The last legs of the Brazilian trip….
This trip comes to an end, but we’re glad to show last couple if visits, starting with one of our distributors…
Yes, BBT parts are available in Brazil, off course they are…
Mr Caio was proud to post with our BBT banner!
on the road to the next stop
We had a wonderful lunch with Bruno and Bruno from Mahle!
With a factory visit…
This place is huge… but inside was not allowed to take pictures…
We saw and discussed the making of piston and liners… BBT will be forever a very loyal Mahle partner, the best piston and liners we can buy for our aircooled VW’s!!
Next was a company that will make our flywheel rings…
We started up production for Flywheel rings to replace your worn out starter teeth on your flywheels…
Small highly specialised factory…
Testing is everything and correct hardness is tested in simple every step of the production process!
The welder before his welding machine, high induction welding, this brave man did it for millions of starter rings!
cutting of teeth by-pass…:)
Flywheel rings are grind 10 at the time, pretty spectacular!
we will have them soon available, last details been discussed, and first order is placed… we will make 6 and 12 volt 109 and 130 theeth…
Off course no Brazil visit is complete with out a visit to a Bob’s burger…:)
Thanks for following my travel adventures and as my next tickets been booked already stay tuned for more travel adventures….:)
Brazil trip continues; Voltage regulators, cilinderheads and engine cases and front axles, we saw it all…:)
Our trip goes well, so far so good…
First stop this week was the plant that build our 6volt voltage regulators, we discussed the final steps of the Bus 6 volt 50Amp regulator and the brand new project of D regulators for the 25 HP engines…
Our caps are 100% interchangeable with your original Bosch cap… and we make it all electronic, protected for water damage and miswiring… the small print in the picture does all the work, amazing what electronics can do for us, but the technology behind is incredible!!
We have 0,2% of warranty, what’s real good so far, but we make it better. We took the time to test and discuss the warranties from the last year… We both learned a lot, the factory engineering time and ourselves!
This is serious product development, to make our VW world a better place!
Next was the plant of Auto Linea, where the aluminium engine cases and cilinder heads been made for our 4 cylinder aircooled engines…
Huge place!
Machining of the heads needs three CNC machines in two steps per machine… impressive!
An engine case before and after machining, can You find the seven differences? …:)
Machining of the cases is a full CNC process…
This place is loaded with high tech latest technology CNC machines, very very impressive…
A custom machine to drill all holes in a 6 cylinder Mercedes-Benz truck cylinder head at once…
Borg Warner Turbo houses been machined here as well… Turbo anyone?
On the streets of Brazil You still see many aircooled VW’s as daily used cars like this Brasilia…
Next visit was the factory that makes Beetle front axles for us… This factory was lifted out of a bankruptcy only few years ago, now they’re OE supplier for Nissan and others, and they stay BBT main supplier for gastanks and front axle housings…
They also make skid plates… protection is everything…:)
This is how front axles start life, these tubes will be front axles soon…:)
… and this are the machines that make them… can these machines also make Bus front axles? Well who knows, maybe that was the reason we cam by to ask??? Future will tell…:)
We like inventory…:)
Scrap metal truck in style… VW off course!
Next was a smaller but more expensive project; Ring and pinions for your beloved transmissions… we had a lot to discuss!
Next stop was gauges and speedos… real cool small scale place, with uber cool machining and tons of craftmanship…
The owner, Fernando, showed us his Volkswagens with pride!
We will continue to more factories and report as we go further so stay tuned!
A chill VW sunday afternoon, in VW paradise Curitiba, Brazil!
We usualy don’t decline cool invitations and when it comes from an ultra cool band of deep passionate VW guys we simply can’t say no, it would be illegal!
After arrival in Curitiba Sunday before noon, we quickly checked in our hotel to be picked up by a set of cool “Kombi”… the Brazilian word for “everything” Bus…
When we say cool, we mean COOL, what about this 1954 Barndoor single cab?
The place we went to was Armazem Santos, a cool place where they also sell beer… by coincidence… every Sunday local die Hard Volkswagen aficionado’s gather here…
and off course with some finger food steak, we’re in Brazil, who need potato chips? Pussy’s….:)
BBT banner in place, the ladies of the house say to all BBT blog fans!
What a cool place!
The hardcore inner circle…
Isn’t that cool or what?
Some Brazilian models look real good, not only in bikini!
4 different front corners from 4 different aircooled VW’s!
How low can you go bro’?,????????
Sticker ceremony by yours truly!
No, You can’t be too low!
Now that looks like a real gas junkie atmosphere…
Two brothers in law, Jean and Junior, performed life music, they blew me pants off my butt!
Museos Rockband, You guys really ROCK!
Sexy butts, in Brazil not only at the beach! oh BTW Happy ski holiday Peter…:)
Real Brazilian VW life! Join us next time!
One more for the road! Check the BBT sticker on the guitar, yes we did it!!
Santos Boyz, how can Jerry and I ever thank You???
You gave us something real unforgettable on a Sunday afternoon in Brazil!!
Keep up the spirit, VW is best, f*ck the rest…:)
oh yeah, don’t worry we will come back for more…:)
A small word of BIG thanks is a must here, Jean, You’re the KING!! Own a place like Armazem Santos is the dream of every real man! Barba, keep up the work with Jean! Thiago I don’t know but think the crazy idea to invite us came from you? You ROCK man!! Further all translators, drivers, lovers, drinkers, workers, cooks, musicians and all beer breweries from Brazil a VERY VERY BIG THANK YOU!!!!!!!!
Long time since we met so many cool guys in one afternoon!!
CURITIBA KEEP ON (VW) ROCKIN”!!!!!!
Brazil; Big and small companies, we simply visit them all, including a VW restoration bussines!
Last friday we’ve started with a meeting @ the ZF export center… a meeting about delivery, infill, quantity and turnover… a 2 hr meeting about a lot of BBT money:)
From left to right, Jerry, yours truly, our super contact Mariana, Alfredo, Belle, and Jessica.
Thanks for your service guys!
We continued our trip by Schadek… manufacturer of oil and water pumps, about 12 million units a year! Yes that’s massive…
We got a real nice lunch in the factory restaurant, Thanks Monique for guiding us…
and on the road to the next one…
We spotted this cool “taxi” down the road….:) Clearly a collectors car…:)
Next was a Fabio’s factory that make late-model tail lights… and we came right in time, as the tooling was broken… they needed help….
You need really this big of a machine to make the Beetle tail lights, yep… but bcause of the broken tooling its temporally out of service…
Shall we co invest in new tooling? The future will bring the answer. But we talked for sure!
This is how they assemble the tail lights… continuously production!
Eagle view of Fabio’s factory! This guy is real good!
Its scale models don’t worry…:)
Next and last for the day was a real Brazilian Kombi only restoration business.
Leo and Marco drive a hell of a business here, and work real hard!
Not exactly what You would think from Brazilian restorations, right?
He guys keep up the great job, you’re on the right path!
Always nice to see a picture board with only Belgian flyers in a workshop in Brazil!
Tomorrow we will report about our arrival in Curitiba, that was just MASSIVE!
Stay tuned!
Bob & Jerry
Sao Paolo Brazil, super cool city, local information… its Sunday after all!
So if you think on Brazil as your typical third world country you’re wrong… Sao Paolo is a very vibrant industrial capital with nice buildings and well maintained freeway sides… the skyline is impossible to capture as it’s extremely spread out, and the nice area’s are growing, the favelas shrink….
Outside You see kombi’s… everywhere, feels so cozy, so real…:)
Fruits are very fresh here as never been deep frozen, so different, if we don’t eat fruit at home or about, here… everyday, plenty! Especially when we can buy them out of a Kombi!
Habitants of Sao Paolo been called “Paulistas” and they’re extremely inventive when they buy a car that’s larger as their garage…:)
ok we never say no to a good churasceria, or Brazilian BBQ! The Brazilian meat is fabulous! Let the picanha come!
Yes! Networking in Brazil means having beers on the street!! Thanks Ricardo you’ve been a good host!
Yes we ‘re having a good time, and yes in between our too many visits we enjoy this beautiful country with its beautiful people… its different for sure, but its different everywhere isn’t it?
Today we fly south, to city called Curitiba, for more factories and suppliers! Stay tuned!