Bug Jammed

Bug Jam 25 will go down in the VW history books, but probably for the wrong reasons. Mind you, while the rest of the world was having a full camp site crisis and bussing visitors in from miles away we in the Lo 'E' Nuf camp carried on almost blissfully unaware.

Toby managed to get his Crew Cab Bay to t'Pod on its first attempt and with only one breakdown!

Friday's morning sun turned to evening rain, despite this the crowds kept on coming. 3 extra off-site camping fields were opened and they kept on coming.

Saturday arrived with sunshine and a light breeze, Santa Pod was telling people not to come and the car park for day visitors was far enough away to need minibuses.

The Biatch Bus on display on Saturday

Tim, Chris O and Marco the Stag gave it some RWYB

Turbo Hayabusa powered Bond Bug - Nutter!

Alex & Clive in the Show & Shine

Dakota C-47 Flyby

Bug Jam by night

Robin, Dave, Howard & Tim entertained the campsite into the wee small hours

Special mention should go to Tim and Santa Pod's Donna for organising the Club Camping and the Club Bog. The toilet was unaminously declared a Good Thing and something we should be featuring in Club Camping in the future.

A message from Santa Pod:

We sincerely apologise to those who were adversely affected by the popularity of Bug Jam this year, and we will have systems in place to deal with this in a more effective manner for future events.

If you purchased advance tickets but did not get to attend Bug Jam 25 we would like to thank you for your loyalty and custom by not only refunding your advance ticket cost, but also offering a complimentary ticket to Big Bang or Bug Jam in 2012. Further information and refunds please call 01234 782828 or complete the Contact Form.

London LEZ Warning

Pollock raised the subject this weekend after receiving a letter from Transport for London (TfL).

From 3 January 2012, vans, minibuses, 4x4s and other diesel vehicles will be affected by the Low Emission Zone (LEZ) for the first time. The LEZ is not the same as the Congestion Charge and runs 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. If you own this type of vehicle, it must meet Euro3 emissions standards to be driven within the LEZ without paying a daily charge. The typical daily charge is £100 with a non-payment fine of £500. The LEZ boundary is, essentially, the Greater London area enclosed by the M25.

click on map to enlarge

LEZ Interactive Map

LEZ Address Checker

It doesn't matter whether your vehicle is used for commercial or private purposes - it will still need to meet the standards. Previously this only applied to lorries, buses, coaches and specialist heavy diesel vehicles however the range of vehicles affected considerably widens from next year.

For vehicles first registered before 1st January 2002:

• Vans, Motorised horseboxes, 4x4 light utility vehicles & Pick-ups that weigh >1.205t unladen to 3.5 GVW
• Motor caravans & Ambulances weighing between 2.5t - 3.5t GVW
• Minibuses (with more than 8 passenger seats) with 5t max GVW

These definitions include diesel T25s, most* T4s and some T5s which is going to make trips to the Ace Cafe a bit pricey! (*edited to correct)

Check Your Vehicle

Exemptions A small number of vehicles are entitled to an exemption from the Low Emission Zone (LEZ). These are:

• Specialist non-road going vehicles designed and built for mainly off-road use, but which may use the road for limited purposes (including agricultural and forestry tractors, mowing machines, agricultural and farm machinery and equipment, mobile cranes and road and building construction machinery).
• Historic vehicles built before 1 January 1973.
• Vehicles operated by the Ministry of Defence.

Options
TfL list several options for vehicles that don't meet the emission limits, these include:

• Fit a Diesel Particulate Filter (DPF) - approx cost £1000 - £3000
• Replace with a LEZ compliant vehicle (!)
• Convert to gas
• Pay the daily (£100) charge - £200 if you stay out after midnight.

This is already affecting van values in London, affecting both private and business users, so if you're after a cheap T25 or T4 start checking the London AutoTrader or Ebay.

Bug Jam Weather

Quick look at The Weather Channel 10 day forecast for Wellingborough shows Light Showers all next week but clearing up for the weekend...

Friday / Saturday / Sunday

Partly cloudy, 17-19c, 20% chance of rain
Well, the forecast has changed 3 times in 3 days so click on the ? for the latest guess forecast

BBC 3 Day forecast

(more useful later in the week)

Bug Boogie

Bug Boogie is on Sunday September 25th at Windsor Racecourse. You have to be signed in to Facebook for the link to work so can't give you any details - probably as bad as last year though...

Yellow?

Coming up...

Saturday 16th / Sunday 17th

Dragstalgia at Santa Pod

Santa Pod goes back to the way we were with Dragstalgia, a weekend dedicated to drag racing, hot rods and bikes from a bygone era with classic dragsters and funny cars, altereds, hot rods, american muscle and more.

There will be Championship Drag Racing and Run What Ya Brung sessions on the track along with the Fireforce Jet Car and 2 seater Dragster Rides. Off track there will be Show & Shine, Live Music, Traders, Cacklefest, Historic Car Display and much more.

Tickets: Weekend £30 (£25 adv), Day £17 (£14 adv) - under 16s go free.

Friday 22nd - Sunday 24th 

Bug Jam 25, Santa Pod

The original and best VW festival will be back for another year - Bug Jam 25 at Santa Pod Raceway. Drag Racing, RWYB, 4 Music Arenas, show & Shine, Comedy, Traders, Stunt Displays, Jet Car, Autojumble, Funfair and much, much more!

WIN A BUG AT BUG JAM
As part of their 25th birthday celebrations, Bug Jam is giving away a unique Bug Jam branded VW New Beetle. It’s free to enter – just click here!

Tickets: Weekend VW: £50, Weekend non-VW: £65

Friday 29th - Sunday 31st

NSRA Hot Rod Supernationals, Old Warden

UK's largest Hot Rod show

Sunday tickets: Adult: £8, kid 5-16: £4

Lo 'E' Nuf clothing is back!

We're pleased to announce that, after one year off, Lo 'E' Nuf clothing is back. This time Josh is handling it and if you order now it will be delivered at Bug Jam. Same story as before, large club logo on the back and small logo or name on the front left chest. As well as the usual T-shirts and Hoodies, this time there are high quality Premium Hoodies and ladies Fitted T-shirts.

Order deadline is Friday July 8th

To order contact Josh on josh@loenuf.com

All orders must be paid for in advance

"Off the menu" options are available - speak to Josh

Coming up...

This weekend: Mini and VW Car Show at Knebworth House near Stevenage on Bank Holiday Monday.

Two shows in one with the best of British and German engineering with Mini's from 1959 to date and VWs from the oldest Beetle through to the newest Golf. All complete with an arena, commentator, trade stands and autojumble. 

Entrance Price:   Normal Park admission - £8.00 / Family £28.00 - Under 4s free. Includes entry to Fort Knebworth play area and Dinosaur Trail.

The following weekend is Stonor Park VW Show on Sunday June 5th.

All the usual guff: Concours, traders, club stands, Boot sales...

Tickets: £8 - children under 16 go free.

Grounds for dismissal...

Toby disappointed us all on Wednesday evening when he suddenly turned up with this:

He seems to have it in his head that just owning a VW is not enough but that he should "restore" it and "finish" it. Hopefully these crazy notions will never catch on! The big smile on his face said it all though, a happy man and his type 2 freshly on the road.

There's a few small things to be resolved, a sticking Carb and the cab being short of 4 sets of seatbelts being the main points, before it can make it to Bug Jam in July - these should be sorted by the end of the year. Toby hasn't had much chance to drive it yet but the 1776 engine feels strong and should be easily capable of pulling a family of 6 and all their clobber about.

NOT A Body Off Rebuild

Shock, horror, a posting on here that's actually about someone working on their car!

Last year Pollock took his Beetle off the road for a refresh. It needed a few repairs and Pollock was taking the opportunity to stamp his identity onto the car. As with all resto's a few small repairs quickly expanded, a small bit of rot turned into a large hole, old patches welded over rust were blowing through...

Working in a borrowed tent in a borrowed corner of Graham's Graeme's yard at Scotty's Van Centre in Bicester, Pollock dived head first into the deep end.

As remembered...

The reality...

It's now coming along nicely, Pollock has Jimmy the Welder in this week for all the tricky stuff. For the full details head over to Pollock's Build Thread on Volkszone.