Hi Loren

The answer is already in front of you; it's to be found in networking,
both online and through local venues. Talk to the owner of your local
vw-friendly garage, machine-shop, FLAPS, VW club, etc. Discuss your
projects with people in these venues and the things you are looking for
will often become accessible. Sometimes you may even be made aware of a
better solution, or of unforeseen pitfalls in your plan.

I am a moderator on a locally-focused yahoo group for mostly aircooled,
mostly bus-oriented VW fanatics, and that channel is a remarkable
resource for help in sourcing stuff. I also find this list to be helpful.

The interweb is a good tool. So is a hammer. But hammers don't make good
screwdrivers, and google won't find everything you need every time.

Happy Trails,

Greg Potts
1973/74/79 Westfakia "Bob the Tomato"
1987 Wolfsburg Weekender Hardtop
www.busesofthecorn.com
www.pottsfamily.ca

Loren Busch wrote:
> This message both 'pitches a  bitch' and asks if anyone has found a good
> answer.
> First, the problem and one I think many have encountered when trying to find
> obscure parts, tools, supplies, devices etc.  You need a 'widget' or maybe a
> couple of them. Also you would like to buy local if possible  So, you Google
> 'widgets'.  And then you pick through the responses you get and actually
> find. sometimes after changing your search to narrow it down, the exact or
> close enough model of widget that you are looking for.  Then you encounter
> the Internet Buyers Dillema in two parts.  First (and my biggest complaint)
> is when I find exactly what I want at the manufactures Website BUT they
> don't sell to individuals.  So you search the site for a list of retailers
> but all you find, maybe, is a list of regional distributors.  So you go to
> the distributors Website and search for a list of retailers that you might
> buy the product from.  But the distributor has no such info.  Hell, they
> handle 1,000 different makers of 10,000 products plus they don't give a darn
> if anyone can find the retailers.  And so you try to email either the  maker
> of the product or the distributor but you either have to 'join' to send them
> email or you get no response.  And you are back to sqaure one, trying to
> find a local retailer that sells widgets.  And as the neighborhood hardware
> stores an privately owned specialty stores dissapear this gets even harder.
>
> So, what have other people found in the way of a search engine or Website
> that either deals with this problem or gets around it?  And please don't
> suggest the online Yellow Pages, they are worse than Google.  And the local
> printed Yellow Pages have gotten to a point that they don't help much
> either.
>
> BTW, would you believe that the only place I found that I could buy small
> quantities of the item I was looking for (Riv Nuts) was eBay?
>
> Sorry for the long rant but this has become a really frustrating problem at
> least for me and I was wondering if anyone else has found a solution.

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