My actual house is in Marrero, just a tiny bit from Belle Chasse and still on the westbank. I've been to that air station a few times for the airshows, its pretty cool. I actually work at a hospital uptown New Orleans, off St Charles Avenue as a computer guy. I baby sit the server that runs all the financial systems at the place. So long as it runs, I'm a happy man.
Any chance of a pic of that car you said was pretty awesome? I love to see classy cabbies.
If anybody wants to browse some unlabelled photos I've taken over time about vw's, you can click on this to go thru them. Some will make sense, others may not.
http://cajun.dyndns.org:81/images/vw
I have my own real nice server, so can post anything within reason. That folder holds all of the vw pics i've posted to the boards over time. I enjoy helping but also know when to defer to others that know more. Nooo problem admitting im wrong.
Its funny to learn the back stories of these cars. I do know some stuff about them.
The green car was first bought in Ohio. This is ironic considering its current owner WAS from Ohio as well. The owner lived there for a while, then moved to Massachussetts and then to New Orleans. There were notes posted all over the car when I first saw it, like 'THIS CAR IS -NOT- FOR SALE! I WILL DRIVE IT AGAIN'. It was plenty obvious that whoever had it, loved it dearly. Unfortunately the car developed a head gasket leak that let antifreeze into the cylinders. By the time the owner brought it to a shop, the engine was rusted solid(and still is. I can't get a piston out of the cylinder still). having spent so much to maintain the car over the years, she finally gave up and told the shop owner to try to sell it. I saw a craigslist ad right about the time we had a kid with dreams of driving. Went over and checked it out, said I'll take it after looking at it for 5 minutes(praying I could do something with it). Went rent a car dolly, handed over $500 and hauled it home. It sat in my garage for close to 4 months with me wondering where in the heck to start. A couple friends came over for a crawfish boil one day and I mentioned the car in the garage. Within an hour or so, they had the head tore off exposing the rusty cylinders. But the ease of getting that much done was a huge jolt of confidence that I could really do this. Over the next few months, I got an entire engine shipped in. Was able to get the rusty block out, the replacement engine in and running pretty sweet with the help of all the people online.
The first etienne came from a guy in his mid 20's that lived in port arthur texas. He had bought it for $1100 and adding in all the receipts I found in the car, spent close to $3000 repairing it and buying parts for it(including purchase price). He spent several hundred dollars on a kick butt stereo while the car didn't run right. Kinda funny. I did the write up of this car restoration on 'tex. He knew it was an etienne, but when he lost his job it just didn't matter. I gave him $600(asking price) and promised to take care of his car and keep him up to date with the work. I did both. Now that the car has been thru the body shop, the outside is as nice as the inside. It didn't need much mechanical work, other than the usual fuel pumps, injector, brakes, and new belts. Got lucky on this one.
The second etienne came from san antonio. Found it on craigslist for $500 as well.
The day I got back from hauling it home, I posted on 'tex that I had the car. I got a note from somebody who said they had planned to get that car, strip it, and sell the parts on ebay. Said sorry its mine now. This car was in the worst outside shape of all three. The clear coat was nasty and the trunk lid had a huge punch in it as well as the passenger rear corner panel. I'm guessing that somebody had tried to tow a trailer with the home made trailer hitch on this car, and that it had come loose inflicting the damage.
On the other hand, the interior looks like the day it was made. The burgundy is still rich and dark, with no rips or apparent damage. Its a bit of a contradiction. Outside nasty, inside just about perfect. The owner was the kind of person who buys cars, uses them for a while, then sells them off. He had bought the car for his wife as a run around car, but she didn't want it. I'm thinking the $1200 repair estimate for cv joints and other items may have scared her off.
So now Im stewing on what to do with this car since body work is expensive. hmm.... At the time, I had been looking at a car in alabama for sale. The owner started stripping the car. I knew that he still had the major body panels...sooo....I offered to buy the remains of the car to transplant onto the san antoinio car. He said ok, so I towed that one home as well. Hood, fenders, and hatch were moved over and voila. Shiny good looking ea cabby...mostly. Mechanically it was in sad shape. Wrote this one up on 'tex as well. But now it runs nice and is due to go to body shop too.
Soo...thats how I got from there to here. Hope I didnt bore you.
Cars are like kids: We all think our own is the best. 
