Been for a Buzz on my Buzzraw

Such a nice day and I was bored so decided to go for a buzz locally on my fat tired, retro styled and pretty darn Funky Buzzraw.

Crusing on my Buzzraw

I have a bank in each direction from where I live, so no matter which way I go it's a solid climb. Of course there are no worries when on my trusty Buzzraw. I can cruise up the various hills and banks no worries, with the power assisted bike. Of course I still have to pedal. 

Up at the fishing pond at Greencroft

No tendons on the BTK today and the knee was set-up for easy operation, so not much air in the can. I find it difficult to stand out the saddle and ride the Buzzraw, probably because the bike is a wee bit small for my frame. That said I always have a blast when out on her and tend to either get some weird stares or cool comments.

Sweet little ride

Love this little bike

 I haven't been out on my various bikes in a while so fitness wise I could be compared to a couch potato, in fact in reality I have been a bit of a couch tatty, just lounging about eating crap and surfing all the various box sets on Netflix.

Speaking of which I have just watched Manhunt:Unabomber. I really enjoyed the show and I am contemplating getting a copy of Ted Kacynski's Book, Industrial Society and Its Future (dubbed the Unabomber Manifesto by the FBI). 

I just found his philospy interesting. And although his means of getting his message across were bang out of order, no pun intended, his philosphy could be considered very true. I got a sense of the movie Terminator, like how when the machines that we rely on so much suddenly became self aware. It is scary to think, just how much we all rely on technology and how the very things that have been designed to make our lives less complicated, and give us more freedom are in reality quite sinister, our every move monitored, as we are coerced to fit into society. WoW deep huh?

Even had my shades on today

4" Tire on 20" rims

Short and sweet...

Testing

Only my second ride out in Myrtle with my dad at the wheel. The first test ride out, being somewhat a fail. Ern has been hard at work, tinkering with various things upon Myrtle, my or should I now say "our" 1965 Volkswagen Beetle. I think Ern has grown quite fond of her.

Been for a ride in Myrtle

OMG! we have grounded on a sleeping Policeman

Things have gone from bad to worse concerning poor old Myrtle. So the story really starts with a simple horn malfunction. I mean going from not having a working horn, and spending £6.99, waiting weeks for it to arrive from China (I didn't realise it was coming from China, obviously when I ordered it from Amazon) then go on to discover that your suspension is basically all to pot, as the track rod end is catching your shocker. Removal of the fuel tank showed
up why the shocker is being hit by the track rod end. Omg someone has bolted the shockers to the body of the car, my front beam doesn't actually have any shock mounts.

Ern has tried to strengthen where shockers have been mounted, a temp fix

Oh Dear Quick Streer Kit, Not Good

We thought strengthening the body where the shockers were placed and fitting a quick steer kit may help resolve the problem until such time as I could afford to get a new front beam and possible Air Ride setup...Well after poor  Ern slaved away whilst I was at work and thinking he had Myrtle sorted. When I got in from work he asked did I fancy a tootle out in her . Of course, I jumped at the opportunity and even grabbed my camera to take some shots.

Just not right

Anyhoo needless to say we got over the first two speed humps in our back lane with the most dreadful scraping noise. The car is way too low, even more so with 2 people in it...Hey, don't call me Fat! As we turned to go out onto Durham Road and set off down the road, there was the most awful "screeching noise". Ern had to pull in at the end of our street and we made our way back up the back lane. "Oh no more sleeping Policemen", don't ask me why they are called that, it's just what Ern calls them. We managed to get over the first one near Carol's shop with metal to road noise and me gritting my teeth my head pitched to one side and my shoulders all hunched. As we got to the next one, Ern driving at a snail's pace, in fact, I think a snail passed us, also gritting his little teeth. Anyhoo we got beached. I figured one side of the hump was lower than the other, so poor Ern had to back up, with more metal to road noise....not good. We eventually got over the lower side of the hump and made it back home.

 

The car's steering is absolutely terrible. Put it this way in order to get out of our back yard Ern had 3 attempts as each time he was heading for the pavement on the opposite side of the road. The front wheels appear to be catching the inner headlight cowls under the wings. I am still not sure what the god awful screeching noise is. Wor Kyle had come out by this point and he identified that one wheel was turned inwards more than the other, so maybe a tracking issue.

Ern has again taken Myrtle to bits, so fuel tank out and adjusted the track rod ends. He fastened 2 sections of 90-degree angle to the wheel drums, these where then sticking out the front of the car and he was able to track both wheels a little more accurately and adjust the track rod ends. I know the tracking will not be perfect, but it has to be a little better than before. As for Myrtle catching, not sure what is up as the shockers are in the same place.


So trying to sort Myrtle out as cheaply and efficiently as possible has not exactly worked out as planned. Yesterday I decided to bite the bullet and spend almost £4,000 on a full air ride system which includes 3p Airlift I then have to get it fitted so have approached LVH Engines and Resto's who are happy to carry out the work. So that is new beams back and front. I have opted for a 4 inch narrowed beam, and not this horrendous 6 inch which is currently on. Bit gutted as discovered the new heat exchanges we have just put on will have to be replaced with J Tubes, so there is another £300 wasted.

Limebug complete Air ride Setup

  Oh and guess what tops everything off... The bloody horn is still not working properly, it either "Beeps" all the time or not at all, depending on whether I have the earth wire on LoL

Things that have gone well....Loving the Rear Led lights I invested in

 

Led rear Lights Now

Super Bright and Funky

  Moral of the story, know what you are getting yourself into and do your research before buying bits n bobs. I have no regrets about buying my little car, her body is sound and I always planned to air ride her, just I thought I may have got to have had a little ride around in her first. I still haven't got the semi-auto clutch fitted yet.

Vinatge Suitcase Boombox

Firstly I have to say a HUGE thank you to my dear old dad, Ern for helping me out with this project. I got the idea after seeing someone online with a Boombox, and then did a spot of research and thought "Ohh that would be fun and interesting to try and make".

Ern at the start of adapting the suitcase

Just seem to get one problem sorted...

Following Ern getting my new horn working on Myrtle I was over the moon with her little "beep beep". Well, that was until I came in from work and Ern informed me he had had to move Mrytle in order to get some stuff out of our back yard.
 

New Horn hiding behind the grill

 Ern went on to explain that as he drove Myrtle out of the yard and around the block, each time he turned Left, her horn would blow, and continue to keep sounding until the steering was straightened up somewhat. Huh! Wtf is that all about?


Anyhoo on closer inspection, we have discovered that upon full lock to the Left, the track rod end is hard up against the right shocker. 

Oh Dear

This in itself is a huge problem, however as the shockers are in rubber mounts, this should not be causing the horn to beep. As we delved deeper into the problem it became apparent that Mrytle at some point had had coil-over shocks installed. I can only assume that when she had her front beam narrowed the springs from the coil overs would not fit, so someone removed them. The shocks installed have the threads for adjustment, however, no collars or springs to do so. Not only that but the shockers on both sides are pressed hard up against the bodywork, hence why when turning left and the track rod end hits the shocker the horn is sounding, as there is a complete electrical circuit.

After much head-scratching and doing a spot of research on the interweb I showed Ern an image and information on a quick steer kit. Plus we also looked at obtaining the correct shocks (lowered to match the drop spindles).

Quick Steer Kit

Lowered Gas Shocks

I kind of begrudge spending money on the shocks as in the future I quite fancy air ride, but hey ho I just want Myrtle up and running until I can save some more money to get the more expensive bits sorted, such as wheels, suspension and her interior.

Other small jobs we noticed whilst on with the car, were that the petrol pipe appears way too long and the brake Flexi's also appear quite long, with the potential to snag, so will try and sort these out in the near future.

 

Pretty long petrol pipe

Ooh almost forgot a job we did get done. After installing new heat exchanges, we discovered that the demister pipes were missing out of Mrytle. This is a bit of a nightmare job as you just cannot get to where the pipes originally go, well not without cutting into the front panels on the underside of the front arches. Ern made some holes that were already in the footwells a little larger and we were able to guide the hoses in from under the bonnet and down the side of the wings. One side had something just say blocking its path and we could remove whatever it was (felt like a piece of metal, covering the area where the heater pipe fits. We improvised and made a smaller pipe, that fits snug, so fingers crossed once all fitted up, Mrytle should have heat and demisters.

Made for the Job

Oh and as a side, not the Retro Boombox we have been tinkering with is starting to take shape, so I will be posting a few pics and a write up when that is done and working.

It's good to catch up

It has been ages since I saw my mate, John. Now that John is working, it's hard for him to find the time. When he is not at work he is generally looking after his young daughter, whilst his wife Kristina goes out and tries to earn a few bob. It happens to most of us, just life I guess, not having enough time to do the things we would like, as we are caught up in the rat race and trying to keep our heads afloat.

Up to the Farmers Trail

John had let me know a couple of weeks ago he may have a spot of spare time, as he had taken a few days off, and so we planned a ride out together. It's always good to catch up, and we always have a laugh, mind you, more often as not it is at all the things that go wrong when we plan an adventure and begin it. This morning was no different. As usual, John rocked up on time, and as usual, I was not ready. I am more of a spur of the moment type guy, so planning the night before is, well just a chore. I do have to say at least I could find all my gear this morning, all I really needed to do was blow up my tires oh and check my Specialized Turbo Levo was connecting to my bike. Speaking of which...


After the last time I decided to venture to the coast I think it was Christmas Day when I first got my new eBike and discovering, about 5 miles from home that my battery had run out, then having the ride from hell the remainder of the way back home I had done some research. I have had a fiddle with the mobile app that works alongside my bike and goes into the "tune" section. You will see from my picture the settings I have chosen. These actually worked quite well today. I did not run out of battery I actually had 25% remaining. I used mainly Eco mode and at some points even turned off the battery all together on the way to the coast. On the way back I used a combo of Trail and on some steep sections right at the end Turbo.

New settings

  At some points on our ride out, on the way home I even gave John a helping hand, quite literally as I rode and pushed him up some of the inclines.


Getting back to this morning, as I went to pop my helmet on, getting ready for the off, something fell off the side. It was the threaded visor adjuster on my Bell helmet. "Good job it came off in the house," I thought, it would have been a nightmare to find out on the trail. As John and I left my back yard we were just about to set off and as John went to put his helmet on, something came off his lid. We picked up the small threaded like knob and looked everywhere on his helmet, but couldn't see a spot for the piece that had come off. "Just pop it in your pocket," I said, so John did just that. We then rode over to the Farmers Trail and as John got off his bike to step over the trail gate, he knocked the visor on his helmet. "Oh," he said, "It's never done that before" as he demonstrated his visor waggling up and down. I had a look at his helmet and "Ahhh that is where that threaded bit goes". I had a bit of a nightmare trying to tuck the threaded visor retainer in place. No screwdriver so I couldn't just remove the visor. What a fiddly job, but I managed to get it sorted and screwed uptight.

Little threaded retainer

A nightmare to get in under the visor without taking it off

Yay up the Farmers Trail, as we approached the top I was a little ahead, all I heard was John shout "Awwww I don't fucking believe it". Here's me thinking "Omg, what's up". John then pointed to his water bottle on his bike frame. "Oh Dear" I definitely don't think that is chocolate John". John is a proper shit magnet, every ride we go on and I mean every ride he gets covered in the stuff.
"How am I going to drink out of that" John says, followed by "Oh man it stinks". John then does his usual trick, of trying to clean his bike with any nearby twigs or in this case leaves, muttering to himself "it's every time and always me".

Errr definitely Not Chocolate

Why Me? "It's supposed to be lucky John"

That's it just wipe it on the grass

All Clean, just don't put your mouth on end :/

Further POO investigation

  Anyhoo a very enjoyable morning out covering 45.17 miles. Heading from home down to Roker, and doing a loop via South Shields. Coming out of Shields and heading up towards WhitemarePool roundabout, then heading up through Springwell and Wreckington, to take a route into Birtley, then all the way up the C2C and back home.

The new Bridge at Sunderland

John still sniffing his fingers

The eBike is the way to go as although I have used the motor I can still feel like I have exerted myself. Plus with this bike, I can pretty much take a few weeks off riding and then just hop on it and not feel like I am going to cough up a lung, or beast myself, hence getting totally fed up with riding.

Weird sort of day, over cast at times, then warm, then raining

Riding along the Cliff Trail at Seaburn

On the way home

Nothing is ever straight forward!

After purchasing Myrtle my classic 1965 Volkswagen Beetle, a few weeks ago, both Ern and I have been "jobbing on" and sorting out things that either the old girl needs doing, or things that make her that much more comfortable to live with...Oh and just little personal touches, like my Dubtastic Custom Mini Surfboard keyring. The Joker is also there on my keys.

The Joker

Custome Dubtastic Design

So far as mentioned in an earlier blog I have replaced all of Myrtle's locks and we have tried and tried to get the wiper motor to sit in it's parked position, however, this has proven to be one of those occasions where we have had to admit defeat. I am now quite happy to have the whole wiper motor and switch put back in the car and just treat the operation of using the wipers and turning them off when they are in a suitable position as one of Myrtle's quirks, a part of her personality lets say.

Speaking of wipers I had ordered 2 new wiper arms along with blades, period correct. Man the hours I have spent trawling the interweb to try and discover what is period correct. Anyhoo upon fitting one of the wiper arms, the place where the grub screw goes in just exploded. Have to say Just Kampers the place where I got the arms from were superb when I contacted them telling them of my problem, as they agreed to get another one out to me at no extra cost. Can't ask for any more than that.

Oh Dear

Moving on that is not where our frustration ends. After discovering Myrtle did not have any heat exchanges I ordered a Deluxe kit. This came with everything we needed to fit new heat exchanges. I was also very excited as I had purchased a new Vintage Speed Stainless Steel Sports Muffler...My she looked fine. Imagine our horror when we went to fit her up and she just would not go near. There were a few explanatives from both Ern and I. Ern got his tape measure out and upon measuring from centre to centre the Vintage Speed Muffler was 610mm, whilst the Heat Exchange pipe was only 595mm. Needless to say, I have had to send the Vintage Speed Muffler back to VW Heritage, which has been quite the chore. Further to that apparently the exhaust I need is not stocked and will take anywhere from a month to 6 weeks, good job I am not going anywhere in Myrtle soon. Oh and whilst I am on about Vintage Speed I am also wanting one of their Quickshift gear sticks, however, no one appears to have them in stock. I can't see the Guidosimplex semi-auto clutch set up fitting on my current Gene Berg set-up.

 




 

Will have to order up another one and then wait.

The style I am looking at, will have to wait and see how the Guidosimplex auto clutch fits and works.

 Whilst lying under Myrtle we have also discovered an oil leak, so it is on the list of "things to do"

Oil Leak

Ok continuing with minor problems and patience being tested. The Heater Tubes I ordered, upon going to fit them yesteday, guess what? Yep, they did not fit. So they are now bundled up and awaiting confirmation to get sent back and we have had to do more measuring and more research to find a pair that will fit, and I have had to order these. Now awaiting delivery.

Dam it they don't fit

Oh, and I am not finished there. In order to get heating and demister to work correctly, we have encountered another problem. The heater tubes/pipes running from the sill and up inside the inner wing, where it's practically impossible to get to without cutting a huge piece out of the car, well they are missing. Both Ern and I tried in vain yesterday to get a piece of the flexi hose onto the bottom of the sill mount. Ern has made a hole that was originally there, a bit larger, it's on the inside of the inner footwell, and we have been trying to twist the pipe onto the mount without success. I have now ordered some slightly larger tubing "Original stuff" and hopefully we will have more success with this. I am gutted as when we have removed the carpets from the footwell is has taken some of the paint off the inside of Myrtle. I mean once the carpets are back in place you will never see it, it's more to do with my "OCD" LoL. I am actually fancying new carpets, something custom, as the car is never going to be a  totally "Original 65".

OK have to stop looking now it's making me anxious

A few other various shots of Myrtle and bits and bobs we are on with

New Door check strap and light switch on order

Apparently, you can no longer get these pipes anymore

I will get interior sorted at a later date when I have more Wonga

Awaiting a new horn push kit

 Some of the engine "tins" removed to gain access to exhaust and heat exchange. I also ordered the wrong seal for the "Popes Nose" Number plate light, however just as well as Myrtle did not have a seal on the small light anyhoo. The "Popes Nose" is from an earlier year Bug, a 64 I am guessing.

Some of Engine Tin removed

Got a seal to pop on here, just going to sort some new studs for lens

Trust Haynes Manual

 A Few shots of Under Myrtle

New Heat Exchange

Looking a bit stripped out, probably best left like this until I get the seatbelt mounts fitted. Heat cables on one side routed through and fixed to the heat exchange. Also awaiting a nice new Handbrake boot.

 

So today and over the course of next week, expecting a few parcels to arrive. Once I get reimbursed for my Vintage Speed Muffler I will order up, what I  hope is the correct version.

Almost forgot I have no interior light, so have ordered up door switches and a top end Wolfsburg West interior light. Only problem being I do not know exactly where it fits, and I am slightly worried about my roof headlining. I may have to get it sorted by a professional along with my throttle pedal, which at the moment is a roller throttle pedal, which is a little cumbersome for me. Oh and I still have to get the seatbelt mounts sorted as there are none at the bottom of the B pillar. I have checked and checked again...Nope, none there.