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 58camper
A.k.a.: Bill Moore
Wolfsburg Wizard
Posts: 591
Threads: 110
Registered: August 27th, 2002
Member Is Offline
Location: NORTH NOWRA is now Country Buggy Central
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Mood: Curt but friendly
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| posted on July 31st, 2013 at 06:15 PM |
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YOU CANT GO ANYWHERE WITHOUT MEETING SOMEONE
Was travelling in Queensland last week and called in at a Land Rover spare parts shop to see what windscreen wiper arms he had in stock as the early
ones were similar to the CB fitting but not identical. The guy asked me what Series Landy I wanted to fit them to and I said a Country Buggy.
He laughed and yelled out to his old man who was out the back shed that there was this bloke looking for bits for a Country Buggy. The old fella from
the back staggered in- must have been 80 in the shade- twisted over with arthritis and walking like a three legged dog.
The old fella goes on to tell me that he was working at the Clayton factory when they were producing the Country Buggy and I must admit I was
sceptical. This was until he told me that he had worked on all of the three prototypes from time to time and he spent most of him time in the
fabrication section where they pressed out the CB pans. He could never understand why the CB was produced with its own pan which was different to the
Beetle. He also said the thing that always amazed him about the factory was the way that when the Type 2 panels came in as part of CKD pack the panel
beaters would take the rear panel, cut out the louvres from the lower part of the panel and then weld them into a cut out higher in the same panel. He
thought it was done for panel repair practice.
I was able to tell him that re positioning the louvres was done to get the louvres up higher from the road and prevent to much dust from entering the
engine. This was an approved change agreed by Wolfsburg following a special request by VW Australia.
Unfortunately the old guy could not remember much more and did not think he had any photos of memories from his time at the factory.
Never know who you meet....
countrybuggybill
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 Bizarre
Super Moderator
The artist formerly known as blue74l
Posts: 12780
Threads: 734
Registered: August 25th, 2002
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Location: Abbotsford, Sydney
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| posted on July 31st, 2013 at 07:02 PM |
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hah.... interesting story 
Futue te ipsum!!!
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matberry
Super Moderator
Go hard or go home
Posts: 8114
Threads: 134
Registered: March 7th, 2006
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Location: Cooroy Qld
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Mood: enjoying waving at all my Kombi buddies from my T3
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| posted on July 31st, 2013 at 07:03 PM |
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Crikey, what a story Bill. That's the thing with Volksies, everyone has a Volksie story....
So did you take him home?
Matt Berry Motorsports...air cooled advice, repairs and mods Ph 0408 704 662
OFF-ROAD,CIRCUIT,DRAG,STREET,ENDURANCE
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HappyDaze
A.k.a.: Greg Mackie
Son of Jim - Creator of Good
Superannuated
Posts: 2887
Threads: 141
Registered: June 13th, 2009
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Location: Southern Highlands NSW
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| posted on July 31st, 2013 at 07:19 PM |
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And did you get any Landy wiper arms, Bill.....or did you forget about them after talking to the old bloke?
I'm going to tell Vincent what you said about the "three legged dog".
I'd rather wear a Beetle out by racing it than by polishing it!
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grumble
Son of Jim - Creator of Good
Posts: 2671
Threads: 53
Registered: June 10th, 2008
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Location: Taree
Theme: UltimaBB Pro Blue ( Default )
Mood: happy all the time
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| posted on July 31st, 2013 at 07:38 PM |
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| Quote: | Originally
posted by 58camper
Was travelling in Queensland last week and called in at a Land Rover spare parts shop to see what windscreen wiper arms he had in stock as the early
ones were similar to the CB fitting but not identical. The guy asked me what Series Landy I wanted to fit them to and I said a Country Buggy.
He laughed and yelled out to his old man who was out the back shed that there was this bloke looking for bits for a Country Buggy. The old fella from
the back staggered in- must have been 80 in the shade- twisted over with arthritis and walking like a three legged dog.
The old fella goes on to tell me that he was working at the Clayton factory when they were producing the Country Buggy and I must admit I was
sceptical. This was until he told me that he had worked on all of the three prototypes from time to time and he spent most of him time in the
fabrication section where they pressed out the CB pans. He could never understand why the CB was produced with its own pan which was different to the
Beetle. He also said the thing that always amazed him about the factory was the way that when the Type 2 panels came in as part of CKD pack the panel
beaters would take the rear panel, cut out the louvres from the lower part of the panel and then weld them into a cut out higher in the same panel. He
thought it was done for panel repair practice.
I was able to tell him that re positioning the louvres was done to get the louvres up higher from the road and prevent to much dust from entering the
engine. This was an approved change agreed by Wolfsburg following a special request by VW Australia.
Unfortunately the old guy could not remember much more and did not think he had any photos of memories from his time at the factory.
Never know who you meet....
countrybuggybill
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Bill when I worked at the local dealership we sold a swag of Country buggies to one of the best cattle stations in NSW and the biggest problem was
that the air filters couldn't handle the fine dust,the filters choked up and the dust chewed the rings out.We did quite a few engine jobs and the
factory reps came and made modifications etc but eventually they traded them and moved on to other vehicles which was a shame because the country
buggy left the others for dead.
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grumble
Son of Jim - Creator of Good
Posts: 2671
Threads: 53
Registered: June 10th, 2008
Member Is Offline
Location: Taree
Theme: UltimaBB Pro Blue ( Default )
Mood: happy all the time
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| posted on July 31st, 2013 at 07:40 PM |
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| Quote: | Originally
posted by HappyDaze
And did you get any Landy wiper arms, Bill.....or did you forget about them after talking to the old bloke?
I'm going to tell Vincent what you said about the "three legged dog".
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You can get your Landy wiper arms and blades at Whitworths Marine.
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