A hitch with the Vanagon

So I was looking for a trailer hitch to put on the Vanagon. I found it. Everything available ran the gambit from removing the bumper and bolting a custom made (possibly by me or a local machine shop) to the frame to replacing the bumper with one that had a receiver built into it to smaller mfg jobs that attach to the tow hooks. well I found a lighter duty one that attaches to the tow hooks and is built by a larger manufacturer. Curt Manufacturing Inc. had just the ticket at a price a little over $150 shipped. I wasn't expecting a lot, but what showed up today (less than a week later) is really a quality product. With a crossbar that is angled with a slight V to clear the exhaust system, it's clear the designers put some thought into what they were making. I had found more than a few hitches that stated very clearly that they wouldn't fit aircooleds. Well this one does. Welds on the hitch are clean and the paint is first rate. Installation was less than 15 minutes including opening the box and reading the instructions. All that is left is getting a ball and putting it on. Good product, good price, and fast shipping. Three things I really like when I'm doing business.
Rob 'I've got the hook up' D.

Sexy Stache

Just ran across this one on Beauty and the Geek and had to share it. I really love the elevator scene. Hope y'all Enjoy!

Rob 'got a stache' D.

The Sharpie was a good call !

So after a day of fiddling with Kiddo's VW, I'm out and about making sure all is well. New Voltage regulator, tightened the Generator belt, repaired the left rear running light, and everything needed a shake down ride. So I'm out cruising the neighborhood and see a suspicious vehicle in the neighbor's driveway. It's suspicious because the house next door is empty and for sale. Well they eventually drive off and I keep right on cruising thru the neighborhood until we stop at the red light that's up at the big road that goes beside our subdivision. So I want to jot down the tag number of that suspicious vehicle, Viola! Sharpie in the Pelican case. Grab a wrinkly piece of paper from the opposite door and we're writing it down. Chalk one up for the neighborhood watch. Well kiddo's back over, time to go show her the improvements to her car. Be safe y'all.

-Rob 'lookin out for the other guy' D.

Protect your Papers and...

So naturally with all the attention this week to Kiddo's THING, it came as no surprise that when we needed some place to put paperwork kiddo voted for a Pelican Case. You see, the Thing is a bit of an open air car. The windows aren't exactly thick, nor are the doors. Papers we found while cleaning it out a bit were shrivelled and stained. Some protection was in order. So off we rode to Bass-Pro shops where we perused the available case sizes and colors. I suggested a 1020 case in clear & black, but kiddo chose instead a the 1040 case you see pictured (it had a pretty red liner). Yes I liked the red more too, though I'll admit orange would have been #1 today. No, I don't think there is an orange liner, yet... So red was more colorful, it was bigger, and only a few dollars more (under $15 by the way). So aside from the registration, what else should the case carry for the on the go, upwardly mobile high school student? Note, student: No aspirin, nail clippers, can openers, liquid skin, multi-tools, or containers of liquid larger than 2.5 oz. Wait, strike the last one, that's air travel, and probably too big anyway. She's just a student right now, although the list does sound like prohibited items at the county lock-up, doesn't it? But seriously, back to a 'what we should put in it' list.

Well, we kept it simple.
First a Red Sharpie Pen.
Then a pair of latex gloves (in case of roadside emergency), followed by safety glasses and ear plugs. You never know when it'll get noisy or you'll need safe eyes.
This of course is the first run attempt. Aside from papers, everything else was optional. We then added a Velcro strap and a decent wire gate carabiner to make the useful cord that came with the case a hair more versatile.

That let us do this; Hang the case from the roll bar. Thinking about it, this would make a great papers case for most any open air vehicle. Dune buggies, Sand Rails, Jeeps, ATV's, you name it. If you need papers (permits perhaps?) and you're exposed, think Pelican. Seeing the rust that I have on some open topped Jeeps, I'd bet the case will last longer than the floorboards. Something to think about. We did. Oh, it was raining tonight for the around the neighborhood 'driving in the rain' course. Windows out, cold & wet. Registration in the case is just fine. Even when we finally decided to keep it in the passenger door and it was getting dripped on.



-Rob 'just in case' D.

First Day of School

I really don't know if I can remember my first day driving to school. I drove my '68 Nova in 1984, it was a gift from my grandfather. It was 16 and I often joked that it was old enough to have its own driver's license. Well today Kiddo drove her Volkswagen Thing for it's first day at her school, a gift from her grandfather. It's a '73 and now in 2008 it's 35 years old, more than double her age. I had a call early from her Mom. "Just so you know, that damn car started today..." she told me. Don't read that wrong, I could hear a smile in her voice. She really wanted it not to start. "She doesn't need a ride from me anymore," I heard her mother say sort of sadly. Welcome to my life a few days ago (I thought) when she started driving around town & to church Saturday. Our baby's growing up and we had both suffered seperation anxiety all over again. "I'm following her as I go in to work," my ex told me. "But tell me", I asked, "doesn't she look cute in her own little car?" (Never mind that the THING is actually taller, wider and longer than her Mom's Saturn...) She agreed our little girl does and that the car really was a good 'fit' for her. (I take the credit/blame for that.) If you're going to a school where different is the rule, the cars the kids drive don't measure up in the odd department. There might be an art car or something of the like, but I will put cash on it that Kiddo's 181 is now the King of the excentric cars in the student lot. And that makes me happy. I'm very proud of how well kiddo's doing in school. Soon it'll all just be a memory. They grow up so fast. It seems like just yesterday that I was picking her up from elementary school in my Thing.

Really, I'm just too sentimental in my old age. I know it'll all be okay. It's her time now. I'm just so happy it's all come together to have made this possible. Kiddo has her own Volkswagen. She called to ask if she could put a church sticker on it... Of course you can kiddo, it's your car. We might put it on together to make sure it's done right, but what you have on it's your call. Thinking about it now though, even if she doesn't wait, it's still her call.
-Rob "VW" D.

Friday's new smile...

peacewheels badge on Friday

So I was hunting around a bit on eBay a few days back. Yes,I was looking for VW parts. Found something I didn't expect to, a stylin' peace symbol to replace Friday's front VW badge. Seems like this new endeavour at the moment is only available for the Volkswagen Vanagon, but who knows, if the sales are good, it might branch into the other lines. The name leads one to think they're planning ahead: www.peacewheels.com. So looking at the auction the seller made a smart move, they listed the website. There I found the badge was available in two styles, chromed and plain (paintable). And the paintable was $5 cheaper. Long story short, I ordered one up, thought I was getting UPS super slow ground shipping, but instead found my order in the mailbox 2 days later via USPS priority mail. Yea Peacewheels!!! So I painted it up today in multiple thin coats of Krylon paint for plastics (between laps of the neighborhood with kiddo in her THING, seen in the background of the above picture) and the results are as Pop is fond or saying at the moment, "Spectacular". Friday's now got a cool badge matching her white paint. Yes, I know the Vanagon's really not the 60's and 70's hippymobile, but I have added magnetic flowers from time to time and the high schoolers at Kiddo's place of education all think it's close enough. Besides, Friday's aircooled, close to the last of the hippybus line before they all went wasserboxer... I think the badge is a beautiful touch. Life's good. By the by, Kiddo did great with her driving and although sick with a cold really had a good time. I did too.

-Rob "Hello again, Hello" D.

Signed, Sealed, Not yet delivered, I'm yours!

A Solex Carb

So today Kiddo's Volkswagen Thing is tagged. An adventure to the tag office, police VIN number verification (something we do in Georgia if there's no title, something to make sure the car's not stolen) and line waiting. I handled about half of the efforts, Kiddo's mom handled the line. Ends up it was a great deal, kiddo got added to Mom's policy and the Thing made for a multi-vehicle discount. Instead of like near a grand a year for kiddo, it ended up being just over half that to add child + old vintage VW. Now just a day or two of driving the stick shift to build confidence and Kiddo's in her own wheels at last. Of course I want to do more & more & more to make sure everything's just right, but it's going to be a learning proccess for me too as the only child gets to come and go independent of parent's providing rides. i remember getting my grandfather's car for my own. I was FREE. (I didn't know a lot about what to do if I broke something, but I was free all the same.) With any luck, I'll teach mine some of the things she'll need to know in case of minor issues. Here's to the future, it isn't what it used to be.
-Rob "I need gas money, Dad" D.

Joke of the month

Since it's a Volkswagen joke... (and a blonde joke too)



What do you call four blondes in a Volkswagen?


Far-from-thinkin.

Our clone (twin) in traffic

So today I picked kiddo up from school in Friday (our '82 VW Vanagon) and head towards church. Wednesday, church... About half way across town I look in the rearview mirror and I see a white Vanagon catching up with us in traffic. I elbow kiddo, "Look to the right..." She does and the other Vanagon comes along side.

<<<(Note here Gang, Vanagons aren't extremely common here in town, much less one that looks like a plain Jane version of us. Kiddo and I have joked that we'd better be careful, the brighness of two Vanagons together here might cause eye damage. Since getting Friday, we have only seen other Vanagon's when we're in other cars. That's how rare they are for us.) >>>

The driver's an older fellow, (than me anyway, might be 50) with a beard, like me... Hmmm, no, it's not future me (I think). He hollers a "Hi." with a big smile. I can't exactly hear his engine so I querey a holler, "Watercooled or Aircooled?" His reply was "Aircooled of course!" Rock on! "Sweet," I yell back. Traffic gets us going as the light turns green. This has to be so darn cool an event I 'll need to write about it in the blog. The plate was from Toombs County. Kiddo agreed it was a really neat thing to have a twin catch up with us as we meandered along for 3 or 4 miles looking at this better shaped mirror of ourselves. It was obvious this guy liked his VW and has taken care of it. Neat Stuff. VW guy, it was nice to see someone with a similar set of car values, be safe out there.

-Rob "couldn't have been me, right?" D.

Wagon Pirates

Okay, Am I the only one that noticed, or does anyone agree that the Volkswagen Logo looks like a weird skull? Okay, it could just be me. But... looking thru some designs I thought, Hey, we need a pirate flag. So I made one. Here it is.

The Dread Pirate Dub

Of course the name's a spin of 'The Dread Pirate Roberts' from the 1987 classic 'The Princess Bride' Here's to fun & games. After all, there's more to life than work.
Smile, you need a break.

-Rob "not a dread pirate yet" D.