushy" 2010 is obsolete in 2020 because they've discontiued the $750 crankshaft positioning sensor (which you found out was bad after a $200 service call . . . once you found a shop with the "antique" computer system to hook it to for diagnostics), there will still be parts avalible for air-cooled VWs.  There are probably more parts avalible for old VW's today than there was 20 years ago.  Just as an example, I got an email from CIP1.com yesterday saying they had complete cargo doors for 1952-1961 buses back in stock.  And even when the parts for these old "clunker's" are no longer avalible, most of them can be repaired, rebuilt, or fabricated from scratch by your local welder or machine shop if necessary.  I've got what was once a "cushy" VW (a '96 Passat) . . . It has less than 100,000 miles on it . . . I've spent more money and more time wrenching on it in the last year than I have on my 73 bus in the last 5 years!

[Javabirds]

Classic VW's seem to at least hold value.  The Range Rover I bought used for 8,000 almost ten years ago had an initial sticker price of 45,000.  Now she blue book/TMVs at about 1,500.  Now, I never bought a car to make money off it- but most cars you couldn't give away after ten years!

[Bignick]

From his wife on his blog: (http://bobhooversblog.blogspot.com/)

Sunday, August 15, 2010
It is my sad duty to tell all of you who read Bob's blog that Bob passed away this past Friday, August 13. How much he will be missed is incalcuable. Thank you all for all the support you have given him. I'm his wife. He was a great man.

He apparently fought cancer for the past little bit.

[certdubtech]

I read about this elsewhere, earlier tonight.... another VW guru gone.   

[Zen]

 :'(  I never met the man, but I have to admit that a large portion of my small amount of VW knowledge came from reading his post on the old RAMVA newsgroup.  He will be missed.

At one time there was a collection of his writings assembled onto a CD sold under the title of "The Sermons of Bob Hoover."  I'd sure like to get my hands on one.  I loved his style of writing . . . very few people can put mechanical material into words and make it easy to understand AND entertaining at the same time.  Maybe it's something that comes with spending way too much time wrenching on a bug . . . Ret.Bugtech has a pretty good nack for that too. 

[Interstellar Overdrive]

Sad to hear that he is gone. As young of a VW guy as I am, I have heard of him enough to where I knew who he was. Very good reads, by the way.

[Zen]

I haven't really read much of the stuff he had written on his blog spot, but his post for Jan. 7th of this year was about writing.

Thursday, January 7, 2010
On Writing
I've been writing since I was about fourteen. I'm not too sure why other than things seemed to have more permanence if I wrote them down. Each day the sun will rise and set but the day is not mine unless I make note of its passing.

You can read the entire article here:  http://bobhooversblog.blogspot.com/search?updated-max=2010-01-12T14%3A42%3A00-08%3A00&max-results=7