Innholdsfortegnelse for November 2017 i VolksWorld

“the car was now so low at the front, the tyres were rubbing on the wings” I’d promised the kids a camping weekend away in the Beetle so with a window of sunny weather forecast I found a suitably quiet site about an hour and a half away on the north coast of Brittany and started sorting out camping equipment. Six-man tent, airbeds, sleeping bags, pillows, stove, camping table, food. All of a sudden, there was a heck of a lot to fit in. The table and tent went under the bonnet, sleeping bags and everything else in the luggage compartment or between the two younger boys on the back seat. We were all set, and you could sense the excitement in the warm Saturday morning air as we gently…

Softer springs? My Beetle has king and link pins and is lowered using adjustable beams. However, it currently rides too hard for my liking. Do you have any front shocks to recommend that can offer a softer ride over the bumps on the road? I’m from Singapore and I’m getting pretty fed up with the rough ride during my daily commute. Kenneth Luo, via email Are you running stock shocks? Also, what profile tyres are you using? There’s usually a compromise when lowering a car, but hopefully there’s scope for improving your Bug’s ride – Ed. Here to help We are two French guys in love with vintage VWs, and having encountered mechanical troubles on the road with our VW campervans, we started developing a smartphone app which could help…

Adrian purchased his Beetle in 1993, ostensibly because he fell in love with its vivid turquoise blue paintwork, which he still loves to bits. It’s reputed to be an old Peugeot colour. The rain gutters have been shaved off, solenoids open the one-piece window doors, all the exterior handles have been removed and sensor switches open the bonnet and boot lid. “During my ownership I’ve added a little exterior chrome and I’ve changed the interior,” explains Adrian. “The front seats are from a Scirocco and were retrimmed by Bernard Newbury eight years ago and are extremely comfortable.” At the same time Adrian fitted a new headlining, parcel shelf and doorcards. Some time ago Adrian had an argument with a raised manhole cover which resulted in extensive damage to the rear…

You can almost hear the American voice-over from the iconic 1963 Snow Plough ad in your head when you meet Dave Bridge and his Bus. “Have you ever wondered how the man who drives a drag car drives to the drag strip? This one drives a cleverly tweaked, fully restored ’77 Bus. So you can stop wondering.” Okay, so his drag car, or drag Buggy to be more accurate, is usually in tow behind – but you know what we mean. As we’ve alluded to, despite looking pretty stock, this Late Bay has quite a few tricks up its sleeve. In fact, we’re surprised Dave hasn’t ditched the Buggy and ran this on the strip instead. But as he explains, his reasons for wanting a camper in the first place…

“the sheer scale is mind-blowing” “the admission charge is based on the type of vehicle you’re in, whether it’s air- or water-cooled” Believe it or not it was the 25th edition of Le Bug Show, and although visitors weren’t blessed with quite the same wall-to-wall sunshine of last year, it still went down as being one of Europe’s biggest VW gatherings. In fact, as always, the sheer scale is mind-blowing. Close to the German border, Spa is home to the Francorchamps F1 circuit and is set in beautifully wooded countryside in the mostly French-speaking region of Belgium. The show itself is organised by the Belgian Buggy & VW Club and led by Paul-Yvon Duffieux and Serge Loxhay who always have a great band of helpers on hand to make…

January Camper Mart Date: 14 Jan 2018 Location: International Centre, Telford Contact: www.campermart.co.uk February DubFreeze Date:17-18 Feb 2018 Location:Bingley Hall, Stafford Contact:www.dubfreeze.co.uk March Dub Aid 6 Date: 16-18 March 2018 Location: Earls Barton, Northants Contact: www.dubaid.co.uk TheVolksworldShow Date:24-25 Mar 2018 Location:Sandown Park, Esher, Surrey Contact:www.volksworldshows.com May The Only Meet is Essex Date: 4-7 May 2018 Location: Orsett Showground RM16 3JU Contact: www.vw-tomie.co.uk Vanwest Date:11-13 May 2018 Location:Brean Sands, Burnham-on-Sea, Somerset Contact:www.vanwest.co.uk Run a show? Why not tell us about it? email VolksWorld.ed@ kelsey.co.uk Shows and events in the VW scene…

 This duo’s ’56 Deluxe was imported to the UK from Sweden 10 years ago and has retained much of its originality, including its 1200cc engine, 6V electrics and Polar Silver paintwork. They have owned the car for around three years, during which time Rob has rebuilt the engine, as it was getting rather tired. The refurb included fitting new barrels and pistons, along with some reconditioned heads and a reconditioned carburettor. The distributor and regulator were also rebuilt. Then the engine tinware was powder coated black and the rest of it carefully detailed, resulting in a very clean and sanitary installation. “It’s basically a case of keeping on top of things” A previous owner had retrimmed the seats in green vinyl, though the doorcards are thought to be original. One…

This issue’s Blast from the Past is a little bit left-field. It’s about an object of extreme desire to many Volkswagen owners, yet it has almost nothing to do with the marque itself and wasn’t even a VW accessory, official or otherwise. But that hasn’t stopped it ending up on thousands of VWs all over the world and being much admired for it. We are, of course, talking about the Fuchs alloy wheel. These simple but elegant rims may have been designed for Porsches, but their Volkswagen cousins have benefited almost as much from what is now an iconic yet practical piece of industrial design. In genuine or replica form, they’re one of the default go-tos for many modifiers. Because however good they look on a Porsche, they look equally…

“the vinyl was ripped, most of the seat springs were broken and the headlining was all hanging off” Kate Burch and her husband Mark already own a lovely Split Screen Bus and were looking to add a Beetle to their collection. But, as you can see, things didn’t go quite to plan. “We went to Brighton Breeze and spotted a Notchback – not that we really knew what it was at the time – and we decided we wanted one of those instead,” explains Kate. She did a bit of digging and later discovered they were quite rare, but that made her want one even more – and after a bit of searching she eventually tracked one down for sale. “I took my brother Jim with me to check it…

VolksWorld: Howdy Simon, so where are you based? Simon Kerr: We are in Castle Donington in the East Midlands. It’s a great location with easy access to the A50, M1 and M42 and also has good rail links with Long Eaton and Parkway stations close by. We had our first unit here in 2006, but moved to our current 5000sq ft modern, fully-equipped and secure workshop six years ago. VW: Sounds nice and central. So how and when did you get into restoring old VWs? We’ve heard things are going great guns... SK: Like a lot of people, my first car was a Beetle which I restored before legally being able to drive. Whilst working at an air-cooled specialist I ‘traded up’ to a Bay Window which I later restored…

“often unfinished projects get scavenged of all the good bits” But, before you start trawling the classifieds for a suitable candidate, it’s worth taking a deep breath and having a mental checklist to avoid splashing out on the wrong vehicle. Start by asking yourself, is it really what you are after? Don’t buy a Bus if you wanted a Bug and don’t take on a new project just because a mate’s got bored with it or it’s cheap. A nut-and-bolt restoration is likely to become a labour of love, so before you take the plunge, do a few sums. Assess what needs doing, what parts you’ll need, what work you can do yourself, and what work you’ll need to farm out, to see if it’s really worth it. Assuming there’s…

SUITABLY PRIMED From: www.vwheritage.co.uk Price: from £25 (1-litre) RAPTOR has already come to the rescue of VW restorers with their range of protective coatings; and now they’ve released a world beating epoxy primer as well. Tested with 1000 hours’ worth of salt water spray, this paint-on preserver can be used in conjunction with any top coat, not just RAPTOR. Available from parts specialists VW Heritage, it is sold in 1-litre and 5-litre tins and a little is said to go a long way. For October only you can buy 4-litres of RAPTOR, 1-litre of Epoxy primer and an application gun for £122.40, a saving of more than £60. JUMP TO IT From: www.machinemart.co.uk Price: £89.99 This small and lightweight portable lithium-ion power pack acts as a…

Colin’s ’72 Beetle, purchased in 1988, made it into Readers’ Rides in its former Cal-Look guise and the idea originally was to restore it. “I had a nice shiny chassis built up but decided to make it into a Buggy instead, and opted for a GT Mouldings LWB kit,” he explains. “The body was fitted to the chassis in the early 1990s and it still sports the original black gelcoat, which has remained in fantastic condition.” Currently power comes from a 1641cc engine, built by Harry Harpics, the specification including twin 34 ICT Weber carbs and a Sidewinder exhaust. The interior features comprehensive dashboard instrumentation in a very neat layout. “My dad, Derek, is a wiring genius, he completed a full rewire over the winter,” says Colin. “I was perfectly…

“I had the car built in my head a long time before we began actually putting it together” Let’s set the scene; photographer Matt and I are bravely fighting our way through the M6 traffic en route to Birmingham to meet up with James Munro and his Porsche 356 Speedster replica. Ever the optimist, Matt has already asked James if he can find some palm trees for the shoot. Palm trees in Birmingham, Matt? Really? Yet James has come up trumps and now we just have to get there through drizzling rain that has just turned into a monsoon. And we’re aware that the Porsche doesn’t have a roof… We arrive to find him soaking wet from holding umbrellas over his immaculate leather interior. The seats are dry but he’s…

“With a rat car you always wonder what it’s going to be like underneath” “you get dizzy walking around it trying to see everything that’s been done” If you ever have a day or so to kill, you could easily fill it by casually asking Martyn Marsh, the owner of this ’68 Beetle, to list all the cars he’s owned over the years. “I’ve been a car nut all my life,” he admits with a grin. “I passed my driving test in 1982 and by 1993 I’d owned my 500th car. I’d buy one, get bored of it and buy another the following week. My insurance company suggested I get a fleet policy when it took two of their office staff to lift my folder off the shelf. I’ve had…

JOB INFO TOOLS NEEDED Computer with internet connection or smartphone Telephone (see text) Pen and paper Brain Intuition/gut feeling SKILL LEVEL 3 TIME TAKEN 1-6 weeks+ COST DIY From £1,000 for shipping Whichever way you look at it, buying any VW takes a pretty large investment of cash these days. Time was when you could save a massive chunk of money buying a VW from Europe, Australia, or the USA. The problem now is that good cars are becoming pretty scarce the world over and sellers realise that us crazy Brits (and now most of our European compadres) will pay a lot of money for any old VW. That said, there are still gems to be found, especially if you’re willing to take on a project with no engine/gearbox, or…