i had a day off today. i didn't get my hands dirty on vw stuff but i did spend a little time in the shed.

as i have probably mentioned abfore i work in retail. not my choice in profession (infact i don't really belive in consumerism, but that is another story + i'm certainly caught in the cycle) still it's a job and it is a lot better than the last one. last night i had to go out to do a service on a click clack lounge that was "busted". i'm sure the lady is lovely in a social setting but other people i work with have had a lot of trouble with her in the past. plus even before she came in with this problem i remember the manager talking about how this ladies kids were treating the lounge, needless to say they weren't being gentle to it.

basically i went out to her house to see if it was a minor problem that i could fix or if it needed replacement. btw this is not really my area, the warehouse guys are supposed to do this, but i won't start on that. (i really need to be on the floorso i can sell stuff, make my budgets and keep my job). the warehouse guys were giving me shit about how it was a waste of time would just need to be replaced anyway... i got there and had a look at it, a pin that held one of the mount arms (peened over to hold the arm in place) had dropped the arm off the end, at first i couldn't tell if the pin had broken or just worn enough fot the arm to pop over the peaned area. i had a quick fiddle then said basically "i don't think i can fix it", she then replied that she didn't think it would be fixable and what were we going to do about it. aka she expected to get a new lounge out of it. at that exact point something went "sproing" in my head. i don't know if it was her expectation of a new lounge to replace her obviously abused one, the warehouse guys smugly saying it would need to be replaced, my dislike of shit products designed to be thrown out or just i thought of how the mechinism all went together but i was going to fix her lounge.

a quick trip home for some tools and i tried to re-peen the pin. i couldn't do it to my satisfaction and i needed to get home as my wife needed the car. even though i'm loath to give up any of my time off, i agreed to go back this afternoon to finish it off. last night i thought that an 8mm bolt should be able to be modified to replace the pin, permantly. it was strange going to the (fakey) assistant to get my tools and i did have momentary brainfade as to where i had put the files, but it all worked well.

thankfully i was correct and an 8mm was almost perfectly sized to replace the pin. unfortunatly i trimmed the thread a little short, but the blue loctite should hold the nut in place anyway. i still have to go back tomorrow as i had to recover the bottom of the seat pad and ran out of staples. i can tell she is expecting it to be done even better than it came from the factory and this is my first ever time trying to do this...

if she hadn't been so expectant that it would need to be replaced it may well have been. remember this when you go to take out your bad day on someone serving you in a shop or feel like being pushy etc. they know thier job and most likely know how to disadvantage you in a way that you can't get them in trouble for. i went way out of my way to help her, i will have spent well over 2 hours (prob over 3 hours) helping her, custom made a part to repair her lounge and i certainly tried to be friendly and polite, i think i went above and beyond what most people would expect. but she still didn't get the new lounge she thought she would. :)

today, apart from pissing off a customer by trying too hard, i did a tip run and while out eyespied a NOS hella flasher unit, which i forked out a massive $2 on. it is a 12V 2 pin flasher, i'm not sure if vw's use 2 pin flashers but i'm sure i can find a home for it either way. there was a whole pile of NOS fram air filters there and one filter that i think is an oil filter cartridge for an F3-P bypass filter. i went back to pick it up just before 5 but they had knocked off early for the day. next chance will be tuesday, i hope none of the vintage machinery club guys get out there first. i need to get in contact with them to see if i can score a F3-P to bling up whatever vintage speed motor i end up building. i had, in the past, thought of getting one and modifying it to be a breather box.

last night i found o package of vintage parts catalogues had turned up and my wife had put them in the recycling by accident. i must be a serious geek as i enjoyed looking up part numbers and knowing that if by some chance i come across some pre 66 headlight ring springclips i can identify what they are for. (and many other stupid things too). then today another package arrived with a 70's vw book thingy in it, unfortunately i haven't made the time to read it yet. i'm starting to get a fair collection of that sort of stuff. there are about 2 main vintage tuning books left to get (plus another copy of the how to hotrod book as mone has been read to death). "souping the volkswagen" and "making the volkswagen go". i'd also like the later covered copy of "tuning volkswagen" by peter noad but it can wait. i have a first british edition of the idiots guide but i'd love a american first edition just to link my to back in the day. i think it is such an amazing book. (to be honest it taught my more about working on cars than any 1 person).

i just need the cash to clear into my paypal acc so i can send it off and egearly await my new factory tools arriving, it will prob be several weeks till they get here, but with the way the weeks are flying it won't take long to pass. amazingly my wife hasn't mentioned the money dissapearing from the acc for them... that probably means she has been spending more on junk than i have noticed and doesn't want to draw attention to it. 

my wife and i have this little agreement. when we are ok for $ one will not point out the others expenditure if thiers is in turn, not brought up. it generally works out ok. we ease off if there is a run of big bills etc then later when all is settled it will slowly start to happen again.