[plug] VW parts was: Hack, triplej and open source

[Michael Hunt]

On Thu, 2004-07-01 at 11:50 +0800, Shayne O'Neill wrote:

> I'm thinking those crazy kit porches with mad blown VW engines.....
> 
> diy
> 
> My brother drives a VW, and it amazes me that despite rumors to the
> contrary, the crazy thing is so damn cheap for parts.

This was in reply to Bernd's comment:

> > Linux is more like a "Volkswagen"; the People's Car. Except much
> > better because you don't have to buy it. You can build it out of
> > free parts and it'll still run.

Shayne,

VW parts are both cheap and expensive depending on weather you buy the
Brazilian, Mexican, South African, US after market gear or the Genuine
made in Germany VW gear. 

I recently had some brake work done on my 66 Beetle and had a cork
acting as the stopper for the brake fluid reservoir. (Whenever I think
about it, it always evokes images of a Simpson's episode where Bart goes
to France as an exchange student and then is duped into putting brake
fluid in to the 'cheap' wine in order to speed up fermentation *g*). My
friend (who did the work for me) offered to price up a replacement
reservoir that had a proper sealing cap and discovered that the Genuine
VW part cost over $200 !!! (That's right, $200 for a piece of plastic
that holds about 200ml of brake fluid and has a little hose connector at
the bottom for the brake hose to connect to). And to top it off it
didn't even come with a proper lid, just a little rubber stopper that
you pushed into place when the thing was full. The after market part
cost $25 and has a proper sealed lid. Have a guess which one I went for
then !!!

To bring this post back on topic I'm trying to figure out a way I can
log (preferably to my Linux laptop) my engines oil temperature (say 30
sec intervals) over a long journey (say an 1 and half hours). VW motors
are supposed to run optimally at an oil temp of about 125 C, but I think
mine is running hotter. (At the moment I'm not exactly sure what the
temp is as I have no oil temp gauge). As a little project I was thinking
I might try and rig up a temp probe and do something like lm-sensors for
my motor (what happens to motor temp when I am doing 100 down the
freeway) and then try and work on some additional ways of cooling it.
Real time stats would be nice to have to see how planned cooling changes
affect the motor when the car is moving or at idle. (Beetle motors are
air-cooled so I can't just slap on a bigger radiator or flush the
system). 

Anyhow anyone who has some suggestions I would be interested in hearing
from you. My only problem would be that unless I can do this for a few
dollars the project is most likely to remain a bit of a dream.

Michael Hunt