Though my VW's have always been the smooth clutching cars, as long as the
clutch cable was adjusted correctly and stayed together, the car with the
smoothest clutch I ever owned was the one on which I learned standard
transmission driving, a 1947 Dodge 4-door sedan with "Fluid Drive". This
device put a torque converter between the clutch and the crank shaft. The
truly lazy way to drive it was to put it in 3rd at a dead stop, let the
clutch out slowly, and never shift for the rest of the trip. OK, never
accelerate much either, kind of like a 1-speed automatic, but not bad for
the novice.  It wouldn't stall no matter what you did wrong, but rewarded
correct shifting and clutching enough to encourage you to get it right.
Taught myself and an easy dozen friends to drive a stick on that beast.
What a wonderful car.

On the VW front, I have about finished transpanting the FI '78 into the
'73 body.  Got as far as cranking it last night, but no start yet.  There
is spark, the oil and gen lights work but it doesn't give a hint of
firing.  Got a feeling I have some electric checking to do in the FI
system.  Also, I have kind of lost track of where the small (1/8") vacuum
hoses go from/to, and there is no hose map in the benley that I can find.
Anyone with a '78 willing to go out and have a look?

                           Thanks,
                           H Steven Dolan
                           Alexandria, VA