Volkswagen Stuff
I'm in an on-line club of people who own Volkswagens (both old and... well, slightly less old) called Edubs. Fortunately there's a lot of people in it who know much, much, much more than I do, so I get to ask them lots of daft questions and then ignore the best bits of their advice.
I've had a 1968 Beetle since the summer of 2000 and most recently had both the rear brakes apart after some seals started leaking oil in to the drums. Nasty. I took photos while I was putting it back together and intend to write it up here at some point (hopefully before hell freezes over.) I also had to replace the main brake line to the back of the car, which was a complete pig, and I didn't take out the drivers seat, which turned out to be a stupid move. Again I'll try and write that up before I forget how I did it.
I've also done some more easy stuff, like pumping fresh grease in to the front axle, which is both simple and satisfying in a gloopy way so if you don't know the last time your axle was greased, I'd suggest getting a grease gun from your local motor place and giving it a go. I got a gun from Halfords (big UK chain) and some CM grease, which is fine for the job.
In fact it's so easy, I've written up how I did it: Greasing the front axle on a Volkswagen Beetle
If you own an old VW and don't own the book 'How to keep your Volkswagen Alive' by John Muir, then I suggest you rush out and buy it now, or if you want to order it on-line rush your mouse to: Amazon UK. If you order it through that link I'll get a tiny cut of the money, which will all go to helping fix my Beetle, honest, just like the rest of my money.Paul Silver, August 2003
Update: I've also written up how
to do an oil change on a Volkswagen Beetle. This is a basic step-by-step
guide for people who don't usually do stuff to cars, i.e. novices. If you're
all ready good at mechanical stuff, it probably won't be much use to you. (September
2003)
Update: I've written some more VW fixing guides and put everything on it's own site: Reluctant Mechanic. The links above should take you to the right articles on the new site. (June 2004)