First time camper owner!

The Tardis factor (interiors, awnings, roofs etc)

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TONYT25T25
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Re: First time camper owner!

Post by TONYT25T25 »

Just been talking about the same thing on another post ref the sound deadening.
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1984 Campervan 1.9DG Petrol WBX

Will89
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Re: First time camper owner!

Post by Will89 »

Took up the cab flooring to give it a good clean. Here are the results:
Image

Image

Image
St Albans, Hertfordshire. 1984 'A' Reg T25 Pop-Top: 1.9 DG, 4-Speed manual.

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Oldiebut goodie
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Re: First time camper owner!

Post by Oldiebut goodie »

Black shoe polish and a stiff brush is my favourite for floor matting.
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TONYT25T25
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Re: First time camper owner!

Post by TONYT25T25 »

Gave mine a clean with the power washer yesterday, made hell of a mess in the van. :rollin  I was wondering what to coat it with, may give the shoe polish a go.
1984 Campervan 1.9DG Petrol WBX

TONYT25T25
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Re: First time camper owner!

Post by TONYT25T25 »

So, found an old tin of KIWI black shoe polish, gave it a go on the mats, worked a treat, only issue is now the van smells like an Army barracks prior to going on parade.  :rollin :idea:
1984 Campervan 1.9DG Petrol WBX

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Re: First time camper owner!

Post by Will89 »

So I caved and bought some captain seats for Flo:

Image

They’ve come from a early T4 Caravelle so should fit right in. I’ll be getting them reupholstered as they’re a bit tired as you can see 😅
St Albans, Hertfordshire. 1984 'A' Reg T25 Pop-Top: 1.9 DG, 4-Speed manual.

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V888 'Subject Access Request' response

Post by Will89 »

7 weeks after submitting my subject access request (SAR) to DVLA via a v888 form I received a response. I requested information of previous keepers and anything in relation to change of vehicle body type from 'Panel van' to 'Motor campervan'. I've been sent the following:
  • Original 'Application for a licence for a new motor vehicle and declaration for registration'
  • Loads of previous V5 / registration certificates with names / signatures hidden. I can see some old road names and postcodes of previous keepers
  • Notification of changes form
Annoyingly a good portion of the documents I've been sent as just not legible at all! I'm not sure if this is because whoever responded didn't scan in/copy the original document properly, or the original documents don't exist and I've received copies of copies from an achieve. Here's an example:

Image Image

From looking through the documents all I've really been able to establish is that Flo started life in Croydon, London and was registered to a company called Edward Butler Vinters Ltd. I've not been able to find much information about them online but I'm interested to know what area of business they were in. What did Flo used to haul about?  :)  I've also been able to work out Flo was converted to a motor caravan camper around 05/02/90 which was also registered around Croydon, Surrey (CR0 7LA.) No idea still who/what company converted the van. The previous owner seems to think it was a company called Country Camper in Kent (http://www.countrycampers.co.uk) as he remembers seeing a receipt relating to the water, pop-top and carpet. He's offered to have a look and see if he still has any of the documents  :)

A family member has kindly made new curtains for us, and also reupholstered the Rock n Roll bed in forest green herringbone:
Image Image

And we've purchased some T4 Caravelle captain seats  8) :
Image
As you can see they need reupholstering. I've had a few local recommendations I'm looking into currently. Hoping to go for brown leather or leatherette to emulate the current seats as much as possible.
St Albans, Hertfordshire. 1984 'A' Reg T25 Pop-Top: 1.9 DG, 4-Speed manual.

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Oldiebut goodie
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Re: First time camper owner!

Post by Oldiebut goodie »

Edward Butler Vinters Ltd. I've not been able to find much information about them online but I'm interested to know what area of business they were in. What did Flo used to haul about?
The clue is in the name! It tells you the business.
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Will89
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Re: First time camper owner!

Post by Will89 »

Oldiebut goodie wrote: 10 May 2021, 15:45 Edward Butler Vinters Ltd. I've not been able to find much information about them online but I'm interested to know what area of business they were in. What did Flo used to haul about?
The clue is in the name! It tells you the business.

OMG, why didn’t I see that? :mrgreen: . That’s so awesome, makes her name Flo very appropriate :lol:
St Albans, Hertfordshire. 1984 'A' Reg T25 Pop-Top: 1.9 DG, 4-Speed manual.

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Re: First time camper owner!

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Hi everyone! I’ve noticed that my oil pressure light isn’t working. I believe the red LED should illuminate with ignition and turn off once the engine is running (providing there’s sufficient oil pressure.) I would like this system working for obvious reasons so I’m trying to figure out what isn’t working. Based on this Brickweks page I have the more simple one switch system with the blue colour coded switch. So far I have:
1) Tried and failed to locate the oil pressure sensor in the engine bay
2) Removed the instrument cluster to inspect the connections, to me they look ok. I used my light pen to test Pin 13 (blue/black wire) from the block with ignition on and it’s doesn’t illuminate. I believe this blue/black wire is the feed from the oil pressure sensor.

A few questions:
1)Could someone help me locate the oil pressure sensor? :D
2) Do all T25s have buzzers of doom? When I use my light pen on pin 14 of the VDO instrument cluster I get a continuous buzzing sound, it sounds like the operation game :lol:. I thought the buzzer was in the actual cluster itself
Last edited by Will89 on 21 May 2021, 19:11, edited 1 time in total.
St Albans, Hertfordshire. 1984 'A' Reg T25 Pop-Top: 1.9 DG, 4-Speed manual.

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Re: First time camper owner!

Post by Stesaw »

Will89 wrote: 21 May 2021, 10:50 Hi everyone! I noticed recently that my oil pressure light isn’t working. I believe the red LED should illuminate with ignition and turn off once the engine is running (providing there’s sufficient oil pressure.) I would like this system working for obvious reasons so I’m trying to figure out what isn’t working. Based on this Brickweks page I have the more simple one switch system with the blue colour coded switch. So far I have:
1) Tried and failed to locate the oil pressure sensor in the engine bay
2) Removed the instrument cluster to inspect the connections, to me they look ok. I used my light pen to test Pin 13 (blue/black wire) from the block with ignition on and it’s doesn’t illuminate. I believe this blue/black wire is the feed from the oil pressure sensor.

A few questions:
1)Could someone help me locate the oil pressure sensor? :D
2) Do all T25s have buzzers of doom? When I use my light pen on pin 14 of the VDO instrument cluster I get a continuous buzzing sound, it sounds like the operation game :lol:. I thought the buzzer was in the actual cluster itself
Oil pressure sensor is on the left of the engine on the underside between two of the pushrods tubes.
 
1985 LeisureDrive 2.1DJ 5 Speed syncro conversion project.
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Will89
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Re: First time camper owner!

Post by Will89 »

Stesaw wrote: 21 May 2021, 13:43
Will89 wrote: 21 May 2021, 10:50 Hi everyone! I noticed recently that my oil pressure light isn’t working. I believe the red LED should illuminate with ignition and turn off once the engine is running (providing there’s sufficient oil pressure.) I would like this system working for obvious reasons so I’m trying to figure out what isn’t working. Based on this Brickweks page I have the more simple one switch system with the blue colour coded switch. So far I have:
1) Tried and failed to locate the oil pressure sensor in the engine bay
2) Removed the instrument cluster to inspect the connections, to me they look ok. I used my light pen to test Pin 13 (blue/black wire) from the block with ignition on and it’s doesn’t illuminate. I believe this blue/black wire is the feed from the oil pressure sensor.

A few questions:
1)Could someone help me locate the oil pressure sensor? :D
2) Do all T25s have buzzers of doom? When I use my light pen on pin 14 of the VDO instrument cluster I get a continuous buzzing sound, it sounds like the operation game :lol:. I thought the buzzer was in the actual cluster itself
Oil pressure sensor is on the left of the engine on the underside between two of the pushrods tubes.
I managed to fix the oil pressure light, turns out the wire had gone completely brittle with age and the spade connector had corroded so much it wasn't even connected to the sensor. A new wire and space connector and it's all working. I've decided to go one better and fit a 10-bar oil pressure sensor and gauge so I can monitor the oil pressure.

I'm currently trying to find the source of a oil leak and my attention very quickly turned to the oil breather tower as there seemed to be a lot of gunk around it:
Image
and the hose between the top of the tower and carburettor had collapsed and failed:
Image

The inside actually looked relatively clean in comparison:
Image

It's currently soaking in degreaser, however I did do a quick 'test' of the diaphragm by sucking on the top tube and didn't notice any resistance. Think the diaphragm may have gone so I may just need to replace the whole breather tower. Annoyingly two of the bolts broke when I removed it and they're stuck. Any tips on removing them?
Image

Whilst in the engine bay I looked around the engine bay to see if there were any other glaring issues and found I had a big crack in the hose between the inlet manifold and air filter:
Image
and then also noticed the tube between the bottom of my air filter housing and exhaust is pretty much blocked up:
Image

Not sure what this tube is supposed to do and what effect it may be having on my engine? Either way I've got a big JustKampers order coming:
  • New breather hose to air filter
  • New air hose from air filter to intake manifold
  • New air filter
  • New oil breather tower O'Ring

 
St Albans, Hertfordshire. 1984 'A' Reg T25 Pop-Top: 1.9 DG, 4-Speed manual.

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Re: First time camper owner!

Post by Stesaw »

Pretty sure that pipe goes to the heat exchanger on the exhaust on the right hand side. But if you have an aftermarket exhaust it won't matter. The "bolts" for the oil tower are meant to stay there, they all should be studs which just have a nut and couple of washers holding the breather tower on.
If I recall a 10bar oil pressure sender is a bit much for one of these engines a 5 bar would be just fine.
The oil breather towers also go bad over time so you might find that needs replacing by now. 

Good work though all those bits will need replacing you should get better running engine esp with that airbox to pancake connector being replaced.
1985 LeisureDrive 2.1DJ 5 Speed syncro conversion project.
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Re: First time camper owner!

Post by Will89 »

Stesaw wrote: 21 Jun 2021, 18:23 Pretty sure that pipe goes to the heat exchanger on the exhaust on the right hand side. But if you have an aftermarket exhaust it won't matter. The "bolts" for the oil tower are meant to stay there, they all should be studs which just have a nut and couple of washers holding the breather tower on.
If I recall a 10bar oil pressure sender is a bit much for one of these engines a 5 bar would be just fine.
The oil breather towers also go bad over time so you might find that needs replacing by now. 

Good work though all those bits will need replacing you should get better running engine esp with that airbox to pancake connector being replaced.

The exhaust was installed back in 2016/17 I believe but I’m not sure what brand / model was fitted by the previous owner.

Good to know about the studs and nuts, however I may have lost one as it went flying when I tried to lift it out. I’ll have another look in the morning but I think it’s long gone. I may buy new studs and nuts just to save any hassle in the future. Not sure how easy it is to source these.

We’ve covered nearly 3,000 miles since we bought Flo and they’ve been issue free *so far*. She does run a bit rough on cold starts and stalls sometimes when started from cold, but once warm she seems to run fine. Flo may run a bit rich and currently seems to use a bit of oil but I’m hoping the work I’m doing will resolve these issues. I’m also hoping the oil pressure gauge (aka “worry gauge”) will alleviate some of my worries and show good oil pressure. As you say, I thought 10 bar was a bit excessive but I thought “what the hell, I’ll buy it once and get the 10 bar”. I bought the Campervan Culture relocation kit so I can mount the VDO sensor on the top of the engine.
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Re: First time camper owner!

Post by Stesaw »

My 1.9 sits at 4bar when cold, drops to 1bar when warm at about 900rpm idle goes up to 2bar at 2k, which is healthy from what I recall reading either here or on the samba. Just buy some threaded bar thats the right diameter and cut it to size that would be OK for the oil tower I'd of thought.
1985 LeisureDrive 2.1DJ 5 Speed syncro conversion project.
1979 LT 2.0CH Westy project

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