Decrepit Old Fool

Of course I had a long list of things to do in this vacation and didn’t get most of them done.  I’m jittery with vacations – it takes me a week before I get the first day of real rest.

But I did work on my old VW.  I hooked up the radio, with some old computer speakers (long-term plans include some rather fantastic Blaupunkt speakers I got second-hand, but that entails building a rear deck over the back-seat well).  At least the car has tunes.

Having had endless problems with the mechanical fuel pump – odd because I drove all over the country with them back in the day – I installed an electric fuel pump.  There was something wrong with my German carby so I put in the Mexican spare.  It runs well but leaks, which is bad for all the obvious reasons and some not so obvious.

So this evening as the sun was going down I went down to the office to swap out the offsite backup drive (I use a pair of 260gb USB’s for that) but instead of just driving home, I headed out the West side of town.  The blacktop narrowed as I just kept driving, past farms and rural churches and agricultural jobbers.  I hadn’t been out that road before but the desire to drive on was strong and before I knew it I was 15 miles from town…

Navigating in central Illinois is no great trick.  If you were driving West, you can turn around and drive back East.  Or if you prefer, you can turn North, go a couple miles, and turn East, so you’ll see different farms, rural churches, and jobbers, which is what I did this evening.  The road may curve a bit this way or that, and it may join up with another road, but there’s no getting turned around.

After wiring up the radio, I turned it off because the music of the boxer engine behind me had me in a reflective mood.  It’s hard to explain why I like old Beetles so much, but the short answer is that they are so mechanical.  The steering wheel is connected to an unpowered steering box, which connects to the wheels.  When you step on the gas, you’re pulling a steel cable that pulls the throttle lever on the carburetor behind you.  There’s no power brakes; if you want more braking force, it’s up to you.  The dashboard controls consist of the ignition switch, lights, wipers, emergency flashers and radio – that’s it.  Gauges?  Speedometer and gas guage.  (Older ones just had a spedometer).  Want the window down?  Turn the crank.

Modern cars go to great length to insulate the driver from any connection to the machine.  Everything is power-driven, sound-insulated, and computer-controlled.  You can’t hear it, and you can’t really feel it.  It’s like being in an isolation tank.

Finally I came upon the Farm & Fleet store, as I knew I would, and stopped in to buy some things.  And then drove home.

The car is running about like it is supposed to, but my next trip should be to the tire store to replace the 25-year-old Michelin radials.  And, I need to replace the seats.  Although they are very comfortable, classic VW seats are notoriously unsafe.  Several companies make far superior replacements that bolt more securely to the frame.

And there’s body work, electrical work… I just realized my car will turn 40 next year.

This summer, the Mrs. and I will take a trip down to Southern Illinois, along the blacktop and gravel roads.  I’m looking forward to it.

UPDATE- see also: 34PICT-3 Carburetor Final.  That post will also be updated when new information comes in.