It all probably began when I was at university
back in the seventies and my supervisor had
an early 60’s Split Screen in which he drove
most of his students on course visits. I was the
proud owner of a black and chrome Honda
SS50Z motorbike, which I would take along and I
used to race the VW back from our trips. The result
was always the same: I easily out-accelerated
it, but then on the long straights it gradually
hauled me in with its 60mph top speed. Once
it was ahead I hung on in the slipstream until
gradual asphyxiation forced me to fall back to
watch helplessly as the speeding Kombi slowly
slipped away, laying smoke like a WW2 destroyer.
It was in those days that a love was kindled, and
it lay unrequited through many dalliances with
big Citroens, British sports cars and assorted
Land Rovers.
Then a couple of years ago, my Defender betrayed
my trust one more time. I knew instinctively that
it was over and what I had to do and that was to
seek out my first love: My wife, Jenny (different
sort of first love) and I decided we would look for a
Camper. We knew we could offer it a good home
because we had already had a garage able to
accommodate the Defender. Jenny, for different
reasons, was equally keen to enjoy a break. Not
long ago I had to drive a borrowed and stricken
T25 at night in rural South Africa and met lots of
friendly people every time I stopped, the problem
being that I couldn’t persuade them ever to get
back out again! We knew we would forgive an
old Camper for breaking down because we knew
that’s what they do and also because everyone
says it’s how you make new friends.
So here are some experiences and tips we picked
up on the way. I hope not ALL of it is obvious.
First was to go to shows and flatter owners into
showing us round their Campers, asking to
see their best welding repairs. Then I turned to
websites where I found most on Car and Classic,
Auto Trader and eBay. Split Screens were out of
range, so as is so often the case, I went for a younger
model and was easily seduced by the softer lines
and less expensive tastes of Bays, especially early
ones. So began the long phone-calls and longer,
fruitless trips from which, to summarise, I learnt
to be very suspicious of: anything selling near a
canal, anyone poor at maths or grammar (body
110%, drives excellent, etc.), anything just painted,
anything wet and trader jargon (got to be right,
good clean motor, first to see will buy, etc).
Now for some hopefully practical tips, especially if
like me, you are not mechanically talented :

1. Find a local specialist you can trust. I was
   extremely lucky to come across Jez and Lou
   at Dubtricks near my home in Harrogate, who
   actually spent ages humouring me and looking
   at photos of possible purchases which I took
   to show them, even though I wasn’t even a
   customer. They were just really prepared to take
   an interest and offer advice – though I suppose
   they might have reasoned that if I turned
   up one day with a basket-case, I might try to
   persuade them to work on it!
2. Best tip – Take a camera with a powerful flash
   and photograph every inch of the underside of
   as possible. Holes appear through Waxoyl as if
   by magic when you get the pictures onto your
   computer and I could easily have bought a
   lovely looking late Bay from its confident owner
   if my photos hadn’t shown it to have a chassis
   with a LOT of extra ventilation – holes show
   as jet black against the reflected wax surface
   and weld lines show up like a relief map of the
   Yorkshire Dales.
3. Take a WEAK magnet, like a fridge magnet. A
   professional-looking heavy magnet has expert
   pose value but it’s more like a metal detector
   and will find metal deep beneath, whereas a
   fridge magnet will fall off if there is filler under
   the glossy paint. Also take a powerful led torch.
   Used at an angle, paint texture changes
   and panel ripples show immediately.

4. VW in the sixties and seventies had OCD and
   plastered their vehicles with ID plates. The
   Camper we bought has to date revealed plates
   next to the windscreen, behind the driver’s seat
   and deep under the carbon on the floor of the
   engine bay. It is good if these match and even
   better if you check it all out on the internet from
   the m-plate codes behind the driver’s seat (on
   our U.S.A. import). It is also fun because of what
   else you find. I dug up from under the front
   seats an anti-Vietnam war badge, something
   to do with a rabies clinic, a strange-looking
   cigarette end and a scary looking dead spider.
5. Documents – Ideally import documents and UK
   log book which all match up. Historic vehicle
   status is great for forty year-olds and apart from
   free road tax you should still be allowed into
   London freely once new emission zone rules
   come into force in 2020. This could spread to
   other cities, so it’s a thought.
6. Choose your van based on the seller and where
   the vehicle lives, as well as the Camper itself.
   Ours had lived in a big garage in a big house
   in the country with a Porsche and the owner’s
   kids all loved it, so maximum points there. I
   should add that my wife does say I am easily
   fooled!
7. Beware the prices of spares. Ours had a broken
   jalousie window from a break-in attempt and
   it took me six months to find another and
   that basic-looking little Westy folding table
   top will set you back around £200 on eBay in
   mint condition. I thought I might need a new
   front-hinged roof as mine was warped into a
   pagoda impersonation (I wondered at first if
   it was a rare Japanese import) and they seem
   totally unavailable. Luckily Jez and Lou with
   a combination of a super hot day, probable
   extensive sunbathing lying on top of the roof,
   lots of leverage and remarkable skill, have
   returned it to shape without it cracking. I still
   don’t know how they did that, but it saved me
   over £2000 on a non-original replacement.
8. In my view, don’t worry about left-hand drive or
   right-hand drive. There seems to be a premium
   for right-hand, but you are never remotely
   going to overtake anyone so it’s just not an
   issue. I’m OK with my German VW having
   German left-hand drive (OK it’s American, but
   same point, sort of).
9. Lastly, to come back to the beginning, it’s really
   all about rust. European vans will probably have
   been restored, but a recent paint job will stop
   you knowing how well, despite photos – I am
   a photographer and can make ANYTHING look
   good! USAs, South Africans and Australians
   may be rust free, but may not if they lived near
   the coasts (most South African ones) or in salty
   winter cities (lots of USA ones). Conversely,
   European interiors are more likely to be in good
   condition, but at least you can readily see if the
   hot climate ones have baked themselves to
   biscuits and dust.
   So, after it all, we have a lovely Early Bay Westfalia
   Campmobile, with an original interior in amazing
   condition. It has never had any welding and it’s
   recently been to Dubtricks for a new engine,
   clutch, dynamo (though it’s ended up with an
   alternator as the Hella recon dynamo was faulty),
   replacement fuel lines, rewires to make it less likely
   to immolate itself and some UK headlights (despite
   passing its last mot with USA lights!) The thing
   is all this is incidental to having good bodywork
   and a good interior, everything mechanical can
   be fixed and there are clearly specialists out there
   who are enthusiastic, expert and a pleasure to
   work with. There are also excellent parts suppliers,
   such as NLA, Just Kampers and VW Heritage with
   prices for moving bits reasonable, far less than
   for modern vehicles, though if anyone knows
   of a LHD early bay steering box for less than the
   average mortgage, do please let me know! We
   can’t wait to get it back on the road.

My wife and I had always wanted a Type 2 Bay
after spending a weekend in Newquay in 1993,
we didn’t know it at the time, but the Run To
The Sun festival was on and after spending the
weekend watching Campervans and Beetles
drive around we had been bitten by the
VW bug. However, still being an apprentice
and being on apprentice wages there wasn’t
much chance.
Fast forward 7 years to November 2000, I had
heard about a van from a lady that I worked
with and she told me that her husband who
was a gardener, had spotted it in a barn at a
large house in the Cotswolds that he had been
working at. When the gardener asked about it,
the owner told him that it had been sat there
for 2 years and that they wanted to sell it.
When I heard about it, I rang the owners and
arranged to go and see it.

It was poking out of the barn with one wheel
arch split through with rust and hanging off,
a damp fusty smell inside of it, some of the
brakes were seized, the engine was running
on 2 cylinders, there was various rust holes in
all the usual places and it generally looked very
sorry for itself. The owner agreed to get it taken
to a local garage on a trailer to let them have a
look and give me an idea of the work required
to get an MOT pass on it. After looking at the
fail MOT sheet, we agreed a price and the van
came home with us.

It was placed on my in-laws’ drive and work
started right away. I spent most of the
weekends that winter welding and replacing
parts with a view to getting the van ready for a
trip to Cornwall the following Easter. After lots
of cold, hard work, 2 weeks before Easter we
got our MOT Pass certificate and had a great
first trip.

Spend since last report: £294. Total hours labour since last report: 12.2

What is the key upside of our camper vans over motorhomes? The Type 2, from the first split screen, the Bay, the T25/T3/Wedge/Brick, T4, T5 and even the T6. They can all be driven on a car licence, because they are all small enough to be about the same footprint as a standard car. No need for special car parking spaces.

What is the key downside of our little camper vans over motorhomes? Space inside.

Have you ever been a little frustrated at permanently having to move things around? Or finding that the cupboard or drawer has something in front of it or on top? Trying to navigate the tiny floor space past a loved one?

In general, across all models that are termed the Type 2, we have a similar layout. Seating at the front, sometimes that swivels, a seat towards the rear and maybe boot space behind that. In between all of that is about 5 feet or 1.5 metres each way of floor for the living quarters. That gives you maybe a buddy seat, the sink, the fridge, the cooker, the toilet. Perhaps the removable dining table on a pole, or a cupboard but not much else as there simply is not the room.

During an evening conversation with a T5 owning friends, he mused that it would be great if our little vans had a sliding side like the huge expensive motorhomes and so an idea was planted. Fast forward several months, a lot of thinking and some hours experimenting in the garage. The non-sliding door panel can be seen in some models as a traditional sliding door, sliding backwards and called a double slider. Therefore, Volkswagen are happy that this does not impact the strength of the vehicle and that is good enough for me. As noted in the last write up, Eric’s non sliding panel has seen some accident damage and the repair was not great by me a few years ago and was removed. With that composite side panel and sill gone, I added a new outer sill.

Some extra heavy duty kitchen drawer runners were purchased and the original idea of two runners and two roller bearings has now become four runners at the bottom and two at the top. These runners will slide the external panel of the vehicle including the middle window out from the van. To make it secure and weatherproof, new steel will be added to form the floor on top of the runners, sides of the structure and a roof. The entire unit will be on an electric ram and the entire kitchen will be in there.

In summary, the floor space taken up by the fridge, hob, sink and associated cupboards will move away from the van giving back all of that floor to the inside. In addition, with easy access below the sink, the water bottle can then live outside giving more cupboard space inside as well.

An item called a linear actuator was ordered, which is the gas ram that pushes and pulls. Not expensive and then I also got the controller for it… Effectively an in button and an out button and it stops at any point along the way. Sheet steel picked up from the local ironmongery is hopefully big enough and the project started.

The two outermost runners are within an inch of the B post and C post to give strength at the edges. Then a further pair on the van floor between those runners but only six inches apart which means that one is just under the other side of the fridge and the other is just under the corresponding place for the other cupboard. Under the centre of the whole unit will be this actuator to push and pull everything. The slide out tray then received a little box to hold the worm screw of the actuator plus the whole tray had some strengthening lines pressed into it and the sides folded up to attach to the pod sides in due course.

Now we have a working plan. A tray sits on runners and slides out of the van. Attached to that is the outer wall of the van complete with the window. Attached to both of those are vertical sides either side of the window and the whole thing has a roof that will be inclined not flat, to help water run off.

The tray is the easy piece. Finding exactly where it does against the outer wall when the outer wall is not fitted is a little trickier.

Trying to shape the sides as the outer wall is not flat is quite fun, and the sides need a 90 degree flare to attach to the outer panel as well. After much wasted time, I finally made a template from wood of the inside wall and transferred that to the flat sheet steel.

Having four runners means that to get them working they need to be perfectly parallel for the tray to sit on them. Lots of adjustments there, plus making brackets to attach them to the floor and the tray plus clearance for everything to move.

It is not finished by a long way, but the kitchen takes up around five square feet (3.5 feet by 1.5 feet) or half a square metre (1 metre by 0.5 metres). When your floor space is about 25 square feet / 2.25 square metres, you can potentially gain 25%. That’s a lot of floor space.

Next time, I hope to be able to report that the majority of the box is built. Courtesy of eBay, I have an inexpensive fridge already, and I managed to get a three ring new cooker with glass lid as well for a great price too. “All” that I need now is to assemble it all and hope that it glides in and out!

Bluebell is a ‘79 Bay Window, Devon Moonraker
conversion with a full side elevating roof.
When we first decided to take the plunge into
campervan ownership, we had our hearts set
on the Moonraker conversion as the interior
space was excellent both in the elevated roof
and the interior build.

We spotted Bluebell on eBay and watched her
sell very quickly, much to our disappointment.
But then, whilst searching further, we noticed
that she had been relisted and jumped at the
chance to investigate. So after a short phone
call confirming some minor details, we were off
on a trip to Frome in Somerset for a viewing.
When viewing we found Bluebell to be in
original condition, apart from some interior
wooden surfaces had been replaced for pine
and the exterior paintwork had changed from
Sand Beige to an unknown Blue. This was
perfect, the bodywork and paint had been
worked on within ten years, keeping it fresh and
clean (with receipts for work). After a test drive
through the countryside, a deposit was paid
and date set for collection.
We had several trips away in the first few months
of ownership and during a trip in Wales had
our first spot of engine trouble, only firing on
3 cylinders. We spent some time investigating
but couldn’t work it out so decided to limp
home (back to the southeast!) and investigated
further. It turns out that we had a burnt valve
and so the start of restoration commenced. We
took the opportunity to give the engine a good
overhaul and carry out required repairs and
paintwork in the engine bay area.

Once these repairs were completed we got
an excellent year of camping from Bluebell,
including a trip back to Wales for a friend’s
wedding and a 20 day trip around the
Southwest during the summer.
Winter came back around and we decided that
Bluebell’s bodywork and paint and needed
attention in a few places, with the white, top
half of the van needing most of the attention
around windows and roof guttering.
After talking to a good friend (who also
happens to be a classic car restorer) we had
set a date to get Bluebell into the workshop to
begin the strip down and repairs.
These repairs included removing all glass,
repairing all window frames, replacing any
scratched or dull glass, removing the elevating
roof (it is huge!), repairing roof areas and
replacing the pop top material.

This work had to be done to keep her looking
fresh and clean, but we really needed to give
the interior some attention as well as the wood
was rotten in places and looking generally
tatty and the original upholstery had also seen
better days. So we took the decision to remove
the interior and started looking for campervan
interior design and build companies.
So with all top half work completed, Bluebell
was sent to The Campershak in Ormskirk to
have a new interior fitted in the same Devon
design, but with some modern and personal
tweaks, including a new overhead side locker.
Work completed on the bodywork and interior
in time for another excellent year of camping.
Winter had arrived again, now phase 2 of the
bodywork and paint was to be done. This time
the work would incorporate the underneath
of the van… this turned out to be around an
extra two months of work!

With all work completed, we have had another
excellent summer of camping and looking
forward to a winter where the work required
on Bluebell is reduced somewhat!
Despite all the hard work and effort, we
wouldn’t change our campervan and the
memories we have with her.
Here’s to more memory making and we
wish our members happy memories in their
vans too!

From the archives, this is taken from Issue 143 from November 2016.

From Publicity Manager Derek Leary

With less than a week away from the start
of this year’s August Bank Holiday, a request
popped into my email inbox; “Wanted –
Volkswagen Bay Window Camper Van with
original livery for a photo shoot with 99 other
classic vehicles”. The request was from Practical
Classics Magazine.
Requests such as these are either deleted or
farmed out to a fellow member, however it
was a chance to fly the VWT2OC flag and I was
looking at the bus with the required spec in
my driveway.

Since retiring Daisy from camping duties, her
role in life is the classic car scene. So with
picnic, flasks and camping chairs packed,
we set off at some unearthly hour to get to
Millbrook by 10am.
On arrival, the outer car park was filling up
with various “Pride and Joy’s” and Daisy’s
bright bitter-sweet orange colour meant she
did not arrive unnoticed. Christie and I felt a
bit conspicuous parking up against more
subdued coloured classics but were soon
joined by a bright green beetle, not a standard
VW green but defiantly a tone to be noticed.
All mobile phones had to be presented to
security and the camera lenses sealed. NO
PHOTOS inside the facility were allowed,
what a shame, but hey ho go with the flow.
We were then escorted into the facility a few
cars at a time and each vehicle photographed
individually with and without their owners.
Daisy was called to go in with the third
batch just as I had nipped off to inspect the
plumbing…! However Christie got Daisy into
line picking me up on the way. Once that part
of the shoot was over it was picnic time and
the sun came out, adding to the jollity of the
occasion of 99 other classic cars to look round
and their enthusiastic owners to talk to. We
were given an extended lunch break to make
the most of the occasion and were so relaxed
that when we were needed again, the officials
had a job to get us going.

There was one final shoot of the day where
all 100 classics were driven onto the famous
Millbrook test track; a 6 lane super highway
with a velodrome style embankment. Daisy
was near the back of the line up but can be
seen with a magnifying glass as an orange
smudge. Not to worry, we had a wonderful
day out and Daisy had lots of admirers. We
have subsequently been sent a PDF file of
her portrait as a thank you and there is a
chance for any member wishing to buy the
December issue of Practical Classic Magazine
at a discount.

Spend since last report: £471. Total hours labour since last report: 31.3

Recap

For those who had forgotten and for those who have joined as new members recently, I will start with a recap. My name is Nick, I am 50 and since I was a teenager, I have always wanted to restore an old vehicle. My previous experience and skill until I bought this first project was minor tinkering with renovating a set of brake disks, and replacing an alternator. My wife Lorna bought a 1972 Volkswagen called Poppy back in 2011 and that gave us the bus bug and we joined the committee of this club back in 2016, you may have met us on the club stand at some point.

Six years ago this month, I put in a bid on a 1973 converted panel van online having never seen it and I knew nothing about which is a good one to buy. My offer was accepted and Eric the Viking came to live with us. Named after my comedy hero Eric Morecambe, the panel van came with a plastic full length roof called a Viking roof and the most famous Viking being Eric, it all seemed to work and Eric was born. At that point I owned minimal tools and had never used a welder. I went online, started reading, bought a book on restoring Volkswagen Bay windows and started having a go. If you try woodwork and make a mess of it, you throw it away or glue new bits on. When working with metal, if it goes wrong, you take the angle grinder, chop out the wrong part and have another go. No-one knows! Well they know if you write about it at length in a club magazine.

The more recent story

Apologies for the delay in further work, you may have heard of this COVID thing. I spent the first month of lockdown in the garage every day then I was asked to help dig some footings in the garden. 6 months later, every weekend had been spent building walls, foundations, a sun terrace and a lot of new lawn planted. Winter came, spring came, then more gardening and Eric was left languishing. Finally in July, I decided to get back to the grind (literally).

Pull up your drink of choice and join me on my next journey of discovery about how badly treated Eric was under previous ownership.

Rear brakes

Rear brakes on my Bay are drum, and with Eric spending a lot of time rotting outdoors, they were in a shocking state. The castle nut in the middle of the rear wheel was so rusted to the end of the hub that no amount of leverage would shift it but an hour with an angle grinder got it off in pieces! Then the drum refused to budge until a lot of heat and persuasion on the bench freed it off. Inside looked ok at first but a CV joint bolt was jammed and needed cutting off which meant that I had to chop through the brake back plate to access it!

Rear suspension

The rear offside was dismantled last year, stripped and primed. That left the driveshaft (whatever that is) and the CV joints (vaguely heard of them) attached to the gearbox somehow. In other words, I was vaguely familiar with the concept but that was about it. Everything was filthy covered in rot, rust, grease, grot and generally in need of love.

Front suspension

Waiting on parts deliveries from Just Kampers (don’t forget your club discount), I turned my attention to the front suspension and brakes. Calipers are expensive to replace and generally only need a good clean, reassembly and new rubbers on the ends of the pistons. I did that job 15 or so years ago on my Matra Bagheera as the only job I really did on it. Quite pleased with the bright green caliper paint finish and you can follow 2 articles on how to do it that are on our club web site (thanks Jonathan!) as well.

Starter motor

The starter motor was in the way of getting to the underside of the fuel tank to restore that, so I unbolted it, separated the two cylinders and cleaned them before spraying them black.

Underside

Eric has been on his side now for 20 months and I finally got him ready for the topcoat on his bottom. I chose to use L90D synthetic enamel as I wanted hard wearing and easy to apply since I am a novice.

Front suspension

Attached to the front beam are the front suspension arms. Pressed into the tops of 2 of these on each side of the Bus are the ball joints. I dutifully borrowed a ball joint press, inserted the arm and ball joint but could not work out how to press it out. I tried various options, I made a little jig out of 10mm steel railing, I watched Youtube videos and eventually with the help of friends, I found out the trick. The ball of the ball joint sits in the cup of the joint, if you angle grind the shoulders off the ball joint, you can remove the ball, once that is done, you angle grind from the top, cutting just the top of the ball joint and not the arm holding it.

Once the top of the ball joint is ground through into a hole with the angle grinder, you need to cut it with a hacksaw to split the ball joint cup into 4 pieces being careful not to cut the arm at all. It is back breakingly tiring, hot and dusty. Each one took an hour and I have the other 2 on the other side later this year – if anyone has any faster ideas do please get in touch! FINALLY the 2 ball joints were clear of the arms allowing those to be cleaned up ready for top coat and with their ball joint holes ground back of dirt and rust ready for the new ball joints to be pressed in using the borrowed press.

More another time, hope to see many of you at Busfest!

I have always dreamed of owning a T2 VW
Campervan, but until last year (2016) I had
never been in a position to do so. Being a
complete novice when it comes to anything
mechanical (I can just about do the tyres and oil
on my car), I soon realised that buying a T2 was
a complete minefield, for which I was woefully
ill equipped. I wanted one that I could drive
and enjoy straight away and not a renovation
project, so it had to be in very good condition,
both mechanically and bodywork wise.
This meant I needed help; Hubbie is not
mechanical either, so luckily my help
came in the shape of a friend’s husband,
who not only is a trained mechanic but owns
his own racing car business (featured on
Dragons’ Den), AB performance Ltd.
So in 2016, the hunt began in earnest and after
several failed missions with Andy telling me
“NO!!” because of rotten bodywork or needing
too much interior work, I spotted Florence. She
was for sale in Gloucestershire, a long way from
home and too far to extend the good will of
Andy to help inspect her.
From the advert and pictures, Florence looked
perfect.
She was born on 01/09/1974 in Australia and
only had one owner whilst over there. She was
originally an 8 seat micro bus, with an 1800
petrol engine but when imported to the UK
in 2005, she had been extensively refurbished
with fresh paintwork and an engine re-build
with new twin Solex carbs. Florence has a no
fuss camping set up, with sink, gas cooker, rock
‘n’ roll bed and 12v leisure battery. There were
only two previous owners in the UK, making me
her fourth proud owner.
In the interest of not wanting to buy a duffer I
decided to use the services of Type 2 Detectives
in Burwell. They acted on my behalf and went
to inspect Florence, carrying out a full external
and internal examination. Paul’s words to me on
the phone were “I’ve never seen such a good
example of a T2 and if you don’t buy her, we
will”. There was some work that needed doing
and bearing that in mind, Paul negotiated a
price at £21,500, £3,500 off the asking price
of £25,000. The owner was very reluctant and
sad to sell her, keeping her in a garage with a
dehumidifier, but needs must. So Florence was
brought back to Suffolk by Type 2 Detectives
on a trailer, where they then did some work on
her. They completed full rust proofing as her
under carriage was perfect, rewired the choke,
fitted new shifter couplings, new front discs and
brake hoses, new clutch conduits and a few
other bits and pieces. Florence has the added

bonus of a roll out canopy, which has proved
invaluable for doggy events!

So on 29th June 2016 I became the very
proud owner of Florence, a dream come true!
I purchased her with 54,772 on the clock and
she has averaged 120 miles a month from her
importation date to the UK in 2005. So what do
I use Florence for? I run a Doodle club with two
friends called “Doodles Do Splashes N Dashes”
(any poodle cross). We currently have 345
members and me and my chocolate doodle
PERCI have so much fun! We organise doodle
dashes (walks) and splashes (swims) and also
fundraise at our events for our local hospice “St
Nicholas Hospice” with an aim to raise £1000
this year. Florence is used as our base camp at
these events and we use her as a stall on our
fundraisers. This year we are going to Doodlefest
for 3 nights – a kind of Glastonbury for Doodles!
I just love every minute we spend in her, making
us and lots of other people happy. I have now
finally got her interior exactly as I want her. A
lady in our club Christine Winkless who owns
the Doggy Cookie Company has made all the
doggy accessories, campervan designed dog
bed, leads, collars etc. I feel privileged to be
able to own and thoroughly enjoy a piece of
history. Florence has clearly been cherished for
43/44 years and I will continue to do so. She is
currently having her winter health check with
Mark at M&J servicing and repairs. Mark is a
VW fanatic and air cooled specialist who will
continue to cater for Florence’s needs in my
mechanical ignorance!