Troops:  With the Haltech ECU now firmly in the hands of the repair
folks in AUS, one of our local Vanagon folks has been nice enough to
let me drive his 80 westy until i get the Millennium Falcon III back
on the road.  It goes without saying that this was a wonderful
gesture on his part, but it's also given me a chance to experience
the air cooled life for a few weeks.  Naturally, he says I'm doing
him a favor by driving it since it's averaged about 50 miles a year
over the last 3 or 4 years.  I might have 300 miles on it so far.

He claims it is the 4th oldest Vanagon westy in the United
States(most likely the 4th rustiest one also, but we're not dissing
the gift horse here).  Just driving it around town brings back some
memories of my 79 loaf I put so many miles in.  The motor starts
right up every morning, the lifters are about as noise free as they
get, the difference between 1st and 3rd gear is about a 1/16" when
shifting, the "flow through" ventilation assures me that as long as
I'm moving, there's air circulating and the few rain events I've
driven it in make it sound like I'm driving with all the doors
open.  The Westy stove unit rattles away and the new and old pot
holes don't help, but I don't remember my old loaf being able to
start out in 2nd gear as easily as this one does/can.

I did take one trip to a meeting in it with a solid hour on the 4
lane each way, and the 25mph crosswinds brought back "memories" of my
old 71 loaf prior to my discovery of the reinforced tire and what it
does for handling.  60 mph was pushing it for sure, but I refuse to
kick that gift horse. Will likely flush the brake lines for him and
prolly change the oil too and maybe adjust the rear brakes while I'm
at it.  My thighs don't fit so well between the larger steering wheel
and the higher westy driver's seat, but it's a small price to
pay.  Don't have any mpg figures to brag or complain about as the
passenger side vapor tank is toast and the recommendation was to not
fill the tank over 1/2 full.  No radio in the dash, so I either have
to sing to myself, or bring along a CD player and spare AA's.

This experience will go down as a typical gesture  from one Vanagon
owner to another and I am grateful.

DM&FS