The VolksWorld Fridolin goes for MOT

What we hoped would be a quick trip to the boys at Parker Brothers of Shirley for an MOT, rapidly turned into something more serious.

Admitedly it is a long time since any of us have reason to delve deep into the state of the VolksWorld Fridolins general condition as it has been in storage since last years show. Coming out for it's engine and gearbox overhaul (that you see here) from Jim at The Engine Shop (www.theengineshop.info) earlier in the year.

At last we've found a local MOT station who has a specialist in Classic bugs and buses amongst it's staff.

Here you see our man Al (owner and builder of the crazy 17 inch wire wheeled Scooby
powered Samba, that you'll of seen in our show pages over the summer). He's giving the frid the thorough checkover it deserves.

I can't tell you how many times we get letters, complaining of MOT station failures over rust holes that actually are factory drainage holes or alike. So when owning a classic, especially as unique as the Fridolin - You HAVE to find a good local garage that knows what they're looking at - AND THEN KEEP THEM!

Here you can see exactly what the cause for concern was. Although this is the better of the two sides the rear body mounts have rusted right through needing serious repair.

The rariety of panels for the Fridolin forces us into using the next nearest thing, Beetle panels. These involving some extreme fabrication work in order to fit but this is nothing for the boys at Parker Brothers (www.parkersofcroydon.co.uk)

We'll be covering the full repair in future issues, should you need to buff on similar problems with your Beetle - Or indeed for any fellow Fridolin owners with similar issue out there.