New to the Club - any help welcome!

[Rusty23]

Hi all,

My first post as a brand new owner of a T25, apologies if I’ve ended up is the wrong forum.

So here’s the story. My partner and I decided to take the plunge, we’ve been looking for god knows how long and having both just turned 30 we decided to take the plunge. We have looked at lots of vans, newer, older, cheaper, more expensive but have settled on a 1986 T25 autosleeper.

Details of the van:
1986
1.9 petrol
Automatic
HiTop
Beautiful original Trimtech leather seats
Full service history
Bought in Wellington and never left (ownership wise)
2 previous owners, first until 2006

Having never owned one before and having no experience with a classic we have trawled this sight for info but still would appreciate anyone’s help/advice/guidance.

I have attached a few photos and if anyone is interested to cast an eye over them. As first timers we are obviously trying to work out what to prioritise, obviously the rust is high up on the order but any extra info would be great and hugely appreciated. Will try to keep the thread updated with issues/(hopefully)fixes

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Front

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Side and front

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Back

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[Mocki]

morning, welcome to the fun!

become a full member , because you are going to be here lots!!
http://www.club80-90.co.uk/pages/membershipform.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

first job, no matter how well you think that van jas been looked after is change the rubber petrol pipes in the engine bay . No matter how good they look, change them now for the right stuff so you know it has been done .
https://www.brickwerks.co.uk/t3-parts/e ... l?limit=96" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[itchyfeet]

Hi and welcome.

Nice to see some younger people buying these vans

Quick glance at the pictures and the black strip across the top of the windscreen is a point of concern, if that's rust covered up then painted then it could leak when it rains. Lot's on vans rust through on the roof after 30 years.

plenty of help on here.

[937carrera]

Welcome.

You might want to take a look at this website http://www.autosleeper.vwt25camper.info/ It has downloads of the brochures and instruction manuals that you may find useful if the previous owners have lost them.

Judging by the stripes I would say that the camper has been possibly been repainted at some point. Picking up on itchyfeets point, my Autosleeper does suffer from a small water leak on the front passenger A pillar when it rains and the van is on an angle, so it is definitely worth checking out that black painted area on the front of the high roof top.. I really must sort that out on mine, good job it is dry stored

[Rusty23]

Judging by the stripes I would say that the camper has been possibly been repainted at some point. Picking up on itchyfeets point, my Autosleeper does suffer from a small water leak on the front passenger A pillar when it rains and the van is on an angle, so it is definitely worth checking out that black painted area on the front of the high roof top.. I really must sort that out on mine, good job it is dry stored [/quote]



Yeah I did look in the front storage area to check for rot or water damage it looks ok but time will tell!

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[Rusty23]

morning, welcome to the fun!

become a full member , because you are going to be here lots!!
http://www.club80-90.co.uk/pages/membershipform.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

first job, no matter how well you think that van jas been looked after is change the rubber petrol pipes in the engine bay . No matter how good they look, change them now for the right stuff so you know it has been done .
https://www.brickwerks.co.uk/t3-parts/e ... l?limit=96" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Thanks for the advice, have submitted a membership application

Regarding the fuel lines I have attached a photo below, we are away now for 5 weeks (typical, but booked before we bought this) so we will drop it to the local garage who have been really good to us over the years and ask their opinion on what we need to do.

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[937carrera]

Fuel lines can be a real problem, whoever does the work please make sure they use the Brickwerks product suggested above, fit once and forget

[patrickpawsey]

Welcome, that's a nice looking van, we are also quite new and would agree that you'll spend a lot of time on here!
Regarding the fuel lines, others will have a more experienced opinion, but as I understand it, the fuel hoses fitted originally, and indeed most produced today, are not resistant to the ethanol that is ib most petrol these days, or at least not at the concentration at which it now is mixed.
The problem is that the fuel degrades the inside lamination of the hose, which causes it to delaminate, and fuel can get between the inner and outer layers.
The outer layer has very little resistance and now the hose is degraded, so the potential of the hose failing and *spraying petrol everywhere* over your hot engine/exhaust is high.
The reason people recommend brickwerks hose is that they are about the only people who have actually looked into the specs and sourced a hose that is resistant to not only the current ethanol mix but up to 100% (I believe) so as the mix is increased (which it is being, to reduce emissions impact on overall c02) you are still ok.
Again, other people will have more experience here, but if it was me, and I couldn't get brickwerks pipe in time, I'd replace all the fuel lines in the engine bay (to/from fuel pump, tank and carb) with the best locally available, then replace with brickwerks hose asap. Could you get the hose delivered to you en route somewhere?
It might seem that people get a bit excited about this, but it's the one big deal with these vans and such a simple fix. Also get your garage to run an earth lead from the carb to a suitable earth point which redolves the 'sparks from the carb' issue (there is an electrical feed to the carb and the return via the engine block/inlet manifold is not always great any more so sparks can jump from the carb to the nearest earth, not what you want in the engine bay especially near the fuel atomiser!).
Get those two things sorted and you've done the really important things to your 35 year old van!
Good luck and enjoy it, they are smile creating vans when looked after

Patrick

Sent from my ONEPLUS A3003 using Tapatalk

[Rusty23]

Welcome, that's a nice looking van, we are also quite new and would agree that you'll spend a lot of time on here!
Regarding the fuel lines, others will have a more experienced opinion, but as I understand it, the fuel hoses fitted originally, and indeed most produced today, are not resistant to the ethanol that is ib most petrol these days, or at least not at the concentration at which it now is mixed.
The problem is that the fuel degrades the inside lamination of the hose, which causes it to delaminate, and fuel can get between the inner and outer layers.
The outer layer has very little resistance and now the hose is degraded, so the potential of the hose failing and *spraying petrol everywhere* over your hot engine/exhaust is high.
The reason people recommend brickwerks hose is that they are about the only people who have actually looked into the specs and sourced a hose that is resistant to not only the current ethanol mix but up to 100% (I believe) so as the mix is increased (which it is being, to reduce emissions impact on overall c02) you are still ok.
Again, other people will have more experience here, but if it was me, and I couldn't get brickwerks pipe in time, I'd replace all the fuel lines in the engine bay (to/from fuel pump, tank and carb) with the best locally available, then replace with brickwerks hose asap. Could you get the hose delivered to you en route somewhere?
It might seem that people get a bit excited about this, but it's the one big deal with these vans and such a simple fix. Also get your garage to run an earth lead from the carb to a suitable earth point which redolves the 'sparks from the carb' issue (there is an electrical feed to the carb and the return via the engine block/inlet manifold is not always great any more so sparks can jump from the carb to the nearest earth, not what you want in the engine bay especially near the fuel atomiser!).
Get those two things sorted and you've done the really important things to your 35 year old van!
Good luck and enjoy it, they are smile creating vans when looked after

Patrick

Sent from my ONEPLUS A3003 using Tapatalk

Thanks for all that info! Learning while we are doing it is what I’m most excited for but any help like this so we can avoid the obvious mistakes is amazing.

We are away for a while so will try and source the hosing before and get it done while we are away. Will ask about getting the earthing done as well.

[Rusty23]

Today’s update:

Spent a few hours on her today, started with just a wash and crossed my fingers she didn’t leak, so far so good, not a spot of water inside after a wash and wax spray (waiting for actual wax to turn up). Then did some rust treatment on a couple of the spots and to look for concerns.

Biggest concerns:
Hole in the passengers side footwell, only small and should be easy to patch

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Rust on the on the corners of the dash and the corners of the pillars - not sure what to do about this! Hopefully the Hammerite will slow it down until I can figure it out.

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Thin paint work - so thin it’s almost bare metal in some places - again hopefully the wax will keep water out until we can figure out what to do.

Biggest positives:
Leather seats looked amazing after a clean, just need some conditioner, although couldn’t get the arm rests back on

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Suspension is all brand new and looks solid, although suspension brackets look a bit eroded.

Sliding door runners looked pretty rust free, so did arches.

[itchyfeet]

Hole in the floor I would just file it round to remove the rusty edges, rust treatment paint then and leave it until the windscreen is fixed, there will be water coming in this provides drainage.

Most vans leak somewhere and cab floors are often wet.

As for the windscreen sooner or later it has to come out and there will be a big job welding it, lots of vans have this problem, you won't know how bad until you pull the windscreen.

Job for the winter or at least after the camping season.

[itchyfeet]

pics posted to auto display will get you more comments
http://forum.club8090.co.uk/viewtopic.php?f=37&t=168842" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[patrickpawsey]

I can strongly recommend owatrol oil or primer/owatrol 50-50 mix as a great way to slow down rust progress. Though there may be other options known on here - I've heard vactan mentioned. But those have always worked well for me on a narrowboat and the van.
And there's always rustoleum as a hammerite alternative that's quite generally available (and much better rust prevention and flexibility IMHO).
I think brewers decorating centres carry owatrol these days if you do fancy trying i it!

Sent from my ONEPLUS A3003 using Tapatalk

[patrickpawsey]

Here's the earth strap on mine (in blue) in case it's useful

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[hightop ratty]

Welcome - you've found the best place to find advice (& sanity saving) - and found the holy grail supplier brickwerks (rather than find some of the lesser suppliers & then finding the light).

This is an extra part to the fantastic brickwerks fuel kit, & highly recommended (currently not in stock - email them and ask when it's in).

https://www.brickwerks.co.uk/t3-parts/e ... ction.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;