Mechanical update

Once Lucy settled in the shop, Francis and his Dad got to work on the items that were listed as needing attention in the safety estimate: 1 - Windshield washer fluid not coming out: They fixed the ruptured tube without having to buy extra parts (they just shortened u.

2 - Horn not working: Not sure what they did but it’s working now … you just have to press down at a certain angle to get it working. I love cars with quirks!

3 - Rear boots need to be changed: The boys removed both rear axles and brought them to CV Tech in Gatineau to have them replaced with brand new heavy duty boots. (pictures to come..Francis thinks they are really nice)

4 - Rear signal lights out of whack: The wires were apparently put on backwards so that was a quick and cheap fix.

5 - Rear brake cylinders need to be changed: Francis went to get them at AutoExtra in Embrun and installed them without too much difficulty (there’s always a learning curve with new vehicles)

Total cost of repairs for safety so far: approx 200$ Being nerdy, I ordered a bunch of service manuals to help out in any future reparations from Amazon:

1. Haynes VW Transporter 1600 1968-1979 Manual
2. Muir’s How to keep your Volkswagen Alive: A Manual of Step-by-Step procedures for the Complete Idiot
3. Volkswagen of America’s Official Service Manual for Type 2 Vehicles

They are all very good in their own ways but Muir’s book is definitely more fun to read. I’m going through it slowly, like a novel, skipping the detailed parts just like the author suggests. I have also been looking at the possibility of buying Classic plates for Lucy. Ontario’s Ministry of Transportation has a program that allows cars that are at least 30 years old to have Year Of Manufacture (YOM) Plates. That means I could eventually put those cool blue license plates that say Ontario – 1971 on Lucy. The cost is pretty excessive at 235.00$ though. This does not include buying the vintage plate, which would run anywhere from 10$ to 100$. There are a lot of old plates available from collectors online but the problem is that you need TWO, not just one and that it can’t be registered with MTO for another vehicle. When I called with a few license plate numbers I found on the internet, they were all being used, so it will be a bit of a treasure hunt if I want to go ahead with that idea. Next on our list: Bring it in to get the safety certificate!

Paying the Taxman

Ok so for anyone interested in buying a vehicle that's 15 years or older in Ontario, this is what you have to do: 1- Get the signed Ownerships from the seller along with a bill of sale (if you get along well with the seller, ask him to leave the amount blank...see point 5). 2- Before you transfer it officially in your name at one of the Licensing offices, you need to get your new vehicle insured. The insurance is going to be very anal and say you can't do so until you pass safety and get an appraisal. It's a bitch so you will have to decide if you want to pay tons of money and tow the car around until it's appraised and safetied or break the law and just drive it to a garage illegally . We were lucky to find a mobile appraisal guy and get dealer plates to drive it to a shop. 3 - The appraiser will take pictures and fill out forms and send you the 3-4 page report with pictures in the mail. This will probably take a week so you have time to get it safetied in the meantime. There is no "deadline" to get it licensed after purchase so there is no rush. 4 - Insure the car using the appraisal guy's number. They will take your word for the safety check so you don't need to send anything to them. 5 - Once safetied, bring the ownerships, your insurance info, the bill of sale, an appraisal, the safety results and your license to the license bureau. There you have tons of fees for the license, a Used Vehicle Package and the sales tax. Note that they will charge you sales tax based on the higher amount between the bill of sale and the appraisal (see point 1). The appraisal does NOT need to be from the same insurance guy. In fact, if you know a mechanic, it's better to get it done by them so they can put the value to lower and you therefore pay less tax. It took me lots of phone calls to get all the correct info. I haven't actually gone through with it it yet though so if some of my info is wrong I'll correct it as I find out.

We love Lucy!

Well.... we did it! We are, as of today, the proud owners of a 1971 VW camper van called Lucy! We had kept her purchase a surprise from our family which was VERY hard because we were so excited when we learned the seller accepted our offer . Unable to restrain ourselves further, we decided to show up uninvited at everyone's place tonight so they could meet her and go for a small ride. Felix still hasn't seen her though..he was unfortunately sleeping when we stopped by. I get the feeling he'll really like her. Lucy's previous owners were wonderful and dropped her off at our place around noon along with a bunch of spare parts and instructions. I will make sure to keep them updated on our adventures. I don't think I could of asked for a better seller. So anyway, as I write this, Lucy is sleeping in a safe, warm shop. There was no way I was leaving her out in the street for the first night. We still have to finalize insurance and license plate documents and get her safetied so more updates to come. Oh and any ideas for vanity plates? We were thinking RDTRP 71