Posted on 06/14/2019 8:08:35 PM PDT by Army Air Corps
When I was 9, my dad was getting us into boating and bought a small fiberglass (heavy) dinghy with a 3 1/2 hp outboard. It was basically a lawn mower engine (Lawson Power Products) mounted to a lower unit.
Anyway, I fell in love and remember running it in a trash can and learning how to adjust the jets, replace the spark plug and mix the fuel. Later I learned how a magneto worked.
From then on, it was go karts, mini bikes, cars, boats, cycles
and anything with an engine.
The book I used a lot was “How to Keep Your Volkswagen Alive: A Manual of Step by Step Procedures for the Compleat Idiot”, by John Muir. It was illustrated with drawings, very few photographs, and it told you in plain language how to do just about anything on an air-cooled VW. Plenty of asides and digressions, too, making it fun to read. I still have a copy of the 17th edition around; my earlier ones got worn out.
You’re right about old VWs being good cars to learn basic mechanicking on. That ‘66 was my first car, and I knew very little about auto maintenance and repair when I got it.
My first, last, and forever British car was a ‘67 (?) Sunbeam Imp (a Shelby creation). Fast and fun with a horrible oversteer.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.