Last time, Thomas covered the restoration of the underside and windows of Libertine. He continues:

A friend of mine moved down to Cornwall, taking his hightop VW Splitscreen with him. At the time, he used it as his main mode of transport. Trouble was, he used to give it a hard life and drive as fast as he could anywhere. This took its toll on the old reduction boxes. Constantly having to give them attention because the seals kept leaking. Personally, I thought that he drove too fast and there was too much pressure in the reduction boxes. I don’t know how he did it, but he managed to get the old bus to drive at seemingly crazy speeds. Perhaps it wasn’t and it just felt like that.

One day he rang me to say that he had crashed and ended up in a hedge, leaning at an angle. He was unhurt thank goodness. The bus was badly damaged down one side. The brakes had failed while going downhill approaching a bend.  His only course of action was to go through the hedge.

I mention it here because of the cause of his brake failure. An insurance assessment revealed that the rear backing plates had corroded.  When the brakes were applied going downhill, the rear brake shoes locked against the drums as they are supposed to. The trouble was, the corroded back plates spun, wrenching them from their mountings and parting company with the brake hoses – no brakes!

My friend kept his van mechanically fit and regularly maintained and examined other than the annual MOT inspection required at the time. 

Being concerned about my friend’s accident and the near loss of his bus, I went outside to crawl under my bus and examine my bus.  Mine is a 1973 T2, so I expected things to be all well in the back plate department.  To my horror I could not have been more wrong!

The back plate metal on both sides at the rear had corroded where the back plates bolt to the hub. I did poke it hard with a screwdriver, so perhaps more than would normally be done on an MOT inspection. Something had to be done and quickly.  Biting the bullet I ordered a load of parts from a  well-known parts supplier (No, not ‘Just Kampers’ at that time). I had now owned the van for some years and never needed to change the rear shoes. Yes, there was so much ‘meat’ left on the brake shoes from careful driving I suppose. Even so, I was going to give Libertine a full overhaul of rear brakes. Stuff it I thought – all the brakes!

I ordered new brake callipers and pads for the front. Proper German parts as well. Full set of flexible brake hoses, full set of brake shoes for the rear, new backing plates, brake cylinders, springs, hand brake cables. Stuff it, may as well order two rear brake drums whilst I’m at it.

This parts list soon adds up in price. However, my life and that of myself and family and friends are worth so much more. The parts arrived in very quick time. Being very pleased with all these shiny parts was a great feeling when spread on the kitchen table – where else!

Noticing that the VW parts supplier has charged me very little for my order I telephoned them to say so.  Being passed on to one person then another I eventually spoke to the manager. Telling him of my problem (not enough charged) he asked if he could call me back later.  Doing so, he explained that he had never before received a complaint (it wasn’t a complaint I protested) that his Company had not charged a customer enough for their order. This being so, he informed me that as a reward for being an honest customer he wanted me to accept the order with his thanks and compliments.  WOW! What a result.

Setting to work, I jacked the bus up on heavy duty axle stands and began cleaning and stripping parts off. The drums looked serviceable, but everything had given good service since 1973. The backing plates were in bad shape. Underseal had hidden their real poor condition. Flexible hoses are expendable items in my view, but were changed anyway.   Replacement was a reverse procedure as removal. All went smoothly except the handbrake cables.  Although functioning, the outer cable covers were full of rust. I had reached them in time. Assembly of front disc brake callipers went smoothly. Old ones off, new bolted on.  A full change of brake fluid followed.

All was now well. A test drive proved that. My friend’s accident had potentially saved me from the same fate. His VW van was eventually fixed and beautifully repaired, and drives around Cornwall to this day. With a different owner now, and perhaps not as fast.

Since the major brake replacement Libertine continued to serve me and the family well. Six trips to France and Ireland as the family grew up. Using it whenever I could.

It was now 2012, and the Olympic Games were being held in the UK. Being an Army Reservist for many years, I was mobilised to do certain work at the Sailing Competitions at Portland, near Weymouth in Dorset.  The nature of my work there prevents me from discussing it here, other than to say it was both interesting and informative.  If the general public only knew what went on in the preparation, ongoing events and aftermath of something like the Olympic and Paralympic Games you would be amazed.  I certainly was, and I was to be in the centre of it all – in my Bus !

My attendance was going to be for some time. Because of the nature of my work I was given a special pass. Calling this my ‘Willy Wonka Golden ticket’, because only a few were given out and it allowed me to go anywhere and park anywhere. Not even the Police (who I worked closely with) could stop me. This was a power that I intended to use to its full extent.  Whenever would I get the chance to do this again in my lifetime?

Of course, I had an important role to play, and Libertine would be a part of it.