Mr Chutney - RIP

[Mrs Chutney]

Hi there, I hope this is the right place for this ....
Sorry for the long post and to Admin for hijacking another account.

I'm Mrs Chutney, Mr Chutney's partner of 25 years and I'm sorry to have to say that Ryan (AKA Mr Chutney) died in June, suddenly at home after an accident.
I've jumped onto his account to let you guys know, as he was an active participant in this forum since 2014.
His family and I are, as you can imagine, devastated. Life has been unbearably hard over these last few months.

Ryan loved Pedro, our 1971 bay which we've owned for 20 years and his last trip was to visit Pedro in the garage where he was being restored, the night before he died. He was really sad at how slow the resto was progressing, as he'd been in since April and is still in the garage now.
So now I'm a recently widowed, single parent to Pedro. I've got no mechanical knowledge, an ongoing restoration which is costing more and more and I'm getting a fair bit of pressure to sell Pedro by concerned family members. None of which have ever owned a classic vehicle or understand what Pedro means to Ryan and I.

So, I've finally plucked up the courage to visit the garage where Pedro's resto is still going on. I haven't been able to think about Pedro without breaking down (pardon the pun) until now, so I'm not sure how today is gong to go. My brother in law has been the go between at the garage up to now, but now it's down to me to get him past the finishing post. So I hope you'll be sending me good vibes!

Also, if anyone is in the South Wales area and knows of any good VW clubs I could get involved with, I'd appreciate it. I think I'm going to need all the help I can get, so I can look after Pedro in the manner he's become accustomed to.

Thank you for reading this far.

Mrs Chutney (AKA Voirrey)

 

[Steve B]

Sorry to hear this. Do what’s best for you - if that’s keeping your Pedro, then do so.

Have you driven the van before?

Best wishes.


'68 Single Cab
'71 Danbury

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Mrs Chutney]

Thanks for your response.

I've often driven Pedro, but Ryan was the main driver in recent years.

I'll only part with Pedro if I really can't cope on my own. He is after all, a part of our family. Though I may need to go on a mechanics course in the future.

 

[Steve B]

Thanks for your response.

I've often driven Pedro, but Ryan was the main driver in recent years.

I'll only part with Pedro if I really can't cope on my own. He is after all, a part of our family. Though I may need to go on a mechanics course in the future.

Good. If you ever find it harder, you can always go down a power steering kit and a brake servo kit - making it brake and steer more like a modern car. As for maintenance, Midland Early Bay and T2D do workshop days where they teach you the basics for maintenance etc. Anything further than that, just find a good, local and trusted specialist who will look after you.


'68 Single Cab
'71 Danbury

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Mrs Chutney]

thats really useful thanks ...

Brakes might be an idea but I'm not sure Ryan would have approved of me adding power steering. (or heating for that matter! lol!)

I may add brakes onto my 'to do' list at the garage when I see them later and will check out the workshop days.

thanks again

 

[sparkywig]

I think I speak for the forum and offer our sincere condolences for your loss, Voirrey.
Get in contact with Graham at Midland Early Bay, he runs "get to know your bus" courses throughout the year.
I second Steve B and agree that a power steering conversion may be helpful, I'm sure that Ryan wouldn't mind because you'll be using the bus.
As for heating, get the stock system up and working first. You'll be amazed how hot it gets.

 

[Mrs Chutney]

I think I speak for the forum and offer our sincere condolences for your loss, Voirrey.
Get in contact with Graham at Midland Early Bay, he runs "get to know your bus" courses throughout the year.
I second Steve B and agree that a power steering conversion may be helpful, I'm sure that Ryan wouldn't mind because you'll be using the bus.
As for heating, get the stock system up and working first. You'll be amazed how hot it gets.

Thank you so much. It means a lot, really.

I'll definitely be booking onto a course when Pedro is back on the road. I'd like to get past the fear of simple things literally stopping us in our tracks. It would put my family member's minds at ease too I think.

Power steering and heating will be on my list to chat to the garage about today. Along with brakes, issues with starting, etc etc (its a long list ;-) )

thanks for your response

 

[Clem]

I'm so sorry to hear this news Condolences to you and your family.

Please use the forum to get any advice, or practical help that you might need. I'm sure we will do all we can to advise and assist you.

 

[Mrs Chutney]

I'm so sorry to hear this news Condolences to you and your family.

Please use the forum to get any advice, or practical help that you might need. I'm sure we will do all we can to advise and assist you.

Thank you so much.

I'll be setting up my own profile soon, as I'm pretty sure I'll be needing a lot of advice.

 

[sparkywig]

If you wish to carry on using this account, ask Clem to change the name to Mrs Chutney?

 

[subheatadey]

Please accept my condolences.

 

[atafonso]

I am so sorry about your loss, please accept my condolences

I am offering any mechanical advice you need(whatever i know)at any time as many times you need, so please do not hesitate to ask. I can give you my number if you want and we can chat through whatsapp, i normally answer very quickly that way(don’t want to reveal i am not great with technology and i can only operate whatsapp properly lol)

Kind regards
Abel

 

[Mrs Chutney]

If you wish to carry on using this account, ask Clem to change the name to Mrs Chutney?

That'd be great if I could. One less thing for me to do

I take it Admin would be OK with that?

thank you

 

[Mrs Chutney]

Please accept my condolences.

Thank you

 

[Mrs Chutney]

I am so sorry about your loss, please accept my condolences

I am offering any mechanical advice you need(whatever i know)at any time as many times you need, so please do not hesitate to ask. I can give you my number if you want and we can chat through whatsapp, i normally answer very quickly that way(don’t want to reveal i am not great with technology and i can only operate whatsapp properly lol)

Kind regards
Abel

That's really so very kind of you - thank you so much!

 

[Mrs Chutney]

Thank you so much for all the kind words and offers of help. It's very much appreciated

I visited Pedro in the garage yesterday and it was as emotional as I thought it would be.
I've added more to the 'to do' list to make sure that I'll have lots of confidence in him in the future. e.g fuel lines replacements, fire extinguisher, adding an oil temp gauge, etc... that kind of thing. All bits and bobs we've talked about getting round to doing for a while but always put off.

The progress with the welding is slow but there were crossed wires with the mechanic, he thought I wanted to sell as an ongoing project and as is ever the case, he had a lot more work on than he had room and time for. It's well under way now but has needed a lot more new panels due to lots of filler being uncovered and needing replacing with decent panels (and yes, I checked and none of them are Brazilian), some of which have been custom fabricated.

I'll now be making regular visits down the garage to keep an eye on how he's progressing.

Is there anything I should be looking out for when I'm looking at the new panels and welding? Any pointers would be helpful.

Thanks again folks, I'm blown away by everyone's kindness

.... at the risk of boring you all with this little saga, I'll keep you posted ;-) x

 

[Analog]

Sorry for your loss

 

[ozziedog]

Hi there Mrs C.
I read of this somewhere else and am personally very glad that you’ve popped on here to let us know what’s happened and how you are making progress yourself. My condolences are indeed added to the ones above with much sadness.
I am also aware that this is an on going restoration and support and advise is always available here on this forum and as I logged in today, I just knew that would already be the case with the above members ^^^ proving me right. After the resto is completed, Pedro (and yourself) are more than welcome at any Earlybay events and there will always be a space for you around our camp fires too, if you can put up with rubbishy music :mrgreen:

Ozziedog,,,,,,,,, and the camper chicks have always been fun to bump into. :mrgreen:

 

[Waspman]

Hi, A few years ago I was in almost exactly the same situation as yourself when my wife died and I can fully empathise with you. I certainly add my thoughts and condolences to everyone else's.

For what it is worth, I think finishing Pedro and using him is the way to go. We got Bluebell out and started camping in her as we knew that is what Caroline would have wanted. I am afraid as far as advice goes, I am hopeless, but I know you are in good hands with everyone here (even though I haven't actually met anyone...hopefully we can put that straight next year or in Brighton). The only thing I really remember about Bluebell's restoration was slow and carefully pays off in the end, especially with the welding.

I think we would all love to know your progress with Pedro, and I can't imagine being bored at all.

Take care of yourself and hopefully we will all see you out and about in Pedro when he is ready.

 

[Katieriz]

Hi Mrs C, really sorry to hear of your loss.

I'm new to early bays myself so don't have a huge amount of advice to give, however my mum was in a similar situation with her T5 van Gino last year after my dad passed away unexpectedly. Admittedly no restoration to handle, but she'd never really been in "charge" of Gino up until that point (or driven him!) She's managed to get out for a few trips and found it challenging but ultimately to get away and have peace and quiet for a few days at a time has been a real blessing. If you'd like I can find out some of the groups she's got involved in, I'm fairly certain a few are national.