Garage VAPS is in St Jean Sur Richelieu... 134 Rue Champlain.

My intention was to go straight there Monday morning. I just want little
*Modesto* running strong again. I've got a momentum going with fixing
stuff, knocking projects off the list.

Then tonight there was a beautiful white westfalia parked out front my
house on esplanade. Got talking to the owner, and it's a 5/speed, 1.6L
turbo diesel imported from Germany. The gentleman gave a me a card for a
shop in Laval, Que called *Les Moteurs Carrera* , owner a German named
Falkenberg. Said the guy is great. His shop has been in the same location
for 36 years.

Only issue was that Falkenberg is not fast.

Perhaps I'll make a call up to him before i drive out to St Jean... I kind
of hate it when a project is moving, and then the road splits in two!

On Fri, Sep 5, 2014 at 6:21 PM, Roy Nicholl <RNicholl@nbnet.nb.ca> wrote:

> Is that shop in Saint-jean-sur-Richelieu or across the river in
> Iberville?  When I lived in Saint-jean in the 80s there was a very
> reputable shop across the river, but I do not recall the name.
>
> There is also Benoît of "Restoration BJP" ... now recently relocated to
> 1313 Avenue du Frère André, Saint-Césaire, QC ... who specializes in the
> Subaru conversion (www.BenPlace.com)
>
>
>
> On 05-Sep-2014, at 15:42, Vincent Dow wrote:
>
> > I got a reccomendation on a tranny rebuild shop out in St
> > Jean-sur-Richelieu, Que... called V.A.P.s
> > (Volkswagen/Audi/Porsche)
> >
> > They did right by my neighbor Gordon on a tranny that had the same
> symptoms
> > as mine - his an 82 diesel westfalia out of British Colombia.
> >
> > On the phone with VAPs, the guy said I was looking at a total rebuild...
> > I'm ready to bite the bullet on that. The van has cost me very little
> these
> > last five years.
> >
> > Think I'm going to pursue Limited Slip Differential, so I get some
> upgrade
> > out of the project. Dude said he'd turn me around in a week. I am STOKED
> on
> > this. It has been too long, roadtripping and afraid of a catastrophic
> > breakdown some where it hurts and costs the most.
> >
> > I'm interested in the subaru tranny conversion idea. Especially as I want
> > to upgrade my engine to a 2.5L from its present 2.2 block. That's also
> down
> > the road, but I think the extra power might warrant overdrive.
> >
> > Or maybe I'll sell the vanagon, give it to my nieces, and get myself a
> 1969
> > chevy sportvan, which is what I secretly want. That's the tough guy's
> > vanagon.
> >
> >
> >
> > On Fri, Sep 5, 2014 at 12:45 PM, Gabriel Hourtouat <ghourtouat@gmail.com
> >
> > wrote:
> >
> >> Looking forward to hearing more about this issue from those with more
> >> experience because I always feel that my 4th gear is only just barely
> >> engaged.  (Manual tranny, 1986 Westy.)
> >>
> >> Is there an adjustment that needs to be done to the stick and linkages
> to
> >> ensure the gears are properly engaged?  (So far, the tranny has never
> >> popped out -- I just have this nagging feeling that something is not
> >> right.)
> >>
> >> Getting ready for the humbling news,
> >> Gabby
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >> On Thu, Sep 4, 2014 at 9:29 AM, Vincent Dow <ianvincentdow@gmail.com>
> >> wrote:
> >>
> >>> Roy, thanks for the note.
> >>>
> >>> I'd like you to know that we LOVED New Brunswick. Did not intend the
> >> least
> >>> derision in the comment about the absence of Porsches...
> >>>
> >>> N.B. was the sleeper on this trip. So friendly and real.
> >>>
> >>> Camping on the St. John's River was idyllic. Our next trip is going to
> be
> >>> the whole coast of N.B.
> >>>
> >>> While we were roraring along the trans canada at 45mph, a young dude
> in a
> >>> Mitsubishi 4x4 van (right hand steering) pulled alongside, waved us to
> >>> stop, offered help, told us about Gunther, and offered to drive my old
> >>> transaxle back to Fredricton from montreal in two weeks time, so it
> could
> >>> be rebuilt by G. The guy is moving to Montreal, and we're going to ask
> >> our
> >>> landlords if they have an affordable place available he could take.
> >>>
> >>>
> >>>
> >>>
> >>>
> >>> On Thu, Sep 4, 2014 at 6:13 AM, Roy Nicholl <RNicholl@nbnet.nb.ca>
> >> wrote:
> >>>
> >>>> Vince,
> >>>>
> >>>> There are quite a few of us here in NB ... you should have stopped.
> >>>> Gunter would have what was needed to get you operational.
> >>>>
> >>>> (BTW:  There are a few Porches here in Fredericton, even a couple of
> >>>> Ferraris and a Lotus or two).
> >>>>
> >>>> On 04-Sep-2014, at 01:06, Vincent Dow wrote:
> >>>>
> >>>>> So I began having this problem of my tranny popping out of 4th on the
> >>>>> highway five years ago. The first occurrence really shook me up - POp
> >>> and
> >>>>> then a tremendous VARRROOOOOMMMM  --(WTF was that???)
> >>>>>
> >>>>> Van is an 82 aircooled, converted to 1995 water-cooled subaru 2.2
> >>>>>
> >>>>> I've limped along these years with the cracked 3/4 solder. Didn't
> >> have
> >>> a
> >>>>> lot of bread. The van mostly drives around town and up to a country
> >>> place
> >>>>> one hour away. I do a lot of construction and use it for light
> >> transpo.
> >>>>>
> >>>>> I had gotten the shifting into 4th down pretty well. in 3rd i would
> >> get
> >>>> the
> >>>>> RPMs up to 3800, and then make a nice, decisive shift to 4th, give it
> >>>> mucho
> >>>>> gas and let off clutch quickly. I could make it hold w/o a bungie
> >> cord.
> >>>> But
> >>>>> I always kept a light hand on the shifter, just to feel the vibe.
> >>>>>
> >>>>> So me and my girl drove it out to Nova Scotia from montreal two weeks
> >>> ago
> >>>>> (1,350 kilometers) and I knew I was pushing it this time. On the way
> >>> out
> >>>>> east, in Levis, Que - Tranny popped out twice in just five minutes,
> >> and
> >>>>> that really freaked me out, as we had a long way to go. But she made
> >> it
> >>>> out
> >>>>> to Cape Lahave -
> >>>>>
> >>>>> (and of course the Westfalia camper was awesome. We even got the
> >> fridge
> >>>>> working for the first time!)
> >>>>>
> >>>>> But on the way home, near Moncton, New Brunswick, I let my GF drive.
> >> I
> >>>> had
> >>>>> explained my finesse way of shifting. I don't know why i thought this
> >>>> would
> >>>>> work out... She struggled with clutch action, and timed it badly
> >> twice.
> >>>>> After passing a toll booth, I took the controls back, and it seemed
> >>> okay
> >>>>> for a few miles, and then popped out of 4th, and would not stay in
> >> 4th
> >>>>> after. Nothing would make it stay in 4th gear, short of holding the
> >>> stick
> >>>>> with two hands until it bent.
> >>>>>
> >>>>> I worried that we were really boned. So i put the hazards on and
> >> drove
> >>>>> along in 3rd gear. It seemed pitifully slow, but we were still
> >> moving.
> >>>>> Ended up driving all the way home like that. Now the van is out
> >> front.
> >>>> The
> >>>>> dog is on the couch, my GF is in bed. We're home.  What a good van he
> >>> is.
> >>>>> He's a boy.
> >>>>> His name is *Modesto.*
> >>>>>
> >>>>> In the first hour of our 3rd gear highway travel, a nice looking
> >>> vanagon
> >>>>> came up behind and put his hazards on, followed us for a bit and then
> >>>>> pulled alongside. It was the first vanagon i'd seen in New Brunswisk
> >> (I
> >>>>> also did not see a single Porsche in the whole province)
> >>>>> The driver signalled we could pull over, offer assistance. i waved
> >>>>> friendly, assumed nothing could be done there and then. Waved him on
> >>> his
> >>>>> way.
> >>>>> I found out later there is a veteran German VW guy in Fredricton,
> >> only
> >>>>> works on euro cars. Has a yard full of vanagons. Name is Gunther. I
> >> was
> >>>>> probably driving by his shop when the N.B. vanagon guy engaged with
> >> us.
> >>>> How
> >>>>> stupid of me to assume there was no rear engine community out there
> >> in
> >>>>> L'Acadie.
> >>>>
> >>>>
> >>>
> >>
>
>