First off, Congratulations! These are fun, these are great! And, these can ALSO make your life a living hell if you're not prepared or don't anticipate the issues that readily crop up (in my best German) "Vid these thingks!". Don't make the same mistakes I did; I learned to regret my short-sightedness very quickly. The best way to present my tips is to list them in order. These happen to pertain to a certain gorgeous '66 Deluxe 21 Window microbus, which was meant to be my pride and joy, but never was to really be... It ran great at times. I also pushed it all around a town of 185,000 by myself, outside of the driver's side door. I looked at it with grandeur and anticipation parked in the garage, at midnight... I saw it max out my Discover card. I recall the bittersweet relief of seeing the wide-eyed sixteen year old towing it from my driveway after handing me a $100. bill, his daddy had a cutting torch and they were going to section the roof for the oval windows and factory sunroof for retrofitting the boy's standard bus.

- Trailer or tow the thing home, PLEASE, unless you live around the block. And even then... If it already runs, GREAT! But please, tow it or trailer it home. THERE ARE TOO MANY THINGS WHICH CAN, at the drop of a hat, at the least, strand you in frustration; or, at the worst, destroy the power plant if they go unchecked.                                                     

- First, please, please coat the entire inside of the gas tank with zinc chromate. Remove the tank; swish the paint all around; allow it to dry, reinstall. These things rust inside. Get one of those clear fuel filters - AND a spare or two! Have the tools on board to swap-em out if needed!

- If it don't run, and the current engine is toast, and you're paying for an engine swap, baby steer clear of the used engine guys! In my book, a good used VW engine just doesn't exist, unless it's a recent rebuild out of a total. Besides having a very trusted, experienced air-cooled mechanic to select your new old engine case, and a barrel full of bucks to have the person build you one, why not try ordering a crated long block from a well known company and get a book ("VWs for Dummies", etc.), rent an engine hoist, and swap out your external parts to see what will still work. You save BIG bucks! I do recommend swapping out the 6 volt in the oldies to a 12 volt - the 6 volt starter will work OK though - just don't grind too much on it.

-Before you drive around in your now-running bus, PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE immediately do the following: install a NEW throttle cable (even if it "doesn't need it"), a NEW clutch cable (again, even if it "doesn't need it"), WD-40 the HECK out of the gas pedal swival points near the floorboard, or rebuild the entire accelerator unit, and MAKE SURE it won't stick - THEY WILL, due to unavoidable rust from water, snow, gunk, and the sticking accelerator WILL redline and pop the engine. If it should stick to the floor,  immediately turn off the ignition and steer the bus to the curb. DO NOT pop the clutch! And PLEASE splurge and get a complete set of new rubber stripping for the engine compartment, and keep those heater hoses in pristine shape, well clamped, etc. You do NOT want to suck any hot air into the carb(s), it will kill-off your engine after awhile! Finally - the fuel delivery system: if it's one of the old carbs, make SURE the fuel inlet is NOT one of those "tap-in" types (those of us over 45 recall seeing bug/bus scorched engine covers all the time!). These inlets have a tendency to pop out and spew gas all over the hot engine bay. And, if the car happens to have AN ELECTRIC FUEL PUMP, put a switched cut-off on the dude, for obvious reasons, and run the switch up to where you drive the thing (pancake "so-called 'Porche'" engine owners having the '70's busses take heed - it's extremely common to find this electric fuel pump swap already in your busses, as many a prior owner saved a considerable bit of $ just putting these in, rather than the hassle of fixing the factory internal fuel pump!).

- Change the oil religiously, reset the valves religiously, and always smell the old oil for any hint of gasoline odor (the cylinders will begin to "leak down" when the rings get bad - a BAD thing). Keep tabs on any rust issues with the undercarriage support rails, and beef them up if/when necessary with fresh support metal. Also, do not "dog" these engines in the gears at too low an RPM, for "saving on gas" or any other reason - the bus will eventually "eat the engine for lunch" if the RPMs aren't kept up at a reasonably, cautious 'liveliness'.

-Finally, are you SURE you want to use this as your daily driver? If it's restored and runs well, it's now your baby - OTHER PEOPLE'S INSURANCE COMPANIES WILL TRY TO DESTROY YOU AFTER THEIR CLIENT SMASHES INTO YOUR BUS AND DESTROYS IT. THE SO-CALLED "INDEPENDENT ADJUSTERS" WILL TRY TO GO BY BLUE BOOK!!! Really, the biggest insult that happened to me after the guy in the 3/4 ton pickup went charging out of the gas bay at the corner station and plowed into the side of the 21 window bus, breaking it's spine, totalling it in an instant, was dealing with the damned adjuster. My running gear was all brand new ($2500.), I was virtually ready for paint, and had 2 bolts of new upholstery fabric in the garage. I was offered $150.00 (yes, 1-5-0) plus the bus. I told him hell no, NO WAY........ that I WOULD however subpoena HIM to court (he'd taken my testimony and photos) as a standing witness in my lawsuit. He changed his tune to $450.00 plus the bus, and dang it, I had to take it. I did have a '55 oval bug that needed an engine, after all, and no money to battle any further. There was no convincing Mr. BMW-driving adjuster that they were getting (at the time) $9000+ for these very same vehicles out in So Cal. (this was SW Missouri, where they're worth nothing - "nothin' 'tall, ges ol' hippy junk!").

Folks, I know this was long-winded, and I know I left out other vital stuff, but you can't be too careful. My feverish fetish interests in vintage VWs totally died the day I hopelessly smashed up the '55, being late to my grandmother's 96th birthday party. I don't want this to happen to you! I want you to have a great, cost-effective, pleasureable, trouble-free time with these neat things - drive 'em on Sundays, polish 'em, keep 'em reliable and fun, and keep 'em in the garage otherwise!