TULZ - Part One
Veeduber
A good mechanic gets up to $70 an hour. Most folks think that's outrageous and
immediately start figuring out what THEY get per hour, which can be kinda
embarrassing if you're flippin burgers for a living.
Why so high? Because the price reflects more than the sweat of his brow. For
seventy bucks you buy an hour of his labor but along with it you get to rent
his
experience and his tools and his shop and the legally binding assurance that
whatever the task, it will be performed in a competent manner; the implied
'good
craftsmanship' warranty that applies to all who declare themselves to be
professionals and solicit your business on that basis. (The definition of
'good
craftsmanship' varies from state to state; check with your local consumer
advocacy group.)
To properly maintain your Volkswagen requires about twenty-five hours of
SKILLED maintenance per year. You can verify this by comparing the
maintenance schedule in your owner's handbook against the time estimates in
the Flat Rate Manual, being sure to use the figures of antique, aircooled
Volkswagens.
While you're doing this, compare it to any modern vehicle. The first thing
you'll
notice is that modern cars don't even list many of the items, such as adjusting
the
front wheel bearings… or even adjusting the brakes. The second thing you'll
notice is that veedubs take more time, such as .3 m/hr to adjust the fan belt
vs .1
m/hr on a modern car. Even changing the oil takes five times as much labor
because of the need to remove & replace the sump plate, hopefully torqued to
spec. The bottom line is that on an annual basis, your antique Volkswagen
requires approximately TEN TIMES more maintenance manhours as compared
to a modern vehicle.
At seventy bucks an hour that's $1750 per year. Ain't reality a bitch?
Okay, sure… you can find mechanics who'll work for less. But you gotta ask
yourself 'Why?' I mean, if the guy has got his shit together he doesn't even
have
to look for work, the dealers and GOOD garages come looking for him.
And of course you don't absolutely HAVE to do all the items on the maintenance
list, like oiling the wiper shafts and door hinges and crawling under and
checking
the hose from the tank to the tunnel… lotsa little things you can sorta
overlook.
And the record clearly shows, most do.
But unqualified mechanics often do more harm than good. And letting those
'unimportant' chores slide will eventually lead to engine fires and
catastrophic
mechanical failures which in the long run, cost more than if you'd done the job
right to begin with.
There's no such thing as a free lunch. And an antique Volkswagen is a high-
maintenance vehicle. So whatcha going to do?
For most of the people reading this, the only practical option is to perform
most of
the maintenance yourself. That means you need a place to work, certain skills
and the proper tools. That's the Holy Trinity of Maintenance – Shop, Skills &
Tools.
The shop part is pretty easy. Wherever you are, that's your shop. So long as
you don't make a mess and aren't there too long, the world is literally filled
with
'shop space' :-)
The skill part is the easiest of the three because all humans have the capacity
to
learn. Some learn quick and never forget, others don't learn as fast and need
a
refresher course now and then. Some humans have innate talents as tool-users
and others don't. Where you fit into that scale DOESN'T MATTER. Not when it
comes to Volkswagen maintenance. Early model bugs and buses are in fact war
machines in civilian dress. And as war machines their maintenance is designed
in phases. The most frequently required maintenance items, called 'Field
Level'
can be performed with a minimum of skills and tooling. Above that you have
Depot Level and above that, Factory Level. Although this is an
oversimplification, the Factory Level is where major components such as the
engine, tranny and front axle would be overhauled. Depot Level is where those
components are swapped out.
But the realities of life, or war for that matter, often makes it impossible
for a
vehicle in the field (that's you) to return to the depot (that's the dealer)
for depot-
level maintenance such as a brake job. So there is an 'approved Field Level
repair procedure' for doing your brakes. Or your clutch. Or whatever. And
there
is nothing to prevent you from learning those procedures.
In a similar vein, the Depot may have to rebuild an engine or tranny now and
then so there are procedures that explain how to do this. More importantly,
the
procedures explain how to make the TOOLS needed to do this. And there is
nothing to prevent you learning all of this, either. Nor prevent you from
making
such tools.
Now lemme give you a couple of examples. First, let's change a tire.
(Awright,
stop laughing. You wouldn't believe the mail I get on this subject.)
See the jack? Notice how the lug wrench fits down inside the jack standard?
That's soz you can use the JACK as a cheater. Go on, try it. Put the lug
wrench
on the lug bolt, which some idiot at the Depot Level has torqued to some
ridiculously high number (and damaged the lug bolt, rim and brake drum in the
process). Now slide the jack onto the lug wrench. You now have a lug wrench
with a handle nearly four feet long, giving you enough leverage to loosen those
gorilla-tight lug-bolts. (For those of you who've never changed a tire, you
LOOSEN the lug-bolts BEFORE you raise the vehicle, which is why the jack is
available for use as a cheater.)
Using your jack as a cheater is an example of FIELD TOOLS… stuff you always
have with you. DEPOT TOOLS are things that are too large to toss in the boot.
To do a brake job, for example, you need to remove the large nut on the rear
drums. The tools for that job are the sort of thing you don't carry with you.
What
are they? One of them is a piece of angle iron about five feet long. The
other is
a piece of pipe the same length. Plus the wrench, of course.
The angle iron should be 2x2 by a quarter-inch thick. Down on one end you
drill
two holes to match the lug-bolt spacing on your brake drum. This is called an
'Anti-Torque Tool'. You bolt it to the brake drum and let the free end rest
against
the ground when you unbolt the big nut. (You'll also use the anti-torque tool
when installing or removing your flywheel.)
To unbolt the big nut you'd normally use a six-point socket of the appropriate
size, 36mm for bugs and early buses or 46mm for later buses. That's a 3/4"
drive socket, by the way. And you'd turn it with a breaker-bar (not a
flex-handle
nor a ratchet). Harbor Freight can sell you a full set of 3/4" drive METRIC
sockets for less than fifty bucks… which is about what you pay for the socket
alone if you bought it at an auto-parts store.
But you don't really need the socket.
Go buy a slug-wrench. You've seen them advertised in the magazines. They tell
you to put the slug-wrench over the nut then hit it with a hammer. DON'T DO
IT.
You should NEVER hammer on a shaft supported by ball- or roller-bearings. It
causes premature failure of the bearings (which explains why the magazines tell
you to do it :-)
Take the slug-wrench to a weldor and have a handle welded on. I used a steel
bar, three inches wide by half an inch thick by five feet long. Works like a
champ.
The metal pipe is for those of you who have a breaker-bar & socket (or who weld
a bar-type handle to their slug-wrench). Select the ID of the pipe to fit over
your
breaker-bar.
You may now remove your rear wheel nuts with elegance and ease. And tighten
them, too. Torque spec is something like 215 ft/lbs, plus turned to the next
crenellation of the castle-nut to align the hole for the Cotter key. So how
much is
215 ft/lbs? Your bathroom scale will tell you. Just measure out four feet
from the
hub, stand on the scale and push down (or pull up, if you wanna) until your
weight changes by one-quarter of 215.
Your Depot Level tool kit should also include a floor jack and a pair of jack
stands. Again, see the Harbor Freight catalog (or go get lost on
www.harborfreight.com Bad web page but it'll get you a catalog.)
If you're serious about owning & driving an antique Volkswagen you're going to
have to pony-up about five hundred bucks for tools, build up a small reserve of
ready-issue spare parts and spend about 1300 hours of study over a two-year
span to acquire the needed skills. That will cover all of the basic mechanical
stuff
up to engine & tranny rebuilding but will not cover body & fender work,
painting or
upholstery work.
It's your decision. You're the Mechanic-in-Charge of your vehicle. And your
life.
-Bob Hoover
-5 April 2K
Searoy
<snip>
> Early model bugs and buses are in fact war
> machines in civilian dress. And as war machines their maintenance is
designed
> in phases. The most frequently required maintenance items, called 'Field
> Level'
> can be performed with a minimum of skills and tooling. Above that you
have
> Depot Level and above that, Factory Level. Although this is an
> oversimplification, the Factory Level is where major components such as
the
> engine, tranny and front axle would be overhauled. Depot Level is where
those
> components are swapped out.
This is exactly how it is done, although at different times and different
Armies is , oddly enough, different.
In our US Army nowadays (of which I am happily no longer a regular part of)
there are actually 5 (YES FIVE) levels of maintenance.
Operator
Organizational
Direct
General
Depot
This breaks it down into easily identifiable tasks and responsibilities, of
which I only have experience with three.
Operator is fairly obvious. It's the poor sap (private or such) who is
behind the wheel most of the time. His level of responsibility is not
simply to keep it between the lines (because often there are none). Once a
week he spends about 3 hours ( 0900 to 1200 hours, Mondays ) checking every
fluid level, every component for leaks, even tiny ones that don't drip,
every light, belt, pulley, switch, knob, lever, hinge, latch, and joint for
cleanliness, tightness and overall serviceability. He readjusts the mirrors
and ensures that someone else who may have driven it that previous week has
properly cleaned it and returned all items to their appropriate place. Once
a month he checks all the nuts and bolts, especially the lugs, for
tightness, using a torque wrench, along with all the other items he usually
checks. Other monthly tasks include checking the heater, the tread, and
other specialized items found on military vehicles ( pintle, copula, weapons
mount, NBC filter, crane arm, winch, etc. ).
How many of us have EVER ONCE done ALL of these things over the period of
ONE MONTH TOTAL.
Organizational level is the local unit mechanics. There job is limited to
the engine externals, accessories and exterior body accessories and interior
accessories. Pretty much if it can be easily unbolted from a vehicle and
replaced they can do it. Now, these are well trained mechanics who COULD do
more, given the appropriate tools and authorization, but they aren't. It's
not at their level. Other things they are authorized to do is everything to
do with the brakes, wheels, tires and shocks. They pull wheels more often
than I have sex (which is pretty often).
At Direct support (3rd Shop) they do a lot of body work, where Joe Schmoe
hit a big rock while "testing the off-road capability of his Hummer after
servicing" (goofing off without permission). They also pull engines and
trannies to replace (but not rebuild) them. They also can replace more
integral parts of the engine, like injectors and exhaust pieces, and
suspension parts right to the dif. We once sent a 30kW generator to 3rd
Shop after it rolled like a dragsters parachute from behind a 5-Ton Tractor
while driving on the H-3 in Hawaii. It was a mess, and wobbled all the way
home at 10mph. It came back with a new cabinet (big sheet metal box
covering the goods) and everything, paint included. It was the best
generator we had until I left.
Something requiring complete breakdown and rebuild go higher. I don't know
just how high rebuilding an engine is, but if it goes TO 3rd Shop it's
pretty F'd up, so if it goes higher it would probably be junk to anyone but
the Army. I would suppose they replace it with a newer one, and then fix
everything, after which it gets put on "Reserve Duty" so the weekend
warriors can deal with all it's left over problems. I don't know. But
anything that goes to General support and above we never saw again.
Only the next lower level can authorize sending it to the next higher level.
An operator can't send his Deuce to 3rd Shop, but the organizational
mechanics can. At the same time the organization can't send something to
the Depot. It has to work it's way through the chain.
What does this have to do with air-cooled VWs? Well, it's how I learned
most of what I know about engines, trannies, suspensions etc, that allow me
to enjoy my air-cooled VW today.
: P
--
*** Teach a Man to Fish ***
Searoy
John Henry
But one comment about the first part of the post regarding mechanics. At least
around here, you are very hard pressed to find ANY mechanic that knows the
aircooled engineering well and is willing to work on it. For the same labor
intensive reasons that Bob mentions, it is more profitable for them to work on
OTHER more modern cars. Shops will either grossly over charge you to work on "that
old thing", or simply refuse to take it. I know of a few competent shops near me,
most have labor rates in the $40-$50 range. Good for getting them to do press
work, or maybe even case rebuilds, but walk around their shop and you won't see
anything but A1 rabbits and vanagons at the oldest. They have to go scrounge
around the loft to find that collar used to press the balljoints on the Beetle
torsion arms.
And (I know Bob wasn't suggesting this), never assume that just because a shop does
charge $70 an hour that they are "good". Find evidence/references of their work
first.
One of the shops near me once quoted $400 in labor to "R&R" and engine in my '67
(remove and replace). Takes me about 30-45 minutes to do that, I guess I'm in the
wrong business.
I agree with Bob that if you really want to own and drive an aircooled VW, you have
to commit to investing the time and money to acquire the tools and skills. But I
disagree that "anyplace" is a shop. I, for one, don't happen to live in
California..............
Veeduber wrote:
--
John Henry
---------------
Visit the "BugShop" at http://www.geocities.com/MotorCity/4000
Forget World Peace. "Visualize" using your damn turn signals.
grinch007
command do not take maintenance that seriously here. I am a 20 level
mechanic here in Ft Bliss and you left out one thing. The operator is the
one who helps the mechanic out (usually if were so lucky) they do stuff like
break the lugnuts hand you tools and then when your finished they are
"supposed" to clean up the mess. Funny when I replaced the clutch in my bus
last week I had a few guys watching so I got them to help me out. I ended
up making them my Tool B*tches hehehehe got them all a beer when we were
finished and got 1 guy looking for a bug now. not bad for a few hours of
work and bullshi*ing hehehe
Chris
"Searoy" <sea...@earthlink.net> wrote in message
news:Nc2H4.2340$y4.1...@newsread1.prod.itd.earthlink.net...
> I love this stuff. (more below)
>
> <snip>
>
> > Early model bugs and buses are in fact war
> > machines in civilian dress. And as war machines their maintenance is
> designed
> > in phases. The most frequently required maintenance items, called
'Field
> > Level'
> > can be performed with a minimum of skills and tooling. Above that you
> have
> > Depot Level and above that, Factory Level. Although this is an
> > oversimplification, the Factory Level is where major components such as
> the
> > engine, tranny and front axle would be overhauled. Depot Level is where
> those
> > components are swapped out.
>
Searoy
> command do not take maintenance that seriously here. I am a 20 level
> mechanic here in Ft Bliss and you left out one thing. The operator is
the
> one who helps the mechanic out (usually if were so lucky) they do stuff
like
> break the lugnuts hand you tools and then when your finished they are
> "supposed" to clean up the mess. Funny when I replaced the clutch in my
bus
> last week I had a few guys watching so I got them to help me out. I ended
> up making them my Tool B*tches hehehehe got them all a beer when we were
> finished and got 1 guy looking for a bug now. not bad for a few hours of
> work and bullshi*ing hehehe
> Chris
Yeah, the operator is part of the organization, so he's involved in the
organizational maintenance, but he has no authority to do anything not
outlined as an operator task, or 10 level. Which reminds me (for those who
don't know) the manuals the operators use are designated by a bunch of
numbers-10, while organizational manuals are a bunch of numbers-20, and so
on. Kinda neat I think.
My little girl is only 2, but in the next couple of years she'll be getting
greasy with me while we fix the 66. I plan on getting her into it young, so
she never thinks about getting any other first car but a VW, and she'll be
able to build it herself. NO way she'll get a car that runs. When she's
about 14 I'll get her a Ghia or Super that is a real piece. Then for her
allowance she gets to buy parts and install them, or do bodywork or
whatever. If she want's a car when she's 16 she'll do it, 'cause that's the
only way she'll drive. Plus, she'll respect it and hopefully take care of
it, knowing what went into it, her time AND her money.
replica
On 06 Apr 2000 00:09:38 GMT, veed...@aol.com (Veeduber) wrote:
keep em coming bob,i revel in your experience through the keyboard.i
cant wait for part 2. it justs shows that a air-cooled vw is not for
everybody...replica
Searoy
It's just to keep you guessing.
--
*** Teach a Man to Fish ***
Searoy
replica <rrep...@prodigy.net> wrote in message
news:38ed65ad...@news.prodigy.net...