Bugpeople @ Eurosunday

Last Sunday morning Bugpeople Netherlands left their headquarters in Alblasserdam, the Netherlands to go to Eurosunday in Brustem, Belgium.
Google Maps said it would be 192km and a 2 hours and 26 minutes trip.

At 9.30am we left with three bugs and a Volkswagen Lupo. We drove about 10km and then the problems started already. Sanders ’56 oval engine stopped running. Engine doesn’t idle anymore, so we cleaned the carburator a little and continued our trip. Two minutes later we had to stop again, fuel problems started again. We stopped at a gasstation and cleaned the complete fuelsystem of the oval. Cleaned the carb, fuel hoses, fuel filter, fuel pump, etc. We needed to drive another 200km, we wanted to be sure we would not have these problems again!

At 10.50am we left the gasstation, the oval runs perfectly again. We drove to Valkenswaard without stopping, but in Valkenswaard we had to check where we had to go, because there would be no highway on the last 80km.





12:00pm, we left Valkenswaard again and were heading to Belgium. Belgium is known for its bad roads, so we were a bit scared of scraping the shit out of our bugs. Some parts were nasty alright, but overall it wasn’t too bad.









At 1.15pm we arrived at Eurosunday at the airstrip near Brustem, Belgium. There was a very long queue of cars that were waiting to enter. Only cars that were ‘showworthy’ were allowed, all unfinished/ugly cars were denied. We were number 700 to 703 who entered the meeting, so there were a lot of nice cars!

Around 1.50pm we parked our cars next to nice Audis and Volkswagens, when someone said to us the oval was leaking oil. We checked the oil level and this was okay, so we didn’t really bother.





While we were walking on the meeting we decided to check out the oil leak. We pushed the car forward and found out that the oil leak was a serious one. We got a lot of tools with us, including a car jack. I didn’t take a picture of this, so thanks to Misha Strik for this cool picture! The oil leaked through the sump plug, but the sump plug wasn’t loose or anything. All the oil has leaked out of the engine, sorry Eurosunday cleaning crew!



There was no one around with gasketing or something like that, so at 5.00pm we left the meeting with the oval hooked up to the Lupo with a towing rope. We drove to the small town nearby, Sint Truiden. When we arrived at the first traffic light, Sander drove over the towing rope, which caused it to SNAP! We left the oval in Sint Truiden and drove with the Lupo and the two bugs back towards the Netherlands, while searching a gasstation or an automobile repair shop. After 20km we found a garage where we could buy a seal to place under the sump plug and 5 liters of fresh motor oil. We had to drive another 200km, so we hoped the seal would fix the leak a little.

Back in Sint Truiden we mounted the seal and poured in the new oil. We started the oval again and drove to the Netherlands as fast as we could! Every few kilometres we checked the oil and if necessary, added some. The oil leaked out like holding a can of maple syrup upside down… When the leaking oil started to splash against the bottom of the engine and burn because of the heath, we really had to stop. Sanders oval looked like a driving smoke bomb!





8.00pm, we are standing on the side of the road with 3 bugs and a Lupo. We drove about 30km since we left the meeting. Sander called his insurance company which has to tow him home, but they don’t tow in Belgium! The Belgian tow-company wanted at least 200€ to tow him, so we tried something else. They took the Lupo to drive to Valkenswaard, the Netherlands, to pick up a new towing rope! The oval still leaks as a mofo.



9.15pm, we hooked up the oval again and drove to the Netherlands without any problems. The windshield of Dennis his ’60 Low Mango was covered with oil, because he drove behind Sanders leaking oval, so he had to improvise to look at the road, haha!





Back in the Netherlands we stopped as soon as we could to call the insurance company to take the car home. At 10.30pm we loaded the oval onto the trailer and at 11.15pm the bug was unloaded again in Valkenswaard. Time to go home! After a small stop at the McDonalds we arrived at the Bugpeople HQ again at 1.30am. What a day!

Last Monday we picked up the new parts to fix the car, sump cover, sump plug, gaskets, oil, etc. because the oval would be delivered at home at Tuesday. Tuesday afternoon, about an hour after the car was delivered, it was ready to hit the roads again with all the new parts installed and new oil inside. No more leaking!

The cause of the major leak was hitting the ground so hard the the sump plug was hit and cracked the sump cover, oops!

Moral of this story: When you’re driving your three splines lowered bug on bad Belgian roads, always take a spare sump plug/cover and new oil with you! (: