McCARTNEY LIVES

He's a Beetle of course. These fun loving criminals never die on us, they just need a bit of time to be reassured it will be okay. It's taken 2 1/2 weeks to source and fix the problem and after several days of hard graft, little sleep and many, many swear words McCartney's heart bypass operation had been successful and he roared into life!

McCartney is happy & excited to get back on the road.

What was the problem you ask?

Fuel pump. Basically no fuel was getting to the car and it was extremely frustrating. Although, no job is too large for Caught The VW Bug and we managed to source a new fuel pump, fit it and voila! 

"It worked right?" Wrong. This was the first problem, the fuel line had recently split so that was re-routed 3 times to assure enough fuel was reaching the car and gravity wasn't interfering with the fuel flow. 

"Once that was done, it worked right? "Wrong. We took the fuel tank out, cleaned that and placed it back in the chassis as the fuel pipe might have been trapped.

"Sounds like a tough job, but it's fixed and it worked right?" Wrong. 

It turns out we put the fuel line on the wrong end of the pump, so it blew the petrol away from the carburetor and the engine and not the reverse.

"Oh you tit." 

We can all make rookie mistakes and yes, even the best of us make critical errors like that. However, he runs better than before with the fuel flow vastly improved. Lets hope the FIA don't disqualify us.

Its always a learning process but I am just happy my boy is working again. McCartney will be heading to Burgess Hill to visit VW Heritage's monthly meets, who wrote about us at the beginning of the month for his test run. Also, watch this space for Doris' journey to the Ace Café.

Happy to get him running again!

Bugging People Since 2013 (1 Year Anniversary)

We have owned VW Beetles for over 35 years now! Why am I writing about our 1 year anniversary then?

Well, I'm married.

It's been a year since my sex change.

I have been sober for a year now.

It's been a year since the team rekindled our spirits and got back into VW Beetle's. We used to own a whole range of Beetle's back in the day when I was a little nipper. The only nugget of information I knew back then was that they used to smell of a combination of Magic Tree's and Churches. This is certainly no different 15 years later.

I remember the day as one drove past me on the way to school and that was it. I wanted one as soon as possible. We bought Lola, our first one a year ago on the Sunday just gone and the empire slowly grew, leading to the blog!

Lola, one whole year ago. Arriving on the scene.

Little did I know that I wouldn't own her for long, or even purchase another FIVE of these lovable rogues or even get back into the game with my family on such a head on manner that we have done. 

Really, I would like to thank everyone that's been of help. From the mad scientist at work who helps me fix these beasts, to the young lady who procures all the stock and little gems along the way that retain so much meaning and rarity that makes these Beetle's special and unique in their own little way. Thank you to my siblings who have put up with all the noise, cursing & banging (not like that. Well, sorta) in the morning and thanks to my trusty dog who is taking a liking to these Beetles. "You can have a ride in it one day" I tell him. He just looks at me bemused, but he's a little mental anyway.

Also, a special mention to all the people on forums, whoever likes the blog, show promoters and parts suppliers for promoting us and helping us along the way!

Over the past year, I have learnt a vast amount about these Beetle's down to the VW media, how each little part works, how basic they are to run and even how to drive them (bare in mind I hadn't even passed my test last year). It's been good fun and it's great to finally get lost in something you enjoy and better still, write about them. 

It's been good fun, here's to the next 35 years of thrills, spills, swearing, banging and boozing. 

Line a-stern, back in the first phase of it all. (1999)

Progress at Caught The VW Bug

I am happy to announce some, yet little progress at Caught The VW Bug!

In the last post, there was a meltdown within the team. It's evident that the sun has finally arrived for us to stay for a while and that inherently means (and fellow VW owners will agree) that the Bugs don't ever work. They last all winter in the vicious conditions but now the parts evidently get too worn to use and breakdown. The biggest culprit of this was especially McCartney who was in the Doghouse for a bit before I rekindled my spirits for him and decided to get hands on and source the problem.

At least McCartney looks nice...

We deduced that a fuel pump issue was the problem and that means no fuel to the car and it can't thus turn on without it. We are sourcing another fuel pump and I am glad to announce this as we have tried about 6793 potential solutions to find the problem so we're on the up!

Also, Parker's 12 step recovery took a backfoot but is now getting there, I will be writing more on him later so watch this space for him and his transformation to pass his medical by the MOT (Medics of Transport) team.

Therefore, this did mean that Sting won't be going to Stanford Hall which is a big disappointment as the time frame arrived far too quick than we expected. However, we will look forward to taking our time fixing him up over the year, along with Jake.

Not making it to Stanford Hall VW Show. Gutted.

UPDATE: Turns out the fuel pump is fine and the poor '68 Beetle's fuel line has a problem. Nearly 3 hours were spent yesterday evening finding the problem and what is it? Gravity of course!The fuel doesn't run up the route too well and isn't getting to the engine whatsoever.

I am looking forward to collecting my degree in physics as soon as we collect the car as this is turning out to be a mammoth job.

Dumped by the roadside.

Help us all.

Any small donations, food or beer would be greatly appreciated.

In the meantime, check out my Twitter and Google+ for all non-related, topical nonsense. You could even follow me if you want.
https://twitter.com/CTracey143
https://plus.google.com/u/0/101003325908076718434/posts

A bad day at Caught The VW Bug

Whilst I am sitting here, writing to you with a beer in hand. We experienced our first bad day at Caught The VW Bug.

Here's a quick cit rep of what on earth has happened.

McCartney - Fuel Pump: F***ed.
Parker - Fuel Pump + Timing: F***ed.
Sting - Wrong wings sent: No Stanford Hall. My mood: F***ed.
Jake Bugg - Can't get a quote but we all know that is: F***ed.
Doris - Last one standing, only female of the group (GIRL POWER). F**k.

It's been an odd one today as the wings sent to us were rear wings. This has pushed us off track beyond Stanford Hall for the 4th May. It's hard to take but its days like this where you just need to reflect, go back to the drawing board and understand it's not as bad as it seems.

On top of that, McCartney's running problems since the VolksWorld Show has been relentless, only to find out Parker has the same problem. We've been consistently playing trial and error but believe me, we will rise again to find the solution and I will document it with great pride. But until then, I will be in the corner. In the pub. Beer in hand.

Free to good home.

Meet the Team - Jake Bugg

ANOTHER ONE?

Yep, that's right. The fifth VW Bug has arrived. They are spreading like wildfire.

Jake said he was happy to be joining the Caught The VW Bug team and looked forward to getting back on the road.

 How does one team own five bugs in such a short space of time? It's a combination of truly encapsulating the VW scene by injecting venom and young blood into it. It's also about getting involved and finding like-minded friends and enthusiasts but most importantly it's the basic premise of simply loving having the opportunity to repair, restore and pretty much fall in love with these classic cars as they retain SO MUCH CHARACTER.

Rust holes are inevitable. Not been run for a good few years.

Jake's original paint colour inside

Meet Jake, Jake Bugg. Some may have heard of Jake Bugg, the 19 year old folk singer from the UK who is currently lighting up the new generation of independent artists. I personally am a fan of his work and it just so happens to be that he has a relevant name for the new project.

Give him his due, our Jake is 47 years old and currently looks a little bit rough. I don't predict that the real Jake will look this by the way! However, no challenge is never too fierce for the team at Caught The VW Bug!

To be brief, Jake is a 1967 Beetle, originally painted in a royal blue (my Secondary/High School's uniform...) which makes him the oldest of the team at the time of writing. We picked him up for a good price (undisclosed of course) and we are looking forward to taking time (and running our finances dry) with this one and restoring Jake from the ground up. We aim to put our own Caught The VW Bug spin on him with a new interior and a paint job. We have an idea in mind currently, but I will be reporting on Jake's progress throughout 2014 with a planned 2015 completion date.

Lacking the bottom 6 inches, Jake will need a bit of welding before he is roadworthy.

Jake rocking the grey right now, absolutely. The primer look gives us a clean slate
to redecorate and put a personalised touch on the bug.

The aim is to keep Jake after he is completed and be fully inducted into the Caught The VW Bug hall of fame, along with myself getting the honour of the highest order to take Jake under my wing and travel the roads of the UK and Europe for years to come. Although, I still will be using McCartney until that day which I equally adore just as much, even if it has broken down. Again.

Think of it like cheating... on a cougar... but it's non-sexual... because it's a car... and I am not weird.

A SUNROOF. YEAAAAH. Sunroof on a Beetle is super rare!

Currently, the sunroof isn't working and will need some delicate repairing.

Parker's Road to Recovery - Rust Holes

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Preserving the Heritage of VW's

Caught The VW Bug would like to share with you a little insight about us, courtesy of VW Heritage. They decided to catch up with us! Caught The VW Bug are very excited to share this with you and how the journey of restoring the little buggers and later, how the blog came to fruition!

Here is what they had to say.

http://www.vwheritage.com/blog/2014/04/01/blogging-good/