My 2015 highlights

Funilly, almost all my highlights of 2015 are connected to the "Le Bug Show" in Spa in August this year. Besides the perfect weather and the adventure to get there (with Ralf's car on a trailer for the last ~40 km) - This recovery was the first -too good to be true- scene of this weekend:

(note this perfect blue sky!)

So we fixed this (for the 2nd time this year a repair job on the road - the other one on the way to Hannover was also something to be mentioned) , participated in the unbelievable parade,

met so many friends , found out that these Belgians even bring along their own mini"frituur":

and on Saturday  evening we visited the Type 3 meeting - and I (actually my car) got the Type 3 Award presented!

Later this night we fixed yet another Type 3 which fuel pump gave up, which was also a great example of the international camaradery of us -slightly crazy- aircooled VW enthusiasts - Awesome!

During Sunday we drove a few times around the race track:

... had another perfect day and a flawless journey home again later on Sunday afternoon.

I can't wait for the weekend of August 5th-7th 2016 for the next "Le Bug Show" in Spa, Belgium! 

Another highlight was the 6 page feature of my car in the October 2015 issue of Ultra VW, a special thanks to Dokke for the great pictures and Paul Knight for a damn good article!

 Even the shooting on a hot July day was great fun:

Oh - and not forgetting to mention a nice BBQ with great friends in late August! (You know who you are!)

Finally, the purchase of my first Porsche is something I want to add here - I know, it is not a real Porsche, but I like anyways!

So, thank you to all my friends involved in this hobby for having a great time whenever we meet and see you all in 2016!

Christmas countdown calendar

Well, this is my best guess for a translation of the German word: Adventskalender...
This year I have a WERA Advendskalender with real tools (for real men) :-)
24 little doors with 24 little gifts...

On December 24 a full pouch with tools will be accomplished! See low left area of the calendar pic!

New project - new Blog

As I want to keep the projects separated, I started another Blog for the 944:
The Alpin Weiss-ach
I'd be happy if you also visit this one from time to time!

The rev counter - a long overdue item!

One of the iconic areas of the type 3 is the dashboard with the 3 instruments. During the restoraution I invested a lot of time to make them look as a good as new. I repaired the clock and tuned it almost to perfection, with only a bout 5 minutes discrepancy per month.
But with the new engine I need a rev counter - or tach as called in the U.S. -  to control what is going on in the back of the Volksback. The original ones, made by comp. VDO and Gossen are very rare and very expensive as well. On the ISP West website I found a nice looking reproduction, and the price was acceptable. I checked some reviews and the owners seem to be satisfied, so I ordered one:

 Here it is new in the box

The fixation is similar to the original with these tabs and also the illumination is using the original style bulbs ...- I like it!
So, Goodbuy clock, hello rev counter!

There's a new kid in town!

Well, sooner or later it had to happen:

I am a fan of the transaxle Porsche's since a long time. I checked a lot of them and finally I bit the bullit.
This is a 1986 2,5l manual gearbox 944 Targa, Alpina white, black interior.

It is in good overall shape, a few bits have to be fixed (like the driver seat, a common problem on each and every Porsche...).
Maybe I will start a seperate Blog...
The plan is to use it on a daily basis after the H-registration in May 2016...

longing for perfection...

One major change for next year will be a nice set of Porsche Fuchs replicas. The front rims are slightly modified SSP's, they deliver a real cool wheel with the TÜV approval as well, but there is one detail on those wheels that bugged me since day one. The center cap is of good, heavy quality and resembles the PORSCHE center cap almost perfect - with one exception: The galvanic surface is just plain wrong, as there is a slight goldish, nickel-like shine to it. Here you can see what I mean, look close to the otherwise perfect Karmann Ghia which also won a trophy during this years Spa Le Bug Show:

(This picture was taken during the 2014 Weeze Show)

 The cover color doesn't fit to the polished surface of the wheels.

So I sent my covers to a chrome and polishing specialist, to re-chrome my covers, here is the result:

It is not easy to catch the bright chrome shine on camera. Even though it might just be a little detail, but I am sure it will be noticed!

Porsche Museum Stuttgart

Last weekend I visited the Porsche museum in Stuttgart, a great exhibition of the sportscar:

Currently, the 30th anniversary of the Porsche 959 is celebrated with a special exhibition, one item is the  impressive cut-away model, originally shown on the 1985 Franfurt auto show IAA.

 The famous Berlin-Rom Wagen with full aluminiun body

Moby Dick:

forget about flat 4 or flat 6 engines,  flat16! = 16 cylinder twin spark "boxer" engine =32 spark plugs + mechanical Injection

For me, one of the most impressive cars, the Porsche 909 Bergspyder, less than 400 kg weight!

The legendary Fuhrmann engine.

For any gearhead: If you haven't been there - you have to go there!