It's more than just the bunting

Discussion in 'Buying a VW Camper' started by Dashdub, Sep 3, 2018.

  1. Ideally as soon as possible as hoping to use it towards end of Nov in St Ives. We’re hiring one for end of Sept in Teignmouth.

    Will take your advice though & take lots of pictures to post on here.


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    paradox likes this.
  2. hiring is a good idea. we hired a lhd westy before we found one to buy..

    as above though, don't discount a left hooker, much more likely to be less rusty and it really isn't difficult to adjust to sitting on the "wrong" side.
     
    Jack Tatty and Dashdub like this.
  3. Just don’t think I’d like the idea as a passenger sitting on the outside if you know what I mean. Also I’m a bit nervous of driving a bus with no power steering or smooth gear shift; so to have the steering wheel on the other side I think would be a step too far!!


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    bernjb56 and Baysearcher like this.
  4. matty

    matty Supporter

    But you could have so much fun waving at people, freaking them out before they realise it’s left hand drive.
    you could even get a spare steering wheel
     
    Dashdub likes this.
  5. [​IMG]


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  6. Suss

    Suss Supporter

    Does this mean that @Barry Haynes and @Terrordales are a "Q" plate then?o_O
     
    Cockers, Terrordales and Barry Haynes like this.
  7. Baysearcher

    Baysearcher [secret moderator]

    That’ll either be a scam or £15k below reserve minimum.
     
    Bulletooth likes this.
  8. Terrordales

    Terrordales Nightshift

  9. 77 Westy

    77 Westy Supporter

    Why didn’t you follow your own advice?:thinking:
     
    Bulletooth and MorkC68 like this.
  10. Is it an issue if a van is blue but DVLA say it’s white??


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  11. Baysearcher

    Baysearcher [secret moderator]

    As long as it is the bus on the paperwork and not a ringer it’s easy to change.
     
  12. Poptop2

    Poptop2 Administrator

    Check the number on the chassis upstart in the engine bay is the same as the chassis number on the vin plate behind the drivers seat
     
  13. scrooge95

    scrooge95 Moderator and piggy bank keeper

    Is it white over blue?
    If j look mine up on the gov ‘is my car taxed’ website it says white. The actual log book says white and 0range, so I wonder if it’s a number of characters issue online, if you see what I mean. I keep meaning to phone them and get it changed to 0range, but as the log book is correct I keep putting it off. Might be the same thing?
     
  14. MorkC68

    MorkC68 Administrator

    All of the Brazilian Bays Danbury concerted come all over white upon import from Brazil into the UK.

    Danbury flash the bottom halves over in colour on conversion
     
    scrooge95, Bulletooth and paradox like this.
  15. Ive had countless left hookers and none have ever been a problem! My crossover is lhd and although i hadnt driven lhd in ten years took about 45 seconds to get used to again. I wouldn't discount lhd as said before a lot more bang for your buck in terms of a vehicle that hasn't sat outside in uk weather for the last 40 odd years
     
    Pedro del monkeybike likes this.
  16. Flakey

    Flakey Supporter

    Amazing how altering the roof line and putting unnecessary swage on the door bottoms completely *****s up a classic design
     
    Last edited: Sep 9, 2018
    scrooge95, rustbucket and Bulletooth like this.
  17. Yeah. When I’m driving about I often see a bay coming the opposite direction, then it gets closer and you go “ oh it’s only a brazillian”
    Shame.
     
    scrooge95 likes this.
  18. redoxide

    redoxide Guest

    there is no reason for any camper not to have a smooth gearshift. Its just another one of those lack of maintenance issues these vans suffer from.. along with the rest of the bodges and crap work done to them on the cheap to keep them on the road .. The further added nail in the coffin for these old Marmite piles is the MOT exemption.. To some degree this annual test at least gave folk some hope if buying that the van almost met a roadworthy standard .. But owners running there vans on a shoe string take the exemption as an opportunity to ignore problems like RUST and these vans suffer greatly from the ravages of time.. Most vehicles will rust out around the lower 8 inches but these vans actually rust all the way up t the gutters !!

    Thats the rust issues .. there is no real first place to look as they rust everywhere ..

    Mechanical.. yep along with the rust, even if its been repaired the mechanicals will still have covered a lifetime of mileage, a lot of it in its early years, In mid to late life most of them will have sat stationary often outdoors never turning a wheel.. Then the values went up and the fashion was set.. and these old heaps were pressed bak into service with the least amount of work on the mechanicals possible ..

    So the van would be welded up, maybee the brake pipes replaced , then the whole thing covered in black body schutz to make things look fresh .. then MOTD at a friendly mot centre for the purpose of a sale .. And many a successful sale was made .. to many an unsuspecting buyer .

    prices are an expectation.. You see these vans and you expect to pay big money for them.. Unfortunately sellers see that logic as well and play on the expectations ..

    Its sad that we might expect to pay £4k for a junk pile for restoration and perhaps expect to find a "restored " van for £8k .. well you can only imaging how much restoration would be done for that little money..

    Folk put these piles of Marmite up for sale for serious wedge hoping fr a MUG to take it off there hands .. and with all private sales there is no come back.. if you pay £10k for a piles of tarted up rust, you now own 100% of that rust pile, no warranties given or implied ..

    IF your buying into a van thats supposed to be on the road, the very least you should expect is for it to drive properly and shift gear .. steer in a straight line, hit bumps without changing direction, stop in good time, start on the button and drive without any significant mechanical noise.

    Just yesterday I went to my buddies to help him with a customers T2 .. Van was very presentable some surface rust peeking through old paint .. usual wavy sides, but over all the outside wasnt really to bad .. Interior was fine as well, with the exception of the Marmite chipboard and formica units.. it looked lie a presentable and useable van .. so far so good ..

    steering was wandering .: a 2 minute look at the steering located excess play at the wheel, the rag joint at the coupling was split in several places the beam pivot was needing greased and the boxt needed adjusting.. all basic maintenance .. no big deal..

    He also mentioned the shifter needed adjusting .. DID IT . It probably had the slickest shifting stock style shifter I have ever experienced.. until you drove it .. The noise from the gearbox was excruciating..

    1st was howling even crawling, it would take second but the noise just got worse, third was a no show, and by the time it did go in you really needed 2nd again and 2nd to 4th was fine .. 4th was actually fairly quiet ..

    Driving the van was hard work, having adjusted the box it was reported to be a lot better but it wallowed around and the erratic power from the engine didnt make it a good driving experience ...

    Underneath it was obvious it had been welded from front to back.. inner sills were fitted over the top of the rusted ones and tacked randomly along the top edge an inch from the floor.. yet new jacking point ( with the stickers still present under the blunderseal) were welded all the way around ?

    That was a £10k van ..

    I would have walked away from it apparently it was £15k several months prior ..

    BE VERY VERY VERY carefull .

    My advice for what its worth is, relinquish ownership of a van and hire one as and when you want to travel.. £500 a week might sound a lot, but you hand it back faults and all after use and you dont have to store it .. you can hire the thing 20 times thats twice a year for 10 years and not have to worry about stuff .. and still have the wedge in the bank .. Trust me the romantic notion of T2 ownership isnt all its cracked up to be.. UNLESS you double or tripple your budget and buy a properly restored van .. but even then all that happens is you wll have a 30k van in the drive 8 months of the year instead of a 10 k money pit ..
     
  19. redoxide

    redoxide Guest

    I bought my van as a started resto that had been abandoned before any welding took place . It was covered over and left up the side of a fellas house.. I paid £800 for it .. then spent 8 years off and on rebuilding it, total cost with ZERO labour was just a smidge under £20k.. It drives like a car, doesn't roll on corners, starts on the button, stops well despite no servo and has no rust issues ( yet)..

    It was used a fair bit in year one, used less in year 2 and this year so far its been used for 8 days and driven once to an appointment when my daily refused to start.. Its been relegated to the drive and lives under a JK cover .. No plans to use it to be honest.. might take it away this weekend if the weather is good..

    sad really but I think thats the reality of owning these things.. only a very small % of T2 owners venture out on a major adventure .. Long trips would be fine in the 70s when most stuff struggled to get to 70, but these days every audi driving arsehole and BMW driving buttplug are right up your arse when the overtake is a breeze .. Its actually more fun to drive it in lane one of the motorway, and pootle down in the slipstream of an artic..

    Unfotunately after prolonged "high" speed the old aircooled motor needs a rest to cool down .. :(
     
    Pedro del monkeybike likes this.
  20. Flakey

    Flakey Supporter

    I plan journeys, look at a map made of paper, choose to avoid motorways as much as possible and enjoy the journey, driving can be a pleasure, if you just want to get there go in a modern car with satnav!! Lots of old mostly unused A roads with scenery and lay-bys still exist
     
    Valveandy, scrooge95, Poptop2 and 3 others like this.

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