Thursday 31 May 2012

House of Dub monthly meet.

On the last Wednesday of each month the House of Dub hold their monthly VW meet at the Hare and Hounds in Ledburn.

The response from the local air-cooled
owners to Zoe's invitation to join them at
the H.o.D. club meet was quite poor.
Only Stuart and I went.
Stuart led the way in his '67 beetle via
Aylesbury town centre.
My view while waiting at the lights. Oh,
and for those who are wondering...
Stuart did beat the Audi off the lights.!
Zoe was there in her new beetle (with faded front end!!)
Mark's lovely T5. The colour is gorgeous
in real life, and the leather interior
 is truly scrumptious

Very nice.

The good thing about the H.o.D meets is,
there is always a good variety of VW's.

This was really nice from every angle.

I'm not sure why but this just looked right.

 I thought this had a 1.8 ltr motor, but
thanks to Tony the owner, who left me a
message saying it has a 
'hybrod passat / golf 2.0 gti engine'
so it's got the looks and the power. Cool eh?

 


Stuarts bug.

My bus, trying it's hardest to shine
in the evening sun.

It was a lovely summer evening to have
a pint and talk VW's with good friends.

Elliot arrived in his cherry red beetle,
looking good as usual.
(the bug not Elliot !!) Sorry mate lol.

Elliot's ariel topper... super cool!

Elliot's beetle and my bus.

Very clean Polo turned up. Love the
end can!

Michelle turned up, in her decorated T4,
so did this red beetle.
(didn't catch the owners name)

It was clean and straight.

Hey, it's nothing some Autosol won't fix.

Spike arrived in Sean & Lisa's bus having
just got a new M.O.T on it for them.

I don't think it needed too much work.

The crew, having some food, a drink
and good natter.

This jet black Golf arrived later in the
evening.

I really do hope this has hydraulic
suspension...

Yes it does, front and rear. Must be good fun
sitting at the traffic lights!!

Do you remember the film Christine,
about the 1958 Plymouth Fury that
was possessed?

My bus looks kind of creepy in this light.





Saturday 26 May 2012

Accelerator pedal return spring...

There have been quite a few occasions recently when I approach a junction or traffic lights I lift my foot off the accelerator pedal to push the brake and the throttle pedal does not fully return, meaning the engine is revving slightly higher than it should. No big deal, I used to just hook my foot under the pedal and lift the pedal up.

There are two reasons for this job...
No.1 fit a return spring to the pedal,
and No.2 place a seal on the pedal
connecting rod to block the hole in.

From the drivers side the hole for the
throttle connecting rod is very apparent!

I went onto the 'Just Kampers' website
and purchased a pedal hinge kit with
return spring and a accelerator pedal
rod seal, all for the sum of £15

Rubber matting removed, you can
see how big the rod hole is... everyone
who sat in the front mentioned that
they could see the road as we drove along.!

It is a cheap and simple fix, I should have
done it months ago. Floor looks
quite solid, but I'll have to red oxide
the drivers side of the floor.

A close up of the connecting rod and
aforementioned hole!

Da Dah..!! Rod seal grommet fitted, how
easy was that. No more rain water, wind
or small animals getting in.!

Pedal back in place with the new hinge kit
 and return spring. The hardest part was
once the hinge bracket bolts were through
the floor, the nuts needed tightening, I
couldn't reach with both hands so I locked
some mole grips on the nut and wedged it
underneath onto the chassis, so when I did
the bolt up from inside the mole grips held
the nut secure and in place and allowed
me to tighten the bolts.

This method is much slower than if you
had two pairs of hands, but the end result
is the same. It should mean that when I pull
 up at the lights now it doesn't sound like I'm
about to do the 1/4 mile... !

Overall I suppose it took about 2 and a half
hours.. and once the matting is back down,
it looks like it never happened. So onto the
test, I had to cruise round for about an hour,
in the sunshine just to make sure it all worked and
the throttle pedal did return and I'm pleased
to say it did.

Sunday 20 May 2012

Emberton Park, Olney.

Due to the cancellation of recent VW shows due to bad weather, Big Bang and Dubs in the Park to mention just two, Zoe (from House of Dub) and I decided to arrange an impromptu gathering of VW's at Emberton Country Park in Olney, Bucks.

The meeting point in Tesco's car park, with Claude,
Myself and Sean waiting for James and
Helen to arrive. (thanks to Sean for this photo,
very well taken)

We left Aylesbury and made our way to Zoe's
House to meet the others. (from the left, Jean,
Claude, Helen, Zoe, James and Spike)

Sean and I couldn't get into Zoe's drive as
well so we were left on the road...

The convoy left for the park and met Rachael
 and the Sierra Yellow Westy en-route.
Claude inspecting the ground after we
parked up.

Just assembling the vehicles in a big circle.
Ruth's beetle, Yellow Westy, Zoe's bay,
Racheal's polo and my bay.

Vehicles parked, gazebo's up, time to fire up
the BBQ.

For such an impromptu meet, it was a really
good turn out.

James and Helen with their super clean bug.

BBQ on the go, time to chill out... even
Bear looks chilled.

Lazy Sunday afternoon.

4 Vehicles from the Ox Dubs even turned up,
thanks guys that made 12 vehicles in total.

James showing under the hood is as clean
as the outside.

A lovely period picnic hamper James picked up
at a car boot sale!

The guys for Ox Dubs, a very basic buggy and
a ratty notch back

Poor guy driving the buggy must have been
frozen as it wasn't the warmest of days.

The engine and rear end of this buggy did
look the business.

The camp from yet another angle...

This sticker was on the back of the ratty
notch and it tickled my fancy !

Ruth's beetle and the Sierra Yellow Westy
that Zoe and Spike have just sold, sorry
but didn't catch the new owners name.

I do like this photo...

Claude discussing his splitty with an Ox Dubber,
and Sean and Lisa.

Home sweet home.