on 10/2/02 9:49 AM, Chris McEwen at vanagon@SOCRATESPRESS.COM wrote:

> Back before time we used the book "How To Keep Your Volkswagen Alive" by
> John Muir & Tosh Gregg as a basic guide. Of course, this won't help a
> waterboxer built fifteen years after the book was published. So a question:
> what is the best book?
>
> Also looking for a good source of small parts. I'm talking about silly
> things like window cranks, mirrors, bumper strips.

The Waterboxer Vanagons are covered in the John Muir Publication "How to
Keep Your Rabbit Alive". As to the best book...it depends.

As a reference manual, the Bentley is invaluable. However, it often details
things on the assumption you'll be using the VW tools (which us lay folk
often don't have.) And sometimes, the simple things are covered only
superficially (if at all). Like is it possible to take the powered mirrors
apart to service the motors?

The Haynes manuals are more oriented towards the individual that may not
have the VW parts. Not having the Haynes manual for Vanagons myself, I won't
offer any additional opinion upon their worth (I've heard good and bad
regarding them.)

There is another manual done by a British firm (and the name escapes me for
the moment), which is like a trimmed down version of the Bentley (only 1/2
inch thick instead of 3 inches thick). I've got this one also, but I use the
Bentley more often.