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>Take a look at HOW TO KEEP YOUR VOLKSWAGEN ALIVE by John Muir, or any of
the later manuals from John Muir Press. The basic goal of the original
manual was to take hippies who didn't know what a Philips screwdriver
was and teach them everything about maintaining their VW, including
engine rebuilding. It works! Well-organized, beautifully illustrated,
non-threatening, and funny.
This series of books has more ambition, more success, and more style
than any tech docs I've ever encountered.<
That book helped me keep two Volksies alive, through three engine overhauls,
clutch replacements, brake jobs, etc, etc. Encouraged by it, I fixed or
adjusted everything on a Volksie except the gearbox, with no problems following
the instructions, identifying parts or tools, or even dealing with machinists.
It is an excellent example to us all.
BTW, Volksies are fun, but I wouldn't want to own one again! Owning two was
enough for one lifetime! <G>
There's another car-related book I used to have. I think it was called "How to
Keep Your Car Running Forever." It was written by an auto mechanic, for a
general audience of non-mechanics interested in the topic. (The author does not
subscribe to the notion that cars should be regularly replaced.) He did a very
good job of communicating a range of technical engineering info pertinent to
the topic. Another example for those who must write about specialist topics for
general audiences.
FWIW. YMMV. HAND!
David Jones, Technical Writer
David_Jones/KSBEISD -dot- KSBEISD -at- Datahub -dot- com
Kamehameha Schools Bishop Estate
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