Last summer, I took in an albatross of a side job for a fellow to get his '79 Westy back on the road, and get me some money to finish my Poorsche project. I built the engine from an incomplete basket-case, fixed some minor stuff from sitting for the last few years, and he was very happy with the results.
Fast foreward to December, he decides he wants me to get the heat working, and get it to drive better, so ball-joints, rod ends, and the swing-lever bushings will all have to be replaced. It works out for me, 'cause I still need paint, and can't afford it right now. Problem is, the Bus won't run now, so we will need to tow it to my house. He inquires as to what might be keeping it from running. I say I won't know 'till I see it.
Turns out the fellow lost the gas cap some months ago, and plugged the filler hole with a rag. With the wet weather we've had, he's ended up gathering a lot of water in the tank when he stopped driving it for the front end being so loose. I drained a half gallon of water, and about 4 gallons of gas out, and went thru the carb (yeah, single DFEV, I know, so don't tell me
) and replaced the water damaged facet valve fuel pump to get it running again, drawing the fuel out of an outboard marine fuel can. I'm pulling the tank out now, but had to take a break to bandage up my two index fingers I just peeled an inch of skin off of by getting the fuel tank cover off. That's why I'm typing this now instead of removing the tank.
Good thing I had a tetanus shot in '05.
This proves that ignorance is bliss. Most VW owners are mechanically inclined, and repair their own. Some are not, and can't. Some are wealthy and won't. This guy isn't mechanically minded, so he wasn't aware of the effects of his carelessness with procuring a new gas cap after the other one went missing. Had this fellow known what would happen by leaving a rag in the gas filler for a couple of months, he might have done something about it soon after he lost the gas cap, so in turn, I could be doing something else this weekend, instead of cleaning his gas tank, and tendering bloody fingertips.
My rant isn't meant to be ant detriment to his character though. This guy's a good friend, good, responsible family man, and an excellent trim carpenter. I'm helping him out now, and would do it again. The situation just made me reflect upon the human mind's grasp of mechanical common sense. Some folks have it, some don't, but no one's any lesser a person for not.