I had the pleasure of meeting Bob Hoover before he died. He coached me a
lot through an engine rebuild I was doing, explaining, as if to a two
year-old, how things worked. His attitude was grumpy, and he had reasons
both personal and medical for that. He indicated that he thought that John
Muir got much wrong on a mechanical level. That said, Muir's relaxed
approach to working on his VWs is something I wish I could better emulate.

On Wed, Jul 3, 2019 at 5:39 AM David Higginbotham <
davidhigginbotham1@gmail.com> wrote:

> Oh My, John Muir! I still have that grease stained volume in my shop
> somewhere. I bought my first car in 1976, all mine with my own money car,
> college student money I might add-hard stuff to come by, it was a ’73 super
> beetle. I was so proud of that thing, my head swells just thinking about it
> now. Mr. Muir and that book kept that thing running and even inspired me to
> modify and customize. Before I was done it had Thunderbird headers, dual
> carbs, empi shocks/suspension, short throw shift kit and a Wolfsburg badged
> shift knob, custom leather seats, disc brakes I robbed from a junked ghia,
> and more I have forgotten. It was my dream car and it was pretty darn fast
> for what it was. Many adventures were had. It became the property of my ex
> when we split up. It would be another 20 years before I got another VW, an
> ‘82 westy. I drove that thing for another 20+ years and sold it in 2015 to
> a young man who had just finished his undergrad degree and would be
> starting med school the following fall. He and a couple of his buddies
> drove it from NC to the west coast that summer where it now lives, last I
> heard. I am now without a VW but I am looking. I always wanted a ghia, but
> I loved my westy too, dunno what Ima do, but I know I will keep reading
> this list everyday and keep on dreaming. Thanks folks.
>
> David Higginbotham
> VWless
> Silk Hope, NC
>