Hi all from newbie camper owner (in dire need of a bit of advice)

Anyone recommend a friendly bus garage in the area? (you might want to post in the general chat for a recommendation but think all they will do is confirm its not right but a look at the chasis number would be a sincher!

 

you poor thing! I'm sorry to hear of your troubles. positive karma your way

as to whether or not to go to the cops or the seller first... I'd reckon you're best to find out if its stollen or not (ie go to the cops) before
approaching the guy - there's no point in approaching him, leave it to the cops if its needed..

Do hang in there and keep the dream alive, I'm sure there's a way through this that results in you having a beautiful Kombi

 

its a V888 form but why pay to track the car? to be honest unless the previous guy owned it since 2002 he didn't do it, and you can tell this off the V5 you have, it may look like i'm saying it's ok to use it as it's been done that long, i'm fully aware of what my mate moons and others say about it being illegal to do but i would just carry on (personally) it's been done for 10 years you wouldn't be the only one doing it is all i know, i bet you there's some on here have done it and are keeping tight lipped. just be aware honesty is the best policy, but honesty is also a costly option.

 

even if it was on a private plate that don't change the date of manufacture on the V5 mark, it's a baddun and we know it.

 

hpi will only show its a k reg 72 bus i'm guessing hpi on the t or v plate of the original will show scrapped in 2002ish

 

How does the vin number in the engine bay look?

Does it have any welding or grinding marks around it or any filler apparent?

That bus to me looks 100% a late bay not a crossover

 

m plate if fitted will show 79 details at a guess? although if the ringer man changed the vin plate he may have swapped ir removed the m plate, can't belive they ignored the glass though.

 

para i asked the same earlier, pics of the vin inside and out will probably show weld

 

Not sure if I'm double posting here. What am I looking for on the VIN plates? The previous owner showed me where they were (one under the parcel shelf at the front nearside and one to the left of the engine bay) and checked the numbers with me. He did have a couple of other campers in a yard across the road from his house but they were much newer. I didn't think anything of that at the time. Would a pic of the VIN plates erase all doubt?

 

Pics of the vin plate would give us a chance to see if its been tampered with

 

the one under the parcel shelf on the heater ducts? will probably be the m plate the vin plate is in the engine bay on the left side of the metal

 

lets get one thing straight though, even if your vin and m plates match exactly to a 1972 van your van has lots of 1974 on parts and indeed 1979? glass, we can all speculate but it does smell dodgy, check the dates on the wheels as well under the hub caps the wheels are date stamped - true wheels can easy be swapped, but if they were too lazy to doctor the glass they might not have done the wheels

 

it cant be recent if she posted above its been as it is for ten years? i reckon this previous guy knew about it though, prob bought it cheap to pass on to someone not clued up

 

I don't know if it's been like it for 10 years - I just have MOTs 2002 - 2007, then 2012. I suppose he could have just bought the old 72 and transferred it onto another one. Anyway, here are the vin plate pics. And I thought I was being so careful with all my checking... and

 

If the m plate is under the dash, it's defo not a '72, unless someone's put it there, but why if you're trying to make a late look like an early.
All the other things like engine lid hinges and sliding door are transferable. The quickest way to check is cab door hinges and the outriggers nearest the rear of the van. If it's a '79 it will have late hinges and and no outrigger, just a 90 degree reinforcer between the chassis and top hat. Can you post a pic of the cab door hinges?