Our Upcycled Camper in ten days.

So better late than never @Barneyrubble but thought we would finally share with you our summer 10 day challenge.

Back in August with our local show ten days away and Stig (Our proper camper) not ready we spotted this for sale:



The previous owner had brought it with his girlfriend to do, they split up and he seemed to lose interest, plus the fact he was having to park it in a local car park and do any work in this car park moving it every 24 hours so as not to get a ticket. He then got desperate for money and we turned up lol.

We knew as soon as we saw it and gave each other that little smirky look we had to do it! This vehicle had a few months tax and mot left on it and if nothing else Mrs B was after the number plate, plus beneath all the rubbish we could also see a propex heater!

The previous owner was even kind enough to drive it back to ours (Up and out all @Barneyrubble and @Silver favourite hills) .

And the fun then began for us - to look at from that first picture it didn't look too bad - now we have all heard that one before haven't we and this VW was no exception - lots of badly placed fibre glass and filler! And the inside had been used as a dump for a while.





After removing all the junk out of it, we decided to challenge ourselves to do a useable family camper for the four of us plus the dog to take to V Dub Island 2013 in ten days using materials/bits we had at home or we could find for free or very very little money.

The previous owner had ripped the original bathroom out as he never used it - there was still the sink in the heap of rubbish (Barneys thread about keeping stuff is so true) when we were emptying the rubbish out we were sorting through it and putting anything that may be of use to one side - was a good job we did in the end as its amazing what you find and work out what it is/was used for as you go along.

Mr B concentrated on getting the bodywork sorted - he isn't one for filler and fibreglass at the best of times - now with just 10 days plus life to deal with there wasn't time to weld to Stigs standard - this was definitely a case of cut and slap plates on making sure the rot was cut out. Mind you, the plates were carefully bent to follow the existing battle scars to retain its history! The plates were made from some old racking 16th of an inch thick so it took a lump hammer and chisel to shape them accordingly (because we were in a real high tech mood).

To give you some idea of the rot!





This was our high tech repair to the air intake pipe (held on with mig wire - well it was too hand at the time)



It worked really well or should that be works very well

And I (Mrs B) concentrated on the inside - was a great learning curve I can tell you - learning woodwork skills and how to build curved walls to reinstate the bathroom and wardrobe! Fortunately Master B was able to lend me a few tools to help me along the way and save some time!



When it came to painting the inside I started going through all the odd paint pots we had left over from previous DIY tasks - not enough of any one colour so it was a case of mixing and playing - ironically all the paints made various shades of pink and purple - which really amused Mr B but hey we had set the challenge of the upcycled camper so that's what we had to stick with.

With regards to painting the outside that was when a friend came in handy - he had found some paint tins marked battleship grey in a skip and said would they do - well of course lol. So that was that decision made! (Far easier than trying to decide on Stig's colour)



And of course just for the fun of it we had to have some flames! Masking them up is great fun when you are pushed for time as it is!

 

Which now leaves us to tell you that with very little sleep and two very understanding children (can't quite say the same about the neighbours) we made it!

It didn't come without its problems lol, and in true sods law fashion the welder ran out of gas on Sunday, we ran out of exterior paint on Tuesday, and on Wednesday the sewing machine ran away with itself and caught light as I was trying to do the curtains and tie backs. (The show started on the Thursday) Little Miss B was great with the iron getting them all crease free!

And here was our results of our upcycled camper in just ten days:













The bathroom:





The Wardrobe:



Now whilst we appreciate this won't be too everyone's taste we can't begin to tell you how much fun we have had - both in the doing of it and the using of it - will be back soon with some of the stories, including our time at Dub Island! And we bet there weren't many, if any other VW Campers that were at the show that cost less than £500 that could sleep 4 plus dog and had a bathroom!

PS @paradox - we think this might be one for you!

 

Nice one

 

Great stuff Burnouts , guinness class well it was a bewt , we all sat in that n well i let mrs burnout tell you the rest

 

nice write up but it still looks Marmite

 

jus' kiddin'


There is a big monster 4WD version of this not too far from my place i've been coveting for years. The guy won't sell it though

 

Never said it was going to look any different

The 4WD versions are mahoosive! They are big old beasts and you lot think bays are fuel thirsty!

However they are also very very practical!

Germany is the place to go to buy them apparently!

 

That is indeed one way to describe us - every year we surprise the club with something at this show = their faces this year were a picture!

One day we will get the vehicle there we are supposed to have..... ie Stig ha ha ha!

I can't begin to tell you the laughs we have had in this bus - which has now been named The LT of Chaos by @MrGrey - the memories will live on forever - the trouble we have now is not feeling cramped in Stig!

Something I forgot to mention in the earlier post is the exhaust - now this was in need of replacement - parts for these aren't all that easy to come by, plus we didn't have the money to buy bits with, the only exhaust other than Stig's that we had lying around was a pair of twin cannons off a buggy so guess what got fitted - the saying phut phut bang by a clown at a circus is no understatement here - it was hysterical - bearing in mind the size of the vehicle and how it looks lol.

Our very first drive in it was taking it off the drive and to Dub Island - on route we needed fuel and some supplies, as we pulled out of the fuel station a lady backed right up against a wall looking absolutely petrified - Master B can do an impression very well - she really didn't know what to make of this purple and grey monster going phut phut bang! And all we could do was laugh!

The best bit was pulling up at the showground and not having to rush around and putting things up, like an awning etc, we just parked up and pulled out a beer and never moved for a long time being asked lots of questions (fortunately in our spare five mins in the ten days I had made sure I had done a little blurb for people to read to save our voices a bit)

The bunk above the cab only really has room for one (especially when our 11 year old son is already nearly 6ft) so we made up a little bench to go between the seats and the engine in the front, and put a blow up bed across the front for our daughter!

With work done, and feeling more than ready to unwind we ventured of to enjoy the entertainment of the show - low and behold not only do we bump into the @Silver family but behind them we only get told is stood none other than @Barneyrubble and Betty! We couldn't believe it! Was great to meet another fellow Late Bay Member and the rest they say is history! (For some)





After some much needed sleep (and we all agreed - the best nights sleep ever camping) Saturday brought the drive out - this is where as many VWs from the show that want to join in, drive to the coast being led by the Damage Club - this year saw over 300 take part - and if you haven't seen it - it is a site worth seeing! Just roads and roads full of VW's (pays to remember here the Isle of Wight is only 26 miles long and 13 wide and that's probably been dramatically reduced recently) Now being a local club member we had the honour of leading people to the coast who had never been to the Island before - how funny is all I can say, we were going along making our phut phut bang noises all very merrily waving away and trying to get everyone to join in with a snake drive when all of a sudden Mr B says - we aint going to get there - something isn't right, fortunately the drive out went past my parents, so just as we get by there (we had to get by so on mums video it looks like we were doing ok) BANG Mr B was right - he pulls over to the side leaving a very bemused VW behind thinking what do we do now - fortunately we had already planned for the worst and I jumped out and saw if they had space for an extra one and I carried on leading the group there (Thank goodness the VW Scene is so friendly) - shortly after leaving the family behind Master B texts and says Dubs eh - Oh did I smirk. Having successfully led that group there I joined in with counting the VW's in to the field - and lo and behold who should come in - none other than The Purple Peril - Mr B had done a roadside repair, sourced a part and still got in before the end - the dizzy cap rotor arm had snapped of - luckily there was a spare at mum and dads!



Unfortunately not long after arriving the heavens decided to open - fortunately @Silver and @Barneyrubble were welcome with open doors and a cup of tea - then it dawned on us why are we all trying to cram into two vehicles when the Party Bus was there, that soon changed - we no longer were all squashed in!

@Silver came up with an idea to take us all on a magical mystery tour of the Island - not bad for someone from up country - now of course, from where @Silver is from the land lies a bit flat - the Isle of Wight aint like that and I think @Silver got a little excited by the hills - @Barneyrubble and ourselves weren't quite so convinced

Leaving the end of the drive out starting our magical mystery tour:



During our tour (I couldn't take too many pics - I needed to hold on)




We stopped at a third seafront and found ourselves a nice café and of course an ice cream!



We then headed back to site - Saturday night was fancy dress night and the theme was A Night At the Movies -





Unfortunately some fellow TLB were far too exhausted from all the hills and not having the luxury of power steering or for that matter much power in a vehicle to join in with this - and it was wet, really wet so probably much more tempting to stay in your van - I have to be honest here and say I have never ever seen Mr B so stressed or exhausted from driving - it is a big old bus to steer, let alone when you know its not running right, and when we going up one of the very steep hills with lots of sharp bends, wheel spinning all the way, we only met a vehicle coming the other way right on the bend - all Mr B said was I can't stop its them or the wall - how we never hit either remains to this day a mystery but it was amusing seeing the faces of @Silver and @Barneyrubble behind!

 

We awoke Sunday morning and found someone had found another use for our bus - and this time not as a toilet:

Sunday morning also saw the Cooking in a Camper Competition - somehow I got dragged into this - we were given a bag of ingredients, which we could add three of our own from the vehicle and we had an hour to cook a three course meal and present it to the judge - here is my effort:

We were given a rasher of bacon, half a pepper, a chipolata sausage, some parsley, an egg, 1/2 a sweet potatoe and a spring onion.
I could of used the oven but thought better of it, we had very few ingredients on board, so the only thing I had to add really was fruit hence making a fruit salad.
I made a Spanish omelette for starter, a stir fry for main course and a fruit salad for pudding.
The highlight of this of course was meeting the naked chef! Sorry - knackered chef!

And then being a rose between two thorns (now where is that sick smiley)

Mr Rubble invited us for a curry that evening and being a complete virgin to curries I thought what the hell - now is as good a time as any to try it - I have to say it was bloody fantastic and our upmost thanks goes to The Rubbles for their hospitality and catering! Along with the @Silver family! It was bloody delicious! Trubble is that means we will be back for more!

That's it for now - hope I haven't bored you all too much!
Next tale to follow another time! Not sure if they get better or worse! But it makes a change for someone else to do an essay other than @poptop2

 

Nice one @burntout the Mrs whippy of The IOW. We cant wait to" trip" the guy rope oops i mean night fantastic again next year and im so sorry i made you green with envy of my Farting Curry TaKe cARe you Lot and on ya Bike Blossom

 

Great write up Mrs B. It was a good laugh, but can I add that Mr Rubble did not look happy during the tour that poor lawn mower engine.

 

i was ok , once i put my foot down n got passed i thought you had twin dells it was being stuck behind you that worried me

 

Thanks for sharing the pics and the story

 

10 days! Excellent, food looks good enough to eat mate

 

It was - didn't win the competition (phew) but it tasted alright apparently - there was none left for me to sample anyway!

And thanks Para - makes you wonder why we go through the stress of doing something properly really! Mr B is wondering whether we should of just plated Stig now (better than we done this obviously) rather than a full resto - but then that is a question you can always ask and not get an answer to! I am sure Stig will be well worth it all in the end and we will have as much fun!

 

Brilliant! Thanks for taking the time to write up the story - sounds like a hectic/mad/fun few days!! Looking forward to the next instalment!

Oh - and the photo of the bus on the slope with all the flowers should be entered for the 2015 calendar competition!

 

The evidence of us making the drive out after our little break down = Thank you @MrGrey - How are you? Long long time no speak!

Cheers for bringing up the thread again - just resurrected that huge feeling of fun and enjoyment we had!

 

What a great time, that looks like a fun filled few days.