Hi guys, I have just been out and purchased my first aircooled wagon. After a few letdowns I have managed to find myself a van. The missus is pretty happy with it too. Its a 1972 1.6 which I managed to pick up with 12 months MOT for 5K. Even better than that was the insurance quote of 154 quid with European and UK breakdown cover. Below are the pics: So, now it begins... jobs to get sorted soonest.. The steering wheel movement before you get any feel for the tyres is mental. I can probs turn the wheel from the 11'o'clock to the 1 'o'clock position without any movement from the bus. I assume this is wear in the steering rack? Gearchanges feel like a c0ck in a sock. I think I will look around for a gear linkage rebuild kit and see if I can sort that out. Headlining is missing. This really makes the van look scruffy so is a must do job, either by sourcing a kit to fit or if not I will look for some melomine board and cover in perforated white leatherette. Heating, the dash is pretty rubbish with no heater controls and when you sit in traffic you get fumes coming into the cab. Any ideas on fixes for this?? Long term is: Lowering it some (lots) Recovering of the seats Repair some of the sketchy areas of paintwork Treat any rust with POR15 and paint Wheels.. A big sticking point... I have stripped off the doorcards and now the locks are working well, they have been greased and worked over so they work with no risk of the key snapping. I have changed the fuel lines and moved the fuel filter but the solid line is quite badly bent so i need to cut and refit. I looked into fitting the stereo but the wiring is terrible at best, I have cut a load of the crap wiring in the wagon and got it working well, leading on from here I managed to pay for a loom from 67panel. Will have a split system in shortly I have also managed to get hold of some bits for a Westy interior. I have a spoken with Campmobile70 and I have a sink unit, buddy seat, wardrobe and overhead locker to collect tomorrow. Thought I would put up some pics of how she looks right now..
(stupid sticker to be removed) So I have managed to get some jobs done and order a few bits and bobs. 1. Behind the doors there was no membrane and the water was running into the doorcards. I have now put a membrane on the doors. Purchased some decent window levers as they were rubbish. 2.Started making a headlining. The old one is missing, so I have looked around. I tried to find some J-Channels but too expensive so I went with some tiling edging strip which seems to work well enough. I have cut the hardboard and covered in faux leather. Waiting to put back in soon. 3.The numberplate was a massive bugbear of mine, so for now I have installed some temp lights and mounted the plate back on the engine bay hatch. 4.Picked up a rough westfalia interior. Its from a LHD so I have cut and trimmed the buddy seat and the sink to fit a bit better. I will be putting a SMEV in at some point as the sink looks rough and dated.
Heres a few pics of the camper from the past.. Digging through the paperwork... Before the respray Old for sale ad.. Van During Restro... Van After Restro...
So, I have managed to get a few photos off my phone and uploaded onto Photobucket.. Heres a quick update.. This is the faux leather headlining I have made, using contact adhesive and some hardboard. I haven't got J channels so I have rivetted some Tiling trim to the side of the van and it seems to work quite well, I am happy enough with it.. Cutting the hardboard to make the headlining. Put away under the canvas for the night... Managed to pick up the westy LHD interior, here are a few pics of the journey home and it being fitted: Stopped off for some grub and Nikki took an arty pic of the wardrobe on the roof of the Audi Test fitting the Wardrobe Test fitting the buddy seat and sink unit
Treated a few rust scabs before I put the headlining in.. Strip it drill attachment from Frost then Marine Clean Prep and Ready POR15 Grey paint.. Front headlining boarding to be removed cos it looks terrible and replaced with original material, just need to source the bows.. Numberplate relocated... Just need to get a decent plate now, oh well another part to add to the list...
Shes Lowered!!! What an epic journey.. TH Dropped spindles, 60mm narrowed beam. Adjusters on highest settings, rear dropped 2 splines. Heres a few pics of before, during and after the lowering... This is the test drive where I managed to break the EMPI shifter.. Got a bit of money for getting married so we decided to buy a few bits for the camper. We now have on order all the door seals inc scrapers etc for both front doors, 2 bows, a new cab headlining and a side window seal to try and sort out the leaky sliding window. Hopefully will make some progress once I get the bus down to camp in a few weeks.
Ok, so its been ages since I did an update here.. Well, I got married and moved house, so I now reside in Tewkesbury and I now have a drive and a garage, so its been full steam ahead most nights, before I go spend 4 months in bloody Afghan from Sunday.. So here goes.. Whats happened. Well after she was lowered we packed her up to the hilt with all the stuff we bought for her and drove her from Peterborough to Tewkesbury, blasting down the motorway no probs.. So once she arrived at her new home we decided to see if she would fit in the garage... With about an inch to spare off the roof rack.. And the bike fits.. Just.. Winner.. So then after that we decided to actually work on Kermit.. We got married abroad and threw a little party back in the UK for those who couldn't make it.. We made a sweet shop.. We had the table cloths left over (and big bellies from all the sweets) so decided to make these...
So, Since then I have played a bit of Ice Hockey, I played for the RAF against the Army and Navy in the Tri-Service cup. After holding the cup for the last 4 years we lost to the Army 4-0. Possibly the worst day of my career.. Makes it worse because I play in net.. Fast forward a few weeks and we get some glorious weather, so the wife and I have cruised about in the camper, generally loving it.. Then I decided to tackle this .. Lots of filler.. I decided after looking through behind the battery and seeing the plating, that I didn't want to pick at it, so I grinded it neat and began filling.. Its been a whiles since I've done any bodywork, so got out the 240 wet and dry and started flatting back.. Only had some primer and no black, so threw a coat of primer on and flatted back with some 400 wet and dry to look for defects and pinholes.. (found plenty) Only had this U-Pol filler (which apparently has no pinhole technology) and didn't have any stopper or green stopper, so threw another coat of primer on Then dusted on a topcoat The paint match is terrible but I didn't have the van with me and just wanted to throw a top coat on to protect it (even though it will be in the garage for 4 months) Happy enough with how its looking for now.
Opps I lied.. 67panel on EB was selling a kit which inc. Leisure battery split relay, hot start relay, electric fuel pump feed and 3 aux wires.. So I decided to fit. Only in typical fashion and being a x-over I didn't have the beam to mount it to. So I ended up mounting it by the battery... Currently only have the hot start relay hooked up but having a few issues as when I pull the key out the ignition the engine keeps running.. Daves looking into this for me at the moment.. Pretty mental if you ask me haha. Because of where I have mounted the relays, I am conscious of the need to weatherproof from the vents above.. I might look to make a cover/shroud for them. Who knows. Ideas??
So, I got a bit sidetracked, went to watch the Chisora fight in Wembley.. Thanks Tickets for Troops.. Missus didn't approve of this pic on FB, anyways I digress.. Picked up some material from Dunelm for the RnR bed from Rusty Lee
