Tom I am not sure how long the Alpha group has been around but it could 
just be the fact that the Vanagon list is older.  It has been around 
since 95 (correct me if I am wrong).  I got on around 97 and we have 
discussed every aspect of Vanagon maintenance and ownership ad nauseum 
during that time.  Over the years we have seen many awesome minds and 
mechanics come and gone (Bob Donalds is one) and speaking as a long time 
member, the biggest issue is the feeling of BTDT.  After you have posted 
a response to the same issue twenty or thirty times, you get tired of 
rehashing something over and over.  I still do this but I also have 
spent a lot of time putting common issues as write ups on my site and I 
think the Vanagon list should expand this as well.  If the list did this 
it might discuss more interesting topics and thereby get more of a 
response from the older, more experienced members, which would be better 
posts all around.  We have this vast store of knowledge in our archives, 
but it is not organized in any effectual way so when a new person comes 
on the list and has a newbie question, he just posts it to the list, 
instead of being able to search for his answer in the archives and find 
an answer quickly.  I am happy when new people join the list and I want 
to help them, but when I am busy and they ask the same question you just 
helped another person with the week before, you tend to not respond.  
Not sure if this makes any sense but it is the way I feel.  I don't know 
how many of us long timers are still here, but I am sure many of them 
feel the same way.

Ken Wilford
John 3:16
www.vanagain.com

On 11/8/2010 9:59 PM, Tom Boldway wrote:
> Sorry to speak heresy but the Alfa Romeo BB (www.alfabb.com) is a better newsgroup than the vanagon newsgroup. The Vanagon newsgroup is awesome, I understand, but the brethren in the Alfa BB understand an ITALIAN (not German) machine and can repair your car over the internet a bit better than the Vanagon BB. ;~) What I find amazing is the number of people who own both a Alfa AND a VW camper. I've got a '84 Westy, a '86 Alfa Spider and a '98 E320 Mercedes Wagon. I've had the Alfa for over a year and this may sound insane but it is the one with the least repairs. I do fully understand it needs to be driven like an Italian (gas pedal has two positions - off and on, along with brake pedal which is either off or on and if you're going under 100 on the highway you are going too slow -  hard to do with traffic today). Driving it this way keeps it happy. One thing I do with all my cars is let them warm up for a few min before putting a load on them. I come home from work where I go from a parking lot to a freeway - so I let the thermostat open and the motor on the Alfa and the Vanagon open up for the same reason - both motors are unique in the automobile industry as theya re aluminum block/head with a cast iron cylinder sleeve that is fully wet - and both suffer the thermal problems of dissimilar metals on fast warm ups.
>
> There's a few 1960's music groups that are pretty cool also (Like peaz-n -qs - a Quicksilver Messenger group) but they have gotten a bit too right wing for many of the members of this list ;~)
> Strange how some Radical '60's folks ended up as Tea Party members ;~)
> Same thing as the real cause back then, limited government is what Tea party people want. The smart ones, that is (Nomex suit on but not really needed as obviously you've mistaken me for somebody who cares.)
> Tom Boldway