OVWEC Newsletter September 2009

8/8/2019 OVWEC Newsletter September 2009

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OTAGO VOLKSWAGEN ENTHUSIASTS CLUB

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OTAGO VOLKSWAGEN

ENTHUSIASTS CLUB

NEWSLETTER

SEPTEMBER 2009


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FAREWELL FROM THE PRESIDENT

The past two years have been very exciting for the club with new members and ex-members

joining, a new club event at Tautuku, second prize at the Auto Spectacular and happy,

friendly gatherings at the Christmas picnic and The Garage at Daphne and Grants. Weve

seen an excellent website setup and new fliers to seduce new members to the club. Wevehad some great runs and fantastic weather to keep us all in good spirits.

All in all its been a great two years and Ive enjoyed being club president but now feel its

time to move on and hand the reins to new blood. So Good Luck to my successor and

heres looking forward to more fun times, antics and great VeeDubbin.

The Secretary and Treasurer intend to stay on if theyre invited to and Im sure theyll make a

sterling contribution as usual!

In the coming year we have fireworks at Barry Days as organised by Grant, a grasskana at

Barrys, a trip to Edmond Hilarys Centre at Mount Cook, a great road trip to Nelson for the

Nationals at Easter and looking further ahead we have our own hosting of the Nationals in

Dunedin in 2012 which is going to come round faster than Marty van Elst after an invitation

to a cup of tea and a biscuit!!

AND, you never know but Jim might have his engine in Lil Lil in time for the Nelson trip. I

hope so cos sometimes I forget what he looks like, he spends so much time under her with

his bum in the air!!! AND, Chris may have got his steering wheel on straight by then!! AND,

Ken might have his Beetle all shook up and ready to Rock-A-Hula Baby but who knows,one can only live in hope.

If you have any suggestions for the direction of the club or any outings ideas please contact

Jim, Chris, Ken or the next president, whoever that may be

Auf Wiedersehen!

Elaine


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FORTHCOMING VW NATIONALS

A couple of points worth mentioning about forthcoming VW Nationals :

2010 Nationals in Nelson a number of you have already booked your

accommodation at the Tahuna Beach Holiday Park (which is now fully booked, by theway) and are making plans to travel up to Nelson in time for the Friday night check-in.

Although we have no plans for a Club convoy en masse, it might be a good idea to

share your individual itineraries and routes, both there and back, in case some of us

may wish to hook up en route (it might also help to know who else is around at any

given point in case of breakdowns or emergencies). To this end, would you please let

me have your anticipated travel plans, stopover locations and mobile phone numbers

so I can co-ordinate them and distribute them to other members? Obviously if you

dont wish to share this information thats entirely up to you. Thanks.

2012 Nationals in Dunedin we have formed a co-ordination sub-committee for this

prestigious event, and are looking into ideas for activities, accommodation, etc. If you

want to join the committee, or have any ideas you might think are worth sharing,

would you please let me know. First on the agenda is fund-raising options, so Ill be

forwarding details of the first sub-committee meeting shortly.Jim Young

OVWEC Secretary

THE SMALL PRINT-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Club Officials :

Patron Ken BerryPresident Elaine YoungSecretary/Editor Jim YoungTreasurer Chris Timms

Address PO Box 7101 Mornington, Dunedin The Otago Volkswagen EnthusiastsEmail [email protected] Club Inc meet on the first

Tuesday of each month at 7.30pm atWebsite www.vwotago.co.nz Robbies Bar & Bistro, South Dunedin

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As officials of the Club our first duty is to the members and that means organising things that you want to do,and being a focus for any requests, queries or suggestions you might have.

If there are any activities or events that you would like to suggest, items for the newsletter you might have, or ifyou cannot attend the monthly meetings, please contact Jim Young directly as follows :

Telephone 03 455 8729Post PO Box 7101, Mornington, DunedinEmail [email protected]


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NEW MEMBERS

Johnny Fung joins us after a couple of other members tracked him down via the

www.nzveedubnuts.com forum, having seen his oval window Beetle VINTAJ around town.

We managed to persuade Johnny to add his car to our Autospectacular display on July 4th,

which he happily did despite a few engine gremlins. Many thanks to Johnny for helping tomake it two Ovals on display that day. Heres his car from the show :

Also joining us at around the same time is Wayne Hillary and his 2003 New Beetle. Wayne isan old member from years ago, and came with us to the track day we held at Teretonga last

year to test out his Nissan* powered single seater race car. We dont hold that against him

as it was a pretty entertaining site seeing him thrash his car up and down the track. In any

case, long-time member Grant Patrick took along his Nissan* powered Mk I Ford* Cortina*

to the same event, so wed have to throw both of them out of the Club on that basis

Wayne in the hot seat

* the editor of OVWEC Newsletter accepts no responsibility for any injury or loss, either physical or

psychological, suffered by members due to references to non-VW automobile brands within this publication.


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IMPROMPTU JUNE CRUISE Words and pic by Jim Young

To celebrate my own car, Lil Lil, being back on the road following some fairly dramatic front

suspension surgery, a surprisingly healthy turn-out of Beetles enjoyed a short Sunday

afternoon back-road jaunt to Outram. Many thanks to John Noble for being convoy

pathfinder for us, and for kindly signing us all into the Mosgiel RSA for a pint afterwards -much appreciated, but obviously not by the two Beetles that failed to re-start afterwards,

one of which was my own

HYDE TRIP Pics by Marty van Elst and John & Diane Noble

Organised by Grant Patrick we enjoyed a wonderfully sunny winters day for a road trip up

to Hyde, where we enjoyed afternoon tea in the beautifully appointed Hyde Hotel lounge.


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HYDE TRIP (Contd)

More photos at. www.vwotago.co.nz

GERMAN CLASSIC CAR SHOW

Club member John Noble forwarded on these photos taken at Castle Dyck car festival,

Duesseldorf, on the 1st August 2009, sent to him by a fellow Ford* Mustang* owner and

member of the German Mustang* club.


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READERS RIDES

Ill kick this one off again, with details of progress on my 1964 Beetle. Now the front

suspension is sorted its time to replace the old and asthmatic 1200 engine with the new

1776cc twin Dellortod motor Ive built for it. But before that happens I wanted to swap the

1200 gear box for a taller-ratiod 1500 box. This was pretty straightforward, and Id like tothank Bruce Adams for giving up a Saturday morning to help me whip out the old engine

and box. Much appreciated!

Putting the new gearbox back in was pretty easy, but then I discovered that the longer 1500

axles were in fact way too long and would have made the rear tyres stick right out, so after

seeking expert advice from Ken Berry I swapped out the 1500 axles for the old short 1200

ones, and now Im in the middle of up-grading to the one-third-wider 1500 brakes which

will give me more stopping power yet, now, still keep the tyres under the guards where they

belong. A huge thanks to Ken for help, advice, and letting me have the 1500 brake parts.

Old gearbox out

new box in


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Chris Timms has recently scored himself a beautiful Nardi Classic woodrim steering wheel

from a well known internet based auction house, which must fall into the category of Best

Bargains of the 21st Century. How this one managed to slip through for such silly money is

a mystery, but needless to say Chris was there to catch it when it did. As you may or may not

know, the Nardi Classic woodrim is a favourite among style-conscious air-cooled VW fans

the world over. Lets just hope that one day Chris will manage to fit it up straight hes onhis third attempt now and its still on wonky.

Chris tasty new Nardi Im guessing the front wheels are pointing to the left for this shot

I recently received these anonymous photos of a freshly repainted 1303 Beetle undergoing a

full-on rebuild, allegedly taken somewhere in Dunedin and dated July 2002. Does anyone

out there know what happened to this car or where it is now?


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Where oh where has Ernie gone? Words and pics by Rory OBrien

Some of you may have missed the BlueStreak at club events recently and perhaps evenwondered where on earth hed got to... Well, Ernhad for some time been suffering from some nastyand embarrassing rust-rash, particularly around thebum end, and having given it some time to see if itwould go away on its own (it didnt), we eventuallyconcluded that maybe it was time to administersome vital VWTLC (and, contrary to what yourmother may have told you, in fact it wont get betterif you dontkeep picking at it...).

So for the past few months, Ern has been slowly been poked away at to find the badbits and replace them with good. Some areas actually werent as bad as we expected; otherareas were more of a surprise. Those areas where Beetles usually tend to have (expensive)problems were quite sound whereas areas where theyre normally pretty good were actuallyquite nasty; bloody typical. Most obvious problems were around the rear guards as well asthe usual suspect areas at the bottom of the windscreen and back window. The rear valancealso presented some problems and needed replacing. We stripped the body of everthing thatwasnt welded down, taking the opportunity totidy up the floorpan in the process which wasshowing the effect of the leaky windscreen(...and if I never hear the word undersealagain,itll be too damn soon. R.). After that, Ern wastrundled off down the road to Harrow Motor BodyWorks (Cheers Don...) and entrusted into the

very skilled hands of Deane (who wields anangle grinder like a scalpel blade and has awholly excellent bedside manner, particularlywhen it comes to reassuring worried parents...).


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Rustybits around the guards, bottom of the windscreen and front, right quarter have

been deftly excised and replaced with donor metal. A replacement, donor valance has beengrafted in and the front right quarter pulled back out by some 15mm to correct for somehistorical run in with something which proved to be even more solid than a Volkswagen. Allfour guards were problematic to some extent, especially around the bolt holes and headlightbuckets, and the replacement of three of them presented one of the biggest obstacles; thegrowing pile of rejected guards on the floor at Harrows did become a bit of a worry at onestage (many thanks to Bruce Adams for coming up with the elusive, useable front right guardto finally complete the set). Under the paint, the bottom of the engine lid was also exhibiting a

history of shonky repairs which has now also been put right (the 57 W lid is of course notoriginal to the car and we have no idea how it ever came to be on there but it will be staying;but thanks anyway to those who have very kindly offered to exchange it for a more correct

lid ;-). Thankfully, no more nasty surprises were lurking underneath the body paint and overallErnie seems to be in pretty good shape, for an old fellah.

So, all in all, old Ern has really been in the wars lately. Stay tuned for futuredevelopments on Project Fuchenbrken, the fun part is only just beginning... With thanks, asalways, to Mr Berry, Mr Higgins, Mr Haynes and Mr Bentley.


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NEW STANDARD BARBECUE RULES

As the open season on barbecues is almost upon us, please note the following rules, kindly

sent in by John Noble :

New Standard Operating Procedures released today - please learn BBQ RULES. We areabout to enter the BBQ season. Therefore it is important to refresh your memory on theetiquette of this sublime outdoor cooking activity. When a man volunteers to do the BBQthe following chain of events are put into motion :

1) The woman buys the food.

2) The woman makes the salad, prepares the vegetables, and makes dessert.

3) The woman prepares the meat for cooking, places it on a tray along with the necessarycooking utensils and sauces, and takes it to the man who is lounging beside the grill -

beer in hand.

4) The woman remains outside the compulsory three meter exclusion zone where theexuberance of testosterone and other manly bonding activities can take place withoutthe interference of the woman.Here comes the important part:

5) THE MAN PLACES THE MEAT ON THE GRILL.

6) The woman goes inside to organise the plates and cutlery.

7) The woman comes out to tell the man that the meat is looking great. He thanks herand asks if she will bring another beer while he flips the meat

Important again:

8) THE MAN TAKES THE MEAT OFF THE GRILL AND HANDS IT TO THE WOMAN.

9) The woman prepares the plates, salad, bread, utensils, napkins, sauces, and bringsthem to the table.

10) After eating, the woman clears the table and does the dishes.

And most important of all:

11) Everyone PRAISES the MAN and THANKS HIM for his cooking efforts.

12) The man asks the woman how she enjoyed 'her night off, and, upon seeing herannoyed reaction, concludes that there's just no pleasing some women.


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2009 DUNEDIN AUTOSPECTACULAR Words and pics by Jim Young

An extra special invite from the organisers to put on a display four times bigger than usual

in celebration of 70 years of Volkswagen meant all hands on deck to get as many and as

varied a collection of cars together as possible. I wont list all the cars or all the helpers who

made this show such an impressive sight, but I will thank a few key players :

Bruce and Richelle Adams for the flags and poles, Bruce Adams for the lighting roundel, the

running around collecting, towing and general organising of the whole display, Donald

Stewart for bringing his Type 181 Thing up from Milton, Don Woodward for two cars, Marty

van Elst for two cars, Shane and Erana Plusa for their two cars, Johnny Fung for his last-

minute Oval, Adam Harvey for both his Kombis and for his hard work in towel drying most

of the cars on arrival, Mark Stevens for both his cars, Paul and Cathy Andresen for their two

cars, Dean Driver for two cars, Foley Plumbers for their vehicles, Southern Motor Court for

the loan of the new Scirocco, Grant Patrick for the roundel stand and for organising and

collecting various cars and general hard work, and Clare Madden for artistic direction.

Apologies if Ive forgotten anyone! Ill let the photos speak for themselves :

Many more photos on the website

www.vwotago.co.nz/photos


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2009 AGM and Prizegiving

Tuesday 06 October 7.30pmRobbies Bar and Bistro, 67 MacAndrew Road, Dunedin

Dining beforehand from 6.00pm

A glittering star studded gala event featuring all your favourite OVWEC celebrities!

Come and have your say, nominate and vote for new club officials, eat food, drink beer!

We are currently accepting nominations for club President. Nominations so far :

Grant Patrick


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GOTCHA!

Heres a picture of Club member and keen air-cooled fan Clare Madden taken during the

setting up of the Autospectacular display, dutifully placing a drip-card under the engine of a

late model VW Transporter. Has anybody told her yet?

Heres another picture, this time of our own Marty van Elst, taken at a wedding for which he

supplied one of three Beetle wedding cars. It had obviously been a gruelling day for him

and he must have been feeling a bit peckish, as here he is, thinking that everyones back is

turned, tucking into the contents of one of the picnic baskets presented to the bridesmaidsas presents. That poor girl looks so embarrassed


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BEETLE WINS LOCAL RALLY

John and Diane Noble, as well as being OVWEC members, are also members of the Otago

branch of the Vintage Car Club, and I was pleased to hear from them that on 16 August they

won the Clubs Post 1960 Rally in their 1966 Beetle Nobes. Its good to see someone

taking the fight to those other cars!

OLD NEWS?

Club member Bruce Adams sent in this newspaper clipping from the Dunedin Evening Star,dated 21 August 1964. The number of VWs being assembled in New Zealand back in those

days was obviously having a big influence! Thanks to Bruce for preserving this from a very

early age


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A beetle being assembled at VW Motors in Otahuhu 1962

Photo courtesy Tudehope studios, from "50 years of Volkswagens in NZ" by Philip CoyleVOLKSWAGEN NEWS

Volkswagen May Add Two Brands After Porsche, Chairman Says

By Chris Reiter and Andreas Cremer

Sept. 15 (Bloomberg) -- Volkswagen AG, Europes largest automaker, may add two more brands

after acquiring Porsche SEs sports-car business, according to Supervisory Board Chairman

Ferdinand Piech.

Volkswagen may expand its collection of marques, which include Audi, Skoda and Seat, to as

many as a dozen, Piech said last night at a VW event at the Frankfurt Motor Show. Wolfsburg,

Germany-based VW is taking over the 911 sports- car manufacturer, making Porsche its 10th

brand.

Its all in discussion, Piech said, when asked about the prospect of VW adding more brands.

Twelve is easier to remember than 10.

Volkswagen is turning around to acquire Porsches sports-car business after Porsches holding

company, which is controlled by the Porsche and Piech families, failed to take over VW.

Volkswagens purchase of a 42 percent in Porsche AG as a first step of the combination is due to

be completed by the end of the year.

Volkswagen, which already owns truckmaker Scania AB, also holds a 30 percent stake in German

truckmaker MAN AG. Piech declined to identify possible targets.

Hans Dieter Poetsch, Volkswagens CFO, played down the possibility of a rapid expansion to 12

brands. Speaking at the same event, he said Volkswagen needed to first complete the

acquisition of Porsche, which is demanding.


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SOMETHING FOR THE KIDS

Vintage VWs to colour in!! This time a Karmann Ghia cabriolet :


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BLAST OFF! - VW DRAG RACING

Ever wondered why so many people the world over have dreamed of turning their humble,

underpowered VeeDub Beetles into giant-slayers of the drag race strip? Apart from the

obvious pleasure in seeing the underdog win, together with the much admired tortoise-

beats-hare story, what is it that makes people want to believe that these cars can somehow,against all odds, take on and beat what are often much faster and more powerful cars? Is it

that we all want to believe that our VeeDubs really are blessed with a Herbie-like tenacity

and a will to win out in the face of adversity? Or is there really some fundamental quality

which gives the Beetle a genuine advantage when staring down the length of a quarter mile

drag strip?

Well, the answer is, yes, there is, and its a matter of simple physics. A Beetle can potentially

get off the line quicker than almost any other type of car because all its weight goes to

exactly where its needed over the driven wheels! Of course, it does take a little bit more

horsepower than standard to be able to take full advantage of this.


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VW ODDITIES FROM AROUND THE WORLD


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VINTAGE VW ADVERTISING


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OVWEC Newsletter September 2009

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Transcript of OVWEC Newsletter September 2009