Rusty VW bothering - I will drive 500 miles, and I will drive 500 more….

[Dyslexic Viking]

Will you share some photos from the trip with us when it suits you?

I like road trips and have really enjoyed your postings of previous trips.

[2316cc]

22 hours ago, Dyslexic Viking said:

Will you share some photos from the trip with us when it suits you?

I like road trips and have really enjoyed your postings of previous trips.

Seconded! I really enjoy this thread and there needs to be more of it! 

[rusty_vw_man]

Thanks! You never know if people are interested or if you are just shouting into the void! 

So this Easter trip was back to Spain - ferry to Bilbao, then Zaragoza, Valencia, Toledo and back to get the ferry home from Santander. 2200 miles, 64 hours on a ferry. 

Photos are a bit patchy, as due to my charging skills* my phone was often flat, because I’d plug one end into the phone, but forget to put the other end in a usb socket. Winner. 

Firstly churros. 

crispy hot loveliness dipped in molten chocolate. What’s not to love. For bonus points I saved some down my T-shirt for later.  
 

Lots of old shite around the place - loads of old French luxury saloons still doing sterling service. Car of the trip for me was this one though, what a beauty:

 

for bonus points still apparently in everyday use.

Zaragoza saw me having a squint at this, which was similar to mine but more dieselly:

Weather here was a bit mixed - warm but quite wet from time to time. 

Next stop Valencia, which was endless orange trees that I have lots of photos of but they just look like fields of trees, and you don’t get the lovely smell. It was much warmer and more desert like - this was the campsite:

whilst there I also tried pleb-shite (or cycling as the masses insist on calling it) for the first time in years. 

and I shit you not, found the actual holy grail - I’ve no idea what Monty Python or Indiania Jones were up to, it’s just in a side chapel in Valencia cathedral. if you believe the story it’s apparently the real deal. If you don’t it’s still a pretty impressive cup

 
 

bit more camp action:

Saw another nice caravelle which was for sale - lot less rusty than mine living as it had in the sun:

now I’m not religious in the slightest, but the Spanish catholics know how to build a top notch  place of worship

next was a trip over to Toledo and Aranjuez through the most horrific weather I’d ever driven in - driving rain and sleet. 

Toledo was spectacular, but a bit busy for me, full of other tourists and tat shops (never had so many opportunities to buy a sword).

the royals summer palace was a thing of extravagance - first some carriage shite

their smoking room - not sure what they were smoking though!

and the most comprehensive selection of coffee in machine id ever seen

did enjoy it all, and loved the geckos in the wash block 

started the long trip home and had the first issue. Gears have a dog leg first, with reverse above. Couldn’t select first or reverse. Two options - shagged gear bag (there is a delicate ‘hockey stick’ that controls these gears) or linkage issues.  

popped the selector box off, and found that without the lock out gate in place everything worked as it should, which was a relief. There is a spring loaded ball bearing that slots into an indent that prevents this bellows collapsing, and thus locking out 1st and reverse:

the ball under some pressure released at speed into the car park:

but I finally found it under the white one! Next it needed some cleaning and lube, but I had to improvise 

worked a treat and off we went again. Made it back to the ferry 

where I did spot this 

come on - own up which one of it was you?!

got home 11:30 last night and back at work today. 

Some minor work to do over the next couple of months then off to Finland and Northern Norway…..

can highly recommend Spain, lovely people, cracking cars and some great driving. The long ferry is also worth it I think, although it was just a shade rough on the return leg - I found myself at one point in the air falling, as my bunk was swiftly coming back up to meet me! Will book it agin for next year, give us something to look forward to! 

[tom13]

Great write up. Looked a great time. I have said it before but I love your dedication to this bus. What was the rough price of your ferry? Thinking about just a return trip, any tips for getting the best deal? Did you do Santander or Bilbao?

[rusty_vw_man]

9 hours ago, tom13 said:

Great write up. Looked a great time. I have said it before but I love your dedication to this bus. What was the rough price of your ferry? Thinking about just a return trip, any tips for getting the best deal? Did you do Santander or Bilbao?

Ferry was about a grand - for a standard length over height space and cabin with Brittany Ferries. Cheaper in a lower vehicle. That’s booking early (9 months before sailing) price is roughly double if you book the week before. We sailed to Bilbao and returned via Santander - they seem to alternate between the two at random. Only a short drive between them though.  Based on our shocking 22mpg and the need for an overnight stay on the way we worked out the ferry is the same cost as driving down through France. 

I might have said before, persisting with the van is just because i can’t afford the van I actually want, and I’ve got this one so I just have to make do with it! 

[rusty_vw_man]

Just done a nice 750 mile jaunt to see friends down south and south west. Trouble free other than the seats are getting less comfy on every trip. 
Last year the MOT man pointed at a small hole in the rear wheel area and said it’s not a fail, but just watch it doesn’t creep to far, as it’ll be within 30cm of the shock before you know it. 

11 months later I thought it was probably time to have a quick squint at it. 

right in the middle you can see daylight. Didn’t look to bad, did think the mot man was a bit keen. The other side of the panel is obscured by the air box and cold air feed to it. 

Popped all that off, and a quick poke and it suddenly looked a bit more serious 

air box mount off and a bit of a further poke reveals a lot of grot and holes in the chassis rail:

A grumpy afternoon spent with some 2 and 3mm sheet, the angry grinder and welder was required. 

Welder was fizzing away nicely until it wasn’t 

I’d gone through another reel. Now van was immobile, mrs rusty was out with the car and the kids. No photos, you’ll just have to imagine a fat bloke on his very cheap bike, in overalls in 22 degree sunshine peddling through the tourists to Toolstation. 

with that minor irritation it was back to it and 

that’s betterer. Welded, primed in zinc primer, seam sealed. Just need to top coat it then pop some stone chip onto the wheel well side. 

Then just for fun I did the other side. It wasn’t as bad, no photos as it was 17:00 and I was supposed to be making dinner. 

Whilst under there I did find that the back box inlet pipe gasket was rogered as it’s got whopping great carbon stains up it, and a visible gap at the top. That’ll not please the man from the ministry…..  it’s a non standard stainless system, so guess I’ll have to make my own gasket, should be fun*

[rusty_vw_man]

Most stressful hour of every year is upon us again…. Waiting for the MOT. 

Have I found all the faults and fixed them, or have I missed something critical that I will now need to spend time and money fixing….. on the nice chap in the pit knows the answer!! 

[Popsicle]

1 hour ago, rusty_vw_man said:

Most stressful hour of every year is upon us again…. Waiting for the MOT. 

Have I found all the faults and fixed them, or have I missed something critical that I will now need to spend time and money fixing….. on the nice chap in the pit knows the answer!! 

Good luck, I'm sure it will be fine.

[2316cc]

Well done for getting stuck in with the repairs. I would have dithered for about a month before getting the grinder out. 
 

Good luck with the MOT!

[rusty_vw_man]

Unlike the man from Delmonte, the man from the ministry says no:

the top wish bone bushes on the offside were too worn for his liking:

This is good and bad. The good bit is I’ve had a slight suspension clunk for a while I have been unable to track down, so at least now I know what it is. The bad bit is it’s a right faff to do. Parts are arriving before midday tomorrow, including new ball joints whilst I’ve got it apart, and enough for both sides. Fingers crossed for a new ticket by Saturday lunchtime, as I have plasterboard to collect! 

[Popsicle]

I know an MOT failure is annoying, but for a 36 year old properly used and loved bus thats not too shabby an outcome. Hope it all comes apart easily and gets rid of the clunking.

[rusty_vw_man]

13 minutes ago, Popsicle said:

I know an MOT failure is annoying, but for a 36 year old properly used and loved bus thats not too shabby an outcome. Hope it all comes apart easily and gets rid of the clunking.

I don’t disagree - to be fair to the chap he’s very pragmatic. He gives me a list of stuff each year as well that’s not MOT related whilst he’s under there, so I do feel I get great value as I get a full underbody inspection each year!

Once the wheel is off it’s only three bolts, and in theory at least it’s all gentle push fit with no need for presses so I can do it all from the comfort* of my own gravel drive! The only foreseeable issue is the two Allen bolts which look like they might round off under the weight of my gaze let along a ratchet! 

[Popsicle]

7 minutes ago, rusty_vw_man said:

I don’t disagree - to be fair to the chap he’s very pragmatic. He gives me a list of stuff each year as well that’s not MOT related whilst he’s under there, so I do feel I get great value as I get a full underbody inspection each year!

Once the wheel is off it’s only three bolts, and in theory at least it’s all gentle push fit with no need for presses so I can do it all from the comfort* of my own gravel drive! The only foreseeable issue is the two Allen bolts which look like they might round off under the weight of my gaze let along a ratchet! 

He sounds like the guy I use for MOT's, I tend to get a post it note of things I might need to look at soon, as you say its brilliant to get a pro's opinion on everything.

Added bonus if there are no bushes that need pressing out, its reminded me that I really need to do my rear wishbone bushes that were an advisory in December.....

[rusty_vw_man]

FFS I may have been a bit hasty with “parts will be delivered by midday”.

Parts were not delivered, but at 12:09 I had notification they had been. To me. And signed for, by me. Only problem was, whilst it was my name in the box, it’s not my signature. Looks like the bastard driver has done a runner with it, though what the fuck he wants with two sets of top bushes and ball joints specific to a single model of 35 year old VW is anyone’s guess.

FedEx don’t have phone numbers, only online chat. They are ‘investigating’ and promise to get back to me within 4 hours. Only issue is that means I will have missed the opportunity to get the parts here by the weekend if this parcel is indeed MIA. 

Didn’t envisage it being harder to get parts than fitting them!! 

To really run the salt in, Mrs Rusty has had about 10 parcels delivered this week just fine! Grrrr. 

[rusty_vw_man]

FedEx issue resolved led to this:

It was a bit of a fight. In theory it’s just split the ball joint off the steering knuckle, pop the top rod out, grind off spot weld on bushes and tap out.

These had been on a while though, and were quite resistant to ‘tapping’. The ball joint also needed replacing whilst I was in there, again simple in theory it’s only 2 small 8mm Allen bolts to remove. Starting there:

they rounded off before I even applied any real pressure.  Fetch the grinder. 

bushes were knackered, there’s supposed to be rubber between those two steel sleeves  

 

spot weld located, grind that off and tap out - you can see the issue:

 

more angry grinder action with a spitting disc:

and lump out with the big hammer in sections. 

new ones just tap in, but require a blob of weld to prevent rotation in the arm. Quite tricky to get it hot enough for some penetration without rogering the new rubber inside it! 

pop the top rod back in, 

which acts on these eccentric washers to set camber:

paint marks allowed me to get it close enough for now. 

Bolted everything back up, popped round to the nice MOT man and that was that, sorted for another year. 

Got all the bits to do the other side, but that can wait for a few days whilst I do house projects! 

[rusty_vw_man]

Almost time for the annual pilgrimage to Finland, so some minor prep required. 

Firstly it was time to do the other sides suspension bushes - I like my suspension parts to be changed in pairs, so having done one side quick for the MOT  it was time to attack the passenger side. Much the same as the drivers side, except that the whole lot was constrained by rust, so the top arm was very very stiff. 

corrosion all polished off and the arm popped back on. Camber set back to the original marks, and whee looks vertical so I’m sure it will be fine! 

Next I had have been having issues with the low coolant warning. It’s two prongs in the header tank which earths. No water, no earth, flashy light. Apart from mine had started flashing at random. Time to check earths 

main strap looked a bit tired, and the attachment points were rusty as well. New strap and bolts. Much improved. 

Next is the common earth point in the engine bay - bit crusty, and sheared off with no real pressure applied

tried drilling a new hole for a new earth point 

 

Well that went well! Just punched a huge hole in the side instead… time for a bit of welding when I get back. Got a new point sorted and seeing almost 2v improvement. That’s a win. 

Then it was oil change and a tube of moly slip for the gearbox to try and limp the synchromesh on for a bit longer! No pictures, nothing to see. 

I’d treated myself to a new set of roof bars, which are very sturdy after I bent the set of Thule bars I had. Only issue was that the ‘universal fits any roof bars top box’ has these big claws that tighten on the bar - except the new bar was too fat. Balls. Some investigation showed that the plastic casing was part of the limitibg factor on jaw width, so stripped that off

this was better, but the pins the jaws move on were only held in by the plastic casing, so these got a blob of weld. 

finally, a bit ground off these tabs and they open wide:

Massive amount of ball ache which was frustrating, but it’s all sorted now. 

Next up is to ‘adjust’ the little rack I have as well to mount on these new bars., then give it all a good clean and I think I’m ready for the off…. 

[rusty_vw_man]

So off we pottered - Mrs RVM and the three sproglets. Plan was simple, drive, ferry, drive, ferry, car train, drive, drive, drive, ferry, drive, ferry, drive, ferry. 

So lots and lots of this:

The wonder of this ID buzz was reminiscing about having one like ours - having a look at theirs I did offer to swap! 

Nothing much happened of interest between Home and Helsinki other than:

A quick dash across Holland and Germany necessitated a quick meal stop:

mine had green bits in, so was one of my 5 a day. Brewed on the trusty* Coleman unleaded stove. 

These odd little fiat things turned up on a transporter - woeful looking things in a certain shade of pale blue, will these be haunting the forum in years to come?

There was also a 29 hour ferry ride, no pictures as all I did was graze the buffet and sleep. It’s one of my favourite places in the world. 

From Helsinki it was car train, on the ‘summer’ rolling stock. As it’s for tourists they roll out the newest* sleeping carriages:

look at that 1970s delight. Unlike the new ones there is no showers, but the lurid orange washstand more than made up for it. Poo count you’ll appreciate continues even when taking a break from it all on holiday, but image my surprise when I found the toilet just had a straight pipe down onto the tracks - draughty. Turd deposited over a suitable length of track I retreated back to the safety of the cabin. 

Now I am a man of many roof racks - I had a super sized top box, a rack for the tent and a bike trailer for the smaller sprogs. Why is this relevant for train travel, well they’re kind of lashed on and the tarpaulin particularly maybe not that secure - but it’s okay you can watch the speed in realtime

luckily we never reached more than about 130km/h so all was intact on arrival. 
 

This train dropped us off a long way north where the line runs out in Kolari Finland. 

From there it was only a relatively short hop up to Northern Norway, where the glaciers and fjords were rather spectacular 

Sunset and sunrise was only about 45 minutes apart as well which was pretty mad. Didn’t make it quite as far as Nordkapp, but did get as far as porsangersfjorden - here there is nothing between me and the polar ice sheet apparently 

has a paddle, was a touch* fresh. 7000 years ago some mad lads spent some time drawing on rocks - here’s a shite picture of one of the reindeer. I found this mind bending - how did they find the time for this sort of thing.

from there it was a drive back down to Oulu in Finland, via various parts of Lapland - went to a non-autoshite but brilliant museum about the history. Long story short as indigenous people they got a really crap deal.

More cheerfully, there is lots of nothing and reindeer in the Finnish bits of Lapland - very few roads and towns are sporadic, definitely the wildest driving I’ve ever done. 

Cars were not shite along this bit - the Dacia appears to have cornered  the bits of the market the Far Eastern manufacturers hadn’t. 

Stayed at what was clearly a big holiday park about 20 years ago that had fallen into disrepair (and hence we could afford to stay in one of their cabins rather than camp!) Outside they had the best boatshite ever

wooden, rotten, massive hole in the hull, but with a new regulator, running lights and spark plugs. I know everyone’s project is different but I think they’re focusing on the wrong bits…. 

Drive to Oulu uneventful - this is the main road 

 

Did make a minor error we’d always driven the two sides of a triangle to get there from this direction, but Google maps recommended the hippopotamus of the triangle instead, so off we went. 10km it turns unpaved, and remained that way for the next 45km. Now in a post above I mentioned fitting new suspension bushes. They squeaked like a stuck pig until taken along a dirt road at 50mph. I’m calling that a win, and my passengers all loved* the vibrations. 

Next, shedshite, OMG shed find - like barn find but smaller. My wife’s family do like to keep things, times were hard when they were growing up.

there is an old Finnish made pedal and engine moped thing

ome day I’ll convince them to let me have a crack at it, but not this year. Instead we’re here for the bike shite. So why does a 42 year old obese chap who loves driving need a bike - the wife likes cycling and the cycle network in Oulu is great. My wife has the newest* bike in the shed

yep, Yugoslavia. That’s the new one. This is mine:

those with an eye for detail may note the lack of any apparent features - no gears and apparently no brakes. But the Finns are a cunning bunch, the bike has a freewheel, but if you pedal backwards hard it applies a brake in the rear hub. It takes a little getting used to, so I immediately attached a bike trailer and two of the sprogs and off we went. We’re all still alive.

Old shite was less copious than on previous visits, there are a lot of modded ‘weekend cars’ as they call them, but noticeably less are old and shite, more are a bit Max Power. This was my personal favourite that I saw - 4 wheel drive ex army. 

 
 

I think I said before the local diy store chain is ace - popped in for a few bits and pieces. You can get anything, top end welder and gas bottle anyone? 

You could also buy more normal diy gear, clothes, fishing and hunting gear, kids toys, sports gear and sweets - I don’t think I’d need to shop anywhere else! 

whilst driving around I saw the first of many of these automated robots - delivering local supermarket deliveries. They seem pretty smart , and no one seemed to be tipping them over!! 

saw this seaplane - took iff shortly after, fabric wing and inflatable floats. Looked quite homemade in the flesh and was named ‘experimental 1’. Didnt fancy it myself! 

 

From there we nipped down to the Finnish archipelago, and did a bit of island hopping:

loads for islands, free ferries and thousands of deer, and a couple of wandering elk. Going to head back there to explore more. 

At this point my finely tuned ear starting picking up what sounded like the wheeze death rattle of either alternator or water pump. A quick check showed neither

That’s a small price of rock stuck fast in the water pump pulley. What are the chances of that?! It had damaged the belt so new one procured and fitted. 

Down south all the cool young lads were driving these - they looked like a blast and I assume they are on a different permit scheme as they kids looked pretty young - or I might be getting old!!

From here it was just a ferry to Sweden, then drive to Gothenburg, ferry to Kiel in Germany and a dash across to Rotterdam - 8 hours driving with a total of 46 minutes stopped. Kids did well! 

Back in the UK I got as far as Bury before the low water warning light popped on. It’s very sensitive and has been coming on even when full of water, but I thought I best check - glad I did as the main steel pipe had a pin hole in and was dripping. 

it’s upside down, but at the bottom you can see the crusty pipe and the dampness  limped to Halfords for some self almalgamating tape and jubilee clips:

plan was clean up round pin hole to give the tape a chance of sealing and the clamp it tight. The first gentle scrape though showed it was more than a pinhole and the pipe opened up. 

 

45 minutes later me and my van fixing clothes met the 4th emergency service  who confirmed it was proper fucked m9  

 

option of 6 hour wait for a recovery truck, or he’d tow me the 97 miles home  - it was strangely intense !

 

Not how I imagined finishing the trip, but I made it over 5000 miles under my own steam.

Final round up

5231 miles all in

24.8 MPG, well pleased with this

9 Ferries 

5 countries

2 breakdowns - one van, one me pitching a tent in the pissing rain in Norway. 

[EightMegs]

The clinker hull on that boat is a thing of beauty, it's a shame to see it in such a state.

[Asimo]

That’s a proper trip is that. 10/10*

(Whatever posessed VW to do that half-arsed watercoolconversion of these?)

[Popsicle]

What an awesome trip and nice pics/write up - well jel as the kids say.

[Dyslexic Viking]

What a great trip, thanks for sharing.

[Tickman]

5000 miles is good going, what an amazing trip.

The van did well, I bet the last bit being towed was interesting*

[rusty_vw_man]

@Vince70 pointed me in the direction of Tesco for antifreeze - top shout they had Prestone on special offer. With that and a new pipe  (stainless steel for the win!) 

it was just a case of sliding some clips over the ends and two Allen bolts and it’s fixed. 

looking at the old pipe, each part that was exposed to road salt had rusted and I was mega lucky it only dripped and didn’t just burst  

 

because I’m surrounded by houses and hotels I don’t like to leave it running too long on the parking bit, so drove to the end of the road to finish bleeding the (ridiculous) coolant system - 12 litres went in, and that’s not totally empty. 

not a bad spot for my second workshop!! 

All fixed now and ready for the next tour - Spain at Easter is already booked. Roof tent arrives soon as well, so that we can even sleep on the big blue shit box…..