Its a aircooled thing - isn't it ?

It's a dub thing

Our first bay was bought in 1978 from our father in law it was a 1971 k reg orange and white Danbury that belonged to Lou's dad , he was a Italian and bought it to take him his wife and seven kids to Italy each year , how they slept comfortably i have no idea but they did and Lou regails me with story's of how he was too mean to pay for parking and how this lead to them parking up in many dubious places on their three or four day journey to Naples , they did stop off at Lou's aunty's house in ferrara to visit and freshen up but other than that it was pedal to the metal all the way there with only the briefest of stops otherwise .

The first time i got to go in the van was August 78 when Lou's dad took a few of us including Lou's gran who was visiting from Naples to Borth .

It was a day trip on a beautiful hot day, we stopped off at mountain streams and bathed in the sea , Lou's mum cooked lunch in the van and it was a glorious initiation to vw camping - so , i bought it !

When i say bought it i mean i was hooked and told Lou's dad " Antonio or Tone to me " i wanted it when he was done with it A month or so later he told me he was selling it and if i wanted it it was mine for nine hundred spondulas " christ " i was on sixty five quid a week and had just got a mortgage ! no way could i afford that , but somehow Tone convinced me that if i paid a deposit and paid back ten quid a week it would soon be paid , what i did not know was , he wanted me to have it and had no intention of selling it otherwise , top man !

So i sold my old Saab 96 for £550 gave the money to Tone and we began our vw campervan experience , we headed straight back to Borth to recreate that glorious day - only this time it was raining ( unusual for Wales Not ) as the rain teemed down and the view became obscured by condensation Lou and i put the kettle on and got comfy .

That van was the coolest most loved camper in the history of campers in our minds , we never really did much to her she was well serviced and very reliable , body rot had not had tme to settle in and Lou's dad had had a new engine put in as a matter of course at 100k , we took her to the vw agent in town who had sold her new he serviced her for about £85 all in if there was ever any brake issue's he usually told us at the service time and then got the apprentice to sort it when i took her in , we never did have many brake issue's to be fair .

We only met a few other vw camper owners on our travels , we saw loads on the road and waved as was the custom but parking up was always somewhere very cheap or free so we probably missed the crowd .

i remember meeting a guy in Cornwall in about 83 that had converted his to a diesel engine , he told me how he had got his local vw garage to source a new engine and radiator system and had them do the job , he seemed put out that they charged him over £1200 to do it , anyway it sounded like a bag of Marmitee to me and i decided they sound better with the put put put of a proper aircooled lump in them and my view remains the same to this day , it is however due to cost of fuel now a thing i am seriously considering .

In those days petrol prices were near a pound a gallon or just over , diesel was cheaper and the guy got more miles to the gallon than i did , but eh oh at a pound a gallon i was not complaining !

Nowadays the difference in mpg makes diesel a bit more appealing , my high handed stance on the purity of aircooled is beng seriously questioned by me , i have watched with interest the scooby conversions going on around us and have pondered on buying a second hand scooby and doing it myself , i have the garage and tools i even have a bit of knowledge , there is back up advice on here and eb and i can source a engine etc from lots of places at the right money but - the diesel option is becoming more and more appealing for some reason , maybe it is because i have been reading up on them maybe it is because diesels run hotter so the heating will be better or maybe it is because i can get diesel cheaper through our local supplier , i don't really know why but if i am to keep using my vw for holidays i know i have to think about economising on the fuel or do shorter trips out .

I am not saying for one minute i will do it this winter or even next winter , i am just saying i am looking into it and all these years later it doesn't seem such a bad thing as way back in the day !

The funny thing is i am so torn something inside me tells me not to even contemplate changing from aircooled , aircooled is what i believe our vans were built around the whole ephos of a bay is aircooled , the tinny chug that shoves us up the road at a steady reliable rate of knots is something i can close my eyes put my head back and hear inside my skull as easy as wink , the thought of the heavy drumming beat of a diesel lump forcing Rhubarb up the road is not something that readily appeals to be honest but blimey the cost difference is tempting.

i am i suppose a bit of purist when it comes to all things vw and this is something a person like me would naturally struggle with , i am of course being sensible re the future running costs etc but something within me just won't take the whole concept of a diesel engine on board ?.

 

Tbh Rick when i do the math the outlay would be a lot the conversion time re getting brackets made , conversion plates etc i begin to back off .

 

This is the trouble things are so expensive these days , i could do it cheaper i have people i can get the engine off as a favour , i have people who will do the conversion plates etc and i can do a awful lot myself but even then time and money would amount to the whole winter and about £1200 !

 

i am lead to believe and i do not know for a fact but the early wasserboxer was just the same as my lump with a water jacket i do not know which diesel engine they used for the t25 but am guessing golf engine ?

 

So this should go straight in right ?

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/VW-t25-turbo-diesel-engine-/130815544273?pt=UK_CarsParts_Vehicles_CarParts_SM&hash=item1e7536cbd1&_uhb=1

 

Do it , i can see Lou resplendent in a army jacket and thermals