All My Cars Actually Run Right Now, Suckaaaaaaaas

"Stef Schrader" (stefschrader)
05/21/2019 at 16:35 • Filed to: Only One is Road-Legal But Whatever, 24 Hours of Lemons, Down on the Street, Volkswagen, Volkswagen 411, Aircooled, Type 4, Volkswagen Type 4, Wrenching, Racing

After one and a half years of sitting, the Volkswagen 411 lives!!!

Apparently all we really needed to get my allegedly cursed Volkswagen 411 running again was to whack the carb on the side to un-stick the float, put some fresh fuel in, adjust a fuel regulator and twist the distributor around to find the sweet spot on the timing (after we popped it off briefly to take a look).

It still runs kind of hot, and I’m not sure what’s up there. It doesn’t seem as bad as it used to be, though, so I guess running it less lean than before did something. We were also farting around a parking lot. The fluids have only been sitting and making a mystery perma-puddle underneath it for a year and a half, so they’re kind of an unknown quantity, too .

I guess I have ample time before its next possible race in November to figure out the hot-running situation just in case this is the car to do Lemons things with again. Or Gambler. Or rallycross. Or some or all of the above. Also, I have a functional backup car in the 944 that only needs a couple minor things like fresh fluids and a refilled fire system bottle because I keep accidentally hitting the squirt-handle.

!!! UNKNOWN CONTENT TYPE !!!

Also, this means that all three of my cars work? I don’t know what to do with this. Do I drive the cars? I think I drive the cars. I didn’t even have a seat bolted down in the VW, and we were goofing around and driving it anyway. I sat on my spare transmission on the passenger side for a quick passenger run because safety extremely third. What’s your excuse, 42-mile Bring-A-Travesty “Collector” Guy? You enjoy being one-upped by a 411 or something?

Anyway, I guess now is the time to clean out all the random nests of things and kill all the assorted spiders and wasps that really love living in that thing again. This is Texas, so I just assume everything arachnid or insect-wise will kill me if I don’t kill it first—just to be on the cautious side of things .

DISCUSSION (31)

CarsofFortLangley - Oppo Forever > Stef Schrader
05/21/2019 at 17:53

You have a driver named Losey?

Stef Schrader > CarsofFortLangley - Oppo Forever
05/21/2019 at 18:01

Yup, the original Ran When Parked team did. I didn’t even have time to re-theme the car, but uh, it’s a Volkswagen 411. It kind of is the theme.

RallyWrench > Stef Schrader
05/21/2019 at 18:14

Wait, did you race with Nea l?!? I listen to him every morning at the shop on the local public radio station. I knew he did LeMons, but not with you! Small world.

Kickass you got it running. S ince it’s been sitting and you mentioned critter infestations... On the hot running issue, I’m curious if some dang varmints have taken up residence under the tins, blocking airflow through the cylinders from the fan. I seent it with my own eyes before.

EL_ULY > Stef Schrader
05/21/2019 at 18:36

marked on the calendar :]

radness \m/

ihm96 > Stef Schrader
05/21/2019 at 18:43

Awesome! The final parts arrived today to bring my E34 back on the road, so I share in the excitement. I love my clownshoe but it can be a rough ride everyday

Stef Schrader > RallyWrench
05/21/2019 at 18:48

Ha, yup. He was on the original crew and came out in the big Tetanus bunch for the 24 last year.

I’m definitely going to have to check for varmints. There’s a lot of grass from somewhere in the passenger side, and I’m not sure from what. There’s a kind of wasp? hornet? ( bad fly boi that needs to die, either way) that builds nests out of grass and dead grasshoppers around here , yuck.

Chariotoflove > Stef Schrader
05/21/2019 at 19:17

I didn’t realize you had the 411. Guess I was dazzled by those other fancy high brow race cars you have.

It looks like a German Chevette.

Rainbow > Stef Schrader
05/21/2019 at 19:18

Mi ne too! All two of them! And one of them actually has a floor!

Cash Rewards > Stef Schrader
05/21/2019 at 20:02

I hope things continue to look up for you!

SilentButNotReallyDeadly...killed by G/O Media > Stef Schrader
05/21/2019 at 20:26

Wonders happen when wrenching takes precedence over writing or working.

glemon > Stef Schrader
05/22/2019 at 01:37

I remember long ago I was a poor college student with two old British sports cars and a motorcycle and all of them broke down at the same time. I don’t remember all the issues or how I dug myself out, but I feel your pain.

I don’t know that much about air-cooled VWs, but timing and mixture will affect operating temps, you seem to be on top of that already. Does it have a cooling fan and shroud or ductwork to direct the air? Is it all in place and working as it should? Does the car have an oil cooler? , my brother had a 911, it had a huge oil capacity, the oil (as well as the air of course) acted to transfer heat from the motor as I understood it, hence my mention of an oil cooler.

Glad to hear the 411 has no seats, I thought you were a really small person. Good luck and have fun.

Stef Schrader > Chariotoflove
05/22/2019 at 10:54

The engine’s in the right place on this one, though.

Stef Schrader > glemon
05/22/2019 at 10:55

Yep, there’s a fan (a fresh one with all the teeth, IIRC) plus a big shroud that funnels air into it. I should get an oil cooler, though.

Stef Schrader > SilentButNotReallyDeadly...killed by G/O Media
05/22/2019 at 11:01

Ugh. Yeah, no one wants me around at all.

I mean, this only happened because all the parts were already there. :(

Stef Schrader > Cash Rewards
05/22/2019 at 11:02

That’d be a welcome change.

SilentButNotReallyDeadly...killed by G/O Media > Stef Schrader
05/22/2019 at 22:31

I’ ve been out of paid employment now for 13 months... fortunately, I have a well paid partner.

But finding something else for me in a drought battered rural town is not... straightforward.

Stef Schrader > SilentButNotReallyDeadly...killed by G/O Media
05/23/2019 at 00:40

At least you’ve got a partner to rely on. I got nothin’.

SilentButNotReallyDeadly...killed by G/O Media > Stef Schrader
05/23/2019 at 09:24

Truth.

However, never imagine that no-one wants you around...no matter how flippantly... mostly because you’re almost certainly wrong.

Especially if the only measure of that ‘no- one wants me around’ is that no-one wants to pay you money for the skills you most value and take pride in...

After all, I’ ve got 20 something years in natural resource management...and I’ve just applied to be a clerk in a post office!

Stef Schrader > SilentButNotReallyDeadly...killed by G/O Media
05/23/2019 at 14:15

The urge to just...stay at the Nürburgring later this year is super tempting. Anyone want my return flight in August? I guess I really could open a taco stand at this point.

Honestly, out of a billion people out there who can write stuff who are looking for work, no one’s going to go far enough down the list to get to me. They have a bunch of other options who aren’t broken. Why would anyone bother?

Natural resource management sounds kinda fun, though. There is a part of me who wants to pack up the Puffalumps, live in a Cayenne down by the river and do nature stuff, not going to lie. (I even know of a nice river close to Nürburg because I drove into it on a dare! I’m just saying.)

Bill > Stef Schrader
05/23/2019 at 18:11

Thought it was you when I saw he posted a picture of a puffa lump.

Stef Schrader > Bill
05/23/2019 at 19:47

heck yes, Puffalump

CalzoneGolem > Stef Schrader
05/29/2019 at 14:50

Does ran when parked count?

Stef Schrader > CalzoneGolem
05/30/2019 at 11:09

CLOSE ENOUGH!

CalzoneGolem > Stef Schrader
05/30/2019 at 12:45

Kinja'd!!!

Before I disconnected the gas tank it drove into this spot.

MasterMario - Keeper of the V8s > Stef Schrader
06/05/2019 at 07:22

Mine all run, but 2 need work to be driveable. The Corvette needs a new water pump and my F150 needs a new alternator bracket, alternator, and fan.

davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com > Stef Schrader
06/14/2019 at 12:24

Stef - can you please put TFritsch in touch with Patrick so he can write this story for Jalopnik? If he doesn’t want to himself, this would be an awesome one for you.

https://oppositelock.kinja.com/wow-just-wow-1835518246

Stef Schrader > davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com
06/14/2019 at 17:05

tips@jalopnik.com works for everybody.

(I’m taking a little break from writing for Jalopnik for a while as I took on some other work that might conflict, so tips is honestly probably the best option right now.)

davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com > Stef Schrader
06/14/2019 at 17:48

Okay, thanks.

Congrats on the other work!

Stef Schrader > davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com
06/14/2019 at 18:40

It’s nice, but I still need something permanent. :(

davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com > Stef Schrader
06/14/2019 at 21:53

Hope it happens soon!

12SidedDie > Stef Schrader
09/04/2019 at 10:49

!!! UNKNOWN CONTENT TYPE !!!

She’s looking at you, David Tracy..