Newbie with new to me 'old' 71 camper

[mj_jonesy]

Hi guys and girls, arty0049:

Newbie here with a new 'old' van - Picked her up last week from Deepest darkest Devon and returned to Kent....

Some of you may recognise her?!

I'm new to this camper van thing (although rented one in the past) so i'm sure i'll have a lot of questions for you all in the near future but for now here she is:

Her Spec:

1971
2332cc engine (dyno print at 162 BHP)
Porsche fan conversion (made CSP with carbon fibre shroud)
Omex 600 engine management and Jenvey fuel injection throttle bodies
External oil cooler and fan
Extra oil capacity sump
VAG disc brake conversion
4 inch narrowed Creative Engineering beam
Cog box gearbox
R+R bed
Split charger and leisure battery
Heated front windscreen

Bodywork needs a bit of attention but otherwise I'm looking forward to a nice life together

 

[georgeyv]

Absolutely lovely van - I bet you're looking forward to using it!

 

[mj_jonesy]

first things first...

Wheels have now been refurbished :mrgreen: and the bus is booked in with James Wotton to have the front wings replaced in October :character0036:

Then i'll be after someone to do some rubbing down and re-spraying

 

[lolight70]

Tell me more about the front badge
It looks a little bigger than std

 

[Webbaldo]

Looks great, love the colour

 

[mj_jonesy]

Sorry guys have only just seen these replies - badge, hmm.. can look in the history but think its just a standard badge colour coded with the bumpers.

Is it sad that i'm only just planning my first proper road trip and overnight stays over the bank holiday weekend and am quite excited?

Planning to drive to work on the Friday, head down the south coast towards West Sussex ((Chichester / West Wittering / Littlehampton / Amberley) where we'll stop overnight somewhere, after spending the day at one of the aforementioned aim to leave around 4pm'ish and head towards the new forest where we'll eitehr spend a couple of days or carry on as far towards Devon as we can- however as it's really only 4nights / 3days we'll probably just stay around the new forest area.

I've ordered a sun canopy (https://www.vwheritage.com/shop/AC898004/sun-canopy-silver-domed-small-t2-split-t2-bay-t25-t4/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false, a spare clutch and accelerator cable.

Other than things like a new gas bottle, water supplies, any bedding etc is there anything essential I should be thinking about?

Thanks in advance.

 

[KevH]

Tell me more about the front badge
It looks a little bigger than std

If that is standard EB badge I'll eat my hat.

Loving the colour though; Dove Blue?

 

[mj_jonesy]

Tell me more about the front badge
It looks a little bigger than std

If that is standard EB badge I'll eat my hat.

Loving the colour though; Dove Blue?

Mitsubishi Peacock Green

 

[mj_jonesy]

Tell me more about the front badge
It looks a little bigger than std

If that is standard EB badge I'll eat my hat.

Think it's a standard badge off a splitty! :msn4:

 

[mj_jonesy]

just a quick update...

Did my first weekend away which apart from the campsite resembling something i can only imagine like 'Glastonbury' the van ran faultlessly.

But there's a few things no on the list to do / get done:

One thing thats always bugged me since i've has the bus is that the suspension is really hard and to a point where it was ruining my enjoyment of the camper experience- so yesterday morning I set about taking the front beam apart to see if i could see any problems. the first thing i came across was a completely seized solid lower right torsion arm which took me 2 hours to remove with the aid of a lump hammer, drift, a bottle jack, a hugely bruised arm and skin off of three knuckles.

I took to the torsion arms with some emery paper to clean then up, lots of red rubber grease and re-assembled and now she runs (from what i could tell on a 5min test) lovely and smooth.

The other thing i learnt whislt away is that the 3/4 width bed just isn't big enough for 2 people and less so for someone thats 6' 2"... So the next thing to do after the bodywork is done is to think about a new interior with a full width bed!

 

[mj_jonesy]

So I drove this as was for a few months and the gearbox whine was getting noticeable (to me) louder so today saw a strip out of the engine and gearbox so that the gearbox can go off to a specialist to be rebuilt

3 hours of very methodical and slowly slowly saw the gearbox and engine removed

 

[SiDev]

Nice bus bro, I want that engine! I'm also in Kent, how did you find James at V-Dub performance, I've heard good things.

 

[mj_jonesy]

He's done quite a bit of work for me now.

2 new wings, repaired a and b pillars, outriggers and jacking points he's a top man and loves a chat

 

[mj_jonesy]

Dropped the gearbox over to James at Cogbox and awaiting a call towards the end of the week on the findings when he's stripped it down-- hopefully it's only something small like a bearing or alike but fingers crossed

 

[Davydomes]

Her Spec:

1971
2332cc engine (dyno print at 162 BHP)
Porsche fan conversion (made CSP with carbon fibre shroud)
Omex 600 engine management and Jenvey fuel injection throttle bodies
External oil cooler and fan
Extra oil capacity sump
VAG disc brake conversion
4 inch narrowed Creative Engineering beam
Cog box gearbox
R+R bed
Split charger and leisure battery
Heated front windscreen

Not at all envious of the spec :mrgreen: honest! :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen:

 

[mj_jonesy]

She (lottie) does go well... :msn4:

Still needs more work but we are getting there!

There's a few things on the wish list, I'd love the reversible front bench seat and a full width R&R bed (instead of the 3/4 width), she'll be used as more of a day van so perhaps a few small changes internally.

Currently has a full oak floor which is a bit overkill, so might strip that out, and full wooden headlining, funds permitting.

Going in for part re-spray in a few weeks.