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!