Absolute VW www.absolutevw.co.uk

Popped out with the 'auldfella' to pick up his new motor from available car in Castle Donnington and found next door a full-on VW restoration business! Popped in to say hello to the owner and have a quick chat about services they offer etc, the guy was dead sound and it looks to be a professional setup judging by the equipment he had there... have a peek at his website, I'd seen his daily driver before (the brown bus on the business card) round l'boro area and it's been in Volksworld too.. nice custom take on a bus, looks superb in the flesh!

Plane crash in Leicester!!

100s HURT
A mysterious plane crash struck Leciester City today. No one yet knows why the plane crashed but witnesses say they saw a blur of blue heading towards a local multistorey carpark just before the disaster accured. Speculation gathers as quickly as the casualties..............

Sorry Jim

First of all sorry to hear about your little problem!

Next Im sure all will agree that Hempys new logo of our old friend Max Headroom attatched is much more suitable than the cigar smoking baby thingy!

And just be thankful youve still got a roof!!

Is it time to call Brockwells Coachworks and get a rag top made up? or find an original sliding tin top??mmmmmmmmmmmm.....think positive :)

Don't cause yourself extra work Hempy!!

Ok to set the scene, you've spent most of the previous night getting mashed up, you wake up remembering that you need to be somewhere in the city in about 30 mins time! So you set off for the nearest convenient city centre parking, as you approach you see a MAX HEADROOM sign...
sleepily I thought, "durr...i've been under loads of those should be fine"
..... CLUNK!!!! oh dear (or replace with suitable expletives) ....

on closer inspection i'd given my pop top a rite good bashing, one split in the pop top in the corner (a previous poor repair as I found out later on) a nice dent in the fibre glass along the top edge, one inner metal bracket completely smashed to pieces! bent up sliders and missing bolts and washers etc.... DOH!

repairs in progress :) (inner brackets all repaired ok just needed teasing back into shape most of the washers had ended up in the gutters lol). I'm using fibre glass sheeting and resin to add strength to the weakened areas (both outside and inside), then i'll probably skim fill with fibre glass filler for a smooth finish. Ben - see if Danny fancies a quick pop top respray job at some point! I might just hand paint with lotus white in the interim...

SIX MOTs

Can you believe it Im now entering my sixth year of driving my bus. Silly correction I know but still quite significant, none the less. Good link to know is http://www.motinfo.gov.uk/ all you need is your number plate and a number from your latest MOT doc and it gives a history as well as current status!!

Fourth MOT!!

Elcie has just been awarded her fourth MOT on the trott, and the guys at AVR also added that she was "The best sounding one they had heard"!!! Only issue was the lights, one was giving off a left hand beam pattern so had to stick on left hand stickers in reverse!! New lights i fink!!!

89' Australia trip

Scanned these pics of my 89' trip of Australia showing the kombi we travelled around in for three months, it was nicknamed 'bandit'. It was owned by a lad I once worked with Tim. It was in v-good condition, but it seemed that every town we stopped in it needed repair on the engine. Any ideas of the type can't remember much about the vehicle it's self as it was an all new experience back then. Good fun thou ;)

THE WEBFOOT WAY

Check out the WEBFOOT WAY buoys and lets OFF ROAD!
http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF&msa=0&msid=110383361221166756886.00044df67c1c473b3d606

OCD Off roader crew !

The day after the do, a four bus convoy headed out around Sandringham for a quick drive before people headed their seperate ways. Pulled up at a pub to re-group after seeing off Gary and Lucy and following a quick log hug (crash :) by Hempy in the car park, the crew set off back to Apey's yard for an ale...

Little did we know Apey was taking "Webfoot way" ...the off-road route!! AWESOME DUDE! shame no pictures of that cos 3 type 2's bouncing around pot hole dirt tracks and screaming up dirt hillsides was indeed a sight to behold!!

Apey party '08

Top weekend was had by all at Apey Campers place celebrating his boff-day, 5 type 2's and 1 type 25 gathered in or near the yard (Lucielle!) and a variety of non v-dubs were carefully shunted outside on the road! As you can see from the pic below, Apey tried to get the party started with a series of extreme reverse moon-walk moves!

The day was brightened by the arrival of OCD's good friends (and future members) Tommy and Kerry who get special appreciation for the 5 hr drive they took on from Liverpool! ...and Mr. Tinker nice one for making it too! Great to see you all!

After plenty of beers, washed down with beer... and beer, the night progressed into free style art installations, with a piece entitled "Lucielle... a cognitive, compound juxtaposition"

...and after all that creativity it was beanie hats on, whistles out for the RAVE BUS! (cram as many 'adults' into a bus as you can, whack some prodigy or similar on full volume and bounce off the inside as hard as you can!) ..c'mon!!!

The real thing

On the road to Woodstock Festival 1969.

I like to think this guy ended up working for Westafalia in the specialist camper design section.. Party over the grateful dead and friends have gone and the last of the hardcore ravers are yet to make their way home.

Quick trip to Kieft En Klok

You tube visit Kieft En Klok! Always wondered what went on there... worth a look

So you saw that 68' Westy kicking about over the last few years and admired or even envy'd that wooden headlining, even if it was a bit grubby from years of neglect ;)

Hempy's attempt at a ply headliner!

Typical...

You wait for a bus then three turn up at once... ;)

ApeyCamper on the road!!!

Congrats to ApeyCamper for getting his van sorted and through the MOT today! Nice pic below of his first run out in her to a sunny BBQ at Max and Phill's place... When is Phill gonna join OCD?!?!

Anyway, happy campering, mate!

OCD Video Diary - Monday 5th May 2008

Here's a video of OCDP1 and ApeyCamper hard at it (Not in the biblical sense!)

Starter problems? Try this...

After a productive weekend working with the OCD crew on their buses ol' Hempy set off back to Leicester, the bus was running lovely and after a very fast run home in the cool fine mist of rain, I pulled onto the drive, switched off the ignition while I opened the gates only to find that it wouldn't start again. Red lights on the dash but nothing from the starter... It's just stuck I thought - take a look in the morning.
So morning came put her in third rolled her backwards slightly (tip from the 'How to...' manual) tried it again, job done! But found this article on the web if your starter probs are ever more serious... The article reckons my drive pinion needs lubing! now where's that cream? ;)

http://home.clara.net/hallvw/starter.ht

RnR Bed?

Yes that looks nice. No price tag though so must be pricey!

Lucille Resto - May Bank Holiday

This is the first installment on the journey of Lucille, entropea's '69 California import. Came into the country in 2000 and has given 8 years of enjoyment to many of the OCD crew. Now it's time for some seriouse TLC and investigative spannering...

Well it was a good start on the Friday. HEMPY was a great help with his 'special cream' ;) Got the windows out and started on the interior. By the end of the first day she was looking like a shell already! We managed to ruin a perfectley good van within 6 hours!

Then after more cutting back and removal of dead metal, the screwdriver went straight through the sills :{ Big shock, but at least we've saved her in time. Another season outside and she'd be a in a real state.

OCDPAtient1 was given a day pass on Monday so came round with his grinder and started making some sparks! Checkout the public safety advertisment below... Spot the googles on his head!

After a good hacking out, the outer sill was out, and the inner was looking solid... PHEW!

Just so happened that OCDP1 had a spare, original, sill lying around. Perrrrfek ;) Just need to get some gas for the welder and fix it in. Next weekend...

Had a bit of a shock under the front windscreen seal. Nasty doesn't come close to saying it...

some chisling on Sunday night showed the inner pannel wasn't too bad, so at least we've got something to spot to. Plenty of jenolite in there and a gallon of waxoil should do it ;) Let's just hope the repair pannel comes down far enough to meet the good edge...

But it didn't end there, sadly. Both sections behind the wheel arches were shot through. But again, the inner sills are solid so just some plating and a lower piller repair should sort it oot ;)

The only other dodgy window ledge was the sliding door, but a repair pannel will sort this no probs.

And at least the inside floor is as good as you could hope for, including the heater channells and both window edges.
With ApeyCamper sorting his brakes for MOT and helping with the 'rolling stock', we were all broken on Monday! Time for some sleep and back to it Friday, when the new pannels arrive...