GTI: The End Tag
Not much to write about this one.
Except for the fact that when pulling a trailer, the end tag is not present. Which even is sort of correct.
Gerbelmann: Sold :-(
Today marks the end of an era for me: My panel van, Uncle Gerbelmann, is now officially sold. Again. Next weekend, it will be moved from where it currently is stored to its new owner’s home.
The decision has not come lightly, but I realistically don’t have the knowledge and resources required to repair the van as well as it deserves to be. Its new owner, who has known both the van and me since the van’s first VW meeting in 1996, does. So it’s going to be in good hands.
This sale makes the domain of this blog (and the Transporter pages on www.gerbelmann.de too) somewhat pointless; however I have decided to keep it. Uncle Gerbelmann’s progress will still be reported on this blog, and the Transporter pages will be continued too. In other words, for you, gentle reader, nothing much will change, except there hopefully will be more progress to report than there would have been with me as the sole owner and contributor.
This is still a sad day for me. But in a good way, somehow. At least, this blog’s title will still remain true … just in a different sense of the meaning. After all, Uncle Gerbelmann now belongs to a friend of mine.
Could’ve been worse.
Citroen 2 CV Meeting Rötgesbüttel
Like every year, I started the season at the Rötgesbüttel Citroen 2 CV Meeting on Easter. This might seem somewhat unusual for a VW guy, but it’s a really nice and relaxed meeting with good-natured folk and interesting cars, most of which even feature aircooled boxer engines.
This is a quite typical picture in fact, because although it is a 2 CV meeting, all Citroen cars are welcome (yes, even brand new ones). I don’t own even a new Citroen, of course, so I parked the Golf outside the campsite. With a Bus or a Bug, I’d park inside and pay full admission. And it would not be the only non-Citroen there.
Of course, this Panhard is excused anyway, as the company got bought by Citroen in the 1970s. Resulting in their development of this:
This Citroen GSA (or its predecessor, the GS) ranks very high among my Citroen-made dream cars: hydropneumatic suspension, air-cooled four cylinder boxer engine, a wonderfully weird dash and almost Golf-like compactness (and even less weight) make a truly great combination of interesting features. And it’s by no means compatible with everyone’s notion of a classic car, unlike the Bug. It’s even practical and economical (as long as it doesn’t need fixing, that is: all those nifty features come packed tightly into a small cramped engine compartment for your inconvenience, but you can’t have everything can you?). What’s not to like?
Well, on the other hand the 2CV certainly is more charming, so it is definitely an option too. If only they weren’t so expensive to buy! (Cheap to operate and repair, though.) The other major disadvantage of the 2CV is, of course, this:
But what the hell. Sigh.
Well, I’ve got time to decide anyway. I promised to the Bug that I won’t buy another car until it’s on the road again. 
More pictures from the Rötgesbüttel meeting are over there in my photo album at ermel.org. Enjoy!
GTI: The Sound of Silence
(D’you know, I always wanted to title a post like that.)
You guessed it: the new exhaust is fitted. Sounds absolutely boring, like a factory-spec Golf GTI 16V should. The only slightly noteworthy experience was presenting my newly silenced vehicle to the cops.
Reading the ticket I had received, the officer asked for the documentation by the auto shop who had fixed the car. Not having any, I didn’t feel like admitting I’d never actually read the ticket, so I claimed to have fixed it myself. That did it nicely. After a short inquiry what exactly a “Hauptschalldämpfer” (main muffler) is (“coudn’t they just have called it ‘Auspuff’ (exhaust),” the officer grumbled about her male colleagues; I heartily agreed, pointing out that actually it had been the “Mittelschalldämpfer” (center muffler) that had fallen off the car anyway, which got me the expected “and you’re a worse nerd than they are” look) the officer agreed to just take a look and a listen to the car revving instead. “Sounds like a Golf,” she concluded. Well, I should hope so, Madam.
The Imasaf stuff (see below) fitted not perfectly, but well enough; I’ll be curious to see how long it’ll last. Meanwhile, the dealer agreed to pay back the price difference between the ordered and paid for Walker parts and the Imasaf parts they actually delivered; we’ll see if they will.
All in all, this could’ve worked out much worse, and/or much more expensive. I’m reasonably satisfied with the outcome. Now, time to tackle the rust holes, the oil leak, and the ABS failure. TÜV expires in a month from now; that should be doable.
Bug: Hen’s Teeth
There is one part (well, pair of parts) that is still missing from my Convertible. They were only fitted to US models, and unlike many such parts that the German Bug scene considers cool, they lack that kind of appeal. Here’s what I’m talking about:
Better condition would be nice too.
They are rear reflectors, originally mounted on the bumper brackets. I have no idea how or where exactly; the above is the only image I have ever seen that shows them. (I nicked the image from an ebay auction. The seller only ships to the U.S., so it serves them right I nicked their image; had they offered to ship to Germany, I would have bought the parts instead.)
Anyone have a picture of them mounted? Or even some reflectors to sell to me?
Just asking.
Bug: The Ultimate Vanity Plate
Here’s what I’d like my Bug to have as a vanity plate:
Let’s see who gets that one.
Sadly, Germany doesn’t allow such extravagances. But maybe I’ll get me some California plates like that anyway, to show off on Bug meets. I just mustn’t forget to swap them back before driving home then.
GTI: Exhaust Blues
After having gotten progressively louder over a few weeks, maybe months (you don’t notice that kind of thing right away, do you?), part of the GTI’s exhaust fell off the car last week.
Recreated action shot.
So it was time to order a new one; after a bit of price comparison googling, I went for Walker parts ordered from Auspuff.com. Today they arrived; however, instead of by Walker, the exhaust I got is made my Imasaf. But I paid Walker prices; Imasaf parts are cheaper. Sigh.
Well, they’ll have to do. The day before yesterday, I was stopped by the police. “Say, don’t you think your exhaust is a little on the loud side?” they asked me. My reply: “No. No, I don’t. It’s perfectly silent in fact. After all, it’s in the trunk.” They gave me until next Monday to present them the fixed car, so there’s really no time to have the parts exchanged anymore.
Let’s hope Auspuff.com will cough up a little money to compensate for their error. (Error? Well yes: never assume malice if incompetence is a sufficient explanation.) Needless to say, Auspuff.com do not earn a recommendation, whatever the outcome.
Hello, World.
Welcome to my Volkswagen blog, “Gerbelmann & Friends”. You can find out basic info about my VWs through the links at the top of this page; the Gerbelmann one will also explain the name of the site and blog. It’s all rather brief and sketchy still I’m afraid; I will be adding more material about the cars as I see fit, and I’ll report on current events and other goings-on on the blog, obviously.
So, if this sounds somewhat potentially interesting to you, be my guest. Thanks for dropping in!