No man can serve two masters; (Aka, Farewell to the Beetle)

Yes I quoted Matthew 6:24.  No, I am not turning religious on you.

The quote is one that did stick with me from my days in the Anglican Church and it seemed the best to summarize the situation I found myself in.

In a previous post I spoke of being struck with an anxious feeling when I went into the garage.  While that feeling passed to a degree, it never completely went away.  I believe that deep down one knows when changes need to be made in one's life.   For me, the weight of my ambitious list of projects had become far too much for me to manage.

Something had to go.


There were several reasons that the forlorn bug became the sacrificial lamb;  It was taking up far too much real estate in the garage, leaving little room to maneuver.  Secondly, not having my friend available anymore to assist took much of the joy from the project.  I also hadn't really worked on it in a couple years.  Lastly, there was a laundry list of items left to be done, including paint and body work.  That is a very large time and money commitment.

The decision was made and the ad went up.


The Beetle sold (rather quickly) to a retired gentleman with a nice, big garage.  He has lots of time and pocket change to finish what I started. 

Regrets?

Not a one.  I am very proud to have rescued it from the crusher and to have had the opportunity to work on an iconic car;  I learned how to weld and met lots of great VW people in the process.

The first thing I did was secure two new workbenches to put along the walls.  I plan to get another one up as well, to eventually have 16 feet of workbench space (4x the current amount!)

Once everything is cleaned, purged, swept and sorted I can once again focus on my first love, English Iron.

Until Next time....

Change of heart!

I just can't do it...

Cut the roof of an original car that is.  Maybe I am still seeing images of Daisy being cut up for the sweet hereafter.

I started to measure, mark, plot and plan but I didn't feel right somehow.

If anyone is interested in the original sunroof frame it will be up on The Samba for sale.

Until next time...

Was I always this sentimental?

Yes, apparently I was.


It's funny how a memory or feeling can be triggered quite randomly;  for a moment you may even find yourself reliving it.

I live near a somewhat busy country highway, with homes staggered throughout.  On my drive to work this morning I spotted a house with a side lot being used for new Volkswagen storage. I imagine this is rented space for unsold stock from the dealer down the road.  While VW sales have been up on the whole (despite a series of scandals) they are certainly dwindling here in Canada. I was seriously interested in the Golf Diesel wagon until I read about all the fuel pump issues.

I am however, getting off track.

For some reason, as I drove by all those (probably unwanted) cars,  my mind drifted back to 1982.

I have spoken about Victor, our family car at the time in previous posts.  He was a cheerful 1969 red Beetle that my dad bought new, chosen by a narrow margin over an Austin 1100. Considering my father's level of patriotism and belief in the home product, it was a bit of a surprising purchase.

Even at a young age,  I always felt that Victor was a friend;  It was through his small rear windows that I first experienced the world outside of our home.  Being in the backseat almost exclusively, I was also the closest to his mechanical heart, beating reliably on every trip we took.  My favourite being the hour long drives to my grandparent's house in the country.

Victor was a very tough and determined little car;  I vividly remember the brutal winter storm of 1977 during which my sister was born.  The hospital was at the top of a tall escarpment, a 330ft climb from where we lived.  All that could be seen was the blinding white of blowing snow; the high winds repeatedly struck Victor's body as he held true to course.  As larger, more powerful vehicles laid helplessly by the way side, he carved his path and by God, nothing would get in his way!

We had many more memories and many, many good times over the next few years.  The most amusing incident being my father's absolute refusal to allow a bushel of Sauerkraut (the exact expletive laden slur directed at the Germans escapes me) in his car.  My mother was forced to pack it in the front with the spare tire.

Fast forward to the fall of 1982, sometime before Halloween.  It was a Tuesday and my father announced that he would be picking me up from Cubs.  I was strangely uneasy about this as he had never picked me up and we only lived a block away. (Unlike today's bubble wrap children, we actually walked everywhere, something I am quite proud of!)

I would point out that I didn't distrust my father in any way, however I couldn't escape an awful feeling that had grown in the pit of my stomach.  In retrospect this was an early example of instinct and to a lesser degree premonition that has been with me since.

It was rather cool that night as I stood outside the church alone.  I felt comforted when I heard Victor's distinct exhaust note coming around the corner.  My dad was somewhat ambiguous about where we were going, only that it was a surprise.  Was I being sent to military school?  were we moving? I really had no idea.  The drive to our destination seemed painfully slow, but we had arrived.

 It was a car dealership in the east end of the city.  I looked up and saw a strange word on the sign.  N-I S-S-A-N. I sounded this out to myself, unsure of what a Nissan was (Datsun were transitioning the brand at this point; some cars actually had both badges on them).

We got out of  Victor and walked over to a rather boring looking blue station wagon in a row of other boring station wagons.  Dad informed me that it was ours and he would be picking it up the next day.  'What about Victor?' I asked.  Dad explained that while our family had grown, Victor had not.  It was time for him to find a new home.

  Suddenly that awful feeling I had was justified, knowing that I would have to say goodbye to a good friend.  To my father's credit he was excited to have something new and wanted to include me in a traditional father-son experience.  To my credit, I asked lots of questions and attempted to bury my disappointment.  At least that's how I remember things.

Now that the Sentra had come home, Victor was relegated to the parking spot behind our backyard fence.  I would visit with him everyday, sometimes sitting inside and pretending to drive him away.  I worried that someone in the alley would steal him or smash a window.  Fortunately I could still see him from my bedroom.  When he was put up for sale, nobody wanted him.  On the one hand I felt badly for him and on the other,  I hoped we could keep him.

Beetles were garden variety in those days and plentiful.  Victor had one distinct advantage in that he was completely rust free due to a Ziebart treatment when new.  Eventually he was sold to the neighbour's son who bought it for his wife.  With fresh paint and a tune up, Victor was resplendent. That was my last memory of him and I cherish it.  Through a VIN search a few years ago  I discovered that he was sold again in 1985, the last time he was registered.  I'd like to think he is still being looked after by a caring owner.

My one remaining piece of Victor, as displayed on my garage cabinet. 

Is it wrong to love a car or motorcycle?  Not as far as I'm concerned. To choose to love anything or anyone is the noblest pursuit.  With the knowledge that all things must end, it is the bravest thing to be capable of.

As for the memories?  Hopefully the good ones live on forever.

Not the actual Victor, but identical.

Updates and more updates...

Ah, the Throes of February;  Generally for me the low point of the year.  I only get a couple days of work a week,  the weather is poor and my garage unheated.

I am very pleased to say that this year has been far less trying;  With the low Canadian dollar, selling of parts has gone better than usual (unfortunately not so much for buying) and the weather?

This was taken a week and a half ago..

Unfortunately the weather hasn't quite held to this high standard, but the reprieve was more than welcome.   That quick blast through the country side with Katie has me smiling, even as I write this.

I will never be able to say enough about how wonderful these bikes are.  I can't think of anything else on the road with the level of style, performance, reliability and fun for the money.  While I choose to remain mostly stock, the custom possibilities for modern Triumphs are seemingly limitless.


All told it was a good year for riding,  She turned over at 29,000 on my sister's birthday back in December.   If you have read previous posts, I have explained the connection so I won't go into it here.   She passed away at 29 years of age and to see that number on Katie's Odometer on that day  I know she is still with us.

Very little was required maintenance wise this year apart from an oil change, new rear spoke, new rear inner tube and rear disc.   These are all items that are par for the course, especially when you commute daily as I do.  This spring she will be getting progressive fork springs (something I bought years ago, misplaced and have found again) fresh oil all around and fresh brake fluid.

I also need to consider some new rear shocks, at the moment I am leaning toward a set of Hagons.

Some high grade cleaning products to enhance and preserve the black engine casings and frame are also on the list.   I've been doing research, primarily on the Triumph Rat forum and some Harley forums.  The general consensus is that this stuff is best:

http://www.s100.com/s100_eb.htm

I believe I can get it locally and will post the results once I have given it a go in a couple months.

Onto the VW!

With the help of my very good friend, (who is wary of Online media so no names or photos used) we have acheived an astounding amount work:

Here is the current state of affairs:

Here is a quick breakdown of the work (off the top of my head)

- New Floor welded in

-New heater Channels welded it

- Various patch panels applied 

-New front clip welded in

-4 cleaned and repainted wheels

-New tie rods 

-New front shocks installed

My friend will be taking the car to his property to finish the welding work in the spring.  I have all the parts required to finish the work including a brand new wiring harness.  I hope to be driving in primer at least by September!  I am thankful to some great people on The Samba forum and for the holiday sales (with free shipping) from CIP.ca.  

Next entry we will cover some new exciting projects and new rust removal techniques.  

Stay Tuned! 

Alive and Kicking................!

I realized today that it had been a ridiculous amount of time since I posted anything, so I decided it best to drop in a quick update! 

The Beetle project is indeed alive and well with quite a bit of work done! I have a bevvy of pictures to upload in the coming days depicting the current state of affairs.  Since Thanksgiving I have sourced parts (new fender, seats and bonnet from a '61)  Workshop manual (and what a massive tome it is!) New heavy duty floors from Cip1.ca and 1 heater Dansk heater channel.  I am patiently waiting my drivers side channel to arrive so it can be purchased, shipped and installed.  I am told the boat from Denmark docks next Monday, we shall see.   

Truly the biggest and most exciting news was captured in this video taken on December 24th. (see Below!)

With a new coil, HT leads, battery, distributor cap, rotor and ignition key our friend came alive!    

What a wonderful Christmas gift!   

Nothing can provide more motivation than hearing that project run for the first time.

A couple days later, I did an oil change and was very pleased that what came out looked pretty clean. It was evident that the PO had looked after the car (to a degree).  Once I get a little further in I plan on reaching out to him and letting him know that the Beetle is being resurrected.  

I had always heard that these cars were beautifully simple and joyful to work on.  I can honestly say that having only had the Water-cooled VW experience with my Rabbit and Fox those whispered words ring true.  This is a classic car for the everyman.  With limited tools and skills anyone can enjoy and take pride of ownership.  It is also the least expensive car project I have ever been involved with,  parts are plentiful from various corners of the world both NOS and reproduction.   It is very easy to understand how such a cult developed around these charming vehicles.  

Please stay tuned for more long awaited updates!  In the meantime here is video, enjoy!

Meet The Beetle....!

As per my previous post,  I slowly set out to scour the local ads (Kijiji and the like) to get a feel for the market and make some contacts;  Within a week this is what I had gathered:

We have a box of varied '66 parts including a nice Speedo, headlamps in nice shape with decent lenses and various other bits.   The beast below is a 1969 engine which appears to be in pretty good order!  I found that in a heated garage where it sat for 28 years.  The elderly owner would go out and turn the motor manually every once in a while, which explains the strong compression.  I brought it home in the Pontiac Vibe, for anyone reading these little wagons are extremely versatile.  I did however neglect to secure the beast down,  leaving the back of the car covered in old oil and gas.  If you haven't had the pleasure of being immersed in that smell, I would advise that you postpone it as long as possible.  At least the motor had lubrication all that time which is positive.

My initial idea was to rescue a forlorn 1970 from a local scrapyard, with no floors and no engine.  After dealing with the proprietor, I was left with an uneasy feeling;  He initially wanted $500 for the bug on the condition that it was used as a parts car only.  He wanted an additional $500.00 for the car with the ownership which seemed incredibly odd to me.  I wasn't really prepared to buy a car, bring it home and have someone else dispute ownership after the fact so I walked away.  I hope that someone does rescue the poor fellow, he reminds me an awful lot of Victor, our old car.

As I continued my online searches, there was a rather rough but complete '62 two hours away that made it onto my radar.  When I saw a price drop of $400.00 I decided to contact the motivated seller on my break at work. Within 10 minutes I found myself having put a deposit on a car, sight unseen something I have never done before.  The buy in price and as it turned out the flatbed costs were low enough that it didn't need justification.   No choice now but to dive in and resurrect this charming little car back to old glory.   I am not sure if he will get the full Herbie, but I will do the Pearl white which appears to be the original colour.

Without further ado, I present the latest member of the family!

 

New Beginnings and old promises..

I hadn't realized how long it had been since my last post!  In my defence it was a rather turbulent summer,  with a plethora of home renovations to perform, work and other daily duties it went by as a blur.  All the hard work and sacrifice have thankfully paid off and MotoCode HQ has now relocated to a beautiful new location!   Twice the garage,  a third of the traffic, bigger mortgage but so it goes.

I have enjoyed the last couple weeks immensely;  The longer commute to work, through the countryside and onto a freshly paved stretch of highway with few traffic lights, the quiet evenings and space both in the home and around it.   The leaves will be falling soon and the scenery will be magnificent, in my mind I can already see it.  Something tells me my enthusiasm for country living will wane when the snow hits, but for now I choose to remain elated.  

Although I have been preoccupied these last few months with the vagaries of selling a home, packing and relocating there have been some developments on the bike front.  The biggest news being the thinning of the herd.  

After long deliberation, I decided it was time to part with the 350 Bridgestone.  I hadn't touched it in a year and I had bought it on a whim in the first place.  I am happy to report that it went to good home, an army Captain bought it for his ailing father who longed to have another one.  His father had apparently done 44,000 miles 2 up back in the 60's with the Captain's late mother riding pillion.   

Of all the bikes I have ever sold, I probably feel best about this one.  It isn't very often where we have an opportunity to bring someone that close to fulfilling a dream or goal.  I look forward to seeing the end result and hope that with his permission I can share those pictures here.  

On the fresh project front, something has been haunting me of late and has caused me to take a turn away from my 2 wheeled friends.   If you have ever had one of those dreams, the type that seem to speak directly to you, perhaps this will make sense.  If you are like me, when your eyes close the mind drifts to a montage of hazy imagery, sometimes coherent, sometimes not.  Then there are those other ones, the variety that seem to follow you throughout the day and almost define the state you are in. They carry a message or meaning that causes a shift in thinking, making what was important a mere day before less significant.

Mine was about a vintage VW Beetle.  

The humble but iconic little car, ingrained in the public consciousness now for more than half a century.  The people's car was a big part of our family for 14 years,  having an especially big impact on my late sister as it remained her favorite car until the end of her life.  She had a large and eclectic collection of beetle collectibles such as die cast cars, belt buckles and postcards. 

My father had bought Victor from new at Gran Turismo motors in Winnipeg in the fall of 1968.  A 1969 'deluxe' model (which included a gas heater and rear defroster, deluxe indeed!) together they almost immediately set off to Ontario where my father had accepted a position with Westinghouse.   He was there through marriage, home ownership and the arrival of two children,  he was there through snow storms and trips to my grandmother's home in the country.  In my mind and I'm sure hers as well Victor was a member of the family.  Watching the old Herbie movies was even more special with a real VW to play pretend with! 

 When my father made the decision to sell Victor and move on to a Datsun wagon, It was upsetting and I can honestly say I felt a sense of loss.  He was sold to our neighbor at the time and thanks to Ziebart rust proofing when new, lasted several more years on the road.  

In high school, I nearly bought a super Beetle and I recently unearthed some VW magazines I purchased at the time when my father and I recently cleaned up the attic.  I can't clearly remember what got them back into my mind then,  but I know what has returned them to my mind now.  The dream.  It was that dream where I remembered a promise made to my sister;  that one day I would find her a Beetle she could call her own.   

So the decision has been made and cast in stone.  The liquidation of assets has begun and superfluous items sold off to raise the funds.   I am still working on the finite details, I won't be diving in headfirst.  I know that whatever model I end up with will certainly look early (pre '67) regardless of what year it is made.   I have started to gather up small pieces to restore individually in bite size portions.  So far this is only a pair of early headlights and a bonnet, but it's a start.  

I can't say I have ever felt a sense of peace regarding a project before, but this time I do.  There is no anxiety, urgency, obsession.  There is only a sense of time and fulfillment knowing that I am being true to my word.  

Watch this space!