As I’ve had to slightly rejig my time off to make things fit a little better with year end (and also make it easier on my mental health being stuck at home) I’m hoping I should be able to get a few little jobs sorted on both the bus and the bug. Especially seeing as the weather is apparently going to be ok.

The only really noteworthy VW news is that March is MOT time for Clarence and his first at the new home of the Herbie Hospital out towards Wetherby. It’s a great spot, but a bit of a PITA to get to. The accessibility issues (2 hours from BIW via 2 buses) are almost tempered by the fact that they have a whole load more room there so can store the bus for longer than the old premises.

Normal Service Is Resumed

Naturally he failed first time around:

• Windscreen washer not working (3.5 (a))
• Nearside Inner Drag link end ball joint dust cover excessively damaged or deteriorated so that it no longer prevents the ingress of dirt (2.1.3 (g) (ii))
• Nearside Outer Drag link end ball joint dust cover excessively damaged or deteriorated so that it no longer prevents the ingress of dirt (2.1.3 (g) (ii))
• Offside Inner Drag link end ball joint dust cover excessively damaged or deteriorated so that it no longer prevents the ingress of dirt (2.1.3 (g) (ii))
• Nearside Front Direction indicator not working (4.4.1 (a) (ii))
• Horn not working (7.7 (a) (ii))

Nothing too material there, but obviously a couple of hundred quid left my pocket! My joy at that was compounded 10 days letter when he developed an issue with the clutch. I’m not sure what the issue actually is, because I can’t get him to the garage thanks to this lockdown business. It could well be the cable which, speaking with Johnny should be a fairly straightforward replacement. Having got the back end up on axle stands I’m not sure I want to have a go at it – felt super vulnerable under there!

In other news, I have a new lady in my life. I can’t see her right now other than via video call, which sucks, but it’s going pretty well. The brewing is going from strength to strength and I’m making some pretty good stuff these days. Santa brought me some lovely shiny stainless steel kit at Christmas which has not only made life easier but has also increased output!

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March is also when Clarence’s MOT is due and back in November I had taken advantage of VW Heritage’s Black Friday deal and ordered a new steering box. After 6 years I really didn’t think we would get him through another MOT with the current set up. Unfortunately by the time MOT time had come around, the new box hadn’t arrived so I had to cancel that order and order one from Just Kampers instead. Because of the rarity of LHD early bay steering boxes I decided that we needed to go down the route of converting him to a late bay box. Amazingly, he only failed the MOT on one item:

Nearside Rear Inner Drive shaft which forms part of the suspension coupling gaiter damaged to the extent that it no longer prevents the ingress of dirt etc (2.4.G.4e)

I was super looking forward to giving the new steering box a good test that weekend as Ginger Mat and I were planning on popping up to Harrogate for this year’s Spring Dub, but the snow stitched us up on that one also, the show being postponed to April. Hopefully the weather won’t affect that, or the Clique 53 Spring Classic at Newstead Abbey next weekend.

Instead it got a decent work out last weekend when we headed down to the Waterloo Inn at Biggin to catch up with Darryl and Jo, Tess the dog and the Pageant 7.  Naturally it rained, but at least the snow stayed away. And what a difference the new steering box made! Sadly it couldn’t stop England losing to France in the rugby, but it is so much better, especially on some of those winding Peak District roads. It wasn’t the cheapest thing I’ve ever had done but it makes driving far more relaxed.

Years ago I had the idea of repainting the bug’s old hubcaps and because of some paint issues it was a job that never got completed, I’m not sure what rekindled that idea but I decided to have another go. When it gets a little warmer I’ll be stripping them all again because we had an unfortunate reaction…….

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Fast forward 9 years and I was recently back under the car, poking it with a screwdriver and taking photos for Jim to fire over to the lads at the Herbie Hospital with a view to possibly having the car restored. At the time I started writing this we had no idea of the astonishing events in the pipeline!

So what sort of state was she in? Better than I remember, to be honest! Sure, there was a fair bit of rust but it wasn’t the big pile of red dust I was expecting it to be. The engine turned by hand, so I thought it could well be salvageable and I was confident that most of the interior could be reused after it had a decent clean to get rid of the mould. The Empi 8s looked in reasonable nick too. Despite the positives, I thought there was still plenty that needed putting right.

Only a couple of weeks down the line and I’m still convinced that we’re in some sort of parallel universe, because Lucille is back on the road and legal again already! She’d been shipped over to the Herbie Hospital, failed an MoT (Sesame Street was brought to you today by the word Corrosion), then been fixed and passed a retest within a matter of days. Clearly I have have learned nothing about such things over the last few years! I think Jim was expecting the work to take place over a few months throughout the course of the winter (we all were), so Ron doesn’t quite have his garage back just yet. Talking of the big man, he drove Lucille back from the Herbie Hospital and apparently she drove like a dream!

Whilst I’m still more than a little incredulous at the speed (and economics) of the whole thing, it makes me very happy to know that this particular bug is back on the road. There a few reasons behind that, but top of the list of is the fact that Lucille is the first Volkswagen I ever drove!

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Closer to home, things have been pretty quiet as far as the bug and the bus are concerned, mainly due to it being winter. There was no Black Stone Cherry double header for my birthday this year (we may have seen them 5 times last year!!), but instead I made a pilgrimage to Masham to visit both the Black Sheep and Theakston breweries. There’s only one winner as far as I’m concerned – the OP at Theakston was absolutely out of this world. Can’t wait to get back up there for Matt’s birthday weekend in June!

Clarence had a good wash a couple of weeks back because it would have been embarrassing taking him to the garage for his MOT in the filthy state he was in. As I was washing him over at the folks’, some dude who was driving past actually stopped his car, parked up and came and had a chat with me about him. It turns out he had a 72 crossover back in the early 90s.

Having a bit of room and some daylight on the situation also gave me the opportunity to replace the window lifter on the passenger cab door which had decided to give up the ghost on the way back from France. Let’s hope there’s nothing too major when it comes to MOT time, although I have a sneaking suspicion that the steering box won’t get through this time……

It wasn’t a bad couple of days for Clarence, as he had a decent run out the day previously too. Just before Christmas my landlord notified me that at some stage this year they’ll be selling the flat. They did give me first refusal, but sadly we couldn’t reach a deal. I could afford to buy the place, but I can’t afford the 7 – 10k bill that would be landing on my doormat shortly afterwards to contribute towards the renovations of the communal areas. On the one hand I’m gutted because living in this flat makes certain aspects of life very easy, but I would also love to have a bit more room and some outdoor space. So a couple of weeks ago I was out and about in Clarence scoping other areas of Leeds where I’ve seen a few potential houses. One in particular looked positive – the next door neighbour was out washing his T5 and gave us a wave and a smile as we went past!

Last week saw us pay a visit to the lads at the Herbie Hospital in their new unit – which is directly behind the old one and is much, much bigger. Now obviously Clarence couldn’t have passed the MoT at the first attempt, but I’m super pleased to report that the list of issues was nice and short:

• Offside front Brake pipe inadequately supported (3.6.B.1)
• Nearside rear Brake pipe excessively corroded (3.6.B.2c)
• Offside rear Brake pipe excessively corroded (3.6.B.2c)
• Nearside front Front wheel bearing has excessive play (2.5.A.3c)
• Steering system has excessive free play detected at the steering wheel (steering box fitted) (2.2.A.1a)

The guys turned things nice and quickly and he was legal later the following day, all ready for our first visit in a couple of years to the Waterloo Inn.

In other, I guess more bug related, news I might have bought myself an XBox. And Forza 6 (amongst other things – how good is Steep?!?). So obviously the first car I bought was an orange bug. Admittedly it’s not the right year etc, but you can’t have everything! And you can race in the mountains…….

In reality, Betty is filty, although we did have a run out to Ilkley in the sun as I had the afternoon off the other day. The sun was making a rare appearance and I’d thought it could have been a good opportunity to have a play with the GoPro, but she’s embarrassingly dirty so I decided against it. She will be getting a wash this weekend!

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It’s not all bad news though – my birthday also happens to be the anniversary of picking Clarence up and driving him across the M62 in the snow – 4 years ago now! And what better way to celebrate than to kick off a Black Stone Cherry double-header down at Wembley Arena?

Having spent a week back in La Plagne in January, it’s not been a bad start to the year at all!

Amazingly, it’s been 5 months since I last sat down and and wrote something. But then, things are always fairly quiet on the VW front over the winter – there aren’t really any shows to head to and it’s more often than not too cold to be camping (as our trip to Biggin last February proved!). That leaves plenty of time for planning however. And buying stuff! Unfortunately we had some unwelcome visitors not long before Christmas and Clarence’s aerial got snapped off. W*****s. At least that was the only damage they did. A replacement has been sourced therefore, along with a new 76 aerial ball to go atop. That should be being fitted in a few weeks along with the new woodrim steering wheel that I picked up back in November.

On the planning side of things, we’ve got our first trip to the Peaks in the diary (more pie, beer and cheese), we’re looking at a long weekend in the Lakes, and then there’s the big trip in the bus over the Channel in September. We haven’t figured it all out yet, but essentially it’s going to take in the Normandy landing beaches and various other destinations en route to Guillemont Road Cemetary to observe the centenery of my great-grandad falling in the Battle of the Somme. Hard to believe it’s 5 years since me and Dee took the bug over to the continent on a similar pilgrimage. Strange how life changes.

In order for Clarence to be safe for that and the other trips, this week saw him square up for his annual battle with the MOT testers. I must admit that I wasn’t entirely prepared for the fail sheet:

• Horn is a siren (1.6.2c)
• Front Windscreen washer provides insufficient washer liquid (8.2.3)
• Nearside front Brake hose excessively deteriorated (3.6.B.4d)
• Offside front Brake hose excessively deteriorated (3.6.B.4d)
• Offside front upper Suspension arm ball joint dust cover excessively damaged so that it no longer prevents the ingress of dirt (2.4.G.2)
• Offside front lower Suspension arm ball joint dust cover excessively damaged so that it no longer prevents the ingress of dirt (2.4.G.2)
• Steering system has excessive free play detected at the steering wheel (steering box fitted) (2.2.A.1a)
• Offside front inner Track rod end ball joint has excessive play (2.2.B.1f)
• Centre Steering arm has relative movement at its fixings (2.2.B.1h)
• Offside Front wheel bearing has excessive play (2.5.A.3c)
• Nearside Rear wheel bearing has excessive play (2.6.2)
• Offside Rear wheel bearing has excessive play (2.6.2)

I was pretty irritated with the rubber components having failed, with most of them having been fitted fairly recently. Talking to Jonnie at the Herbie Hospital though, it seems that the quality of rubber parts these days is generally poor. Having seen the state of the front brake hoses once they’d been replaced, all I can say is that it’s a good job we have the MOT test. Not that my credit card would agree!

Anyway, he’s legal now and that’s all that matters. He’ll be heading back to the Herbie Hospital in a couple of weeks to have his new steering wheel fitted and an oil leak sorted. It also sounds as though there’s a piece of tinware missing that could potentially cause some overheating issues so it’ll be good to get that sorted before we try any long journeys this year. He turns 45 on the 19th March, so we’ve got to make sure he’s looked after!

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