New owner/First camperLots of help and information required!

[z3i]

Well hello all, been recommended this forum by a friend as im used to Polo and Mk1 Golf forums

Me and my girlfriend have been on the lookout for a camper for a while now and she impulse bought one yesterday :S I live in Southampton and we travelled to Devon to pick it up, It has 12 months mot, Has a hideous interior and much rust and rot, is a Devon conversion
I told her whatever you do dont buy a petrol. So she bought a 1982 Aircooled 2 litre petrol bad times, we plan to carry out a tdi conversion over the winter but want to make it usable for the summer. I drove it back 150 miles which cost £40!!! i knew it would be bad on fuel but thats insane!!! we want to use it lots on the weekend and travel to France but thats stupid expensive!
Im struggling to get parts, my local auto factors dont do stuff that old and VW heritage is a rip off. where is the best place to get used parts and new parts like service stuff? I plan to give it a full service and tune the carb up, set ignition etc as it surely cant be that bad on fuel? and runs a bit rough

Im not sure what carb it has on it, a single one i think. Any ideas what came on these normally?

It burnt/leaked a litre of oil in that journey. smoke was absolutely pouring out of it when we pulled up to get fuel! the guy said the rocker drips a little oil onto the exhaust, a little!!! i ordered new rocker gaskets to put on. would it be leaking from anywhere else? do they normally burn oil? what oil are they supposed to use as the pressure light keeps coming on if revs drop low or cornering. maybe thin oil? worn pump? or faulty sender?

Just wanted some general pointers/ tips for what to attack first. any known obvious things to do to make it run better? steering suspension? common faults with the engine? It cranks over real slow, been told i just need to make a new earth strap. Any help would be really appreciated, any at all

Many thanks Taylor

[R0B]

Brickwerks for new parts.You won't buy better.For used parts put an add in the wanted section.Or maybe get yourself to one of this years shows.

Bad bodywork,Aircold to TDI
I hope you have very deep pockets fella.Good luck with it.

[Smiffo]

Hi Zsi.

All I can suggest, is to post some pics of the rust affected areas. There are some quality bodywork experts that view the site.
What I would personally tell you to do, is look at what is involved in converting an Aircooled van to TDI, if a TDI is really what you want.

I imagine the radiator / coolant system installation will be quite involved. It would have been ideal to start with a van that already has that really.
Use the search facility on here in the top right of the page to search Aircooled to watercooled conversions.
It has been done, so you may want to see what was involved.

Good luck.

[Ant-t]

Welcome to the forum! Theres lots of useful info in the wiki, good luck

[123-jn]

Before TDI'ing consider a gas conversion to run on LPG. It will give you the same cost approx as 40mpg on petrol. IT will cost you about £1000 including the tank and you will hardly notice the difference except it will be quieter. seriously a tdi conversion could cost you upwards of £2000 and that will be a second hand engine. Rebuild the air cooled and gas convert for less than £2000 and you have loads of miles in it.

[sarran1955]

Hello...

2 litre with one carb....

I think I want to see photos..

Cordialement..

[Ruralman]

Hi Taylor,
Definitely go for LPG conversion , also check out Just Kampers and brickwerks for parts.

Good luck you will need deep pockets
Regards
Keith

[ghost123uk]

Hi from me
You’re not going to like this, sorry
But note the last paragraph

It does sound like your impulse purchase is going to be one hell of a project.

Has a hideous interior...
Much rust and rot.....
I told her whatever you do don't buy a petrol. So she bought a 1982 Aircooled 2 litre petrol.....
We plan to carry out a tdi conversion over the winter.....
I drove it back 150 miles which cost £40!!! i knew it would be bad on fuel....
I'm struggling to get parts....
Runs a bit rough....
Not sure what carb it has on it, a single one i think... [should be twin carb]
It burnt/leaked a litre of oil in that journey. smoke was absolutely pouring out of it....
The pressure light keeps coming on if revs drop low....
It cranks over real slow....

Please excuse me for rearranging your words like that, but it does add a certain "conciseness" to the list of issues with your van.

I wonder three things,
How much was it?
How bad is the rust?
How bad is the interior?

I am worried that you have underestimated the cost in time, money and perhaps most importantly, hassle to get it into a neat TDi powered camper.

Welding and painting is very expensive on these vans if paying someone else to do it, and DIYing is only for the T25 experienced. The rust you can see is like the tip of an iceberg, ie only a small part of the extent of the damage. Look at some of our expert restorers (club name = "MM" in the bodywork section) to see what I mean.

Aircooled to TDI = Jeez, that is one big and expensive job and one has to ask = why do it?

The extent of the rust will be the deal breaker here. If you can get some proper close up pics of it, "we" can offer advice. Don't be shy of showing the worst bits

Interior, once you have a body and engine that is usable, add restoring the interior = expensive and / or hassle if DIYing it.

It is our duty to try and make T25 camper ownership a positive experience, but I am worried that you may have bought something that is not going to be a positive experience without a heck of a lot of time, money and hassle (bearing in mind what it appears you require).

If you did not pay too much for it, maybe re-sell it? I mean you bought it, so there is every chance there will be others like you who will also buy it. Give it a wash and a lick of paint perhaps, steam clean the engine, etc, you might even make a profit. Then, if you add up the money you get for it, plus the at least £5,000 to £6,000 you would have spent on the rust / paint / engine / interior, then you can buy a lovely 1.9Ltr Diesel powered T25 camper that will look smart and be ready to just go camping in, including France

[Bubble Meister]

I have to agree with Ghost there. These vans are old, they are a labour of love. If you start on the back foot you will not fall in love with it and enjoy what it can give.

You need to be realistic about your budgeting:
1. Expect to pay an external agency between 3 and 5k to repair and spray the bodywork.
2. Expect at least 1k to covert the engine to a tdi: it's not just the engine, it's the cooling system adaption, ignition adaption, interface to the gearbox Inc clutch, induction system.
3. Once you have a usable and reliable van you can focus on the interior. That can be from 500 to 10k!
4. With the right skills, patience, time and investment you can reduce these costs obviously: this breeds system knowledge, skill and can def help when your van starts to go wrong on the motorway!

Most vans sell for 6k plus for a reason.

I hope you both can invest in this van and save it, you are the owners of a contemporary classic. But you must both be committed.

Alternatively, flog it and invest in a fully functioning van suitable to your needs.

[ChrisTriple]

I think you all under estimate the costs of restoring the body work and a good paint job. I would think your looking at 4K min I was quoted upto 12k for my van. And I'm told it's not a bad example and not a rot box

[Moonrakers]

Post pictures of the rusty bits, tell us purchase cost, mileage and a bit about any service history you may have. It may be a terrible money-pit that will make your life a misery if you don't get shot asap, or it might allow you to have a laugh for a Summer or two without spending a fortune.

Forget restoration and engine swaps for now - bodywork restoration costs a fortune and thete's no point spending loads on swapping an engine in a knackered body. Just focus on getting it running safely...

[ermie571]

sarran has already been along.....he can bring back a 2ltr Aircooled engine from the dead!!!


post some pics


and you aren't the first to buy something on impulse...and you won't be lthe last!

hey, on the positive side you got the 150 miles home! Some come on here having made it 5 miles down the road

You are asking the right questions...Sarran really does know the Aircooled engines and has many instructinal videos on you tube.

should be twin solexs on the engine. some change to weber.

GSF are ok for service items to...but use Brickwerks if you can

Em
xx

[z3i]

Hello all, thank you so much for all the advice and replies. Really amazed so many spent time replying! Thank you

Ok, so we paid £3400 for the bus. I will get pictures of absolutely everything tomorrow, I'm working on the bus. I ordered a full service kit with everything for £111 from just kampers, I used them as they were the only ones who could get parts in time for the weekend. Ht leads, distributer cap, rotor arm, oil, filter and spark plugs

The reason my oil light has been flickering so much is because the guy was using 10w40 oil!!!! Hope I haven't damaged any bearings

Ok, well I hear that a diesel conversion is very in depth. And alot of you have recommended lpg? I'd like to keep it air-cooled as it's original. But I'd really like to be able to cruise at 60mph with 40mpg, I feel like I'm asking for too much. You really reckon 40mpg on lpg is possible?

I've found out it has a single weber carb so must have been upgraded.

It's very very rotten wouldn't even start today to get it to work. Had to run a jump lead from the block to the battery as the earth was so crap

Thanks again people. I know it's going to be a labour of love my girlfriend is very excited to the interior bits and wants to do it all herself. I want to do the bodywork and mechanical. I just feel it's going to be very expensive

[ermie571]

hello! where are you mate?

I have a garage full of LPG bits - tank, vopourisers, some carb rings and bits n pieces

sure we can come up with a non scene tax price

ran my old Aircooled on LPG for years before the bodywork on the old girl was totally uneconomic to repair....

Now run the water cooled version on it too



Just remembered - you put it in the intro....Southampton isn't a million miles away

[lefty67]

My first van was a 2l Aircooled and we loved it, great fun for a couple of years. 18-22mpg is fairly good for an Aircooled without lpg. Fairly easy to work on and maintain mechanically.
We used 20\50 mineral oil in ours.
have fun