Andy's Atlantic (Wolfgang)

The Tardis factor (interiors, awnings, roofs etc)

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nordberg
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Re: Andy's Atlantic (Wolfgang)

Post by nordberg »

I did think about taking it through the roof rack holes as I saw you had done that. However,mine are mounted a lot further forward than your Martin, which would have meant that the wires would have looked an eye sore on the inside and I would have to find a way of managing that.
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I'm happy with my decision to drill the hole. Easily filled if i ever wanted to take it off (can't see that ever happening) but its not such an eye sore even looking from the top.
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It's a dedicated entry gland and never leaked since I fitted it :D
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Best decision I ever made getting that bank on the roof. Second time away last weekend and it's pulling in some serious juice. September we are away for two weeks....no hook up. In fact we are wild camping on a few occasions.

Anyways, I finally go round to fitting the lower fridge draw.
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Initially I was thinking of a drawer on rails. In fact i brought two pairs of rails, one for the chopping board which are utilized and effective at present, and the second set for the drawer. However, the slide out action of those particular rails is such that they only extend about 30cm out. For a drawer that has a depth that goes back far further than that it didn’t seem like an effective use of space if you can only access the front portion of the draw. There are other rail systems that extend out double the length of the rail, but these tend to be quite deep in design and would take up quite a lot of the already limited space, making the draw a lot narrower.

So the solution was a far simpler one than having to mess around with rails. We found a very low profile storage box that had an insert for the top portion allowing small items to be segregated. Things like fuses, light bulbs, remotes for devices etc. The bottom part was shallow, granted, but this would be for our tablets, blue tooth speakers etc. We brought the box from Rymans, and if I am honest it was a bit of a stab in the dark in terms of the size . I’ve got a pretty good eye for judging space and to me it looked too deep, which actually turned out to be the case. However, when the lid was taken off it fitted perfectly. So we lost the lid, which probably would have become a bit of a hindrance anyway.

So the basic elements can be seen here.
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It doesn’t get much more complicated than this and it took me best part of an hour to construct. The drawer handle had been brought at the same time as the handle for the slide out chopping board. The white thing in the photo above is the aluminum sheet with its protective film on (which was a slice of a larger sheet that a friend got me for another project). All that was required to complete the construction was a small spacer to bridge the gap between the internal tray plastics, and the extruded strengthening elements surrounding it. This came in the form of a piece of hardwood that I found in my wood-store. Two holes were drilled in the Aluminum, wood and plastic tray to marry up with the holes on the handle. The screws for the handle needed cutting down a fraction, but all in all it was a really simple process.

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This was all knocked together without having access to my van as it was in storage so I wasn’t 100% sure it was going to fit. I had used the original Westy fridge as a reference as this was in my garage, and a few photos of my fridge install from my phone. However, I was relieved to find that the drawer fit perfectly :)

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At present the drawer is no more than a push under tray with a suitably matching front fascia on. I will most likely stay in place during travel, but I have acquired some very small, high power magnets. I plan to stick a couple of these on the back top edge of the aluminum drawer fascia, and a small countersunk head, ferrous metal screw at the corresponding edge of the framework on the lower fridge support. This should allow the drawer to locate shut with a nice crisp click :)
Red Atlantic pop top (1.9AAZ engine)http://www.daswolfgang.com

DavidPallister
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Re: Andy's Atlantic (Wolfgang)

Post by DavidPallister »

where did you get the entry gland from?? looks like a very neat solution

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nordberg
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Re: Andy's Atlantic (Wolfgang)

Post by nordberg »

DavidPallister wrote:where did you get the entry gland from?? looks like a very neat solution

Would you be surprised if I said eBay? :ok
Red Atlantic pop top (1.9AAZ engine)http://www.daswolfgang.com

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nordberg
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Re: Andy's Atlantic (Wolfgang)

Post by nordberg »

Some time since the last post so a little update to my thread. Lots of use of the van last year as we traveled Wales, Devon and Cornwall.
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St Michaels Mount, Penzance
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Loe, (Bay View Farm)

This year our only real outing has been Baltic Wharf in Bristol for 5 nights at the start of the year. Very cold (- 7 one night), but a beautiful way to start the year :)
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Baltic Wharf, Bristol.

Anyways, the van is getting some real hammer. The last two years its been used for all our holidays. We just can't get enough of this camping malarkey :lol: . After a service last year, and some emergency work to make the van safe by the good chaps at Brickwerks due to some seriously neglect in the radius arm and wishbone bush area by the previous owners... I was also informed that my engine was also getting tired and could do with replacing :(
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Massively enlarged radius arm body mount
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Rotten radius arm mount. Not far off snapping!
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Work underway to fix by cutting out the rot
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New metal back in, sealed and painted
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Fixed and as good as new. Handles much better now :)

So knowing my engine had seen better days I started thinking about the choices available. If I'm totally honest I wanted to keep the install as simple as possible, with reliability being the main focus. I decided that the AAZ route would give me a little more performance than my stock (tired) JX, and the parts to do it would be minimum. That said, I didn't want to go down the second hand route because this would introduce an element of uncertainty to the reliability. It clearly would have been cheaper, but we have become to rely on the van, and this year is the year we are taking a month out to tour France, Switzerland and Italy. I decided on a re manufactured engine from AW Engineering. To keep my van on the road I have gathered some other parts along the way. A second hand (JX) fuel pump has been purchased and this has been sent to Diesel Bob to be reconditioned. Also a second hand (New) turbo came floating by at a very good price so I have snapped that up ;). I managed to get my hands on some new injectors, and a second hand sump has been purchased and cleaned ready for swapping over. Oh, and a new AAZ rocker cover to complete the install (Thanks Alex).
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Engine, Sump, Turbo and New Injectors
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All parts awaiting the big day
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New Rocker Cover
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Recon Fuel Pump

As you can see from one of the photos there are also a new fuel tank, stainless coolant pipes and PAS pipes to be fitted. These should have been fitted last year by a local garage along with an oil cooler. However, the local garage I had it booked into decided it was too big a job, so these will all be fitted at the same time as the engine by Brickwerks in a couple of weeks (The oil cooler i fitted myself). Its a big commitment to sink so much cash into my van, but as said previously, we are loving the lifestyle and freedom it gives both my wife (Mandy) and I, so we can kind of justify it in a roundabout way. Next year should be lighter on the pocket hopefully :D
Red Atlantic pop top (1.9AAZ engine)http://www.daswolfgang.com

Smosh
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Re: Andy's Atlantic (Wolfgang)

Post by Smosh »

Good to see you enjoying the van so much! Keep up with the posts though, always enjoyable to read.

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1984 Voltswagen 25 Pop-Top (No idea what type!?) 1.9 W/C Petrol based in Guernsey, C.I.

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nordberg
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Re: Andy's Atlantic (Wolfgang)

Post by nordberg »

Smosh wrote:Good to see you enjoying the van so much! Keep up with the posts though, always enjoyable to read.

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Cheers Smosh :D . Updates are pretty slack on my behalf.
Red Atlantic pop top (1.9AAZ engine)http://www.daswolfgang.com

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