Ash's Blog (115)

Sadly Bill Moore, affectionately known as Country Buggy Bill, one of the founders of Volks Culture and all round great guy, passed away last Saturday evening. He was at home in Nowra and surrounded by family and friends.

Bill was always the dependable voice of reason, quick witted and a real pleasure to spend time with. He was a great friend.…

Today, after a year off the road for one reason and another, I finally got my T3 back after a full top end overhaul. Being the South African JT3000 model, it is fitted with a 3l V6 and the overhaul included:

• new lifters
• Lifter faces re-profiled to suit cam lobes
• new valve springs
• new valve retainers & collettes
• new intake/exhaust valves
• heads have been ported and polished
• custom cam shaft grind
• new timing…

I was reading the paper and came across the ten best drives in Australia which gave me the inspiration for what will be a fantastic cruise for early next year. Many of you came on The Big Blue cruise to the Blue Mountains in January. Make way for The Big Snowy, cruise to the Snowy Mountains in January 2013 - weekend of 26-27. …

Tony Darbishire from Kombi Cabinets has just finished building a new slimline cabinet for my bus. It includes space to mount my TV arm and adjustable shelving for storage flexibility.…

I just picked up my R32 Golf from VolksMuller today where it was getting a regular service and an APR chip tune. For the R32 the APR upgrade on paper is only a mild 11kw increase, but the mid range torque has definitely been given a lift. It was fun to drive before, but now I can't wait to hit a nice tight twisty mountain road to really see what she's got.…

Don't piss off the driver...

I caught up with Jurgen and Johannes, father and son, travelling around Australia in this amazing T3 camper. Based on a dual cab T3, apparently, there were 100 total of these campers made, 20 of them being Synchros, with 10 of them still in existence today.

These very nice guys were just at the beginning of their adventure and were getting a few things seen to by Steve at VolksMuller. This awesome vehicle will be travelling the country for the next year so…

After a hectic week working in the Netherlands, I flew to Nice in France for a few days off in. What a first day! Edwin uncovered his Karmann Beetle and we hit the roads. First we travelled to a local historic village for breakfast and then on to Cannes where we spent the rest of the day. Wow, talk about lifestyles of the rich and famous. Check it out...

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Here is the drool fest video. My visit to Kieft & Klok topped off a great day (BBT earlier). Got here at about 7pm and stayed until 10pm (even though they closed at 9pm). This place was just off the chart. Don't hate me...

Edwin and I dropped off the wheel bearing I picked up yesterday from BBT, and I got out and did a little site seeing this morning before the work shoot this afternoon. Seriously, not an aircooled Volkswagen to be seen on the road anywhere.

I took a drive down to Belgium to visit BBT and then headed up to Kieft & Klok back in the Netherlands.I shot quite a lot so will be editing full BBT and Kieft & Klok vids later.What a day...

I feel a lot better after a good sleep. This morning Edwin and I took his 54 Beetle to the local mechanic to get the brakes looked at. The video shows some of the fun we had.

I know it's rough but it's pretty much how I feel right now.

I dropped my wife's Jetta in for service today and as a loan car was given a new TDi Golf wagon for the day. It has a massive panoramic sunroof that is just stunning. Interior is so light and airy. An electronic shade curtain slides into place if you get a little bit too hot. I love it.…

Yet again, my South African T3 is on the back of a table top truck, hopefully for the last time. This time it's headed to my mechanic's for the final stage of engine rebuild, exhaust fitting…