Newb from west yorkshire vw t2 viking

Hi everyone,

Thank you for allowing me to join! Ive been checking over the restorations pages for ideas etc and the work many owns are capable of is fantastic.

I have just taken possesion of 77 bay window viking top camper.. long story short a family friend had this given back in 2000 as it had been recovered by the family friend as the van was an asset of a drug dealer... and once the police and finished with the case etc, family friends boss offered him it and gave him it.

The family friend drove it for a short while before taking it off the road for work etc and it then laid on his drive for a good 10 years and was then moved to an allotment lock up and left outside for an 15 years.. here we are the family friend decided to sell it but due to it being sat for so long and having a broken back axle trying to move it would prove hard.

Eitherway today saw it move and recovered to home..

It is cosmetically very poor but from first looks all the outriggers, jacking points ans front wheel arches and rear arches and floor have been welded up and remain solid .

It was originally a delivery panel van and has been converted to a camper.

Its been resprayed and is currently a pearlescent purple/ pink with
"wet n wild" stickers in pink! And vauxall allpys fitted and an empi twin dtm exhaust system...

At the moment we are just taking stock and weighing up wether it is worth our time and money doing the work ( can do all work myself)

Will be fantastic when its finished as i would take it back to original with the exception of painting the top half white.

Ive never owned one before so will be fun learning .

Thanks in advance!

Rob

 

Taken in 2000 looks very much differen today!

 

Welcome! Nice bit of history to the van, have you checked to see if there is a kilo of Coke hidden anywhere in the chassis?

 

Hello and welcome from linconshire

 

Howdi and welcome. Be sure to ask loads of questions and we like pics!!

Broken rear axle...id start here first as that might give you the biggest headache dependant upon what the issue is.

 

Welcome from Cheshire, if it's been sat 15 years you'll be very lucky if it's not rotten in some important places, get loads of pics up, what exactly do you mean by broken back axle?

 

Wow fast replies!

Thanks for the kind welcome folks

R.e the broken axle... having had a quick look its the drivers side rear at fault, looking at the spring plate.... it appears the spring plate has been "pushed further up" on what appears to be a bracket in comparison to the passenger side

This is the position on the drivers side ( not my photo or van).

I'm afraid i will be asking lots f questions as it does need a fair amount of work... one area i did forget to metion was the rear end being fairly rotten as the bottery trays on either side are rotten so expect the chassis rails at the rear nedding work possibly but its mainly all the rear outter panels...

Thanks again

Rob

 

Welcome along from South Manchester....

 

Possibly broken torsion bar, not too drastic, easy enough to strip to find out.

What are the gutters and rear corners of the roof like?
You need to strip any interior cupboards etc out asap to get a good look!

 

Thanks fella and surprisingly the roof gutters are solid! All the way round not one hole or crusty bit... the small "strip" that is cut out on the rear corners are also tidy not sure if this "slither/strip" from the gutter is original vw or not but...
The interior is partially stripped, it just needs some panneling taking out.. ive gained access to the floor and its all been welded up

The rear of the bus appears to be the worst just from first glance it needs both rear corners from below the lights upto the "beltline" or just under the line and rear valance and inner battery trays etc. The part that is worrying me a little is the vent section on the drivers side as theres rust behind the vents so will need that section cutting out.

Thanks

Rob

 

Hello and Welcome from The Colonial Contingent

 

Bonjour from france , but born and lived most of my life in west yorkshire "Leeds"...

I am the only one that has replaced a back axle ,that I know of...

 

Welcome along. Interesting history and a real project

 

Thanks guys!

At the moment it is a real eye sore purely because of the paint job and stickers it has rust and looks patchy granted but.... if it was an original colour and looked closer to standard it wouldnt look half as bad.

I was thinking a couple of days ago prior to picking it up, " i reckon its just the torsion bar thats skipped on the splines "

So hopefully it is just that i take it if the spring plate sits at a more horizontal position it sits lower and a more vertical position means it sits higher


Is it possible to fit 3 point inertia seatbelts in the rear
( for baby seat)

Thanks

Rob

 

Yes it is. We did in ours. @davidoft was selling brackets to make this easier too. Not sure if still does....
Welcome from Bradford btw

 

I am indeed still selling them

 

Good evening and welcome from
Hayling island

 

Yes, it is original and vital. It lets the rainwater drain off the gutters.

Welcome from North Yokshire!