convoy to hessisch from belgium mid june
- Thread starter kombi.noise
- Start date
you can probably tell it was a wee bit damp at EBI . 
when we arrived at EBI coxy was waiting at the entrance the poor lad had obviously had a most exhausting trip getting to the show all that air travel and driving a comfortable 4x4 volvo :lol2:. to be fair to him he did have a few beers ready for pete and a welcome bottle of water for me thanks lad . we had a quick chat and then he had to head off .we went looking for a camping plot when pete noticed a slammed early single cab so he pulled up in front of it to get a picture .i took a few and we decided that we might as well pitch out tent there .pete was just moving bob when a french lad came up to me shouting NO NO NO NO YOU NO SLEEP HERE !!! i was a bit surprised at his shouts so i just asked why cant we camp here he replied with YOU NO SLEEP HERE .CAMPING RESERVE .at this point his mate had come out and started yapping away in french then he walked away got into his split van and started to reverse back to where pete was with bob .i looked at the other lad and told him to stop his mate because if he thought i was getting pissed off then wait till he gets out of the pick up. pointing at pete . he looked around and shouted at his mate to stop . which he did . i told the lad that there was no reserved camping and that we had paid to camp meaning we could camp anywhere in the field . so what the f$$K was his problem . then he pointed at the pick up that we had stopped to take pics of and said something along the lines of my friend camp here he just gone to move trailer !!!!!! so i asked him would you like us to move because your friend is coming back and camping here with his pick up he said oui oui. so i asked him why did you not just say that instead of coming out shouting at me i said all you had to do was ask . then one of the scottish lads that we had camped next to in hessisch appeared so we went down and set up camp next to them .but just befor we moved the two french lads started talking to each other in fecking english this little episode has done nothing to change my opinion of the french.
anyway we went down and set up the tent in the back of bob pumped up the air bed put the sleeping bags into the tent and shut the door. then we went off for a walk around .after a while we got back to where we were camping and it was raining pretty heavy .we stood around chatting to the scottish lads having a laugh.it was pouring down now . i was getting sleepy so headed to the tent looking forward to a comfy nights sleep . i climbed into the tent and got soaked i so jumped out not happy . i told pete i would be sleeping in the cab of bob .he asked why i just said the tent is drowned wet . pete said he was going to chance sleeping in there as it couldn't be that bad at the back he climbed in and soon realised that the tent was soaked from front to back . i can pretty much sleep anywhere so sleeping in the cab was no bother pete managed to sleep simply because he was so tiered from all the driving and walking around .
next morning i woke up and looked out the window . it was early and still pissing down there was a good 2 or 3 inches of water outside the right hand side of the pick up . at this point i was thinking that it was going to rain all day . i sat looking out the window for about an hour not really looking forward to another wet day . pete woke up and was quite surprised that he had managed to get any sleep.the rain was slowing down a bit we got out of the cab and made the tea .the scottish lads had decided to head away as they didnt think the weather would get any better .it had stopped raining so we went for a look around i took more pics had a good look at some of the cars . the sun had started to come out by now and things were drying up so we headed back to the tent to see if we could dry it out . the ground was a mess as the guys with the buggy's and baja bugs were churning the place up mud everywhere . we got back to the tent and the scottish lads were still there . there bus had developed a charging problem they had put 2 new regulators on and that hadnt sorted the problem .so they thought it may be the dynamo . i asked them if they had an old Bosch regulator which they had i fitted it and it worked . so bosch regulators made in china are shite (theres a surprise lol ) so they packed up and headed away pete gave them a spare battery just in case they needed it . . when they went pete moved the pick up to a dry piece of ground as he started bob he seemed to be making a strange noise from the engine bay . when he stopped we investigated and found that the alternator bolts that hold the backing plate on had come loose . so we had to borrow a 36 socket to get the fan off the alternator took it out fixed it and put it back together . then we moved to another much dryer part of the field .
when we arrived at EBI coxy was waiting at the entrance the poor lad had obviously had a most exhausting trip getting to the show all that air travel and driving a comfortable 4x4 volvo :lol2:. to be fair to him he did have a few beers ready for pete and a welcome bottle of water for me thanks lad . we had a quick chat and then he had to head off .we went looking for a camping plot when pete noticed a slammed early single cab so he pulled up in front of it to get a picture .i took a few and we decided that we might as well pitch out tent there .pete was just moving bob when a french lad came up to me shouting NO NO NO NO YOU NO SLEEP HERE !!! i was a bit surprised at his shouts so i just asked why cant we camp here he replied with YOU NO SLEEP HERE .CAMPING RESERVE .at this point his mate had come out and started yapping away in french then he walked away got into his split van and started to reverse back to where pete was with bob .i looked at the other lad and told him to stop his mate because if he thought i was getting pissed off then wait till he gets out of the pick up. pointing at pete . he looked around and shouted at his mate to stop . which he did . i told the lad that there was no reserved camping and that we had paid to camp meaning we could camp anywhere in the field . so what the f$$K was his problem . then he pointed at the pick up that we had stopped to take pics of and said something along the lines of my friend camp here he just gone to move trailer !!!!!! so i asked him would you like us to move because your friend is coming back and camping here with his pick up he said oui oui. so i asked him why did you not just say that instead of coming out shouting at me i said all you had to do was ask . then one of the scottish lads that we had camped next to in hessisch appeared so we went down and set up camp next to them .but just befor we moved the two french lads started talking to each other in fecking english this little episode has done nothing to change my opinion of the french
.anyway we went down and set up the tent in the back of bob pumped up the air bed put the sleeping bags into the tent and shut the door. then we went off for a walk around .after a while we got back to where we were camping and it was raining pretty heavy .we stood around chatting to the scottish lads having a laugh.it was pouring down now . i was getting sleepy so headed to the tent looking forward to a comfy nights sleep . i climbed into the tent and got soaked i so jumped out not happy . i told pete i would be sleeping in the cab of bob .he asked why i just said the tent is drowned wet . pete said he was going to chance sleeping in there as it couldn't be that bad at the back he climbed in and soon realised that the tent was soaked from front to back . i can pretty much sleep anywhere so sleeping in the cab was no bother pete managed to sleep simply because he was so tiered from all the driving and walking around .
next morning i woke up and looked out the window . it was early and still pissing down there was a good 2 or 3 inches of water outside the right hand side of the pick up . at this point i was thinking that it was going to rain all day . i sat looking out the window for about an hour not really looking forward to another wet day . pete woke up and was quite surprised that he had managed to get any sleep.the rain was slowing down a bit we got out of the cab and made the tea .the scottish lads had decided to head away as they didnt think the weather would get any better .it had stopped raining so we went for a look around i took more pics had a good look at some of the cars . the sun had started to come out by now and things were drying up so we headed back to the tent to see if we could dry it out . the ground was a mess as the guys with the buggy's and baja bugs were churning the place up mud everywhere . we got back to the tent and the scottish lads were still there . there bus had developed a charging problem they had put 2 new regulators on and that hadnt sorted the problem .so they thought it may be the dynamo . i asked them if they had an old Bosch regulator which they had i fitted it and it worked . so bosch regulators made in china are shite (theres a surprise lol ) so they packed up and headed away pete gave them a spare battery just in case they needed it . . when they went pete moved the pick up to a dry piece of ground as he started bob he seemed to be making a strange noise from the engine bay . when he stopped we investigated and found that the alternator bolts that hold the backing plate on had come loose . so we had to borrow a 36 socket to get the fan off the alternator took it out fixed it and put it back together . then we moved to another much dryer part of the field .
just want to say thanks again to john for doing the dirty work when needed
or most of it,sorry about the headscars,from the over length bolts through the rear number plate,
3 times was it?
i can recommend a euro road trip in an aircooled to anyone...
or if time and cost are an issue...some of these sights are worth flying over to for the weekend,
id go again tomorrow if i could...
tryin to figure a way of going to budel in sept...hmm
or most of it,sorry about the headscars,from the over length bolts through the rear number plate,
3 times was it?
i can recommend a euro road trip in an aircooled to anyone...
or if time and cost are an issue...some of these sights are worth flying over to for the weekend,
id go again tomorrow if i could...
tryin to figure a way of going to budel in sept...hmm
sorry about the headscars,from the over length bolts through the rear number plate,
3 times was it?
Funny that....I was looking at this photo the other day and thought to myself...'I bet that stick slipped a few times!'
Airmighty are having their Summer Picnic as well that weekend - worth getting to if you can.
lol
the stick was grand...
it was the other bolt..
.shouldve brought 2 sticks.!
or cut the f**kin bolts was another suggestion i heard
[forgot the hacksaw]
the stick was grand...
it was the other bolt..
.shouldve brought 2 sticks.!
or cut the f**kin bolts was another suggestion i heard
[forgot the hacksaw]
just want to say thanks again to john for doing the dirty work when needed
or most of it,sorry about the headscars,from the over length bolts through the rear number plate,
3 times was it?
i can recommend a euro road trip in an aircooled to anyone...
or if time and cost are an issue...some of these sights are worth flying over to for the weekend,
id go again tomorrow if i could...
tryin to figure a way of going to budel in sept...hmm
no worries lad its the least i could do. after all you did all the driving . and lets face it a co pilot who doesn't drive and has no sense of direction had to do something to earn his keep on the road trip of a lifetime .and you did your fair share of the dirty work to. the head scars are almost healed LOL .i lost count of the times i hit my head but the funniest was when i kneeled down and hit my knee off the hot exhaust so jumped up and banged my head
you have to laugh .
i to would highly recommend an aircooled road trip it was a great experience a damm good laugh and the only downside to it was that it had to end .yes we had a few brake downs took a few wrong turns but all that just made it more of an adventure .
budel in sept yeah sounds like a plan .........
Back to the story .
we had a good look around the show on the saturday the weather cleared up and there were plenty of cool cars and buses to check out .we watched some of the drag racing but the view from where we were standing wasn't great but from what we did see the drivers were not having a great day at least 2 had gearbox problems and most of then seemed to stall when taking off .there were a few good runs .
we had a good wander around the auto jumble and as in Hessisch prices were high but there was a great assortment of parts there .we were tempted by a rust free karmann ghia shell for 700 euro but didnt have the money
we watched some buses doing burn outs and doughnuts crazy stuff .we got back to bob and had tea and pot noodles (we lived on pot noodles during the trip ) coxy arrived and had a cup of tea we chatted for a while coxy went off taking pics of some nut burning out a small quad that had a plastic beetle body fitted to it after a while coxy left for his chateau (OHH the hardship of it )
that night as it hadn't rained the tent was nice and dry so we had a comfortable nights sleep
Next morning i woke up early and the sun was shining .i got up and wandered off taking more pictures got back and pete was up and had the kettle on . .we had planned to raise the front suspension on bob before the trip home and we were going to leave it till later in the day but thought we better make a start just in case we needed to get any parts which turned out to be a good decision. we jacked up bob and undid the adjuster nuts . then realised that we would need to get longer shox for the front . so off we went looking for shox. we searched around the auto jumble but things were not looking good then we found a pair of NOS early bug rear shox for 40 euro. we kept looking but the only others we found were a set of 4 second hand shox for 50 but they were not great so decided to go with the NOS ones .we got back to bob and i we took off the old shox .the old shock bolts were not the best so we had to go looking for some. so back to the auto jumble we went .by this time they were starting to pack up we checked through boxes looking for bolts but no luck. we were about to give up looking when pete said he would ask the guys on the red 9 stall they said the only bolts they had were on there products so we had a look and i noticed there bolt on shock tower extensions that had suitable bolts in .we took the bolts out and the red 9 guys wouldn't take anything for them . we got back to bob and got back to work . coxy appeared for more tea LOL when we got back. he took a few pics of the passing cars and buses and chatted as we worked
. we needed another jack to get bob up higher so pete managed to get a jack and some axle stands from a french lad we got the axle adjusted fitted the shox and new bolts then got bob back down on the the ground. we packed up everything ready for when it was time to leave then went for another look around took yet more pictures.
time came to leave so we said goodbye to coxy and went for a last drive around had a chat with the guys from cool flo who gave us free key rings and a sticker to put on bob then we headed off for Dunkirk .
as we drove away from Chimay bob started to splutter but we didn't stop we just kept going and then topped up with fuel at the next petrol station which improved matters but didn't cure it . we held going and bob was fine as long as pete kept the revs up. we got to Dunkirk and onto the ferry where we were parked behind a split crewcab .
we got off the ferry in Dover and headed for London .we arrived in London quite early in the morning .we decided we would wait till places opened and see if we could get tyres .so pulled over and had a few hours sleep in the cab again .
woke around 8 oclock and went looking for a tyre center got to a quick fit place and pete asked if they had any smart car tyres but they didnt and it would be 4 hours before they could get them .so we drove on then pete noticed a Northway tyre center so took a chance and went in. not expecting to have any luck . again pete asked and was told that they didnt stock them and they would have to be orderd . pete asked how long would it take to get them he was told "i can have a pair here in 15 minuets in a mimicab " cool . pete pulled bob into the garage and we went into the waiting room and had tea . about 15 minuets later the tyres arrived and we waited for them to fit them .they finished working on the other cars in the garage and set about bob . the manager of the garage was into water cooled v dubs and had a couple of golfs . they got the tyres done and they took pictures of bob. pete paid for the tyres and got a discount we were soon back on the road and heading for hollyhead .the rest of the trip to hollyhead was uneventfull bobs intermitant spluter dissapeared and i slept all the way .we arrived at hollyhead and went to book in the girl on the booking office looked at bob as we drove up . we thought we may have a problem as it was booked onto the ferry as an MPV . i gave her the booking number and she typed it into the computer and as she waited for the boarding pass to print off she said that thing (we thought oh no she is going to say that thing is a commercial not an MPV and charge us more money) but what she said was "That thing is just so cool " we said thanks got our boarding pass and headed for the ferry car park . we had a few hours to wait for the ferry so pete took the time to get some sleep . the time came to get on the ferry and we headed for home . pete went off to sleep on the ferry he was well worn out after all the driving and walking around . .the ferry docked in Dublin and we got off and headed to petes girlfriends .we got there with no problems so we were now back where we had started after covering 3700 kilometers in a 50 year old truck .and so our European road trip had come to an end ...........
we had a good look around the show on the saturday the weather cleared up and there were plenty of cool cars and buses to check out .we watched some of the drag racing but the view from where we were standing wasn't great but from what we did see the drivers were not having a great day at least 2 had gearbox problems and most of then seemed to stall when taking off .there were a few good runs .
we had a good wander around the auto jumble and as in Hessisch prices were high but there was a great assortment of parts there .we were tempted by a rust free karmann ghia shell for 700 euro but didnt have the money
we watched some buses doing burn outs and doughnuts crazy stuff .we got back to bob and had tea and pot noodles (we lived on pot noodles during the trip
) coxy arrived and had a cup of tea we chatted for a while coxy went off taking pics of some nut burning out a small quad that had a plastic beetle body fitted to it after a while coxy left for his chateau (OHH the hardship of it )that night as it hadn't rained the tent was nice and dry so we had a comfortable nights sleep
Next morning i woke up early and the sun was shining .i got up and wandered off taking more pictures got back and pete was up and had the kettle on . .we had planned to raise the front suspension on bob before the trip home and we were going to leave it till later in the day but thought we better make a start just in case we needed to get any parts which turned out to be a good decision. we jacked up bob and undid the adjuster nuts . then realised that we would need to get longer shox for the front . so off we went looking for shox. we searched around the auto jumble but things were not looking good then we found a pair of NOS early bug rear shox for 40 euro. we kept looking but the only others we found were a set of 4 second hand shox for 50 but they were not great so decided to go with the NOS ones .we got back to bob and i we took off the old shox .the old shock bolts were not the best so we had to go looking for some. so back to the auto jumble we went .by this time they were starting to pack up we checked through boxes looking for bolts but no luck. we were about to give up looking when pete said he would ask the guys on the red 9 stall they said the only bolts they had were on there products so we had a look and i noticed there bolt on shock tower extensions that had suitable bolts in .we took the bolts out and the red 9 guys wouldn't take anything for them . we got back to bob and got back to work . coxy appeared for more tea LOL when we got back. he took a few pics of the passing cars and buses and chatted as we worked
. we needed another jack to get bob up higher so pete managed to get a jack and some axle stands from a french lad we got the axle adjusted fitted the shox and new bolts then got bob back down on the the ground. we packed up everything ready for when it was time to leave then went for another look around took yet more pictures.
time came to leave so we said goodbye to coxy and went for a last drive around had a chat with the guys from cool flo who gave us free key rings and a sticker to put on bob then we headed off for Dunkirk .
as we drove away from Chimay bob started to splutter but we didn't stop we just kept going and then topped up with fuel at the next petrol station which improved matters but didn't cure it . we held going and bob was fine as long as pete kept the revs up. we got to Dunkirk and onto the ferry where we were parked behind a split crewcab .
we got off the ferry in Dover and headed for London .we arrived in London quite early in the morning .we decided we would wait till places opened and see if we could get tyres .so pulled over and had a few hours sleep in the cab again .
woke around 8 oclock and went looking for a tyre center got to a quick fit place and pete asked if they had any smart car tyres but they didnt and it would be 4 hours before they could get them .so we drove on then pete noticed a Northway tyre center so took a chance and went in. not expecting to have any luck . again pete asked and was told that they didnt stock them and they would have to be orderd . pete asked how long would it take to get them he was told "i can have a pair here in 15 minuets in a mimicab " cool . pete pulled bob into the garage and we went into the waiting room and had tea . about 15 minuets later the tyres arrived and we waited for them to fit them .they finished working on the other cars in the garage and set about bob . the manager of the garage was into water cooled v dubs and had a couple of golfs . they got the tyres done and they took pictures of bob. pete paid for the tyres and got a discount we were soon back on the road and heading for hollyhead .the rest of the trip to hollyhead was uneventfull bobs intermitant spluter dissapeared and i slept all the way .we arrived at hollyhead and went to book in the girl on the booking office looked at bob as we drove up . we thought we may have a problem as it was booked onto the ferry as an MPV . i gave her the booking number and she typed it into the computer and as she waited for the boarding pass to print off she said that thing (we thought oh no she is going to say that thing is a commercial not an MPV and charge us more money) but what she said was "That thing is just so cool " we said thanks got our boarding pass and headed for the ferry car park . we had a few hours to wait for the ferry so pete took the time to get some sleep . the time came to get on the ferry and we headed for home . pete went off to sleep on the ferry he was well worn out after all the driving and walking around . .the ferry docked in Dublin and we got off and headed to petes girlfriends .we got there with no problems so we were now back where we had started after covering 3700 kilometers in a 50 year old truck .and so our European road trip had come to an end ...........
