I went out today for a spin and took a few snaps. On my way home I remembered I had taken a pic of the van in front of a local church last year. I thought it would be cool to get a "before" and "after" lowering pics.... BEFORE AFTER
A few more goodies arrived........ One of the rear shocks was knackered. I wasn't sure if I should go standard or lowered shocks so I got sent both. I ended up going with the standard in the end. Also got a new steering damper as the original had served it's time. Since I had lowered the van it has been smacking the bumpstops so after *ahem* "alteration" it now looks like this I've cleaned it off and repainted it since The engine had been stalling at junctions so I decided to give it a mini service. Whipped the carb off, cleaned it out and cleared the jets. I also fitted new points and condenser. I took it for a spin a few mins ago and it drives absolutely perfect now! Engine is pulling well and the suspension feels 100% I made a removable bracket on the back of the bulkhead and finally fitted my eberspacher water unit. I recently broke the threads in my (budget) vice so I've finally picked up a new (second hand) one. The garage is slowly getting there. For my birthday a few months ago I received an 8 track player and some cassettes. I'd love to fit it but my dash has been cut (read butchered) for a cd player. Have to find somewhere for it. I also was at a car boot sale recently and picked up this large metal sign. One quick call to a mate who makes stickers and it now looks like this.....
Just stuck the shortened front shocks on. Old ones still felt 100% but were fairly rusty so I thought I may as well just change them.
We were both off on Sunday and the weather was good so we headed off up along a bit of the west coast. I need the van for a festival this weekend so wanted to make sure it was 100%. The van felt a bit down on power and i thought I could hear a deep rumble. The rumble got worse on the drive home so last night I drove it up to a mates house to get a second opinion. He confirmed that it was running on 3 cylinders and the (unrelated) rumble was a loose fan. Last year he had serviced the engine but couldn't change one of the plugs due to it being seized. It looks like that plug had now finally given up the ghost. The drive home was the worst I've had for a LONG time. I expected the fan to go at any second. As soon as I got home last night I pulled the engine and conceded I wouldn't have it for the festival. I soaked the plug with WD40 before going to bed. I was off today so went at the plug again. It FINALLY came out without stripping the threads!!! Cue stupid dance around the garage I then moved onto stripping the fan. This is what I found. Rang an aircooled parts place who said he might have a spare somewhere so I headed over. He managed to get one off an engine for me just as I arrived. I picked up a few other bits too. Back home, and I was determined to get it fixed. Happy to report that the engine's back in and I'm just back from a test run without issues!!! Roll on Indiependance festival!
Small but good update While visiting a buddy in Chicago recently he told me to leave room in my suitcase for the return flight. He surprised me with a load of Playboys from 1979, the same year as my bus.
Looks great, and we all like happy endings, (getting the the Festival). Keep it up! Way to go! You go kid! Enjoy the trip and the weekend!
I cleared the phone pics tonight so the following are some of the events of the last month or so...... The van had been down on power and I had a leak so I booked a day in with some mates who recently openened their own VW garage. Myself and the 2 lads have spent many days (and nights) in and under each other's VW's over the years so I knew it would be done right. I swung into an aircooled parts place on my way to them and picked up a load of new bits including a new crank shaft oil seal. This was the first job after we removed the engine. New crank shaft seal in, Tappets adjusted, rear brakes tightened Full check over all mechanicals while it was up in the air. It was the first time I've had it on a lift and it was great to not be on my back looking at it for once! LOVED the drive back home. Once home I needed to do a few more bits to prepare for the last show of 2014 for me. I fitted a new gear shift bush which tightened up the gear selection ..........and removed and wrapped my heater pipes with insulation material While I was doing stuff I removed the beetle oil bath filter And cleaned up this old bay window original one which I fitted with a new filter The van is now driving better than it EVER did before......and with a bit of heat too............. bet I've just jinxed it now Seeing as I already have a few checkers throughout the van I spend a few mins detailing the mirror
Slightly related, I've added a few bits to the garage. After visiting Mooneyes in Santa Fe Springs during the summer I decided to pay homage to their painted logo on their shop entrance just for fun, albeit on a much smaller scale. Theirs..... ahem, mine...... Almost done for now. I picked up a few old oil cans and I've turned the castrol into a garage bin And finally, during the week I took the dog for a walk around the nearby Lough again. Not often we get a nice sunny day like this in November!
I thought you guys might like a quick tour. Always something going on in here. Now that Christmas is over we can get back into spending some time out there. Have my "latebay" calendar on the wall of course.
I bought new wheels from 'Grum' recently. He had them shipped over to Ireland for me a few weeks back and this morning I had the tyres fitted. I'm at least the 3rd TLB'er with this set.
I remember seeing a pic of yours a while ago Owen and had to do a double take. It was the slider on the wrong side that gave it away
So ALOT has happened since I posted last: I moved house/job to the other side of Ireland, Sold my daily (Golf), drove my 72 beetle for a few months before buying a new daily (Passat) Sold my beetle, Got engaged, Lost the job I moved for after it went into administration. First up is my new garage. I now have a metal roof so it's not as dry in there but I'm making it a home. This is what I started with: After painting walls and floor and hanging up a few shelves/signs I ended up with this: Next up was to plan a journey over to UK for Brighton Breeze. I have never been to a show outside Ireland before but always wanted to do Brighton. First pic was taken at 5:30 the Thursday as we were leaving. Next stop..... Pembroke After meeting up with some of you lovely folks in Epsom WE FINALLY MADE IT 2 days later and a one quick plug change in a Travelodge carpark the van safely brought us home again with another 1500km under it's belt! A few weeks later and I was back out again using it to DJ a yearly VW meet in a large barn And my final update for now is that I got a home made roof rack from a member of my local club here in Ireland. It's a 5 bow rack, a proper bit of kit and I can't wait to throw the speakers up on it the next time I play!
