Hello to you, it seems everyone is welcome here even me and mines an Early. I was conjuring up something along the lines of `Checking the arches Brazilian style` but held off. Your van looks a lot better than a few I`ve seen at my mates garage in Bristol. I heard somewhere that another outfit, possibly London based were importing them at one time and giving them a decent respray and weatherproofing before the harsh UK weather got to them and then doing a conversion on them, I`m wondering if yours is one of those and that`s why its fared much better. It`s a smashing looking van all the same and I love the chrome bumpers. I think its more than an itch though, might even be a disease, wonder if we can get a bay on the national health Ozziedog,,,,,,,,,,,,, Makes sense to me
I negotiated the price right down to take account of the rear arch rot and the fact that the previous owner had upset someone enough for them to key both rear quarter panels and the nearside panels. They also engraved C*** across the rear door above the VW badge. I can only assume he is. Regarding my initial experience of Brazilian imports - there do seem to be enough examples out there to suggest that the Brazilian imports will suffer from the same old issues eventually. Mine was imported as a panel van, then had the options pack added and two removable pods fitted - one with a sink and water tank storage and the other with a coolbox and storage. No gas option I believe. Had swivel seat bases that only turned 45deg each way because of the tapered bulkhead, so pretty much useless and one of the first things to be Ebay-ed, along with a Fiamma twin cycle carrier. The front spare wheel bracket makes the outer front panel skin wobble and it lets water in, so I'm not sure if I will be keeping that. I did have to rewire part of the cabling to the front and rear screen switches and the Webasto dash controller as they had all been twisted together and jointed with a large blob of solder. The people down at Danbury have been helpful - spoke with a fella that remembered the van being sprayed purple 14 years ago and also helped me with the odd characteristics of the Webasto cab heater - similar to the pre-flight routines of getting a Vulcan started and makes a similar noise when it finally ignites. I've become obsessed with the DVLA vehicle MOT History website whenever I see a Brazilian come up for sale, there was one recently on the south coast that had a decent camper interior, elevating roof and went for about £8.5k, presumably because several of the previous MOT's had noted underside corrosion on the advisories. There is a place south of Gatwick that imports LHD in minibus and van form and they also do the full camper conversion to order. I looked at an air-cooled van there last year but it already had signs of surface rust and a large puddle in the middle of the floor pan behind the bulkhead. The price wasn't negotiable so I walked away. I guess we've all got Jamie Oliver to hate/thank for the way prices have gone.
I've seen/heard it a few times - I live very near RAF Halton in Bucks and whenever there was a flypast event on in London, the formation nearly always makes it way back via Halton, glad I was around to see it flypast the camp Halton on its final UK tour. Was one of the few things that would make my eldest sons stop fighting!
Mork, up until last week Id have agreed, but unfortunately MOD estates has now announce full closure of RAF Halton by 2022, so what was a pleasant view out over a grass-crete strip watching both tug and winch gliders and also a fair few regular light aircraft movements, will now be part of the recently announced Aylesbury 'Garden Town' housing development.
Not so good then we live in an old mining town and has plans for 1800 new houses over the next few years. Luckily we wont be affected but that's on green belt farm land which, I guess, has been sold for a good price.
