Having owned my 1986 Vanagon GL for about a month now, (my first watercooled
VW) several questions come to mind as I motor along:

 I wonder if there's a way to test the coolant for contaminents?  I'm getting
ready to do a coolant change and I'd like to get the existing fluid tested to
see if there's major chunks of engine/radiator/hoses floating around in
there...

 Would an electronic ignition set up smooth out the idle?  I wonder what system
would work the best?  I had a Perlux ignitor in my '67 for a while and it
worked great...

 The tires (Goodyear Arriva P185/70R14) are getting pretty thin.  I'd like
tires that fill the wells a little more on a stock 14" VW steel wheel.  Maybe
Michelins...

 This shifter seems sort of stiff, but then this Vanagon has 129k on the
clock.  I rebuilt the shift linkage on my '67 Bus and it shifts nicely now. 
But I'll bet it's a little more complicated on this rig.  I wonder what parts
I'd have to replace to shorten the throws and take the mystery out of this
pattern...

 The Sewfine catalog hardly mentions Vanagons and the Auto-Mat catalog is a
little short on details.  I wonder if anyone on the Vanagon list could
recommend a good place to buy carpeting...

 How come the left turn signal ticks normally and the right turn signal ticks
about twice as fast?  Is a bulb burned out somewhere?

 I wonder when that Bentley manual I ordered from Mr. Salmon is gonna get
here...

 Sometimes the digital clock works.  Sometimes it doesn't.  I wonder how hard
it would be to replace...

 ...and on and on.  If you can provide insight to these burning issues, I'd
really appreciate it.

Charles "Luke" Lukey
 Windup Technology, Inc.
 Seattle, WA

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