Veeeedub Show!

Kicked off the weekend on Friday getting our first Beta wind turbine flying at a site in Bethel. Proud to say it was a very windy day in Bethel today and the turbine was killin' it. I sandblasted some more engine tins and saw the movie "2 Guns". If you're looking for a solid movie to see that won't disappoint, definitely see that one it has many memorable lines that will get you laughing. 

All primed up

Made my way our to the Acton fairgrounds (way, way west like further west than you ever want to go in Maine) this past weekend for the annual all VW car show. Saw some cool cars and some interesting people but struck out on finding any parts I've been looking for. It was a beautiful day and I actually had a damn pleasant trip out there, I didn't spend a whole lot of time at the show because it was pretty small and it is probably more fun if you actually bring a drivable VW. Anyways, I made my way around and chatted with some gearheads and some.... something heads. 

Sweet looking lowered beetle

One of the funniest things about these shows is how freakin' tacky they are. Everyone is wearing tie dye shirts and nearly every car has a vanity license plate, I think you can actually vote for the best vanity plate. A bunch of the cars have pretty offbeat/awesome bumper stickers/window clings/stuff written on them. My personal favorite was a bug that had a window cling on the rear windshield that read "Fucking Classy" in this awesome classy script font.

Jealousy. I have it. 

Two single cabs were at the show, one split window and one bay window. Both were in awesome shape and I was very envious of them. Also there is a small younger crowd that shows up to this show. They're all into the newer watercooled VW stuff and they tend to be a bit more abrasive?

Yup. 

Some of their cars are pretty cool. I definitely dig the hilariously lowered rabbit pickup trucks that they brings every year but it's just hard for me to get excited about cars that look like this: 

Cool story bro.

To keep things really in the VW spirit, there was of course... this guy. 

He wore a straw hat, no shoes, no shirt and seemed to be everywhere I was. Here's our friend reliving his glory days and checking out a pretty excellent Karmen Ghia (the only one at the show). 

I found myself actually gravitating toward the Vanagon stuff this year, which I usually don't spend much time checking out. There were four Vanagons at the show but three of them were sweet and totally customized out. One of them was a subaru conversion, another had a pretty large solar panel on it with a highly customized interior and the third had a diesel engine swap that was converted to run on vegetable oil.... and I think it was lifted too. That diesel bus was pretty sweet actually and it basically looked like the ideal vehicle to climb Mt. Katahdin and then deep fry some shit at the summit. 

Some serious stuff going on in that engine bay!

Finally on my way home I was gassing up and came across this old couple struggling to keep their MG B running. I took this opportunity to spring into action and use the tool bag that I've been optimizing for the past 4 years or so.... Honestly, I have gotten out of so many jams with that thing, it's ridiculous! This was no exception, they were leaking fuel out of this valve pretty badly and we were able to seal it off with some teflon tape and electrical tape (both were in my bag). It was kind of gratifying to help this guy who was probably about my Dad's age. He had a tool kit with him (I mean, he drives an MG) but didn't have space for much. Anyways, we got him running and I think he made it home so he can actually fix the problem.

D'awh Lil MG... 

Apparently the dude had purchased the car at the Owl's Head Transportation Museum auction a couple years ago. He was a big fan of Owl's Head, so as soon as I found that out we were buds. Pretty sure if they had a granddaughter my age that they would've willed her off to me right then and there.