My ride - 1978 Champagne Microbus US Import - Lucky

Well Horts suggested the show us your ride section was for dating adverts so here goes...

Hi, I am 33 years old and not your run of the mill late bay. I was lucky that my maker deemed it that I should be created as a celebration because his other son, a beetle, had done so well at school. He lovingly furnished me with sexy extras such as rear heated windows, chrome trim, and brown dash. My main features are my beautiful brown and red skin and, ladies, I come with go faster stripes for your pleasure.

I've seen a lot of action and wear a few battle scars, but as I've been told, chicks dig scars...I have a great sense of humour, (like the time I broke down on the main roundabout in Bournemouth, oh how everyone laughed), and a really nice personality, (I'm brown and red for heavens sake).

Having lived in America for many years I have a great tan and am virtually rust free. I keep fit and my body is in pretty good shape, you can still see my outriggers and jacking points are in great condition, not to mention my cargo floor.

I love going out and going on holiday, even if I am a little reluctant to get going to start with, and love nothing more than a drink or two, (petrol and oil). I have a massive 2.0l engine, that's right ladies, size does matter, and I can drive you up that hill no problems, yup, right...to...the...top...

So, if you like what you see, feel free to beep me up next time you see me and maybe we can hook bumpers some time...

 

Oh im liking that, its a very special bus. Nice one 8)

 

Love it, that's a pretty rare bus.

 

Is that by any chance one of those "Champange special editions" ? Love em, loved rickys when I first came across it and if I had not already brought mine, I would have had his, so they have a special place in my heart, my only concern is, they ain;t ORANGE ;D Top bus though dude

 

retro i love it

 

My favourite bus of all time. You lucky man.

 

Hi all,

Time for an update I think, if you'll indulge me...Ok, here goes:

After the rush to get it imported and ready for Glastonbury last year I had a real problem with it cutting out at idle and sometimes not even starting at all. I did a little bit of work to try and find out why but as the weather drew in and it got colder so did my enthusiasm for fixing it, (especially as I have a now 17 month old daughter that takes most of my time and attention). This all coincided with a slight bout of depression so it got forgotten about...

It therefore got parked in the secluded part of our drive and tucked away under a JK cover for the winter. I did make a vain attempt to clear the garage but I had no idea how much 'stuff' we have in there!

So, tucked away, practically forgotten over the winter. I even forgot to trickle charge the battery or any of the other advice given for the winter lay up... I feel bad for just saying this.

However, the depression and the weather lifted and I've set about giving it a full service and resto ready for the Summer of camper fun.

I can also reveal that over the past few weeks I have started to name and sex it, (no, not in that way Ricky - shame on you )...

So I'd like to introduce you to my 1978 Champagne Edition 2 Camper van, Lady Luck or Lucky for short.

 

The reasons for the naming are simple really. I bought this unseen from Gods Good, (on this forum), from the States. It was imported to take me and my family to Glastonbury, it arrived 7 days before we were due to go, then got held in customs, had the window smashed, failed 2 MOT's but through some sheer hard work, friendly TLB'ers and mostly luck, we got there.

How many people can say they bought a camper, unseen, for under £5k and managed to drive it flawlessly for 3 hours and camp in it without getting wet or breaking down?

I still felt no real connection to her or if her name, (originally called bubbles by the PO - see what they've done there, Champagne bubbles etc), until I've started the refurb.

So, before I get the compulsory :ttiwwp:

I emptied the interior except r&r bed, nice clean, rust free, cargo floor



I've pulled off all the door cards to see what dangers lie behind them:



Nice and clean!

Even factory fresh foam and splash guards





I've taken the front seats off to see what lurks under there and also to re-upholster at some time



Even the bottom of the seats is tidy, note original VW hair and sticker!



Now can you see why I'm liking the name Lucky?

 

So onto the first jobs all VW'ers will do...

I mentioned the cutting out at idle? Well, my first thought was fuel starvation so I checked the fuel filter, (with the help of Foe, and yes petrol does sting when it gets on your skin)



Oh dear, a touch clogged me thinks. New one in, much better.



She now idles like it's going out of fashion, no problems at all

Next job was an oil change, it didn't look, feel or smell too bad on the dipstick but you never know



Holy crap! It wasn't too thick or burnt but boy was it clogged up



So, that done, nice new oil in her and she now purrs.

 

The next problem I had was that sometimes she just didn't start and no amount of points and plugs cleaning, prodding and poking would get her going, she turned over but it was like there was just no spark. Then on the odd occasion it was first time as if nothing was wrong.

On further investigation, I found that the plugs and coil were ok, bit sooted up but once cleaned giving a good spark. Ricky then suggested that on his F1 engine he gives the double relay a little fiddle and it works, well in for a penny...



A little tidy up and de-crap and fanny's your nanny, she now seems to start first time. (I'll try again tonight after she's sat for the day).



The only other thing I did yesterday was vactan a couple of rusty areas. OH MY GOD, how good is that stuff! I didn't take a photo before as I wasn't expecting too much but here is the bottom of my gear lever after vactan, I can say that this area was just one big lump of rust and already had a replacement in my VW Heritage basket.



You'll have to take my word for it, truly unbelieveable.

 

What's with the bra thing on the front - looks like a bus gimp mask.....!!!

 

Plans for the refurb / resto:

I've kept all the original floor, chairs, door cards etc in storage as while they were tired they were in ok condition so will be good to keep if I ever want to return to OG.

I'm going to keep it as a tin top and refurb it sympathetically, ie choose similar colours to what was there but just add my own little twist to it and tidy it all up. I'd like to use this as a camper for me and my family for years to come.

I'm playing around with the interior but am currently thinking about one long run down the side of my 3/4 r&r bed and have a cadac unit for my cooker, (so I can keep it in the units to cook in the van and also take it outside if needed), a fridge and then the rest as storage space.

As for electrics, I'll be adding a 240v RCD hookup as well as getting creative with the wiring and internal lights etc.

I'm much more of an upholstery, electrics and carpentry type of guy than an engine one, but I'm always ready to learn.

More coming soon!

 

Glad you're ressurecting this thread matey - shame on you for taking so long! don't forget to change the fuel lines not just the filter oh and Blah blah....jubilee clips blah..... (you can see that the pipes are original as they have the vw crimp clamps one end), mine did too! my fuel lines were not too bad at first glance but if you compress them you'll see cracking on them and don't forget we are running a fair bit of pressure on these F.I vans, my "double relay" has got tape all round the sockets so i'm guessing it's a common fault as they do a lot of "electrickery" gonna clean and re-seal all mine too now i've got more time with the nice weather coming, keep up the good work though i love these busses.

 

Yeah, fuel lines is on the list. I don't plan to drive it in anger until it's done, (well I have no drivers seat so it might be interesting!)

Where did you get all the clips from? I've found some FI hose on eBay but can't find the right size or specific fuel line protecting clips, wonder if I'm just searching for the wrong thing...

 

there is 2 sizes of hose which i got from a local motor factors along with the clips mate, most places including halfrauds sell it, just remember to get injection hose for any parts after the pump, standard is fine out of the tank and up to the filter though, the piece between filter and pump - about 6 inches is fatter the rest is the same, there was a thread on here a few weeks ago where i listed all the sizes i used but i haven't got time to trawl it now.

 

^^^

 

Hi,

Small update as this weekend I promised the wife I would spend it clearing out the garden so the van played second fiddle.

I did manage to do a bit of sewing though in the evening to practise for the door cards. Here's a sneek peek at my plans, I'm going to do a two tone panel with red/brown vinyl on the top and bottom of the card and then this cream vinyl in the middle.



Not the best sewing ever but I was pleased for my first try on vinyl and foam...Thoughts?