Long time member Ian Crawford had issues with his van that he bought in 1972 at a year old. He still drives it! I should point out the van was a year old, not Ian.

Ian says:

An unusual problem solved the other day. My van would only turn over 2-3 times when
ignition switched on, then it just refused to do anything! I connected my battery charger to the terminals (before switching on) and the lights showed the battery was 20% efficient.
I then switched the charger on and literally within 15 seconds it said 100% charged. I
disconnected and switched off the charger and attempted to start the van.
As before, it only turned over 2-3 times then it wouldn’t do anything. Reconnecting the
charger it again showed only 20%! Once again, charging for around 15 seconds showed the battery 100% charged. Time to retreat and think hard as to what the problem really was and how to solve it. I slept on it and the next day I had a brainwave!
I decided to remove the battery earth strap from where it is bolted to the chassis. Using a steel wool pan scourer, I gave the bare metal a thorough good scrub as well as the underside of the fixing lug of the earth strap. I also smeared Vaseline over both surfaces.
I then refitted the earth strap into the chassis fixing hole and went to start it up. Surprise surprise, it started first time!!
So if you have experienced problems with starting, maybe removing and cleaning the metal around the fixing of the earth strap will solve it.
Hope this gives members some useful tips.