House of Dub VW Club monthly meet.

Looking back at my 'blog archive (to the left of this page) I noticed that the last time I visited the House of Dub's monthly VW meet was way back in October last year, which is far to long, but time goes by so quickly. As I mentioned in my last blog entry because the House of Dub and the Wolfsburg Weed Huggers have their club meets on the same night, I will alternate between them both on a monthly basis to ensure I keep in contact with friends at both clubs and it also gives you the reader a bit more insight as to whats new at each club. Since my last visit the House of Dub they have changed the venue of their club meet, which is now held at The Boot public House, in Soulbury, Bucks from 7pm onwards on the last Wednesday of each month. The Boot is a nice village pub that has a good variety of beers and some excellent food, and on a hot summers evening that sounds just about perfect.

Lewis was already at the club meet when I
arrived. This is his '70 bay finished in metallic
candy red.

This is such a nice looking pop top bus in a
really nice colour.

Nice and straight, nice and clean with a nice
coat of paint, just about right I reckon.

Zoe, from the House of Dub came along in her
'67 beetle. Zoe was saying that she recently
suffered from having a broken fan belt whilst
driving en-route to Bug Jam earlier this month.

Luckily apart from some minor damage all
was OK and 'Donkey' is running as normal again.

Tony attended the club meet in his '84 crew
cab T25. This is a cool ride finished in grey
with contrasting bright orange wheels and roof.

These crew cabs are not only a really cool
looking ride but they also make for a good
workhorse with plenty of room in the back.

For all you patina fans, how about this '69
Californian import. This early bay was left to sit
in the hot California sunshine for something
ridiculous like 20 years, oh and the rear quarter
panel has not been painted, it's where the bus
sat for so long with the sliding door open!

Talking to Zoe, we assumed that this side was
somewhat more protected from the sunshine
by a low hedge or wall as the patina doesn't
start until half was up the body.

My first time meeting of Zoe (another one) and
Colin who came along in their bright red T4.

This very clean and tidy T4 had a lot of nice
accessories with a full camping interior. I do like
these T4's and if I didn't have my bay I would
certainly have one.

My '69 microbus enjoying the summer sun as
it starts to go down over the club meet.

Simone came along in her trusty '72 beetle.
This is a clean and tidy bug, finished in white
with matching steel wheels.

Very clean and straight and looking good in
the summer sunshine.

Ben pulled up in his '66 split screen. Ben has
owned this for as long as i can remember and
it still looks as good today as it always has.

Profile of Ben's split screen, sitting low and
looking very clean.

Ben's splitty has a nice colour combination,
not too flash or fancy just a lovely looking bus.

Stephen came to the club meet in his '78
pop top late bay. Stephen was saying that he
has just started a restoration on an early bug.
Good luck on that, that should keep him busy
for a while.

Craig and his mate popped in later in the evening
in his super low early bay.

This beauty has had the beam raised and is
fully tubbed front and rear to accommodate the
new wheel position.

The bodywork has patina which is maturing
nicely, and a full blown patina roof. The
deluxe trim adds a small amount of bright work
 to break the body colour up as do the front
and rear side markers.

Richard attended the club meet in his newly
acquired MK3 golf convertible in bright red.
When Richard purchased this golf the bonnet
had seen better day's, however Richard soon
got a colour perfect replacement item off e-bay.

Richard has a minor buffing repair to do to the
front wing but apart from that this is a really
nice clean and straight rag top.

Later in the evening Craig parked his baby
blue bay window next to mine. I used to think
my bay was quite low, but compared to Craig's
I think I might suffer from a case of vertigo. 

Just to show how low Craig's bay really is.

Lewis leaving the meet just as the sun begins
to set I do like those side marker lights and
 they suit this bus perfectly.


So that was the House of Dub monthly meet
for July. Talking to the members of the club
they were all saying that the number of vehicle's
was lower than normal due to the 'Classic's
on the Common' show in the neighbouring
county being on the same day. However
despite this, it was a good night and it was
good to catch up with all my old friends, and
not forgetting the new friends, at the House of
Dub VW Club. Finally apologies to Spike for
not taking a picture of the bay window he
turned up in.

Ace Cafe, London, monthly aircooled night

On the third Tuesday of each month, throughout the year the world famous Ace Cafe, London hold a VW air cooled + T4 / T5 night. Looking back through my 'blog archive' I realised the last time I went to this meet was in July 2013 so it's exactly a year since I have been to the Ace, which is far too long. Where does the time go? Anyway, a few of the 'Outcast VW Club' members mentioned that they fancy the 70 mile round trip into Greater London to enjoy an evening of good food, cold beer and of course plenty of air cooled VW's.
The Ace Cafe has something going on most nights of the week, including bikes, rods, kit cars, rock and roll etc, check out their Ace Cafe website for more info:
http://www.ace-cafelondon.com/default.aspx

Steve, his partner Pauline and I met at the
'Oil Droppers' workshop for a mini cruise
up to the Ace Cafe. Steve's beetle and my
early bay enjoying the evening sunshine.

Stuarts '71 early bay and Steve's '70 beetle
parked up in the evening summer sun.

Steve and Pauline entering the Ace car park,
You can just make out Pauline holding the
go-pro video camera. Steve and Pauline made
a short video of the mini cruise up and of the
vehicles at the Ace Cafe. Check out Steve's
video here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Q3AG-ThFmc&feature=youtu.be

Steve and Pauline with their '70 beetle at the
Ace Cafe on a lovely summers evening.

A quick glance over my shoulder and I see
my '69 bay. It does look small against the T25,
and even smaller against the T4/5's.

Stuarts '71 bay with the hand painted chequered
front alongside a pair of beetles.

The good thing about the Ace Cafe, and many
VW shows in general now-a-days is that it's
not all about the 10k paint job or the 10 year
restoration, it's about no matter what you drive
or how it looks your vehicle is appreciated for
what it is. Here an everyday white '66 beetle
is parked up alongside a turquoise cal look bug.

Same car but different styles, but both equally
as nice as each other for different reasons.

A Porsche Spyder kit car, I'm not sure what
manufacturer made the body but it did look
quite good, although it was showing it's age
a little bit.

Even though it's a kit car based on a beetle
floor pan, I bet it's still fun to drive around in,
especially through West London on a hot
summer's evening.

Interior was similar to the original, I did like the
red tuck and roll seats.

The beetle engine is accessible by lifting the
rear part of the body.
 

This cherry red and gold late bay had a really
stunning paint job, the super straight body
highlights the almost perfect reflection.

Another very clean bus was this 1990 T25 in
a lovely blue with matching indicator lenses.

On the front wing of the T25 was this badge,
I'm not sure what or why, but it did look
impressive.

This cool looking imported '69/70 Karmann
Ghia convertible was parked up and looking
good. Sitting low with the chrome towel rail
bumpers and with the hood down it looked just right.

Such a clean and straight looking KG. This
is how to ride in style.

This KG must be an import, due to being a
left hand drive model.

A lovely baby blue late bay with a pop top and
colour coded bumpers, and a 2 bow roof rack.

This '74 bus did look clean and straight. It's
quite un-usual to see a bus painted in a
single colour.

A couple of the Wolfsburg Weed Huggers VW
Club members were at the Ace. The first was
Matt in his early very RAT looking bug. This
bug has been featured on several occasions
on my blog and it is about as RAT as you can
get, and I think it's awesome.

Such a cool looking ride, with a lot of cool
accessories, including that roof rack with
the suitcase and pushbike. Another neat
touch was on the number plate, it has the
wording "it costs a lot of money to look
this cheap".

Another W.W.H member was Jonny in his '71
beetle. Jonny bought this as a body shell less
than a year ago and transformed that shell
into this beauty.

Jonny was saying that he is only the 2nd owner
of this beetle and that it only needed minimal
welding to get it on the road. The holes in
the rear apron may look decorative but in fact
are there to release the heat produced from the
big exhaust.
 

The engine bay of Jonny's bug, I'm not sure
what size motor this is, or what internals he
has but I do know Jonny will soon be adding
a small turbo to help push this bug along.

This '68 / 69 bright red beetle stood out in the
summer sunshine with it's colour coded wheels.

This is a really nice looking beetle.

Another beetle, this time a '71 in white with the
cal-look. I do prefer the sloping headlight's on
a bug and also the chrome trim, I think the trim
just finishes off the overall look.

Just as nice looking from the rear with flawless
paint.

The interior was just as clean as the outside
with it's smoothed dash board and just the
single speedometer.
(excuse the reflection in the window)

A pre '63 beetle in immaculate condition with
stunning blue paint with matching colour coded
steel wheels with chrome hub caps. I do like
the polished stone guards on the bottom of
the wings

Such a nice looking beetle with US style all
red rear tail light lenses, and US style chrome
towel rail bumpers and a super straight body.

This Union Jack painted buggy looked like
something from the 'Austin Powers' movie,
but it was in fact in aid of 'Help for Hero's'
raising funds for our servicemen and women.

The paint scheme actually looked really cool
and I bet it gets a lot of attention wherever it
goes.

How about this for a paint job on this oval
beetle? stunning gloss black paint that has a
reflection a mile deep. You need a super straight
body to paint a car in black, as black will show
every small imperfection.

The reflection in the rear quarter and on the
rear wing is amazing. I loved the Paris sun roof
which finishes off this super clean beetle
perfectly.

The engine in the oval.. I don't know what size
cc this motor is, but I'm guessing it's big judging
by...

all the custom dials on the dash board and the
rev counter. The interior was finished to the
same high standard as the exterior.

This '64 beetle is a regular at the air-cooled
night at the Ace. It always looks so clean and
tidy and I never get tired of seeing it.

That single grey colour and the banded white
steel wheels make this early bug stand out.
There appears to be a very small stange looking
man behind the bug watching me..!

Mark (Bod) brought his super clean, super
green T5 along. The colour of this bus really
is nice and the photo's do not do the paint
any justice.

This really is one nice looking T5. The colour
coded bumpers and the roof spoiler compliment
the look.

Another very clean and straight looking T5,
this time in stunning white. I do like these T5's
and if I didn't have my early bay, I could quite
easily have one.

I'm sure this T25 belongs to Carlo, a member
of the Dunstable Dubbers VW Club.

A nice looking bus that clocks up the miles by
visiting many shows and events throughout
the year.

Simon (posing again!) Amanda and the new
slim look Bod having a chat.

My '69 micro bus parked up and looking good,
well in my eyes anyway.

Fiona, (my bay) parked up at the Ace Cafe.
The car park looks a bit sparse from this angle.

This '61 convertible beetle turned up later in the
evening and attracted a lot of attention. The
owner was saying he bought it at the Volksworld
show earlier this year with the intention of
making it into a 'show winner'

The un-usual high tops of the doors had the
nostalgia hot-rod look and looked really good.
It did mean however that this bug has no door
glass, but then it's summer and you don't need
door glass.



The hood frame was all there and looked in
good condition, when the owner put the roof
frame up, Bert asked if the roof leaked.!!
and Darren (pictured) thought the owner should
just wrap the frame in bubble wrap
to protect him from the elements. We're not
sure if the owner took Darren's expert technical 
advice, we'll just have to wait and see.

So that was the July air cooled night at the
world famous Ace Cafe, London. Overall a
really good night once we got there, as the
traffic was horrendous on the A40 going
into London. But once we arrived, we
all chilled out and enjoyed ourselves. It
was good to see old friends and also to
meet new people. So here's to next month.