I am creating this thread as a bit of an overview of my time with my van since I bought it in October last year, with the intention of keeping the thread alive with my future adventures, questions and problems. I did create a post back in October with the same title which was quite well established but I am lead to believe that it may have become the victim of a technical glitch some time back so I apologies to anybody that may think this is spam in any way.
My name is Andy and I have had an interest for many years with anything that has motoring pedigree. I have been frequenting classic car shows, motoring events, scooter rallies and ....my garage for many years . I own a selection of interesting vehicles and parted with a 1972 Mini 1275GT to make way financially for the camper. I wouldn't say I was hankering uncontrollably for years to own a VW van, but they have interested and intrigued me much like they do so many other people. The splits and the bays draw attention as do many classic cars because of their rarity , but for what ever reason I have fallen in love with what many consider to be the ugly duckling of the family...the T3.
My wife and I had been really enjoying camping trips over the last 3 years, and we have a very nice set up. We had been away 3 times in 2014, the last time being Woolacombe in September. Now this was the real catalyst for my reason for owning my camper. It happened on our last nights camp. I suggested we take a drive down from the camp site to have one last walk along the sea front and watch the sun go down. By a strange twist of fate, we parked up near a late Westfilia Syncro. Not knowing a great deal about them I approached the owner and asked why some have square lights and some round. He explained, showed me the van and mentioned he was selling. Initially I said I couldn't afford it, but the more I thought about it the more I wanted it. I did get in touch with the guy when I got home, and considered different options for raising the cash to buy. Long story short, I didn't get the syncro, but ended up with my Atlantic which I collected the day after I sold the GT.
This is a picture of the van as it was in October when I collected it from Peterborough.
Almost as soon as I got the van I started spending money on it. Well, that's why you buy them isn't it?
. The most pressing issue was the leaking skylight seal which was quickly rectified by a new one from Campervan Culture. I was given the impression that the roof rack might have been partly to blame so this was removed also. I had no reason to keep it on and liked the idea of more flexibility at height restricted car parks. I lost the ball on the end of the ariel (pictured), the skull valve dust caps on the wheels and the two sexy lady silhouettes holding the front number plate on (isn't taste a strange thing?). My van is Cherry red, but as with all red vehicles they are prone to fading. I gave it a good going over with T-Cut red, and after somebody pointed out that the side stickers had been applied incorrectly, I took the opportunity of removing them to make the whole T-Cut process easier. I decided that I liked the cleaner look once finished and that's the way its stayed ever since.
One other job that I knew needed addressing was something that had been pointed out by the previous owner. The tap for the sink was not working. One mornings tweaking under the sink and the problem was fixed by a small adjustment of the micro switch. All good so far...
However, the van was riding a little high for my liking so Eibach springs were fitted giving a 30mm drop and soon after that a set of Bilstien dampers. This was all done before my Birthday camping trip to Warwick (picture below)
Another problem that needed addressing was a strange electrical problem. the leasure battery would not hold it's charge, the stereo would reset whenever the indicators were used or the lights switched on or moved between dip and high, and to be honest the headlights were no use nor ornament. I added some Osram night breaker bulbs which didn't help a great deal. A trip to an auto electricians established that the problem was earth related and rectified with a new braided strap.
The front grills were looking faded so that was cleaned, prepped and painted gloss black (still thinking that maybe dark metallic grey may be more pleasing on the eye), and the two front indicators were replaced with new due to cracks and a build up of algae.
I wasn't happy with the steering wheel. It was nice, don't get me wrong, but cold and slippy to the touch. I bought an Italian leather stitch on cover which was quite expensive but a bit of a head scratcher, not only for me but the company that supplied it. It wasn't clear at the time why it was so much bigger that my wheel but I soon found out that the power steering models had a smaller wheel. I eventually got the correct size cover and fitted. Made a massive difference to the feel of the drive.
Around this time my heater motor packed up and this was something I put off doing until fairly recently. We camped out a total of 4 times last year with two Pikey over nighters and a couple of long weekends in Warwickr so I was quite happy that we were making good use of the van. The next time we used it was at Lincoln Lanes Camp Site for new year with a 3 night stop over. A snowy \ frosty occasion but made easier by having a new thermal Silverscreen windowscreen cover and awning. Mandy (the wife) and I thoroughly enjoyed it.
A couple of weeks ago I decided that I was going to take the plunge and pay a garage to replace the heater blower motor, resistors and fan switch. One of the few things that was letting my van down now was the exhaust silencer which was showing signs of age. I took the plunge as I knew it was going to happen sooner or later to buy a Brickwerks Stainless system and decided that this would also be fitted by the garage while it was in having the other bits sorted. Pushed the bounderies of my budget for last month but I think it was worth it!
So I now have a working fan...and surprisingly a quieter exhaust. It wasn't until the exhaust was removed that we realised it had a hole in it. This was my first diesel van so I just assumed that it was always going to be noisier than anything else i had driven. To be fair it was never too bad and settles my conscience a little from a financial point of view
. Well this pretty much leads to current day. I have just received an order from Brickwerks for a silicon snorkel to replace the original (perished) feed into the air box, along with a new clutch master cylinder and fuel filter. The clutch master cylinder is leaking and needs sorting and that's the next job to be done. I want this sorting in the next week or so as we are away for a three nighter in Worcestershire. Also have an issue with engine revs not dropping when warm so still need to investigate that.
Well I hope I haven't bored anyone, but at least spending the time to create this thread means that I don't have to pollute the forum with a raft of individual posts on my problems and issues
It's obviously had some paintwork done as the body kit is colour coded which isn't strictly correct...but tbh I prefer it so its stopping like that. The wheels have also been changed at some point but again, I like them so they are staying put. I think it's always going to have it's niggles due to it's age, but I'll just keep chipping away 
. 
. So out came the AA, and inflated the tyre enough to get me to a local garage where a £20 repair got me back on the road 
