Re: [OT] Westmoreland products... Re: [OT] FINALLY!

["Dave Ewing" <rabbit16v@prodigy.net>]

You all have to remember that VW is the 'Cheaper' of the German cars.  And
when I say 'Cheap', I don't mean 'Inexpensive'.  In the BAPS1 course I took,
the bosch rep said that there were quite a few things that VW did to cut
costs and he even went as far as to call them 'cheap'.  Sure, I was
offended, but I decided that it is true.  A VW ain't no Mercedes or BMW, but
(especially to us americans) they are still good quality cars with a great
reputation for a decent price.  All of this to explain that Mexico is
Mexico, Europe is Europe, and the U.S. is the U.S.  All have different
standards whether we like it or not.  Granted, VWs made in the U.S. today
are better built, but look at the other cars in the early 80s!!  There was
quite a push to cut costs not only with VW but pretty much accross the
board!!

My $.02!

Dave

> On Tue, 20 Mar 2001 VWMikeLVW@aol.com wrote:
>
> > In a message dated 3/19/01 11:02:21 PM Pacific Standard Time,
> > green536@hotmail.com writes:
> >
> > While I can agree with you on some of those points, I have to point out
some
> > other things.
> >
> > > Ummm.. dont meant harsh anyones gig here but American built VW's are
pure
> > > crap. They rattle,
> >
> > The reason most rattle is because no one puts all the screws back
in....mine
> > doesn't rattle much at all.
>
> I can't speak for US built Rabbits as I've never had the misfortune to
> drive one (although I've parted one and soon will be smashing the remains
> into a garbage-can-lid sized pile of rust) but the A2 US built cars among
> other things use a  clip-on trim piece around the IC where the German and
> Mexican built cars actually use screws...
>
> > How do you figure? What's so different?
>
> Well, for most US built VW's, many parts are pulled from a US bin instead
> of a German bin (lights, wiring, aletrnator, dash, IC etc)  The US built
> Rabbits were the worst for this  (a push-pull light switch?  Come on...!)
>
> > Um, have you looked at a 70's Rabbit harness lately? The American Rabbit
> > harness is much less troublesome. Electrical gremlins were the plague of
the
> > early Rabbits, Sciroccos, Jettas.
>
> The big problem with  Westmoreland wiring is that it is North American.
> The guage is AWG, the wire colours are often not the same as German
> wiring, and the fuese panel/relay plate and many of the electrical
> components were sourced from US parts bins (like Delco etc.) and have
> nothing to do with anything else that VW made.  If you've spent half your
> life working on German-built VW's, then working on a US built VW is like
> getting slapped in the face with a dead fish a few times.
>
> > > and they had the wonderful idea of square (read: SQUARE)
> > > headlights.
> >
> > I can't defend that one. I don't know why they went to the square
> > lights...perhaps to make it look more "modern" or something. I know it
didn't
> > have anything to do with lighting standards because they contrinued to
sell
> > the Cabriolet with round lights. Oh well... I have them, and I'm not
really
> > that worried about it. Replaced with H4's, and complimented by clear
corners,
> > I think they look fine.
>
> I believe you'll find that the DOT -spec 5x7's were chosen because they
> were a cheap, common hi/lo single sealed beam.  The low cost single lense
> sealed-beam choices were 7" round (not popular with North American
> manufacturers by the early-mid eighties) and 5X7 rectangular.
>
> > > American built VW's are about as good as a Dodge omni with a VW
> > > engine.
> >
> > You're kidding right? Those cars were a mess under the hood.
>
> I personally consider US-built VW's to be a good source for some parts,
> but otherwise a target for bigotry... :)  I have driven (and subsequently
> sold or parted) 85 and 86 Westmoreland Golfs, and did not enjoy either.
> Out of an inventory of two dozen parts VW's, I have only 1 US built
> Rabbit, and 1 US built Golf.  Remember that (with the A1 Rabbits, anyways)
> that these cars had enough US content to qualify as Domestic cars.  The
> Golfs moved away from that a little, but in the end the best thing VW ever
> did was pick up production and move it to Puebla (no offense to anyone who
> might have lost a Westmoreland job as a result of that.)
>
> Drew (84 Wolfsburg Ed.)
>
> Drew MacPherson, Network Analyst, University of Guelph
>
> drew@dyermaker.cs.uoguelph.ca           |  visit the Massey-Harris page:
> http://dyermaker.cs.uoguelph.ca/~drew   |  http://m-h.cs.uoguelph.ca
>
>
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