I don’t think I’ve ever actually been embarrassed by a car that I’ve owned. Even the terrible ones had some kind of character trait that I found to embrace. Maybe I just didn’t give a shit!

I’ve been debating about this with my Beetle. It’s time for a restore, but I’m torn between a fuel-injected and turbo’d old school flat four, or an EV. Prices are prettttty close between the two, and I’ll bet they’ll be even closer in a few years when I have the budget organized for it.

VOTE!

TURBO BEETLE

LOL

I know you’re working on an electric Boxster project.

I mean, it’s not really real until somebody gives it the Safari treatment and flips it for $300,000 on BAT

Seriously, though, thanks for writing this out - I was lucky enough to grow up spending my summers in West Yellowstone with my grandparents, right on Yellowstone’s doorstep. Your description of the peace that descends on you in communing with the wildlife, the thin air, the whole sulfury, wild, mind-rearranging…

Thankfully nothing transpired, but the idea of running headlong into the antlers of a 30-point buck looking to rut sends a shiver up my spine.

Oh, well, now. Welcome to the fam.

This will NOT age well. 

Hot Take:

As a long time VW wrencher, I think “How to Keep Your Volkswagen Alive” is a really fun piece of automotive pop culture, but it’s a terrible service manual.

What kinds of reactions do you get from folks when you’re puttering around town? I mean, that thing is kind of hard to miss.

In general, those VE pumps will run into eternity - they often just need a basic seal replacement regimen to come back into spec. Whatever you do, DON’T disassemble the thing beyond the directly serviceable seals. You’ll regret it.

This is an interesting perspective from a newbie - as a more seasoned off-road traveler, I have mixed feelings about all this data. It’s great to have good information, but it can kind of take the shine off the experience too. Sometimes you just want to discover what’s around the bend on your own, you know? Not having…

This is indeed correct! 

Hah! My wife and I wrote an article for SA4x4 a few years ago about our overland travels in Botswana! Don’t see many hard copies of that rag Stateside. Sadly, they are indefinitely out of print now. :(

“Pleasant dripping sound”.

Oh shit! Where do I sign!?!?!?

Bleeding things is the worst.

I think for me the main vector for my wrenching is confidence - I’m willing to tackle big projects simply because I think I can. But, that’s come only after quite a few years of trying stuff outside my comfort zone, and learning from both my successes and my failures. You do have to accept that you’re going to fuck…