Indholdsfortegnelse for December 2016 i VolksWorld

“there’s never been a better time than now to be into old air-cooled VWs’’ I’ve just got back from a whistle-stop tour of the UK and feel suitably dosed up on all things VW. My trip got off to a cracking start with a visit to Cool Campers in Bournemouth. Gary Tarrant, his partner, Katie, and colleague, Rob, are doing some excellent work creating made-to-order Buses with the latest kitchens and bang-up-to-date mechanicals based on rust-free imported US ’shells. If you’re looking for something a bit special in the way of a Split or Bay Camper, give them a shout. I carried on along the coast to sunny Shoreham for a quick chinwag with VW Heritage. Every time I visit the company has added even more parts to its range.…

VW clubs have always been an important part of the VW scene, and one that Just Kampers is keen to help keep alive and kicking. That’s why they’ve enhanced their Owners Club scheme by introducing a raft of new features. JK will now issue a personalised discount card that can be used online or over the phone to take advantage of up to a 25% discount on some items. A bi-monthly newsletter will give advance warning of any news and exclusive offers. To apply for a card contact Robert.steward@justkampers.co.uk with your name, address, contact number and the club you belong to. They’ve also decided to organise club tech days at their HQ workshop, where their trained mechanic will guide club members through some tricks of the trade, or a specified…

Get out there! From: www.vohhn.com  Price: £2,995 Market research carried out by Vohn revealed that over 85% of camper owners never used their cooker inside because they didn’t like the smell, and didn’t like the condensation it produced. We’d have to add that cooking outside is always a lot more sociable – and if you have a suitable awning, it’s something that can be done whatever the weather. The findings resulted in the family run Plymouth based outfit launching a whole new modular kitchen concept which revolves around the ability to slide your kitchen to the outside of your van when parked (although it can still be used inside). The system is designed as an alternative to the traditional units that run down the side of the van…

“it was high time I popped my Spa cherry” “Beetles, Ghias and Type 3s outnumbered Buses” “a Bay laden with Belgians chanted “Brexit! Brexit! Brexit!”” Le Bug Show, Spa. As amazing as it sounds I’d actually never been to this legendary VW show at Spa-Francorchamps in Belgium. In all the years of working on VW mags, various things have conspired to prevent me from going and life has generally got in the way. But, everyone who’s ever been has always waxed lyrical about it, so it was high time I popped my Spa cherry. Our trusty steed for the journey was the former Camper&Busproject Bay, now in the safe but tiny hands of ex-art monkey Steve Gosling. He’d serviced it, MoT’d it and generally ensured it would be…

Steve Dago from San Diego spotted this 1959 Bug as a ‘roller’ at a friend’s bodyshop and unsurprisingly snapped it up for $1,000. He wanted a roof rack and started the search, but everyone had the same one so he found some old surf racks at a swapmeet, took them apart and attached the footings to a wood pallet. As he puts it: “From then on it was all downhill…” Basically, Steve took the decision to make everything himself. “I took the front beam off, cut and modified it just guessing it would be low – and it was. I’m just over an inch off the ground now. No front shocks, no dropped spindles.” Steve painted the Bug over the course of a weekend using aerosols and wet sanded it…

“I went to see it and did a deal there and then!’’ Mark Bygraves, 1968 Karmann Ghia Convertible Mark Bygraves has owned his Karmann Ghia for 26 years. He says that even after all this time, driving the car never fails to put a smile on his face! “I had owned a Beetle at one time, but always loved the styling of the Karmann Ghia” he enthused. “At the time I was living in Norwich, Norfolk and one day I was having lunch and perusing a classic car magazine, when I spotted a Karmann Ghia for sale. I thought to myself, wouldn’t it be great if the car was local to me, was finished in red paintwork and with a white soft top? My preferred choice of colour combination. When…

“people are starting to look to later models to get their kicks” Since the days of Day-Glo shorts and all things ‘rad’ in the 1980s, there has been a gradual push away from the more readily available late model, post-’67 Beetles towards the earlier models. It goes without saying that we all want that hard-to-find, rarer-than-rare Beetle but, in doing so, a certain model year snobbery has developed and the humble ’70’s Beetle has, to a certain extent, been kicked to the kerb. But as prices being asked for Split and Oval Window, and even to a lesser extent ‘early big window’, Beetle projects are now where restored Beetles were not so long ago, people are starting to look to later models to get their kicks. Add in the knock-on…

“A reliable way to tell if your flat four is in need of a rebuild is if it uses more than one litre of oil per 1,000 miles” If you have the inclination to strip your Type 1 engine down for a rebuild, rather than just buying an exchange unit, some of the information contained here might save you money in the rebuild process. With expert guidance from the VW Engine Company in Catford, south east London, we show you how to work out which parts are salvageable, and which should be consigned to the scrapheap. Our 1600 twin-port engine came from VolksWorldstaffer, Oliver Vaughan’s, 1967 Beetle. It was a bit of an unknown quantity as it isn’t original to the car, and had been drilled and tapped for a…

Job info TOOLS NEEDED Battery charger Bucket and sponge Grease gun Torch Torque wrench Voltmeter Tyre pressure gauge and pump Wire brush or scraper MATERIALS USED Car shampoo Cardboard Clean cloths Fabric car cover Kitchen cleaning spray Multi-purpose grease Polish Rust treatment Sterilising tablets Sterilising tablets Wax Wheel chocks/bricks/wooden blocks TIMETAKEN 2-3 hours COST DIY£0-£50 Winter prep tips DO Leave the fridge door open to stop mould forming and growing Run the engine up to operating temperature at least once a month Keep the battery fully charged using a trickle charger Move the vehicle every month to rotate the tyres Over-inflate the tyres by a few psi, especially if they leak DON’T Drain the engine oil with the intention of renewing it later Leave a window open for ventilation –…

“The sunshine delayed the premiere somewhat’’ Living in Ireland, you wouldn’t immediately think drive-in movie but the oft wet climate wasn’t going to deter VW enthusiast and Northern Beetle Owners Club (NBOC) member Peter Ferguson from realising his dream of staging a totally groundbreaking all-Ireland VW event. The spectacle featured the first European showing of The Bug Movie with Peter taking the unconventional route of making it a totally outdoor affair at the picturesque location of Newcastle in County Down. The sunshine delayed the premiere somewhat which didn’t bother anyone and a huge screen was set up at the foot of the Mourne Mountains, the slope of the grassy parking area handily creating a natural theatre. As the light faded, the film’s creator Damon Ristau, who had flown in specially…

Birthday brilliance Peter Ferguson, Castlederg, Northern Ireland You can imagine how delighted I was to receive this special birthday edition of VolksWorldfrom my daughter Rebekah Rose Ferguson, complete with a show report from Northern Beetle and Bus Owners Club’s show Bugs at the Brewery at Hilden, Lisburn. I drive a ’67 Beetle and a ’64 Split Bus and recently returned from a dream fulfilling summer holiday around France. Keep up the great work by inspiring us and the young Dubbers for all things air-cooled VW. If we have an editorial vacancy, we’ll give Rebekah a shout! – IC Ricardo Landi, Brazil Racing heritage I am a Brazilian racing car driver and my father’s uncle, Chico Landi, was the first Brazilian to drive in F1. In fact, he used to race…

Show cars are funny things. The majority seem to enjoy their moment in the sun and then simply disappear off the face of the earth, pretty much never to be seen again. But this Type 3 is one show pony that has bucked the trend. If you’re a regular VW show goer in the UK, this ’69 Squareback will be a familiar sight because, unlike many cars of its ilk, it’s been used and enjoyed by the people who’ve owned since it first burst onto the scene in 2007. Blimey, was it really that long ago? So it would seem, because leafing through our back issues reveals we originally featured this Squareback, or Squareblack as it was christened by the team who built it, in the Summer 2007 issue, not…

It’s incredible how the internet has changed our lives over the past 20 years. Not only has it made life easier in terms of shopping and communicating, there’s a wealth of information now available, too. And we’re not just talking Wikipedia and forums here, when it comes to tackling major car projects, there are so many valuable ‘how to’ guides and videos, it’s become quite possible for someone with basic skills and a desire to learn fast to carry out all the work themselves on a project, from start to finish. Meet Hayden Lamb, a 24-year old welder who bit the bullet and decided to create this 1970 Beetle from a rotten basket case almost entirely on his own, with a little help from the internet of course! “My dad,…

It’s been a busy month, and getting work done on the Split Bug project has been difficult with all the other work going through the shop. The main area we wanted to concentrate on was the rear floor / luggage panel, which we knew was going to be one of the hardest parts of the ’shell to restore as no repair panels are available. We spent some time looking for a body cut to repair it with and, if time had been on our side, we might have waited longer and eventually found one. But the clock is ticking. We then considered using a pre-’55 Oval luggage panel, as we have a parts car available to cut it out from. But on closer inspection we realised they are quite different…