It’s been a period of discovery of late. Perhaps that should be rediscovery. Whilst we’re not talking about anything particularly groundbreaking, it’s often these little moments that brighten up the drudgery of the day to day routine. The photos of the bug having just come back from the paint shop in 1994 for example, which I rediscovered over the weekend whilst sorting through some old paperwork. I’m not sure why I didn’t scan them in the first place. Maybe I’d just broken the Joomla site again so wasn’t really in the mood! It’s hard to think that paint job is 22 years old – although she’s looking more orange than red these days! I also came across a few recovery truck photos – I think some are from the Salisbury trip and the others (obviously) are from the trip to T2D to get Clarence lowered.
Our next discovery is one of those situations that is all too commonplace when owning an old Volkswagen and I probably should know better by now. Time will, of course, tell but I’m quite excited at the prospect of not having to use the sliding door to gain access to the bus. I am more than aware of the fact that it can, on occasions, take me a little while to get round to completing what, to many people, might seem to be simple little jobs.
That may well be the case, but they do at least get done. This weekend just gone was one such occasion. There’s a very good chance that my being spurred into action was as a consequence of it being the last weekend before pay day and was therefore at somewhat of a pecuniary disadvantage. Ultimately, that’s not important. There have been a couple of bits of the carpet in the bug that needed sticking back down so I decided to get that done. I’ve also been saying for probably as long as I’ve owned the bug that I’m going to attend to dealing with the excess glue on the A pillars just below where the headliner starts. So that’s now got some WD40 soaking on it (sadly it didn’t just come straight off). Apparently that’s the stuff to use – we shall see.
I also had a quick sort out of a couple of bits in the bus and this was where the old grey cells decided to spring into action. Neither of the locks on the cab doors of the bus function off the key and haven’t done for some time now (pattern developing perhaps?!) but i have been reluctant to do anything because I didn’t just want to stick a couple of aftermarket handles on and have to deal with another key. It’s possible, after all, to get your original locks re-keyed. But then the thought occurred – if aftermarket handles are reasonble enough, and are straightforward to replace, then why not do that and send the originals off to be re-keyed?
The first question was answered quickly enough (22 quid for the pair from Just Kampers) but the latter required a little more investigation. And herein lies the issue. It looks as though it’s a straightforward case of undoing two screws for each handle (backed up by my Haynes manual) and then it’s a simple switcheroo! A nice easy job on an old Volkswagen. Shouldn’t take too long, should it? The bits are due to arrive from JK tomorrow (along with a few other little goodies) so we will find out the answer soon enough!
It turned out that the answer was yes, new door handles are very straightforward to fit. They are indeed just a couple of screws apiece. It’s probably easier if you’re not doing it in an underground car park with people parked either side of you, but that’s not the point. The point is that we now have two front door handles that lock and unlock. When the door is open. They lock when it’s shut, but do they unlock? No. We are so close to having fully functioning front door locks that you can almost sniff it and yet we are still a million miles away. So much for a nice straightforward job……
These days you can find the answer to pretty much any automotive problem on the web – the resources available to Volkswagen owners in particular are pretty extensive. So, having fitted the new handles (and window winders), it was time to get googling. From what I’ve read, I believe the problem to be caused by either a broken or missing return spring on the lock mechanisms themselves. The parts are super cheap at only £2.50 apiece from VW Heritage but apparently it’s quite a fiddly job. Clearly I’m just the man for that! I haven’t had the strength of character to be taking the door cards off again so I’ll leave the full examination for the weekend and take it from there.
One thing I’ll also be fitting at the weekend is the superb reproduction handle for the sink unit that I picked up from NLAVW on eBay. The scumbag who broke into Clarence a while back broke it (moron couldn’t operate a simple button!) whilst he was rummaging around in there. It’s a great colour match with the existing grey handles and it certainly seems to be a very faithful match in terms of appearance.
Update….
I am the lock master! I now have two fully functioning front door locks that actually operate from a key! It’s amazing how happy the smallest of things can make you. And those return springs were very small. Sunday afternoon was spent over at the folks (there was no way I was going to attempt this job in the underground car park) and whilst it did take a little while, I am super pleased at the result and super proud of myself for having achieved it.
Having read and re-read the instructions about 15 times, I was pretty happy with the process and whilst there were a couple of of occasions where some head-scratching took place, on the whole there was very little swearing or stressing. Having stripped the door down and removed the lock mechanism it was clear that the return spring was, as suspected, at fault. On the driver’s door the spring was broken and on the passenger side it was simply MIA. You can see just how small the springs are from the photo with the 20p piece, and whoever came up with the idea of hooking some cotton through one end to help pull it onto the second tab to locate it was some sort of genius!
The only slight downer was that, in putting the doors back together, one of the new grab handles I’d bought from Just Kampers simply disintegrated when offered up to the door. Their customer service is excellent however and they have promised to send a replacement. So the cab is looking pretty good now and for the first time in a number of years I don’t have to use the sliding door to get into the bus! It’s mental how good that makes me feel – I should probably get out more…….
