Reference: YouTuber VWDarrin

One of the most useful resources I’ve had the pleasure to watch are the videos from YouTuber VWDarrin. His many videos over the years, especially those that pertain to engine building, have helped me a great deal in learning alternative ways of doing things.

While I am often a “book guy” when it comes to learning materials, there’s something to be said about having good video content with audio explanations on things that written material sometimes can leave a bit vague. I never realized how much I need visual learning material/explanations on certain things until I started learning to build VW motors. Being a self-taught amateur, and having absolutely nobody in person to ask questions of, I find that the contributions on the internet from people like VWDarrin really truly help me become a better builder.

In many ways, I think I’ve distilled the contents of Tom Wilson’s How to Rebuild Your Volkswagen Air-Cooled Engine book, Volume 3 of the Bug Me Videos, many videos from VWDarrin, videos from DragRacingTV, and many others. But VWDarrin often just has some nuances and little details that I feel are valuable, if if they are unintentional on his part. In fact, video commentaries have helped me to better understand certain aspects of engine blueprinting as it pertains to Type 1 engines.

Here’s a great example video of why he’s a great resource:

I don’t think I can thank him enough for his posts. They really help this amateur driveway mechanic become a much better and knowledgeable engine builder.