'Let's Go! Scotland-Croatia and onwards in our Kombi!'

mcdonaldneal · Posted: Sat Aug 16, 2014 9:17 am Post subject:

Finally left home half an hour late, at 12.30. We'd kind of factored that in though!
Blowing an absolute gale on the way down to Newcastle, the poor Kombi was getting buffeted all over the road!
Stopped at the Scotland/ England border for a photograph...

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Arrived at the ferry terminal in good time,

Medo the cat, watching the check-in process with great interest!

Waiting to board...

Medo decided to play the game, 'let's see if I can squash into the space under the passenger seat'!

She has to stay in the van overnight, and the vehicles with pets have a special label,

At least she has all mod cons, including a brass standard lamp! Don't ask!

I think the crew are preparing for a rough crossing, the trucks are all lashed down, and the seawater doors have all been shut on the car deck!
Fingers crossed!
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1978 marino yellow Bay Dormobile camper
1969 signal orange Karmann Ghia convertible
1976 martini olive Bay Dormobile camper

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Tcash · Posted: Sat Aug 16, 2014 10:03 am Post subject:

Nice start to your adventure. No need to explain the brass lamp, every bus needs one.
Have a save and great trip.

wcfvw69 · Posted: Sat Aug 16, 2014 1:19 pm Post subject:

What a great adventure!

Question, why is your brake warning light illuminated on your dash?
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Sven F · Posted: Sat Aug 16, 2014 1:47 pm Post subject:

That's good planning. Usually when I say "we are leaving on the 15th", we leave on the 17th which is exactly what happened, and i consider myself a very good time manager.

I'll be on the lookout for the orange kangaroo barred, topsy-turvy wipered bus with a cat on the road.

soo... what's with the lamp?

mcdonaldneal · Posted: Mon Aug 18, 2014 11:16 pm Post subject:

mcdonaldneal · Posted: Tue Aug 19, 2014 4:46 am Post subject:

Found Wi Fi while we're having lunch, but I'm on my phone so no photos!
Things mostly going well, travelled through Holland, Belgium, Luxemobourg and Germany and were now in the Austrian Alps. Very pretty. Kombi ok but has developed a roaring noise from the rear wheels, especially on deceleration. Sounds a bit like when the rear wheel bearings needed replacement, but that was only a couple of years ago and it would seem odd if they'd gone again? Has been going on for 200 miles so far with no change, so I'm ignoring it. Doesn't seem to be engine, transmission or. Braking related.
I have plenty of good pics which you will get to see, patience required!
_________________
1978 marino yellow Bay Dormobile camper
1969 signal orange Karmann Ghia convertible
1976 martini olive Bay Dormobile camper

Stop dead photo links! Post photos to The Samba Gallery!

wcfvw69 · Posted: Tue Aug 19, 2014 4:53 am Post subject:

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/archives/manuals/78bus/22.jpg

If you're just driving down the road, the brake warning light shouldn't be on. The same thing applies if you hit your brakes and it lights up. It's to warn you of a failure of one of the two dual circuits on the master cylinder.

I copied a page out of a 78 bus owners manual. I hope it's something silly that's causing it to be illuminated.
_________________
Contact me at [email protected]
Follow me on instagram @sparxwerksllc

Decades of VW and VW parts restoration experience.
The Samba member since 2004.

**Now rebuilding throttle bodies for VW's and Porsche's**
**Restored German Bosch distributors for sale or I can restore yours**
**Restored German Pierburg fuel pumps for sale or I can restore yours**
**Restored Porsche fuel pumps or I can restore yours**
**Restored Porsche distributors or I can restore yours**

mcdonaldneal · Posted: Tue Aug 19, 2014 5:09 am Post subject:

richparker · Posted: Tue Aug 19, 2014 5:57 am Post subject:

Glad to see you guys went for it and are have a good time. Kneel the pics comig, safe travels.
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geordieandy · Posted: Tue Aug 19, 2014 6:03 am Post subject:

I did a trip from North Shields all the way down to Koper in Slovenia on a 125cc scooter many years ago and just bought a 1974 T2 Camper so will be watching this thread closely for inspiration when ours is all ready for similar adventures. Good luck!

wcfvw69 · Posted: Tue Aug 19, 2014 6:14 am Post subject:

mcdonaldneal · Posted: Tue Aug 19, 2014 6:58 am Post subject:

Wcfvw, like a good Britisher, raised on manual transmission, I always engage the parking/ emergency/ hand brake when I come to a stop! Wink

_________________
1978 marino yellow Bay Dormobile camper
1969 signal orange Karmann Ghia convertible
1976 martini olive Bay Dormobile camper

Stop dead photo links! Post photos to The Samba Gallery!

Lionhart94010 · Posted: Tue Aug 19, 2014 7:40 am Post subject:

Great Bus and stories :0)
Popcorn

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dasdachshund · Posted: Tue Aug 19, 2014 12:47 pm Post subject:

Glad you are having fun, my friend. Dancing

Even if it is with a cat.......And a passport?!?!?!? HaHa

I do notice you are on the right side of the road now. Very Happy

Enjoy.

-dasdachshund

mcdonaldneal · Posted: Wed Aug 20, 2014 11:34 am Post subject:

Ok. I feel bad that I'm leaving you all hanging as to what's been going on! The long and short of it is, we've spent today getting the wheel bearing mechanical issue sorted, set off over the Alps, had a couple of 'save my bus' dipstick temperature warning issues, going over looong 5-10 mile 6% alpine motorways, another scare with the front wheel nuts coming loose, trucks peeping and flashing 'cause we're not going fast enough and now we're about half an hour from the Croatian border.
I think I'll save the detail of the trip so far and start tomorrow and post it sequentially, with plenty of the great pictures we've taken, but I haven't been able to post!
Wish us luck for the last hours push through the dark!
Looking forward to bed.
_________________
1978 marino yellow Bay Dormobile camper
1969 signal orange Karmann Ghia convertible
1976 martini olive Bay Dormobile camper

Stop dead photo links! Post photos to The Samba Gallery!

Tcash · Posted: Wed Aug 20, 2014 8:05 pm Post subject:

Good Luck hope the rest of the trip is smooth sailing!
Tcash

mcdonaldneal · Posted: Thu Aug 21, 2014 1:46 am Post subject:

Three cheers for Croatia! Finally we have reliable internet access, even if it is only when we're down on the beach Confused

so, wind back a few days... the crossing from Newcastle to Amsterdam...
The sea crossing was rough, but not too bad once we went to bed!

In the spirit of camping, we brought on board a cool bag with a kettle, snacks, ramen noodle pots from the Chinese supermarket and strawberries and cream, so we had a great meal in the cabin. Medo has to stay in the Kombi, so she had food and drink and a litter tray and the skylights cracked open, so no doubt she was happy too!
The crossing takes 15 1/2 hours but its a pretty big, stable ferry. It was fully booked, so the car deck was pretty crowded, nobody would like it when a herd of schoolchildren (or adults!) squeezes past their precious Kombi!

On the windy journey to the ferry, to give you an idea of how many (or few) are left around where we live, in 2 1/2 hrs on the main A1 between Scotland and England, we saw two T25's and one solitary, lowered Bay. Waved and flashed at them all, of course!
We did see one other Bay in Belgium, NONE the whole time we travelled through Germany for two days (who'd've thought it?!). We eventually saw our next three Bays, on in Austria and two in Slovenia. Looked as though they were heading back from the Adriatic coast.
_________________
1978 marino yellow Bay Dormobile camper
1969 signal orange Karmann Ghia convertible
1976 martini olive Bay Dormobile camper

Stop dead photo links! Post photos to The Samba Gallery!

mcdonaldneal · Posted: Thu Aug 21, 2014 8:00 am Post subject:

Travelled down through Holland, pretty much as flat as you'd imagine!

Going through Belgium, we turned off to find a spot to brew up a cup of tea and have breakfast. Saw signs for 'The geographical centre of Belgium' but after following the signs for a while couldn't find it! Medo wasn't much good at helping us look.

While we were stopped a magnificent, sturdy VW based camper came past. I'm not sure what model it's based on, something later and bigger than an LT20? 'Much loved' by its owners I'm sure!

Reached Luxembourg and stopped by chance at the American War Cemetery and Memorial. Very impressive gates, but it had closed 5 minutes before we got there. It's sobering just how many Second World War sights and well known place names there are in the Low Countries.

_________________
1978 marino yellow Bay Dormobile camper
1969 signal orange Karmann Ghia convertible
1976 martini olive Bay Dormobile camper

Stop dead photo links! Post photos to The Samba Gallery!

mcdonaldneal · Posted: Fri Aug 22, 2014 1:50 am Post subject:

Once in Luxembourg, we headed for Remich, which is a lovely little town, on the Moselle river, on the border of Lux, France and Germany. The Germans say 'Dreiländereck', or 'three country corner'!
Shona had been here many times, camping with her parents in the '80's, but the city centre campsite is now a car park! We went over the border bridge to the German side, to a lovely little site with free electricity and hot showers (still not always guaranteed in Europe, or Britain!)

We walked back over into town to explore. There are markers way up some of the houses, showing where floodwater had come in the past. It's a big white wine region and there was a festival going on to celebrate the new sparkling vintage, including a hilarious 'Miss Cremant de Moselle' contest, where the main criterion seemed to be whether the girls could carry a bar tray with a bottle of fizz and three glasses in one hand along the catwalk and back! (No VW so no gallery photo!)
After that, back for dinner in the Kombi...

No camping setup is complete without a brass standard lamp!

I've been chatting on e mail with another guy in Australia with a Dormobile conversion Bay window. The conversions were done in a Dormobile factory in Fyshwick, Canberra. A couple of unique features seem to be the yellow Poptop canvas (the British versions have candy striped canvas), and the veneer on our cabinets are the same, although his is older and in much better condition. Ours has the common swelling of the chipboard due to water soakage, which you can't see in these pictures.

The new curtains are perfect! Genuine '70's material, which matches the paintwork perfectly!
The rivets on the poptop prove the Australian assembly theory.

I think the side windows in the Kombi would usually have been louvred, but thanks to our newly acquired birth certificate (more of which later!) I now know that the Kombi was supplied with M 508 'Vent window in cabin door and opposite sliding door'. That might explain why I struggled to get spares for the catch until I realised it was a Vanagon part!

_________________
1978 marino yellow Bay Dormobile camper
1969 signal orange Karmann Ghia convertible
1976 martini olive Bay Dormobile camper

Stop dead photo links! Post photos to The Samba Gallery!

Tcash · Posted: Fri Aug 22, 2014 7:51 am Post subject:

Nice spot next to the river. Happy trails.


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