the perfect gift!

Today a colleage at work gave me 2 HotWheels which she brought back from her US trip:

the left one is the "standard" blue version -but on a long card (as usual in the US) the right one is the purple version, which is only available in the US! Thank you so much, Ulli!

Radio 3.0

The new Radio arrived today, maybe a little too much chrome, but I think it will look o.k. in the Volksback.
To mount the new Radio I could not use the "old" Radio housing I purchased from Dirk : http://www.sitzfleisch.net/repros.htm

Version for vintage Radios:

 the version for DIN Radios:



The new Radio has the DIN dimensions. Dirk was super nice and exchanged old for new! Many thanks for that special service!

Now this is what I have:

The front plate of the Radio is a little bulky but I think it will work under the Type 3 dashboard, we will see...

Radio 2.0

I changed my original plan to use an old Blaupunkt radio for several reasons and so my search for a reasonable priced "Classic car" radio began. There a only a few options, like the Retrosound:

for more info, look here:
http://www.retrosoundusa.de/site/model_one_c.html
current sales price in Germany, including the correct face plate: around 340 €


The Becker Mexico 7948 - discontinued, current market prices up to 3.500 € !
look here for more Info: becker mexiko-7948

and the Caliber RCD 110: market price around 110 €

which looks VERY similar to the Gelhard Classic 40: market price around 100 €

but the Gelhard has an additional Bluetooth free phone included as well!

The only thing about the Gelhard / Caliber radio I don't like is the red illumination - but I think this can be solved. What a marketing desaster! A "Classic" radio with blue / red illumination - if they would switch to amber / green - they would sell far more of those!

So you can already guess which one I chose... More on that later

2 meetings in 1 day and not a single pic...

This Sunday the Volksback visited the Wattenscheider Käfertreffen and the 2nd meeting of VWBBL in Haan. Due to the bad weather I didn't take a single pic... At least Jens took some pics in Haan, look here:
http://prostreetnotch.blog.de/2012/08/26/taxiservice-14607213/

During the next days some updates about a little sound pimping and the big brakes will follow, here is a first teaser:

take a brake!

here are a few shots of things to come in the near future ...

grooved, vented discs with 4x130 + 5x130 bolt pattern

The purchase of the new brake package is a story of its own - to be told later ...

the road to "le Bug Show" Spa 2012...

My trip to Spa nearly didn't happen! In an attempt to make sure everything's fine with the Volksback, I jacked it up on Friday night. As soon as it was off the ground I heared a dripping noise...
The axle boot started loosing the oil from the gear box! It was always 100% dry until then!

after a minute or so it was already a small puddle

Ahhh - not now! I tried to fix this by tightening the hose clamp - but I overtightened it:

 

As it was already pass 20:00h when almost all shops are closed - I expected to visit Spa with my daily driver... But then I remembered that the nearby DIY store "TOOM" always opens until 22:00h - on fridays only!
Good luck this time, I found a replacement hose clamp and continued the final check...

Early next morning Ralf and Ute showed up, then we met with Timo and Thorsten on the Autobahn:

 Off we went, towards Spa, in beautyful sunshine...

 Empty streets - almost like a pic' from the 60'ies! Ralf and Ute made the pace ...

"Pommes" and Timo were following...

On the way we had a little pit stop:

once more the old saying: "EVERYTHING can be fixed with zip ties" prooved to be true once more...

After a nice trip through the Ardennes and a little visit to the city of Spa ( Sorry, Ralf...) we finally arrived:

this squareback was on sale for 9990 €uro incl. the 17" Fuchs copies -  a bargain!

ultra rare panel van square

I love those wheels - note the painted number plate!

patina'ed bug with detailed Fuchs and a very short axle - but definately not the shortest of the meeting, more on that topic later ...

the show'n shine area was packed with über-detailed superb show cars - including some trailer queens

this bug is SICK!

Mario's super nice square!

one of a LOT of razor edges around!

exaggerated - for my taste this is too much of everything: too much patina, too much camber, too low, too short axle - actually, the front wheels apeared  to be attached to each other -with no front beam at all...

... there were quite some of these panscrapers around:

... as well as another overdose of Fuchs wheels - it really seems like every bug since 1946 got them from the factory

a few of so many really great buses..

The highlight is the Type 3 and 34 meeting in the meeting:

most of the cars on display were really nice - but not all of them...

 the rocker panel and most of the S-shape panels were gone - in the truest sense of the meaning!

 "air cooled" passenger foot well - and the same for the driver's side:

.. but it was one of the biggest attention grabbers!

type 34's aplenty..

cool bumperettes - as well as the rest

the place was packed:

Thank's to Ute; Ralf; Thorsten; Timo; Ulli and everybody we met on a perfect day in Spa!
Special greetings to the 3 Schuler's - it was nice meeting you!