Club 80-90 Forums

I would agree with Torz wholeheartedly about the pristine camper and kids thing.. and "don't buy the first camper you see" (I did and regretted it !) and get the camper with the best bodywork and paint you can, beware all the ads which say "rust in the usual spots" "A little seam rust but not all the way through" "A few bubbles here and there" because as everyone here keeps saying, mechanical stuff is cheap, also take a mechanical and disinterested friend along to view a van, it is too easy to let your heart overlook things.

good luck

Stefvan

I don't follow the logic of this whole "don't get an expensive camper if you've got kids" argument. Does that follow that if you've got kids you shouldn't buy a nice car, or a nice house coz you fear they're gonna make a mess?

It's simple....just clean up after them

Wether you spend 2k or 10k on a camper they'll still make a mess. But with the 10k camper you've got a long term investment not a guaranteed appointment at the scrap yard.

not a guaranteed appointment at the scrap yard.

disagree, i spent 1000 on a velle
put in a 2nd user autohomes int., a devon roof, and gazzed it !
agreed value, £4000

Buying a camper with 3 kids (now 6!) for most young familys with a newish mortgage/rent would stretch most that I know of
I was in the realms of buying a 900 £££ car before campers and hoping for 3 cheapish years MOT's, now my campers paid for itself over and over, and i have on paper quadrupled my investment
However, It still means that I'm not "precious" over the kids eatin a few toffees

Back then westys were £3-4k, and a really good early Aircooled £2k-3 tops.......

The current trend in T4's mirrors T 25's 6 years ago, when only bays or older were cool......

Gone-Westy wrote:I don't follow the logic of this whole "don't get an expensive camper if you've got kids" argument. Does that follow that if you've got kids you shouldn't buy a nice car, or a nice house coz you fear they're gonna make a mess?

It's simple....just clean up after them

Wether you spend 2k or 10k on a camper they'll still make a mess. But with the 10k camper you've got a long term investment not a guaranteed appointment at the scrap yard.

either you don't have kids mate or your wife does all the housework......

Actually Go-westy has a point I Tidy the van, vacuum it, wipe the surfaces down, after every weekend.. during it and wash it wax it.

I just love doing it

We've been looking for 3 months for a camper. Joining forums, reading lots of threads on campers, browsing forsales on every online source we can find, got lots of replys and pics from sellers, driven over 400 miles roundtrip to view and walked away because of rust, had several nabbed before we could get them, and now taking train over 300 miles to see and buy Billy's tomorrow. So here we set after booking train tickets and me having second thoughts if this 'seller' has told us everything we need to know about their van: is it really a good solid body is my biggest fear! It's not that I don't trust Billy, but have never met him and it's my paranoia is kicking in. Until we get there and see it, I will be a nervous wreck wondering if I've made the right decision. 80 quid for train, and if it's not right van it's 200 quid to get back! Billy, I don't doubt your integrey in any way.... It's me!! I'm just trying to let prospective buyer know what kind of feelings they will probably have.

Like everyone keeps saying, make sure it's got a good body! 88+ (I think) had a better rust treatment when built. We almost got a 90 westy hightop, but every seam had been treated for rust and there were bubbles around the window seals, so even newer ones can be rustbuckets.

And don't be put off by seller saying they don't want 'picture collectors'. If they don't want to take the time to send you good pics of everything, including close-ups of rust and rust repair, they probably aren't worth looking at. Even with good detailed pics you will find more problems when you view them.

I agree with the petrol to gas conversion idea. 1000 quid to convert pays for itself in less then 10000 miles if petrol is .88 and gas is .44/liter. Added advantage is you still have petrol system, so if you do have problems finding gas to refill, just switch to petrol until you do.

I've owned split and bay campers starting in 1971... still have a 61 7door split panel... tin top, pop top and high top. I definately prefer a high top. High top mileage is just as good and wind is wind... maybe a little worse in a high top, but high crosswind conditions are white-knuckle in them all.

Sorry for being so long winded.. Guess I'm just nervous... and a little paranoid!!

[quote]
either you don't have kids mate or your wife does all the housework.....

WRONG ON BOTH COUNTS

2 KIDS UNDER 6 AND NOT AFRAID TO CLEAN AND YES I AM A MAN TOO BEFORE YOU ASK [/quote]

binhead wrote: Great advice for me man! cheers!

I'm trying to keep myself occupied so I won't be so paranoid!

like your sig!! Keep treading water and rescue will arrive!

In case it helps with your future purchase:

Back in August 2006 I bought an '81 Joker, 1.9 Petrol, Westfalia High Top conversion. It is a German import, LHD and ALL its bits are standard. as soon as I had the engine started I knew I was In love again. Tis that sounds you see, not scared to see it actually makes me a bit horny

TIPS WHEN BUYING

-Do take somebody knowledgeable with you when buying the first time.
-Get the seller to show you the engine bay.
-Check the engine is cold, if it is ask the engine to be started while you check for (blue) exhaust fumes. Put your hand in front of the exhaust, what does it smell of? Traces of anything? It is normal for Aircooled engines to use a bit of oil.

-Do check for rust, feel the surface, give a knock on things you are not sure of. remeber the van is made of metal sheets so the sounds is distinct.
-Get the van on a ramp!
-If you can, get an oil pressure and a cylinder pressure test done or ask for the results. Get this checked against the values in the Haynes manual.
-Drive the van, make sure you go faster than 40mph and test brakes, gear shifting, acceleration, steering. This is a big commitment from the seller's part so be ready to read into his answer when prompted.
-Put money aside for any eventualities.
-Don't buy without seeing the vehicule, nerver
-Don't buy in haste
-Don't pay over the odds.

Additional stuff
FUEL ECONOMY

I have just been driving for about 2 weeks around the UK (from the South East to Yorkshre Dales, Cumbria, Bath and back. Beautiful country this is!) and have had an average of 26MPG (that was with camping gear, 25litres of water in the tank, suitcases, fridge filled up, cupboards filled with food,...).
On Motorway I did a healthy 100kph (+/- 60MPH), but this would drop to 80 kph (=50MPH) when going uphill. This would return me up to 32MPG.

It is a Classic car, so if you drive it like one you will get even better results. (I don't think in terms of acceleration but in terms of 'avoid havin to brake')
Lower your time-machine and you will get even better results. If you add a gas conversion, you will, for the same £50, be able to fill her up twice. Effectively you double your MPG value, so +50MPG is not impossible.

BRAKES

Brakes are not as strong as current vehicules so leave plenty of room, look ahead and try not to lose it when a little dickie cuts you off just in order to get in front of you at the stop light)

MAINTENANCE

Replace the oil and filter every 5k kilometres or 3k miles. (max £70). This is the best way to keep your engine going for another 30 years.
I dont actually have a lot to say here, these things dont seem to go wrong a lot.
It is possible to get the engine overhauled, mine has done 230k kilometres and so far NOTHING needs replacing. Carbs are on their way out though.

Good luck