Rusty VW bothering - on the road again….

[rusty_vw_man]

Parcel with stater arrives at 11:10. Lunch break at midday comprised a mug of soup downed whilst extracting this:

new one has a much smaller motor, but apparently the same amount of oomph - given the state of the old one this seems very feasible! It’s the original and lasted about 36 years which isn’t a bad effort! 

main wire needed a clean up as well, doubles as starter and charging cable, so suspect an improvement in electron movement now I have removed this rust!
 

 

inspection now it is off confirms the copper wire is just rotten, it’s gone almost like fabric. It’s only a sort length that is soldered on inside with a crimp terminal on the outside, so will rewire and keep it as a spare for when the new one inevitably shits itself a month after the warranty expires:

All works now though, starts much more convincingly as well which is nice. 

[rusty_vw_man]

So final prep was made: 

that’s correct, those back tyres like a bit of air in them.

Overlander wamker stickers you say? Yes please sign me up:

now one kid can’t see out, but that’s tough as I’m looking cool*

So, with the essentials sorted it was time to leave - the plan, eldest does theatre performance, collect her, get to Frankley services for the night (living the high life) pop in and see some mates then the ferry to Northern Spain, then Portugal. 
Parked outside mates house were two very different beasts neither theirs, their Vito had FTP’d on the way back from skiing and was somewhere still in deepest France):

Rover is for sale is anyone likes the look, £5.5k, hasn’t moved in a couple of years by the look of it. 
mates seen we hit the ferry - so much greener than flying:

29 hours at sea. Plan was get off the boat and turn right to Portugal, but:

 

hmm, two weeks camping in that. Not for us, so sneaky left turn to the east coast of Spain instead. 

High up:

Knock off baileys comes in gallon bottles if required:

new set up, roof tent and bed inside the van:

Camping TARRAGONA had two piagio apes as service vehicles, score  high with me!

was in Tarragona for Easter - wild parade through town, 20 ‘floats’ of the scenes of Christ carried by masked men through town 

Strangely unsettling stuff. 

local tat I liked

bastard photos STAY THE RIGHT WAY UP!! 

need water 2100 years ago - no worries just knock up a little aqueduct, wild to walk over it given how old it was. 

Next onto the Ebro Delta, dead Flat, salt flats and real life wild flamingoes!

and a gecko:

Next onto Cuenca, which was awesome:

although this bridge gave us the fear - the boards were loose:

Funky land train action 

went into the modern art museum, not really my thing but this textured rusty splodge really reminded me of the underside of my van:

This beauty was parked up in the car park

dinner spot 

Saw a great photo of a picnic from the 19080s - any idea of the cars?

think the little one is the seat version of the fiat 500….

Favourite ever car of the trip - complete with baby seat:

it was at this point I suffered a major failure - the zip tie on my solar wire snapped.  Tough times. 

fixed. 

then congratulating myself on my fix I Alan it gave myself a heart attack - oil alL over the rear bumper 

after some investigations it was tracked back to some sausage frying earlier in the day. And breathe. 

Next was back up to Bilbao - crazy museum 

Then back home.  About 1000 miles in Spain, and another 600 miles getting to Portsmouth and back. Only issue was 1l of oil used which is a bit higher than ideal, and a reluctance to idle when cold which needs a look at. 

Some tweaks to be made then it’s 4 weeks to another brief trip this time to Scotland. 

[High Jetter]

8 hours ago, rusty_vw_man said:

Saw a great photo of a picnic from the 19080s - any idea of the cars?

T'other looks like a Simca 1100 to me, like the brown one that was driven here from Spain.

[Volksy]

Yep Simca 1100, and a Seat 600D

Renault 4 I think peeping in on the right.

[rusty_vw_man]

Well the roof tent wasn’t great, and the manufacturer claimed that a new magic liner would solve all - so needed to give it a try before 3 weeks living in it this summer. So where to take it….. somewhere close I guess for a quick test…. Hmmmmm…… 

Well for the first weekend of half term we were in Newcastle visiting some friends so makes sense to turn it into a week and try the tent. Anywhere nice near Newcastle we wondered? Booked nicest site that we could find nearby:

that’s got it. In total 600 miles there (and the miles seemed to get longer once we got into the Cairngorms!). 

Somewhere in the gloom is Ben Nevis, and smeared over the countryside is about  a litre of 20w50 oil - not sure where it’s going but the engine has been working hard:

Got us here though - it’s a proper campsite but not like any I’ve stayed on before! Views out to Skye and the Hebrides.

Only down side was it’s not that flat - campsites shop will sell me levelling chocks for £how much or a quick rummage on the beach for some stones! 

Not seen any shite - campsite is full of shiny new vans, and the roads are broadly empty., but will keep an eye out, if I can see through these clouds of midges……

[Dyslexic Viking]

That looks like a great place to camp.

[stuboy]

thank god uve not put massive black wheels and over knobbly tyres..

[rusty_vw_man]

1 hour ago, Dyslexic Viking said:

That looks like a great place to camp.

I’ve done literally hundreds of sites over the years and this is one of the best.

1 hour ago, stuboy said:

thank god uve not put massive black wheels and over knobbly tyres..

I have noticed a correlation that those with big ‘swamper’ wheels seem much more likely to be on a tarmac or gravel pitch. The access to that pitch was up a steep sand track, but some momentum and some (unevenly worn!) budget mud and snow commercial van tyres seemed to do the trick…. Most of the good spots in the dunes are taken with older vans on road tyres.

[rusty_vw_man]

Hmm, still not spotted any shite - to be fair I haven’t seen much of anything:

[Rustybullethole]

What a lovey place to be. Enjoy. 

[rusty_vw_man]

Back to more fixing and less travel blog! MOT is due which means I had three urgent tasks to do - a hole within 30cm of the shock top mount to weld, the shite running cold and most importantly the washer jets that had stopped squirting. 

Since I fitted the new starter it has been running crap on choke, and seemed a bit down on power. Seemed a coincidence too large, so assumed I had broken something. I have been fiddling with the choke for a while trying to get it better, but no real change. Pulled the plugs for clues:

very dry and no real deposits, which is odd as they tend to be a bit sooty/oily on these so assume running lean. So started looking for air leaks - when I found this

a bit of vacuum hose with a bolt in.  Peering down the end is the remains of a brass tube:

 

I know where this is from - PO had blocked off a vacuum port round the back of the carb which used to operate a hot/cold flap mechanism. It wasn’t pretty but it worked, until my fat hand had caught it whilst getting to the top bolt of the starter. Easy fix with a bit of metal expoy putty:

Running all fixed, no longer stalls all the time whilst cold, and seems to have regained a little more ooomph. Always amazed how much effect a small hole in the inlet has. 

Whilst it wasn’t on the list of jobs, the poxy fuel pump base was seeping oil again so made up some new gaskets. Used the finest gasket paper in my cupboard:

Next was this hole - this is upside down, there is a this steel sheet between a top and bottom chassis rail. It’s only job is to keep stuff out the engine bay, but MOT man won’t allow any holes as it’s all within prescribed distance of various bits: 

other side

 

Chopped out the grot and welded pâtés in - no photos as phone went flat at this point, but soon had it looking better 

and finished:

whilst I was rolling around underneath I also treated all the various bits of rust underneath again, and touched up underseal on the bits that get the worst of the stones and spray  

Poked the washer jets with a pin and they are back in business. 

So now just need to get a new tyre to replace the one with a scrubbed side (must finished new suspension bushes and get tracking done!) and then will pop it in for an MOT. 

[rm36house]

Very nice thread. Much thumbs up from me to repair/drive and enjoy car as it's meant to be. Great work Sir! 

[rusty_vw_man]

First thing - tyre.

Hmm… not sure the breaker bar is supposed to be the bit that breaks. 

This is less good:

 

given tracking is still slightly* out I have gone for a high quality tyre - I think the name is perfect for a tyre:

Yep, that really does say triangle, allegedly China’s premium tyre brand. It is however a proper van tyre, has shit loads of tread and was £67 fitted so will do until the tracking can be sorted, which is after the suspension bushes are done. 

Asked the chap in kwik fit to blow it up to 43psi for me, but he only managed 30psi, not sure why it’s so hard for them, it’s not like air costs money.

Next was to cause massive self harm to my arms, and whilst I was at I try and make the internal lock pull work on the drivers door:

access 

this plastic bit had stretched and needed glueing on:

All sorted I have lobbed it in for an MOT. Now waiting on a bench to see how much money and effort is going to be needed over the next few days!! 

[rusty_vw_man]

A clean pass - woooo hoooo! 

[rusty_vw_man]

Van washed. Van hoovered. Oil changed, and starter motor bush changed to increase starting ease. Bike rack procured for youngest sprogs bike trailer and second youngest sprogs bike. New number plate sorted (and it only took the chap in Halfords three goes to get it right). 

So with everything* sorted it was time to leave. Destination Oulu, northern Finland, time Friday morning. 

Dull bit - north Wales to Harwich. Mostly traffic, many accidents and roadworks. However, by Friday evening we had made ferry 1 - Harwich to the Hoek Holland.  Shite spotting was low, but the kids loved this lorry at the port a bit too much

Saturday was the long slog from Holland up through northern Germany to Travemunde for ferry number 2. Stopped for some food and general leg stretch in Bremen - 

this was Roland and the Rathouse 


Sweet makers delivery wagon

 

and a bronze bust

On the way I made the mistake of using the rear wash wipe to see the loons on the autobahn approaching at 100mph+ and was rewarded by the smell of very hot plastic. Not ideal - motor has given up and toasted the washer fluid pipe and some wires before the fuse finally went pop: 

ferry two departed late Saturday night and didn’t arrive until Monday morning, so I spent a lot of time staring at this 

but we had the full meal package, so was never more than a couple of hours from some more German/Finnish fusion cuisine (this year with added British influences as baked beans made an appearance). 

Monday was a potter around Helsinki with friends before the car train north. This chap was parked up on a side road and clearly nuts  - India to London in 100 days, 48 countries

Currently just using the excellent free WiFi, had a shower and about to find coffee whilst I wait for this train to arrive 

Next is chod spotting in Finland, with a return in a couple of weeks to Latvia, where the streets are paved with old motors….. 

 

[chadders]

1 hour ago, rusty_vw_man said:

Van washed. Van hoovered. Oil changed, and starter motor bush changed to increase starting ease. Bike rack procured for youngest sprogs bike trailer and second youngest sprogs bike. New number plate sorted (and it only took the chap in Halfords three goes to get it right). 

So with everything* sorted it was time to leave. Destination Oulu, northern Finland, time Friday morning. 

Dull bit - north Wales to Harwich. Mostly traffic, many accidents and roadworks. However, by Friday evening we had made ferry 1 - Harwich to the Hoek Holland.  Shite spotting was low, but the kids loved this lorry at the port a bit too much

Saturday was the long slog from Holland up through northern Germany to Travemunde for ferry number 2. Stopped for some food and general leg stretch in Bremen - 

this was Roland and the Rathouse 


Sweet makers delivery wagon

 

and a bronze bust

On the way I made the mistake of using the rear wash wipe to see the loons on the autobahn approaching at 100mph+ and was rewarded by the smell of very hot plastic. Not ideal - motor has given up and toasted the washer fluid pipe and some wires before the fuse finally went pop: 

ferry two departed late Saturday night and didn’t arrive until Monday morning, so I spent a lot of time staring at this 

but we had the full meal package, so was never more than a couple of hours from some more German/Finnish fusion cuisine (this year with added British influences as baked beans made an appearance). 

Monday was a potter around Helsinki with friends before the car train north. This chap was parked up on a side road and clearly nuts  - India to London in 100 days, 48 countries

Currently just using the excellent free WiFi, had a shower and about to find coffee whilst I wait for this train to arrive 

Next is chod spotting in Finland, with a return in a couple of weeks to Latvia, where the streets are paved with old motors….. 

 

And has nice beaches like Jurmala (at least they were nice 20 years ago)

[rusty_vw_man]

4 hours ago, chadders said:

And has nice beaches like Jurmala (at least they were nice 20 years ago)

Jurmala is on the list for the loop back - did Riga and never made it quite that far last time. Open to all Latvian suggestions! 

[chadders]

I worked there as a consultant to Lattelekom and my visits were just a few days at a time advising on a new IT system so very much flying, literally, visits to review progress so I never really saw much. 

Visiting Jurmala was the one non business thing I did; I think Andrew the client  project manager wanted to encourage me to return especially as he wasn't being charged for my time, my boss was an old mate of his.

My missus did love the Baltic Amber jewellery which unfortunately has got lost over the years.

Sorry that I can't be of more help.

[Mac69400]

58 minutes ago, rusty_vw_man said:

Jurmala is on the list for the loop back - did Riga and never made it quite that far last time. Open to all Latvian suggestions! 

If you're self contained, there's a fantastic old fort you can stay in at Daugavpils. I stayed a couple of years ago and it was a bit eerie at night but I suspect it'll be gentrified by now. 

 

Also, Kolkas Pagas is a beautiful spot, where the Gulf of Riga meets the Baltic sea. It's €3 to park during the day, and only €10 overnight. There are toilets and access to water there. 

[rm36house]

9 hours ago, rusty_vw_man said:

Jurmala is on the list for the loop back - did Riga and never made it quite that far last time. Open to all Latvian suggestions! 

When you will be at Riga you need to go to Riga Motor Museum. It's located next to Bikernieki race track. It's must have place when you are there.