Friday, September 23, 2011

Little Blue is coming home...


Yesterday I got a call from the garage working on Little Blue. My beetle is done. Ready to pick up. Fast work, huh! I hope to pick it up today.

It's been a few weeks without Little Blue and, after Big Blue died, I had hitched some rides with another guy who lives nearby that works with me. After feeling like I was asking a bit too often, I used my AAA discount at Hertz and rented this Toyota Yaris for $155 for a week:


The morning after renting it, I had to take it up into a vineyard where, I had been warned, only four-wheel drive could make it. The Yaris made it no problem, though, I do need to wash it before returning it. It was on that vineyard climb, from the floor of Napa Valley up about 1600 feet to the top of Diamond Mountain, that I missed Little Blue the most. He digs that stuff. And he would have loved the dirty, dusty vineyard.

Driving a Yaris isn't the end of the world - there's air conditioning and a radio. But there was a moment that sucked. I was meeting a large group of people - approx 40 - in the vineyard mentioned above. They would have been way above me as I drove the Yaris toward them. And, having taken a fleet of Suburbans up to the top, I'm sure they thought that that Yaris would stop dead on the incline. And, while I was driving it up the hill I thought about how much more cool this entrance would have been in the bug. That would have blown their minds! And that's when I missed Little Blue the most. It was like my partner in crime was off taking care of his mother and I was left with a ill-suited stand in.

So I have another - Little Blue's blown but complete except block - engine now. The 6-volt stuff will be great back up for the Green Hornet - the 56 project bug - now that Little Blue is 12 volt. I plan on pulling Little Blue's old engine apart and cracking the case. It will be a good learning opportunity.

And next week I'll report back on the difference between driving a 12 volt and 6 volt bug, and what the new 1600 engine feels like compared to the 1200. Watch out, world. Looks like someone learned how to putt.

This post brought to you by Bug-In 24:

1 comments:

Unknown

I can't wait to see the pics of Little Blues old engine. Congratulations on getting your Bug back! Sometimes, I'll be driving my Jeep and I'll see a bug or a bus on the road, and I totally want to flash em a peace sign or wave, then I realize I'm in a Jeep commander and they would probably think I was cursing them out or something. Times like that I miss being in the bus.

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