And this is why I do my own repairs.  I had just made a trip down to Wyocena,
Wisconsin on the 28th to get a used transmission for the Syncro.  I will
still put it in and I will repair the head leak.  The frustrating part is
that right after I repair one thing, sometime before, another needs it.  That
just come with have an almost 13 year old vehicle with almost 200,000 miles
on it.  I had the same with the 1981 Diesel Rabbit when it was 13 years old
and had 271,000+ miles and the 1969 Impala Custom Coupe when it was 25 years
old with 191,000+.

I will not take it to any mechanic for an estimate because I will not take it
to any mechanic for any will not take it to any mechanic for any repair.  I
have only had repairs done to this twice and the second one screwed it up so
badly I would never do that again.  And that is a place in Saint Paul, on
East 7th, that specializes in Volkswagens!

Brad Spear
Burnsville, Minnesota
'72 Westy
'87 Syncro GL

In a message dated 30-12-1999 22:52:05 PM Central Standard Time,
vw4x4@FYI.NET writes:

> Now. Go to a garage and have them write an estimate for all these
>  repairs. The bill will exceed the value of the vehicle. This is why
>  many of us, work on our own vehicles. This is why this list and all
>  Vanagon people much be technically inclinded. In other words, anyone
>  who does not want to talk tech stuff, is wasting there money, and
>  will soon be extinct.
>
>              Eric                   86-VW4x4
>              vw4x4@fyi.net          72-240z
>              Pittsburgh, PA USA     1936-Chrysler