Analog (was: Heathkit EC-1

From: J.C.Wren <jcwren_at_jcwren.com>
Date: Fri May 2 18:57:00 2003

        Heh. I had a 1968 with AST. Only it was stuck in 3rd gear. Very slow
acceleration. No reverse. Had a switched wired to the stick so that it
would pull in the electrically triggered vaccum powered clutch. Used to
make sure to have to part uphill, if I was going to need reverse. Did you
know that with a little patience, you can roll-start one in 3rd gear?

        I originally bought it for parts, was going to use the engine in a
restoration of a 1967. And for $300, as a parts car, it was too good to
pass up. But like many projects, the parts car became the main mode of
transporation for some time.

        Once, the transmission blew. Transmo fluid everywhere. Decided that since
the engine was out, may as well rebuild it. You know how that goes. Well,
if the engine is out, might as well replace the jugs. Got the heads off to
swap jugs, may as well put new push rods in. And valves, they're cheap.
$700 later, I had a new engine, and had fixed the transmission cooler.
Still stuck in 3rd. No amount of hammering would break it lose. Drove it
(actually, both the wife and I drove this) another few thousand miles,
transmo blew again.

        Fixed it, wife decided it would expedient to get it hit by a truck (not her
fault, truck ran a turn lane red light). And she killed my other VW, ran it
over a street sign, completely gutted the pan. Got rid of it, too.

        One time, I took the '68 in for service to a local shop. A few months
later, I went some other place to buy parts, was talking about the car.
Counter guy says "Wait, is this a blue or black Bug, and there's some kind
of switch to pull in the clutch on a white PVC tube on the stick?"
Apparently, the story of my creative modification had made the rounds of the
parts store. He was so amused when I showed it to him, he gave me 5% off.

        --John


> -----Original Message-----
> From: cctalk-admin_at_classiccmp.org
> [mailto:cctalk-admin_at_classiccmp.org]On
> Behalf Of Fred Cisin (XenoSoft)
> Sent: Friday, May 02, 2003 19:33
> To: cctalk_at_classiccmp.org
> Subject: Analog (was: Heathkit EC-1
>
>
> > > > An interesting side note. The power steering of your
> > > > auto is an example of an analog fluid amplifier.
> > > I don't think _my_ auto (1968 Beetle) is an example of that. :-)
> > Well, now - not so fast! While your Bug may not have
> power steering, if
> > it's got an automatic transmission - then I submit that:
>
> A 1968 Beetle would either have a manual transmission, or the
> Awful Shit
> Stick (manual shifting, but a torque converter instead of a
> clutch). The
> type 3's (squareback, etc) were the first to have a real auto
> transmission, and it is unlikely that ANY beetles with the
> semi-automatic
> are still running.
>
>
> Analog computers are the closest thing to "REAL" computers,
> since floating
> point, as it is commonly implemented, are NOT "REAL numbers",
> no matter
> what any FORTRAN compiler might claim.
Received on Fri May 02 2003 - 18:57:00 BST