VWheritage

VWheritageI got something a little different for you guys today. A special edition of Shop Shots, well sort of. The folks at VW Heritage contacted me a while back. Their shop flooded. We talked about giving folks some tips on dealing with flooding. So take it away Tara.

According to statistics the winter of 2013/2014 has been the wettest in the UK since 1910.  Extreme weather,  storms and heavy rain are on the rise globally with the threat of climate change, and predicted to increase in the US as well.

VW Heritage, a car firm based in the south of England, got a taste of this first hand recently when their UK workshop was flooded on New Year’s day: In the weeks leading up to New Year 2014 our home county of Sussex saw some of the heaviest rainfall in decades.

Our mechanic, Ben, got a call from the alarm company on New Year’s day because the movement of water flooding into the garage had triggered the motion sensors.   He arrived to discover 2 feet of water filling the workshop.

Water had been gushing from the flooded road nearby and down the ramp, straight into our unit, where Ben’s Mk1 Jetta Coupe build project and the boss’s rather special Mk 1 Golf were both stored.

Fortunately, the Golf kept the water out, apart from some soggy carpet, and we’d put the TDI engine and box up on the crane, out of harms reach – but the boot of the Jetta did get a little damp. We also lost some electrical tools, a welder, the heater and all the stuff that was on the floor, or stored low down.

Looking on the bright side, we got away lightly in comparison to the National Corvette Museum sink hole disaster recently in Kentucky. Plus, we get to share the lessons we’ve learned from our experience with others:

VWheritage

Top tips to prepare your garage for a flood

  • Re-assess what you keep on lower level shelving, on the floor and in the bottom of your toolbox. Big toolboxes have great storage for drills, and other electrical items that you rely on day to day.  Sadly water levels rise up, and these tools will be the first to get wet,  along with the heavy welder you leave on the floor, and the heater that takes the chill out the air.  If you can’t keep these items permanently stored  a few feet off the ground, then at least move them temporarily if there is any threat of heavy rainfall or flooding.
  •  Make sure drains nearby are kept clear, remove any debris, leaves, and blockages. Not a very pleasant job,  but you’ll be saving yourself an even nastier one later –   cleaning up afterwards is pretty gross!
  • Seal interior walls with waterproofing compounds and paints – they can’t keep water out but they can stop it seeping through and creating more damage. For timber use a wood preservative protective coating.
  • Shallow floods penetrate weak points in the building such as air vents and cracks in brickwork.  Check the building both inside and out for cracks and holes,  and then plaster or use filler or water-proofing sealant. Regular maintenance will limit the amount of water that can seep through masonry walls. Water-resistant coatings applied to porous surfaces will also fill any cracks in the masonry or the joints. To avoid trapping water in the wall purchase coatings that are micro-porous so that the wall can breathe.
  • A water proofing epoxy or hard wearing waterproof paint on masonry or concrete floors will minimize damage and make it easier to mop out water if it does come in.  Depending on your existing floor, you may need to prepare the surface before applying. There are a number of decent tutorials and lots of advice online.
  • Consider installing a hoist or mini crane to allow you to store valuable, easily damaged parts above ground or in the apex of a workshop roofspace.
  • Installing breaker sockets will ensure that if water gets into any electrical kit it switches the socket off rather than shorting out.
  • It sounds obvious but if it’s been raining heavily, keep tuned in to local news and weather stations, especially if you’re in an area that’s liable to flooding.  Severe weather and flood warnings will be issued in advance of predicted flooding.
  • A water proofing epoxy or hard wearing waterproof paint on masonry or concrete floors will minimise damage and make it easier to mop out water if it does come in.  Depending on your existing floor, you may need to prepare the surface before applying. There are a number of decent tutorials and lots of advice online.
  • If you think flooding is imminent, place sandbags around doors and entrances, you can contact local builders’ merchants for stocks of bags and sand. The use of flood barriers like this will only delay the penetration of water but at least you can buy yourself some time and move all your tools and valuables out or off the floor.

VWheritage

Tara Gould works for VWheritage (http://www.vwheritage.com/) who offer genuine and top quality classic VW parts for restoration and repair.

 

 

 

 

VW cabby with top removed

Hi everyone. Today I want to give you all an update about what has been going on with the Cabby, with the blog, and things here in general. It has been a busy busy spring. Even though the blog updates have been low, the work level has been really high.

At the shop
Things at the shop are almost always interesting. Remember a while back we had hired 3 new guys. A guy right out of school, a guy with some general experience, and a Mercedes Benz master tech. The MB tech got put on my team. Well a few weeks ago he called in sick. Then the next day, just didn’t show up. I had a feeling that he was going to quite, but didn’t really expect it to happen like that.

We had also hired an experienced VW service advisor. Well, his wife took a job out of state, so he just up and quite too. Just when we think things are on the right track at the dealer, we lose 2 guys. This is just part of the business.

There is a down side for me. It puts me behind on much of the shop duties I have. I had to bring our scan tools home just to have time to up date them. It also means that most nights I am working late. That also puts me behind on my stuff at home.

Cabby Update
Most of what I am doing now with the cabby is little VW cabby with top removedthings. The interior is most of the way back together. I completely removed the top and the rear windows. I must say that I am thrilled with how it looks I have a few ideas to give it a more finished look.

The next part of the project is getting the stereo worked out. I hooked up the radio that was installed in the car. Only 1 speaker works. That doesn’t cut it for any car, but it’s pointless in a convertible. The challenge is building a great sound system, but having it very stealth.

Tools
I posted a few weeks ago about breaking a bunch of tools in one day. Among the broken tools was the tool I use most often, my Makita impact driver. After a bunch of back and forth with a repair place, and Matkita, I have a replacement gun on the way. They stepped it up big time and took care of it.

I also purchased a 1/2 impact wrench from Kobalt. I will have a full review soon. I want to get some more time with it first. I will say that I like it, and it has a ton of power. I don’t think it would replace an air impact.

I have also picked up a few other tools, an engine compression gauge, and a TDI timing kit. I also picked up a few things to try my hand at fiberglass work. This is something I have never done, but I think it is a great skill to have.

I have also been planning my garage remodel. Once electrical is done, it’s game time. You guys do not want to miss how cool this will be.

Homestead
I don’t talk much about our homestead much here. It has little to do Growing Hops on a Homesteadwith cars. If you guys are in interested in that, I can talk about it more. Or you can check out NChomesteading.com. My wife does the updating there.

Spring time is full throttle here. We have planted 10 trees this past weekend. I also transplanted about 20 hop cuttings. Last year I had some success, but the percentage was low. This year I am doing more cuttings and should get better results. We also picked up a really awesome apple tree. This tree has 5 different apple varieties on it. How cool is it to have 1 tree that produces 5 different apples.

I had also taken a few hop rhizomes out on to the property and did some wild planting. I went to see them last night and found they are doing awesome! They are bigger than the ones close to the house.