Well, I didn't update as promised. Sorry about that! As Covid-19 regulations relaxed a little in the summer, and small group gatherings became an option I started back up with some CCA events. Over the course of a few weeks I managed to put over 15,000km on the German Look beetle, 2,700 on my dad's 1979 Convertible and an unfortunate 1,500km on a buddies truck when one of my event cars failed (more on that later). We toured Vernon to Rossland, to Fernie and Golden on Classic Car Adventures' events the Hagerty Fall Alternate and Hagerty Fall Classic. And then we toured gravel roads from Merritt to Oliver, and Oliver to Kaslo and back to Vernon on CCA's Rush to Gold Bridge event (which, doesn't always go to Gold Bridge.)
In between the Hagerty Fall Alternate, and the Hagerty Fall Classic, I decided to put the new narrowed beam I had into the German Look. I went from rubbing badly on the left front fender, to rubbing lightly on the right front fender. Sigh. I ran out of time to modify the mounting bolts to center it, but will do that over the course of the winter.
The final event for my motoring year was an event I ran in the Banff Corridor for Hagerty. We started in Calgary at Ken King's collection. He owns Concept 1, and has a pretty incredible aircooled collection.
From there it was up through Banff, over to Radium Hot Springs for an overnight. We toured through Lake Louise and back into Banff for night number two. The whole time I was taking people off the beaten path, and onto some of my favourite off-shoot roads that make excellent driving experiences. The long way 'round to Calgary is about 4.5 hours, and includes some of the best driving roads Canada has to offer. Following the event, I went up to Jasper and back...just because I haven't been there in a few years and wanted to stop and see some things...and then made my way home.
To help with the tire rubbing issue on the German Look, I've picked up a new set of wheels which will help the problem, and basically made modification plans that will keep me from flying to Germany to buy wider front fenders. I've clocked 32,400km onto the car since building it, and overall I would say it was pretty bulletproof. I think I have one pushrod tube leaking now, related to a road hazard that got kicked up, but otherwise it's excellent.
On the Hagerty Fall Classic my girlfriend Taylor was co-driving for her first ever event. I knew that somewhere in the route book a double-caution “Dip” was coming up, but couldn’t remember exactly where it was. Taylor was a bit unsure what mileage we were at, when we hit it. Now, a double caution should be taken at a reduced pace. At the time, we happened to be travelling at a very spirited pace…so I now know how the German Look beetle feels in the air. My friend driving a heavily modified Mercedes behind us was floored at how high we went. Interestingly enough, the sway bar link went “beyond center” on landing, and actually locked the right rear suspension fully compressed. I have some minor engineering to work out to fix that, though I am tempted to remove the bar all together to see how the car handles. Once the issue was identified (first reaction was broken torsion bar), it was relatively easy to fix.
Since getting back I’ve managed to knock off about 50% of my winter list for the car. The exhaust stud which disappeared somewhere in Banff was replaced, along with all new exhaust gaskets. I swapped out the tach for a 914 unit, so I can now see the turn signal warning lamps and stop driving like an old-man with my signals on for miles. I’ve reassessed the rear sway bar mounting, transmission mounts, and given the car a nut-and-bolt check. I also made a few other ****pit changes which are either ergonomic in nature, or to eliminate things that were reflecting in the windscreen. Still have some other work to do, including swapping the front wheel studs, now that I've sorted out the front end fit...but it’s coming along.
On the Banff event, someone asked me if I was using the brakes at all on a section of road he followed me on...because my brake lights weren't coming on much, if at all. After a bunch of testing, I've come to the conclusion that my pressure switches work perfectly, but in 'normal' driving I'm often not putting enough pressure into the system to trip the old-school switches. Once we start driving spiritedly, the brake lights seem to work fine. Hmmm, seems I don't really need to do a lot of slowing down if I'm just driving 'normally' :P
We can't have someone rear-ending my car though, so combine one micro switch, a scrap of aluminium, some model airplane hardware, wire, and an hour plus...we now have a brake switch which activates the tail lights as soon as the pedal moves. Factory wiring remains, so I can swap back if this switch fails.
-Dave
p.s. going back to check it posted correctly, and I have to say...I'm really glad I had my professional photographers along for these events! hahaha.