Sooo.... I'm thinking about trading my Buick Century to a friend who has a 74 Transporter, the thing is - the Buick runs, but the Transporter doesn't. I have seen it personally, and he's not mechanically inclined, but has taken pretty decent care of it mechanically through the local shop (it has looks only a mother could love though). I jumpered its' battery to the Buick and attempted to start it to see what it would do, and naturally it did nothing but turn over. Now the factors here are:

1. He says it ran one day and then cut out on him the next, doesn't know what happened. Sounds like an aircooled, huh?  
2. It turns over at normal speed, no warning lights.
3. I smell gas in the carbs, there's gas in the filter.

It turns over, but doesn't make any attempt to hit. I was rather unprepared, so I didn't pull the plug and check for spark, but my thoughts are maybe bad points, old coil, old plugs, old plug wires, and old gas (though that shouldn't have mattered when it quit in him). I just wanted to see if anyone with more experience than myself had any thoughts to throw in about what it could be. I'm hoping this will be something I can drag to my friends' shop, fix it, and drive away after an electrical system refresh.

It's all bone stock, FYI.

My thoughts exactly, but my Buick goes from running to non-running just as much as any VW Bus I've ever known. What would really help me decide though is maybe to know what the expensive problems could be, and how I could determine whether or not it will be expensive and/or a pain in my ass more than your average VW. Perhaps you could list a couple of ideas?

I have the following tools to use troubleshooting:

Compression checker
Voltage tester
Eyes
Hands
Ears

I don't know how to check valve clearances... :'(

Hence my thread I posted about wanting to apprentice under an experienced mechanic. Did you read it?

Guess I'm on the right track then, already bought the book online, just don't have it yet.

Would those guys still be around and up for a new apprentice maybe?

Also, just for myself, how much money do you make? I'm trying to decide on what I should do with my life, and want to do something I enjoy, but not at the expense on having a wallet full of moths. 

Well, even if I don't make a living out of it, I want to know enough to work on my own projects by myself. It frustrates me to no end when I'm looking at a Bus and know if I buy it I don't have the know how to fix it and/or diagnose it correctly. If it says anything on my ability to soak things in and retain them, I started messing with computers at 11 or 12 with no knowledge or anyone to teach me, and now I'm the same way as you but with computer projects. The only problem though, is that a motor is so much more complicated... and if you mess it up, it's so much more expensive. Even if it wasn't apprenticing at a shop, even if it was at someone's house in their garage helping them work on their projects in exchange for the knowledge I would gain, I would be more than happy to.

I'd like to throw my 2 cent's worth in here . . . which today is probably worth nothing, but it's the thought that counts, right?

Nobody was ever born knowing how to be a mechanic.  If you get a type 4 powered bay window bus and can't afford to pay someone else to wrench on it, you will do one of two different things.  Go broke, get frustrated and get rid of it, or learn to be a decent mechanic . . . maybe not a professional mechanic that can make a living doing it, but good enough to most of your own work.  If push comes to shove, you can always get rid of the type 4 and drop a less expensive, easier to work on, (but less powerfull) type 1 in it.

One other thought . . . if you are depending on it to get you from point A to point B on a daily basis, don't do it.  Make it easy on yourself and don't try to learn to mechanic on your daily transportation . . . there will be times you screw up and you'll be without wheels for a few days . . . or weeks . . . or longer.

Like Ret.Bugtech said, you'll be hard pressed to find an apprentice job, but you can still be an apprentice of sorts.  Start by reading everything you can find on the subject at hand . . . diagnose what you can by yourself, but before you touch anything, ASK A LOT OF QUESTIONS!

And if you do find something that you just have to have, make sure It will run and let someone look at it for you.  We have quite a few vans in the club and the owners just love them. The thing is they just have the one Van to deal with and didn't have to  work on them everyday for 40 years like some of us did. They just drive to club events with it . All the rest of the time they are sporting around in the family Lexis or Ford so they will last a little longer and give them time to save up some more money to fix things as they break and they will break. I lost my thrill of owning a Van after the '71 model. I did own two Vans, A '64 23 window and '69 Bus that had 70,000 miles on it. I paid $ 110.00 for it and drove it home and had it painted , new tires and drove it everyday for   5 years. Those days are long gone now . To bad :'(

I have a 74' that I bought non-running (basically) and now it drives pretty well... Paid $1,000 for it a little over 2 years ago... I've learned quite a bit on troubleshooting these type 4's from other members in the club... Kinda have to if you wanna keep these type 4's running without taking your paycheck with em... Its definitely a love/hate relationship...