I made it to my first car show this weekend.  They had but two bugs.  
The first was a '56 that had a 1641 in it.  The guy said his dad had 
rebuilt the motor with some bigger jugs so it was bigger than the 
stock 1600.  Something like 1640 he said.  Also, he had big tires on 
the back so he could cruise the interstate at 70 and keep the revs 
good and low.  Finally, I asked to see the engine and I could see the 
ground through the areas around the blower housing.  Big holes.  Oh 
well.  The other was a '65? and looked to be restored to or already in
original condition.  He wanted $4500 for it.  He wasn't around.  The 
rest of the cars were old detroit iron with chevy 350's in them.  They
all had that motor.  Kinda boring after seeing several hundred.

VW content.  I finally ordered the last of the bits I need to get my 
bus going, carb, etc.  So, Sunday, I ambled out to the garage thinking
I would take the rear bumper off and get ready to pull the old motor 
and such.  Well, not so fast.  There has been a ding in the left rear 
since I bought it.  This ding kicked everything enough out of order 
that it took me about two hours to get that bumper off of there.  
Basically I couldn't get to the two outside bolts holding the thing 
on.  All those tools and u-joints and nothing would help.  At one 
point I pondered using a hammer and chisel.  At another point I 
figured I had $3,000 worth of tools and brand new VW parts surrounding
me and maybe I should unload them all before I lost my mind 
completely.  It did, however, finally come off of there.  Only a 
couple of the small bolts broke.  After that the rear part of the 
engine compartment came out easily enough.  I unhooked a few wires and
called it a day.  Tonight or the next the motor is coming out.  I have
to work fast now.  By Friday all my parts will be here and then there 
are no more excuses for why the bus doesn't run.  All my friends are 
getting itchy to go camping.  Anybody have a straight rear bumper for 
a '71 bus they want to unload really cheap?  I have no money.  Any 
ideas on straightening the one I have?  Basically it has a crimp on 
the top and bottom about 18" in from the left.  My biggest hammer came
up with nothing.  Anybody vacationing my way in the next couple of 
weeks?  I will feed you all the lentils and rice you can eat in 
exchange for wrenching.  Oh, and I have 10 gallons of homebrew in the 
basement.  Thanks for listening.  Jim
-- 
James A. Brill Jr.         \\  //
jbrill@unlinfo.unl.edu   \\ \\// //      If you're not outraged
University of Nebraska    \\//\\//     you're not paying attention.
free-lance homo sapien     \/  \/