When Homer the Superbus was my daily driver I constantly had electrical issues . . . batteries constantly going bad, generators and starters burning up, bulbs blowing and the occasional "mystery smoke" that would come out of the dash at random times for unknown reasons.  The Godfather preached to me "BOSCH, BOSCH, BOSCH" but I kept putting the cheap $19 voltage regulator from Auto Zone on it.  Over about 3 years, I bet I replaced a half dozen of them.  Finally one day I broke down and listened to him and spent $32 on a Bosch solid state regulator.  Instantly, all of Homer's electrical issues vanished, including the mystery smoke from the dash . . . never saw it again. 

Why am I bringing this up?  'Cause I just got an email from CIP1.com about their current sale and they have a Bosch Solid State Regulator for $23.99 and they have free shipping on order over $99.  If you own an air-cooled VW with a 12 volt generator and you have anything other than a Bosch solid state regulator, fork over the money and get you one now!   

http://www2.cip1.com/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=BOS-30019&Click=159756&utm_campaign=2015_03_March_Mad_Sale_4&utm_medium=email&utm_source=newsletter

And Nick, before you ask . . . I have no clue how many days since Homer last ran, but I'll drive him to Bug-A-Paluza.   

This time he was parked because I had to drop the insurance on something . . . I can no longer afford to insure cars that sit in the yard for years at a time.  But, I ran him out of gas when I parked it this time.