Joey finally made it to Vanfest!!!!

[Shamrockez]

After saying 'this year Joey will go to Vanfest' ever since we bought him in early 2004, it's become a running joke with our friends! We came very close last year, but were let down by suppliers and ran out of time :( so we worked hard on him over the winter, got him MOTd in Feb, resprayed in March and he was finally ready to go to this year's Vanfest!

He ran perfectly all the way up and we arrived on site at about 12:45 ready for the gates to open at 2 (if you've ever camped at Vanfest you'll know why!) Only a few more meters to go until he was in the site:
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a309/Shamrockez7/Joey/PIC_0114er.jpg

Lots of traffic on site looking for good camping spots:
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a309/Shamrockez7/Joey/PIC_0119er.jpg

And arriving onsite, saving a space for our friends while we were putting up the awning:
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a309/Shamrockez7/Joey/PIC_0122er.jpg

We were so chuffed we had some champagne that we had been saving for almost 2yrs! We thought this was a suitable time to drink it - depite neither of us actually liking champagne!
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a309/Shamrockez7/Joey/PIC_0131er.jpg

Now he's been, there, done that and got the sticker :D
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a309/Shamrockez7/Joey/PIC_0133er.jpg

Sorry didn't take any more pics, but there will be thousands on VZi when it's back.


Anyway - we're now home, Joey ran perfectly all the way back. We're very proud :) those late nights staying up to 1am figuring out wiring has paid off!

:beerchug:

[Blugg]

Great News :)

Good to see you had a cool time and Joey must of behaved himself because he was probably more excited than you 2 in getting there ;)

May all 3 of you have many happy returns to Vanfest :D

[Shamrockez]

Yep i think he had a great time! He did us proud going up and coming back without missing a beat :)

Yep hopefully many more Vanfests to come for Joey!

[Dub-Diva]

YAY! Cool, well done :D

[Shamrockez]

Thanks :D

[Duggy]

Nice to catch up with you guys again. Joey looks great and should be good for many more years to come now. No more 18 year stints off the road for him again! ;) :D

[Shamrockez]

I hope not - he's got to work hard now to make up for his big rest! Out of retirement! :D

Yeah was nice to catch up with you again Paul :) did you buy anything?

[Duggy]

:D

yes I managed to find an interior light switch and the bump stop buffer thing that contacts it for the sliding door. Lee from Volksmagic was just pulling an orange sliding Bay door out ready for sale when I got to their stall, so I had the buffer thing off it. It's one of the few parts for a Bay that you can't get new I was told! well apart from a later style door check strap pin which i was also after :rolleyes:

Oh yes and i got one of those GB plates from Cool Air too :D:D

what about you?

[amethystbelle]

aaaawwww thats great news :D All the hard work you have done on him has paid off and you should be really proud, may this be the first of many vanfests for Joey :)

[1958 Harry]

Aww a landmark - well done Joey - I wish Harry was running 'perfectly' :( Will you be saying the same about Bella next year tho? Will she make it to a show next year? ;)

[Shamrockez]

Yes hopefully :D We are very proud! Even prouder that he got there and back with no fuss at all :)

[Shamrockez]

Aww a landmark - well done Joey - I wish Harry was running 'perfectly' :( Will you be saying the same about Bella next year tho? Will she make it to a show next year? ;)
Awww what's happened to Harry?!

Hopefully Bella will make some shows next year! But then I said that about this year :o and the year before :o

[Shamrockez]

:D

yes I managed to find an interior light switch and the bump stop buffer thing that contacts it for the sliding door. Lee from Volksmagic was just pulling an orange sliding Bay door out ready for sale when I got to their stall, so I had the buffer thing off it. It's one of the few parts for a Bay that you can't get new I was told! well apart from a later style door check strap pin which i was also after :rolleyes:

Oh yes and i got one of those GB plates from Cool Air too :D:D

what about you?
Oooh I like those plates! :D Don't suppose you noticed if they did Oz ones?

Ah thats the trouble - you always need what suppliers don't make! Always happens :( but at least you've got them now :)

[1958 Harry]

He was serviced (by Squirrel) - ever since he's been running crap, backfiring, popping, stuttering, and getting very hot :( I've not driven him since last week as he wont do more than 40MPH

Squirrel reckons its the carb being too big for him, now everythings set correctly he reckons its shown up the problem with having too large a carb - he said either rolling road it (£200 no chance!) fiddle with the carb I have to see if we can get him running OK again or get a 1200 carb, i've got hold of a 28PICT1 yesterday but I don't know if its any good, i'm trying to buy some others off VZi but can't pay for em as its down. I'll have 4 carbs then - hopefully we can make one good one from them.

Altho to me it feels like either the valves are too tight or the timings out, I can't see the carb causing that?

I am a bit annoyed tho as Squirrel said he'd ring me back to arrange for him to have another look at Harry and he hasn't :( Can nobody provide a decent service???

[Shamrockez]

:( but he was running so nicely before! :(

I thought the 1300 carb on a 1200 was quite a common thing?

[1958 Harry]

I know - thats whats annoyed me! I phoned Squirrel the day after he'd done the work and he didn't seem to think it could have been anything he'd done??? I know lots of people rate him - but so far its been **** service for me - and i'll have to pay him again to sort the mess out.

Grrr, its so annoying - its probably one of the last few nice weekends of the year and I can't drive Harry anywhere :( I thought Aircooleds were supposed to be simple - but nobody seems to know what they are doing with them!

Also wheres the best place to get fuel line from - the GSF stuff I bought is rubbish!

[Shamrockez]

I think the problem is that there's so many different bits, and so many have had earlier/later parts fitted over the years so not much is 'standard' anymore. When VZi comes back up, ask others about the carb/engine thing and if they run ok?

[1958 Harry]

Yeah i'll try that - altho I suspect most people will say timing - as thats what it seemed like. I think its time to invest in a timing gun....

[Shamrockez]

See if you can borrow one first - I don't think they come cheap! I have a feeling bobmcbob has one? I think Jim has it most of the time.

[1958 Harry]

Just looked - they do em for £41 on Amazon - I might buy one - it'll be handy anyway :)

[Shamrockez]

Ah, that's not too bad then - I thought they were £100 plus! Perhaps it depends on what kind you buy.

[1958 Harry]

Yeah, its a sealey one, does timing advance - i'm just fed up paying people to do a bad job! :(

[Shamrockez]

DIY all the way :D

[Duggy]

I need a timing light too...they're getting proper rare in the shops now. Let me know if it works well Luke as I might get the same or a similar one?

Too lean a mixture makes an engine run hot as does incorrect timing. If you've got hold of a correct sized carb (venturi) for the engine, check to make sure it has the correct sized jets in it, buy a service kit and change all of the gaskets and it should be fine. Carefully clean it out in a bowl with some petrol and when you put it back together use the new gaskets. Make sure that you don't poke anything in the tiny holes in the jets though as you could bugger them up.

Hope you get it running well soon as it looks lush in the pictures. Shame you can't get up here to KK in Birmingham. They'd have it singing like a canary in no time. ;)

[Duggy]

Oooh I like those plates! :D Don't suppose you noticed if they did Oz ones?

Ah thats the trouble - you always need what suppliers don't make! Always happens :( but at least you've got them now :)

Didn't see any Oz ones, or German D's either.

[Shamrockez]

I've never seen an Oz one full stop :( but I keep looking out in the hope :lol:

[1958 Harry]

I need a timing light too...they're getting proper rare in the shops now. Let me know if it works well Luke as I might get the same or a similar one?

Too lean a mixture makes an engine run hot as does incorrect timing. If you've got hold of a correct sized carb (venturi) for the engine, check to make sure it has the correct sized jets in it, buy a service kit and change all of the gaskets and it should be fine. Carefully clean it out in a bowl with some petrol and when you put it back together use the new gaskets. Make sure that you don't poke anything in the tiny holes in the jets though as you could bugger them up.

Hope you get it running well soon as it looks lush in the pictures. Shame you can't get up here to KK in Birmingham. They'd have it singing like a canary in no time. ;)

Thats the annoying thing he was running perfectly before he was serviced! Perhaps a little rich but nothing major. The carb is new - one of the generic GSF ones fits a 1200-1600 - so the jets are a little too big really but nothing that was causing any problems before. I've got hold of 2 (so far :laughing: ) proper 1200 Carbs but whether they are any good remains to be seen - on the old Carb the bottom spindles went leaking fuel everywhere - god knows if these will be any better.

Look on amazon for timing guns - they are nice and cheap on there :D

Oh do you know if they did Swedish plates??? I want a front one made up to match Harys original rear Swedish plate - would look cool at the shows then :D

[1958 Harry]

I've bought a timing gun Luce - let me know if you need use of it :)

[Shamrockez]

Ok thanks Luke - no idea how to use them tho :lol:

[Duggy]

Cool Air emailed me back today to say that they don't know where to get a AUS country plate from :(

[Shamrockez]

Thanks for asking Paul. I don't think they exist unfortunatly :(

[Duggy]

get the Slook lads to make you a sticker up? make a plate out of thin steele or ali plate, paint it white then stick the sticker over it :D

I had a sticker design of mine done last week. Only £9 delivered and it's 18" long! ;)

[Vickie]

Luc I'm so chuffed for you about Joey, he looked ace as always! Well done you guys! :)

Lukey that is bad news about old Harry, I know of a good garage, they solve your problems instantly by stealing your car! LoL!

Seriously though, if you ever need someone to do a good job (he's never let me or my mum or my sis down) try the bloke in Keynsham we take our cars to. He learnt his trade on Beetle's and he's gonna (hopefully) get Olive on the road for us too.

Give me a shout if you need his n.o! Hope you get it sorted soon mate!

[Shamrockez]

Yeah get Olive on the road! :D

[1958 Harry]

Luc I'm so chuffed for you about Joey, he looked ace as always! Well done you guys! :)

Lukey that is bad news about old Harry, I know of a good garage, they solve your problems instantly by stealing your car! LoL!

Seriously though, if you ever need someone to do a good job (he's never let me or my mum or my sis down) try the bloke in Keynsham we take our cars to. He learnt his trade on Beetle's and he's gonna (hopefully) get Olive on the road for us too.

Give me a shout if you need his n.o! Hope you get it sorted soon mate!

Gonna try and sort it myself (much more fun that way) but if I get stuck i'll bear the guy you nuse in mind :)

And I agree - GET OLIVE ON THE ROAD!!! :laughing:

[yellowbug]

Luke pop it down here to Evolution Kerry's a nice enough chap (although a little grumpy at times) He'd like your bug so I reckon you'd be ok

They might be able to help ya?

[1958 Harry]

I rang them a while back, but the wait was for months! He still ain't running right so i'm gonna have a go myself (again!) if no joy then, then I'll try Evolution

I did visit them once a few years back when I had my NB resprayed for a quote. :)

[yellowbug]

There stuffs always in volksworld and that and there mechanic knows his stuff, he's got loads of bugs himself