Category Archives: T1

The original Transporter. What a great idea!

Club Event – RAF Odiham Family Day 2021

Can it be a year already?

August 14th 2021 saw the return of RAF Odiham’s Family
Day. The club had several vans in attendance as
part of the show’s classic car event and members
camped for the weekend at a nearby pub.
The day involved displays from resident
Chinooks, Typhoons and also the Red Arrows,
who put on an excellent 40 minute display.
This event is getting better and better each
year and we are privileged as a club to be invited
to attend.
Photo credit to David Eaton.

Ask The Mechanic – Fitting a hot start relay

If you have an air-cooled van and experience
the dreaded “click” when trying to start your van,
it could be that the original wiring and ignition
switch now has a higher resistance than it did
back in the 70’s and cannot cope with the current
required to turn the engine over using the starter
motor.
One way to counteract this is to fit a relay that
takes the current load and the ignition switch
activates the relay.
A relay sourced for this application can be
purchased from Just Kampers; JK part number
J12928.
Parts required
‹ Suitable cable for wiring the relay – suggest
Halfords 12v 17A cable sold in 4m reels
‹ Several crimp connectors
‹ The relay itself – JK part number J12928
Method
It is advisable to always disconnect the vehicle’s
battery before carrying out any work on the
electrical system.

  1. Mount the relay in a safe place as close to the
    starter motor as possible.
  2. Take the existing wire from terminal 50 on
    the solenoid and extend it to reach the relay
    position.
  3. Connect this extension from terminal 50 on
    the solenoid to terminal 86 on the relay.
  4. Now connect terminal 85 on the relay to a
    good earth on the vehicle body/chassis.
  5. Connect terminal 87 of the relay to the live
    terminal of the vehicle’s battery.
  6. Now connect terminal 30 on the relay back
    to terminal 50 on the starter solenoid.

Whilst every attempt is made to ensure that
these instructions are as accurate and clear as
possible, the author or club itself cannot be
held responsible for misinterpretation of these
instructions or for any subsequent accident or
damage caused through mis-fitted parts.

Another one in the bag! Club camp completed – Odiham

The Club on tour – Just Kampers, Odiham, Hampshire

June 10 to 12 2022

6 members were in the dedicated club field with more coming over to say Hello. 15 new members joined on the day, lots of money raised for charity for the Phyllis Tuckwell hospice. Live music from multiple bands, open air cinema on Friday (Breakdance) and Saturday (Karate kid), a big raffle with prizes worth up to £700 each.

Another great weekend at JK.

Ask The Mechanic – Aircooled engine cooling

The summer is here and that hopefully means that
we are experiencing warmer air temperatures.
With warmer air temperatures, comes warmer
engines. Those using aircooled engines will find it
even harder to keep the engine cool during the
summer months and we have all seen the odd VW
at the side of the motorway! Don’t let that be you
(not through overheating anyway!)


Although it may seem like a small detail, to ensure
cooler engine temperatures, it is absolutely vital
that the tinware and engine compartment rubber
seals are all present and intact. This ensures that
there is cool air above the engine and hot air
below it. These are known as the cool and warm
zones. If tinware parts are missing, or the seals
around the front and back of the engine are torn
or broken, hot air will be drawn from the cylinder
heads and exhaust back into the cool zone around
the top of the engine and then sucked in by the
cooling fan and re-circulated over the cylinders
and heads, causing the engine temperature to
rise, potentially to a critical level. This can cause all
kinds of problems over time, some of which may
not be immediately obvious, from hot starting
troubles, to cracked cylinder heads, up to and
including a seized engine.
If you’ve just bought a car/bus, it is well worth
checking the condition of the tinware and seals
and also making sure that there are no foreign
bodies stuck in the cooling fan (remember to do
this with the engine turned off!)
If you are fitting a reconditioned or new engine,
don’t just rely on refitting the parts that were on
the old engine, as they may not be correct either.
The thermostat is another vital piece in the cooling
system. There is a set of flaps inside the fan shroud,
that actually block cooling air when the engine
is cold, in order to warm up the engine more
quickly. These are opened by the thermostat,
located between the cylinder barrels and if this
part is defective your engine will very quickly
overheat. Check the function of the thermostat
and flaps and if required, replace. The alternative
is to completely remove the thermostat and
flaps, which while it certainly simplifies matters,
is not ideal. It means that your engine may never
reach the correct operating temperature in cold
weather conditions.
The last few points to consider are your ignition
timing, air leaks and fuelling. Poor ignition timing
can cause your engine to run too hot, it’s unlikely
to be visible if it’s wrong but you should hear
it. Fuel mixture is equally important, so ensure
the carburettor jetting is correct for the size of
the engine, fuel starvation will raise the engine
temperature internally. Your fuel system could be
setup perfectly, but if your engine is sucking air in
elsewhere through a split hose or a broken gasket,
then the whole fuel/air mixture is compromised
and the chances of running lean and therefore
hot, are increased too. Spraying the intake system
with Wd40 whilst running will help to detect this,
an air leak will suck the spray in, using it as fuel and
changing the engine note at the same time.
I hope there are some helpful tips for members to
help stay cool this summer.

Another one in the bag! Club camp completed – Banbury

The Club on tour – Barnstones Caravan and Camping Park, Banbury, Oxon

May 12th to 16th 2022 saw the Club’s annual AGM, BBQ and Club Camp (ABC camp) in Great Bourton. Convenient for the M40 allowing many people to join us, we had nearly 30 vehicles after some late dropouts due to mechanical trouble. Over 60 people spent the weekend together with a lot of laughter, plenty of burgers and maybe the odd glass of something.

In addition to the AGM and BBQ, we also had the FA cup final televised in one gazebo, Eurovision later in the evening and some singing from our resident jazz singer Lorna.

On the plus side, 5 people joined the Committee. On the minus side, Derek Leary stepped down from the Committee after several decades shaping the Club into what it is today. We’ll miss you Derek (and Christie).

Upcoming event – Just Kampers Weekend! – 10th to 12th June 2022

The hugely popular JK Weekender is back! Having been cancelled due to COVID, last year’s tickets are still valid in a rollover way to this year.

Set in a field next to the JK headquarters just outside Odiham in Hampshire, Mark and the team give us a chilled out, music, outdoor evening movies, stalls, displays and of course their shop.

Our club enjoys a dedicated club field for members only which includes a disabled toilet. We get plenty of space in a prime position and the club lays on a club tent for congregating is you feel sociable plus we are doing our famous BBQ on Saturday evening – come and get a free burger and have a natter!

If you are lucky, our very own Events Manager Lorna will be singing again! Check out the Events page on this site or see the latest edition of Transporter Talk

See the source image



See the source image

Another one in the bag! Club camp completed – Cheddar

The Club on tour – Petruth Paddocks, Cheddar, Somerset
April 22 to 25 2022

The first club camp of the season saw us down in the pretty down of Cheddar at Petruth Paddocks, hosted by the wonderful Jules.

What did you miss? Burgers, fire pit, marshmallows, bacon baps. Cheddar village, Cheddar gorge, the caves. Locally made cheese, 16 club member dogs, 33 adults, 2 children, live singer on Friday and Saturday and a lot of laughter.

Here is some feedback from a member:

“We have been VWT2OC members for a few years but had not previously got involved in meetings or attending camps. What have we been missing? The St George’s camp at Cheddar over the weekend was a fantastic event. The campsite was beautiful, clean and friendly; the club negotiated camping rates that could not be beaten; the Saturday evening social around the firepits, with burgers provided and lovely entertainment from Lorna was fantastic; and the coffee, tea and bacon rolls provided on Sunday morning was very welcome. I had nothing to do than enjoy myself. Big shout out to Lorna Williamson, Nick Gillott, Malcolm Marchbank and Val Lewis for all the hard work planning, organising and delivering the camp. You are stars. We were already booked in for the May BBQ & AGM, now we are looking forward to it more than ever.”

Here are some photos from the weekend:

Ask The Mechanic – Checking spark plugs

An article from Chairman Malcolm Marchbank

Spring has sprung and those classics will be
starting to come out of hibernation. After months
in the garage with the occasional start up to
keep it ticking over, your engine can suffer. I have
personally experienced this after months of an
engine sitting during restoration work and being
moved from one side of a workshop to another.
Once the work was complete, trying to drive
away from the workshop, my T2 Bay Campervan
wouldn’t accelerate down the road. Reason –
fouled spark plugs.

I have also had a spark plug with a closed gap
(don’t even ask how that happened, but it
involved losing part of the carburettor through
the engine… lucky it didn’t do any other damage!)
The condition of your spark plugs can make a
massive difference to the running of your engine,
so it’s worth checking them every so often,
especially after a period of time unused.
Hopefully the following information will help to
make you a spark plug expert.
Before starting work on checking your plugs, it is
helpful to have the right tools to hand; accessing
the rear two spark plugs at cylinders 1 and 3
can be a real fiddle, especially on later twin-port
engines where access is further compromised
by the inlet manifolds. A short 21mm socket and
universal joint may give you a bit more flexibility.
When checking the plugs, it can help to remove
each lead and plug individually so that you don’t
get them mixed up. This will cause an incorrect
firing order and your engine will not run.
When removing the ignition lead from the plug,
be sure to pull it off by the connector, not the lead
itself, as you’ll run the risk of pulling the lead off
the connector (trust me!)
If you notice any damage to a connector or if a
lead is a lose fit, it is best to go out and buy a new
HT lead set.
Make sure you have the socket on the plug
properly when you’re undoing them and it’s also
best to do all this while the engine is cold to avoid
burning yourself!
Once the plug is out, take a good look. Is it brown,
grey, sooty or oily? If the engine is running right,
it should be light brown or grey. If it is sooty but
dry, your engine is running rich and not burning
all the fuel. If the insulator is white and flaky then
your engine is running too lean. Either way, you’ll
need to tune your carb to adjust the fuel/air
mixture.
If the plug is wet and oily, there are a couple of
possibilities. The first is that you’re not getting
a spark, in which case you may have noticed
a misfire. If this is the case, check the HT lead
connection at the plug and also where it pushes
into the top of the distributor cap.
A worse scenario is that your engine has worn
piston rings and/or valve guides, which means a
rebuild is on the cards. If there is serious carbon
build up on the plug, or what looks like molten
bits of metal, chances are your ignition timing is
out.
Whatever their condition, while the plugs are out
of the engine they will benefit from a good clean
up using a brass wire brush. While you are at it,
check the spark plug gaps using a feeler gauge.
For most air cooled engines the gap should be
0.024” or 0.6mm, however check your workshop
manual because the gap will be different on
some engines. If the gap is correct, the gauge
should slip in and out without much resistance.
If it is too loose, you can adjust it with a gentle
squeeze in a vice to close it slightly, or if the gap is
too tight, carefully prise open the contact with a
flat bladed screwdriver.
Spark plugs should be checked every 3000 miles
and replaced every 10,000 miles as part of your
service routine. If you suspect a poor running
engine there is no harm fitting new ones sooner,
they are relatively cheap for a set.
When refitting, always start screwing the plug
back in by hand, only using the socket for the
final tightening, otherwise you risk forcing a cross
thread. If you feel any resistance early on, unscrew
and carefully try again

Ask The Mechanic – 171 – E10 fuels

The mechanic has noticed a recent uplift
in questions and concerns surrounding the
upcoming introduction of E10 fuels. The
following is information provided by the
Federation of British Historic Vehicles Clubs
that we hope members will find useful.
Federation of British Historic Vehicles
Clubs – Introduction of E10 petrol
After an extensive consultation process, the
Department for Transport has announced that they
will legislate to introduce E10 petrol as the standard
95-octane petrol grade by 1 September 2021. They
will also require the higher-octane 97+ ‘Super’ grades
to remain E5 to provide protection for owners of
older vehicles. This product will be designated as the
‘Protection’ grade.
The introduction of the 95-octane E10 grade and the
maintenance of the Super E5 protection grade will be
reviewed by the Government after 5 years to ensure
they remain appropriate to the needs of the market:
In relation to the E5 protection grade, such a review
will examine market developments over the period.
HM Government have sought to reassure FBHVC
members and historic vehicle owners that, without
a suitable alternative becoming available, it is highly
likely the Super E5 protection grade would continue
to be available.
Filling stations that stock 2 grades of petrol and
supply at least one million litres of fuel in total each
year will need to ensure one product is the Super E5
protection grade. While not all filling stations meet
these criteria, almost all towns across the UK will have
a filling station that supplies the ‘Super’ grade and
currently one major retailer, a national supermarket
group, has committed to offer the product. The main
exception to this is in certain parts of the Highlands,
north and west coast of Scotland, which will be
covered by an exemption process and allowed to
continue to market the 95-octane E5 grade.
The Federation therefore recommends that all
vehicles produced before 2000 and some vehicles
from the early 2000s that are considered noncompatible with E10 – should use the Super E5
Protection grade where the Ethanol content is limited
to a maximum of 5%. To check compatibility of
vehicles produced since 2000, we recommend using
the new online E10 compatibility checker: https://
www.gov.uk/check-vehicle-e10-petrol .
It should be noted that some Super E5 Protection
grade products do not contain Ethanol as the E5
designation is for fuels containing up to 5% Ethanol.
Similarly E10 petrol can contain between 5.5%
and 10% ethanol by volume. Product availability
varies by manufacturer and geographical location
and enthusiasts should check the situation in their
location.
Latest News:
The federation’s fuels specialist Nigel Elliott has
received some new questions with regards to
ethanol and the use of E10 in historic vehicles and his
thoughts are as follows:
There are three key areas of concern with Ethanol
compatibility with historic and classic vehicle fuel
systems:
‹ Corrosion of metal components
‹ Elastomer compatibility – swelling, shrinking and
cracking of elastomers (seals and flexible pipes)
and other unsuitable gasket materials
‹ Air/fuel ratio enleanment
Corrosion of metal component
Ethanol has increased acidity, conductivity and
inorganic chloride content when compared to
conventional petrol which can cause corrosion
and tarnishing of metal components under certain
conditions. These characteristics are controlled in the
ethanol used to blend E5 and E10 European and UK
petrol by the ethanol fuel specification BS EN15376 in
order to help limit corrosion.
Corrosion inhibitor additives can be very effective
in controlling ethanol derived corrosion and are
recommended to be added to ethanol in the
BS EN15376 standard. It is not clear if corrosion
inhibitors are universally added to ethanol for E5
and E10 blending so as an additional precaution it is
recommended that aftermarket corrosion inhibitor
additives are added to E5 and E10 petrol.
These aftermarket ethanol corrosion inhibitor
additives often called ethanol compatibility
additives are usually combined with a metallic
valve recession additive (VSR) and sometimes an
octane booster and have been found to provide
good protection against metal corrosion in
historic and classic vehicle fuel systems.
Elastomer compatibility
As the ethanol molecule is smaller and more polar
than conventional petrol components, there is
a lower energy barrier for ethanol to diffuse into
elastomer materials. When exposed to petrol/ethanol
blends these materials will swell and soften, resulting
in a weakening of the elastomer structure. On drying
out they can shrink and crack resulting in fuel leaks.
Some aftermarket ethanol compatibility additives
claim complete protection for operating historic and
classic vehicles on E10 petrol. The FBHVC is not aware
of, or has tested any additives that claim complete
fuel system protection with respect to elastomer and
gasket materials for use with E10 petrol. The FBHVC
therefore recommends that elastomer and gasket
materials are replaced with ethanol compatible
materials before operation on E10 petrol.
Air/fuel ratio enleanment
Ethanol contains approximately 35% oxygen by
weight and will therefore result in fuel mixture
enleanment when blended into petrol. Petrol
containing 10% ethanol for example, would
result in a mixture-leaning effect equivalent to
approximately 2.6%, which may be felt as a power
loss, driveability issues (hesitations, flat spots, stalling),
but also could contribute to slightly hotter running.
Adjusting mixture strength (enrichment) to counter
this problem is advised to maintain performance,
driveability and protect the engine from overheating
and knock at high loads.
Modern 3-way catalyst equipped vehicles do not
require mixture adjustment to operate on E10 petrol
because they are equipped with oxygen (lambda)
sensors that detect lean operation and the engine
management system automatically corrects the fuel
mixture for optimum catalyst and vehicle operation.
Operating classic and historic
vehicles on E10 petrol
If you should decide to make the necessary vehicle
fuel system modifications together with the addition
of an aftermarket additive to operate your classic or
historic vehicle on E10 petrol. The FBHVC strongly
recommends that you regularly check the condition
of the vehicle fuel system for elastomer and gasket
material deterioration and metallic components such
as fuel tanks, fuel lines and carburettors for corrosion.
Some plastic components such as carburettor floats
and fuel filter housings may be become discoloured
over time. Plastic carburettor float buoyancy can also
be affected by ethanol and carburettors should be
checked to ensure that float levels are not adversely
affected causing flooding and fuel leaks.
Ethanol is a good solvent and can remove historic
fuel system deposits from fuel tanks and lines and
it is advisable to check fuel filters regularly after the
switch to E10 petrol as they may become blocked
or restricted. If your vehicle is to be laid up for an
extended period of time, it is recommended that the
E10 petrol be replaced with ethanol free petrol which
is available from some fuel suppliers. Do not leave
fuel systems dry, as this can result corrosion and the
shrinking and cracking of elastomers and gaskets as
they dry out

Spares by Ian Crawford

Many people will be away and wish they had something with them – here is a list from club member Ian Crawford on spares he packs in his 1971 Bay window that he bought at 1 year old in 1972. I am not sure about corks – leftover wine is not something I really understand!

Parts
• Accelerator Cable
• Aluminium Tube
(To Fit Inside Fuel Hose
If Leaking)
• Battery Earth Strap
• Brake and Clutch Fluid
• Brake Pedal Return
Spring
• Spare Bulbs
• Cable Ties (Various
Lengths)
• Carburettor Return
Spring
• Clutch Cable
• Coil
• Condenser For
Distributor (Make Sure
You Have The Correct
“Bung”!)
• CV Axle Boot Cap
and Grease
• Distilled Water
• Distributor Cap and
Rotor Arm x2
• Distributor Contact
Points
• Dynamo Brushes
• Engine Oil (5 litres)
• Fan Belt x2
• Fuel Hose and Clips
• Various Fuses
• Handbrake Cable
• Rocker Cover Gaskets
x2
• Spark Plug Set
• Starting Relay and
Fuse
• Tyre Valve Cores
• Voltage Regulator
• Walking Boot Laces

Tools
• Allen Keys
• Battery Diagnostic
Tester
• Feeler Gauges
• Hacksaw Blades
• Insulation Tape
• Magnetic Dish Holder
• Magnifying Glass (My
Eyes Are Dimming!)
• Multi Meter and
Spare Battery
• Plastic Wire Cutters
• Pill Pot Containing
Matches, Lighter,
Flints, Water
Purification Tablets,
Sweeteners, Sewing
Kit, Safety Pins and
Buttons.
• Shorting Links
• Stanley Knife
• Tyre Pressure Gauge
• Vaseline
• Wine Corks
• Other Various Tools
Ian has provided a pretty extensive list here,
very cautious!
We would also recommend a timing gun if space
allows, a foot pump, warning triangle, decent jack,
various sockets and spanners and maybe even a fuel
pump! (We even carried a spare carburettor once!)
Thanks to Ian for his submission, hopefully this will
help members when putting a kit together.