Club 80-90 Forums

I'm still deeply digging and searching various options for my T3 purchase and wondered if there was a general consensus on the various conversions.

Ideally I'd like a high top petrol. The true Westie of course is only in LHD but I'd prefer a RHD since most of my initial touring will be in the UK.

Can anyone summarise the various conversions in one line? Tried searching here but without luck.

I will be shortlisting some vans soon and involving the pros here in a pre purchase inspection.

If I were persuaded to LHD, then I'm also happy importing from Europe but would lose the benefit of a member inspection unless I took them with me! Having looked through mobile.de, some of the vans are stunning quality compared to a lot of the tat on Ebay but with corresponding price tags that make it not economical with the current Euro rate. For example ... a syncro for 42,000 Euro!

http://suchen.mobile.de/fahrzeuge/detai ... =239899119" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Autosleeper seem to be the most popular & versatile readily available high top in RHD.

Good luck searching but don't be put off by LHD, I've got a westie multivan and you find that its such a different vehicle to drive compared to modern ones that you hardly notice you're sitting on 'the wrong side'.
As has been said many times before, body condition is a major factor in deciding which van to buy, mechanicals and interior can be changed reasonably easy compared to sorting out rust !

We have a cheap and cheerful Liesuredrive high Top albeit with somewhat complicated WBX Dj 2.1 engine.
As there is only the two of us we converted the high top so the cooking stuff is in cupboard over the cab and the bedding stows over the 3/4 bed area.
We re-did the interior using ideas and lessons from our four previous self conversions.
I guess the only draw back is the inability to use multi story car parks and many car parks.
We often tow a boat to rallies and it is a joy to just stop and get on with it while those (in our opinion less fortunate) faff with tents or go hunting for digs or hotels.
Plus our top is gale proof - so far anyway

CS

IMHO Autosleeper high top is a great practical conversion, go for 2.1 for a bit extra on hills. Watch out for the RUST on Autosleepers though and look really hard at windows, fuel cap area, hook up and jacking point especially. I wanted RHD as its my only vehicle here and its part of the adventure being RHD abroad

Don't let LHD put you off - it's very quickly no big thing driving it in the UK, plus handed parts are easier to come by such as headlights, power steering racks, etc.

In terms of having someone look over a van from http://www.mobile.de you might want to get in touch with Mike Plompen in Belgium - http://www.busman.be. He has a 'Buy It For You' service that he provides across Europe where he will inspect the van, and deal with the sellers on your behalf, and can even help arrange shipping to the UK. Obviously the further the van is from his home, then the more it will cost for you to get him to inspect it, etc.

With regard to conversion, we have a Westfalia Club Joker high top so my comments will probably be biased in that direction. Westfalia have been converting VW vans into campers since 1950 and so some would argue their conversions benefit from that extended experience, and that they perhaps show the most attention to detail. Certainly we've found the build quality to be excellent, and there are still many interior parts available new today from Günzl and others. In terms of the style of the interior, I really like the Braun / Dieter Rams aesthetic so I prefer the Westy interior it to some of the more 'knotty pine' conversions, although I know others find these interiors to be too clinical.

As others have said, don't focus on the interior when you buy - look at the bodywork first, mechanics second, and interior last. Replacing or fitting even a Westy interior is cheaper than a new engine, and much cheaper than serious bodywork.

Well if you are just two people a high top is fine. If you have kids on board and don't want it to be claustrophobic, go for a Westie pop top - you and kids can sit upright upstairs at the high end. As already said, LHD is not a problem over here and makes driving easier over in Europe. Whatever suits your needs. Best advice is go to a dub event and have a look at different options and chat to people.

I have to admit I do think the upper sleeping area is better in a Westfalia hitop. I wonder how much extra internal height it has over an Autosleeper

Ralph, where do you put all your stuff when you go for a long trip with the family and is it easy to sleep upstairs in bad weather? My kids are getting too big so I'm debating whether to go pop top

Great comments, just what I'm looking for. Keep them coming!

We have a high top 'homebrew' 'Screwfix Special' ... it has it's advantages in that it has been made (mostly by myself) to suit OUR purposes ... sleeping 4 originally, now just me and The Present Mrs Hulley (God Bless Her !) with adequate storage for long range European holidays and seating, ventilation and heating for those days when the weather is not fit to be outside. Both front seats swivel so there is social seating for 4 or even 5 inside the van. It has a 2.1 DJ converted from the original 1.9 DG petrol, running on LPG and petrol, and under slung fresh water and leisure LPG tanks.

Basically I've copied the things that in our opinion work best for us from all the other conversions and rolled it together in ours ... will it ever be as 'valuable' as a Westfailure, no it won't .... but that's not the idea, we get away 12 months of the year and have done for the past 13 years ... you can't put a price on that.

An interior shot ..



Ian

You can have a look at our Auto Sleeper 1985 1.9 petrol if your not too far away. It's pretty standard and would give you a better idea of what they're like. North Notts.Derbyshire.

Sir Brixalot wrote:I have to admit I do think the upper sleeping area is better in a Westfalia hitop. I wonder how much extra internal height it has over an Autosleeper

Ralph, where do you put all your stuff when you go for a long trip with the family and is it easy to sleep upstairs in bad weather? My kids are getting too big so I'm debating whether to go pop top

Hello buddy. The poptop is much higher at the front end than a high top. It's like a tent. If it's raining, that's not a problem - it's water proof (unless your canvas is old and knackered). We still do the occasional trip with four adults sleeping on board. As my daughters are adults, we often sleep up top so disturbance is minimal, when they finally get back to the van, late at night. On Summer hols, we put most of the stuff for five adults, behind the rear seats and shift it all to the front seats and cab floor, so we can put the rock n roll bed down. It takes about five minutes to do that - no problem. The big tent we take for our main stop sits on the floor in front of the rear seats. A useful foot rest for those in the back. Tis a doddle.

Hi there

there's loads of info and photos of Autosleepers on this link:

http://www.autosleeper.vwt25camper.info ... ident.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Not sure I'd want to sleep upstairs in our high top, bit too claustrophobic although the length of the bed if fine (i'm 6ft), but the kids love it up there.

A Westie high top does look taller than an Autosleeper to be fair. And I never noticed how many car parks have height restrictions until we got ours, the plan is to swap it for a pop top once the kids stop coming with us so we can park somewhere!

Wes

Thanks for the info Ralph

I had to sleep up top for a long time and the kids wouldn't. It is very tight for an adult but doable just. Invested in a roll of memory foam to make it easier on me and kids suddenly kids happy to go up top.