rusty old nail to sow's ear

[sparkywig]

Haven't taken many pics recently, been enjoying myself too much.

Anyway, Busfest.
Usual 1st arrival pic.



When I said 1st arrival, I meant 1st VW to turn up on the earlybay plot. Had this Bedford CA Dormobile conversion as a neighbour for the weekend.



The rest of the weekend was a blur....









:lol:

 

[sparkywig]

Back down the workshop last weekend.
I was right to go lower. :lol:




Strainer plate leak and slipping generator belt sorted.



A couple more gratuitous VW pics.

 

[sparkywig]

Then off to Bristol Aircooled+ Saturday afternoon.
Only took the one pic before it got busy Sunday morning.



Plenty more on social media though, and there's a short video link below.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fgT4ZOzr6Ow

 

[marcher]

Squareback looks nice

That tache really sets off you eyes fella xoxo

 

[sparkywig]

 

[sparkywig]

Brighton Breeze 2016.
Got to Plumpton Racecourse a bit early. :lol:



But had a chat and a couple of beers with some new friends while waiting for the gates to be unlocked.



Camp early bay all set up.





Didn't take many pics, as I couldn't arsed to be honest. Apart from this one Saturday morning.



Weather was dismal most of Saturday, but just had another weekend with good company, a few laughs and a few beers.
And a creme de menthe or two....

 

[gninnam]

Nice pics though :mrgreen:

 

[sparkywig]

So this morning a few friends and I went for a little drive.....



















https://www.facebook.com/pg/volksfestbristol/videos/?ref=page_internal

 

[marcher]

No creme de menthe today fella... your to posh

 

[sparkywig]

That little Saturday morning drive I mentioned....

https://www.facebook.com/volksfestbristol/videos/1283838954993684/"

 

[sparkywig]

**** me, over 100,000 views.
Better pull me finger out and get on with some work.

 

[gninnam]

Mr Popular :mrgreen:

 

[Fernando Palmela]

No 11.111............ :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen:

 

[sparkywig]

Bit chilly yesterday morning.

 

[sparkywig]

People that know me know that I've had some steering issues for a while.
Well since February to be more precise.
After fitting the T'haus narrowed beam the steering became "grabby" and stiff with no self-centering, more especially on sections of road with bends in quick succession or traffic calming islands. But it was almost normal on motorways or dual carriageways.
No amount of changing the tracking, camber or caster sorted the problem.

All done now though.
After having the bus up on the 4 poster ramp to keep the weight on the tyres and suspension loaded we noticed this.



The lower linkpin pinch bolts either side were fouling the spindle steering arms and causing the steering to be stiff and unresponsive under load.
After taking the bolts out there was quite a bit of wear on the heads, probably caused by the nearly 6k miles of driving through UK and Europe this year.
Apparently this is a "known issue" on really low buses. Well, I know now. :roll:
A quick session chamfering the heads with the grinder and there’s a bit of clearance now.





Driving it back home was a revelation, looking forward to next year now.
Still got to replace the linkpins though….

 

[sparkywig]

My plans of doing the roadtrip to Ninove and the Squareback Squadron edition of this year's Freddy Files came to nought after an oil pressure issue on the square on Thursday night.
So after almost 4 months of doing nothing to the bus, and then pouring a gallon of petrol into the tank, it started second time.



With not even a wash it flew up the 200 miles to Kent, for an overnight stay with the Archers on the first leg of this years first Belgian trip.
We were a bit late getting up on Saturday morning and almost missed our scheduled train crossing.
Well, I did miss the train due to an unfortunate conversation with a Border Guard. :roll: :lol:
I made the next one though and rejoined our group at Bonjour Services, and then we drove the 120 miles to the Brouwerij Slaghmuylder.

 

[sparkywig]

There was a large Police presence this year, and a mobile breathalyzer unit parked up on the dual carriageway back to Aalst, so the atmosphere in the brewery was a bit subduded.
Anyway, after a quick wash and change of outfit I headed back into Ninove for the FreddyFiles meal and party at the Hotel de Croone.
This years theme was Roland Garros. Could you guess?



A most enjoyable evening was had by all.

 

[sparkywig]

Sunday morning dawned bright and warm. Shorts and t-shirts in Ninove on Sunday!!!
The queue for the show in town was a bit longer than I've experienced before. Took a good half hour to get in and park up.









Loads of class cars there, and I was a bit gutted to be honest that the squareback never made it into the lineup..









Awesome back to '89 car on show after a full resto. Paintwork by Gavin at Trailer Queen Restos.

 

[marcher]

epic weekend. :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

 

[sparkywig]

After the show finished we cruised on down to Naast and parked up at Roland's Bus Farm for a bbq, beers and a sleepover.







Clear skies and a drop in temperature meant it was a bit fresh Monday morning.





It's always a struggle leaving Roland and his hospitality, but we had a train to catch.