Home//VWT Lifestyle/April-16/In This Issue
VWT Lifestyle|April-16APRIL 2-3 2016 Sandown Park, EsherThe one and onlyIt’s been 25 years in the making and, with just one month to go, everything is in place to make this year’s VolksWorld Show the best ever. With far too much going on to cover here, go to www.volksworld.com, or our Facebook page www.facebook/volksworld to find out more and to purchase advance tickets at highly discounted rates.Top quality show carsWe have already had some great show vehicles apply for the 2016 show and are confident of having one of our best collections ever. Sourced from all over Europe, this mouthwatering line up will have something to please everyonePaint your ’WagenOne lucky person will have their Camper painted by vehicle artist, Luke Brabants, at the show. See a drab Bus become a work of art over the weekend…4 min
VWT Lifestyle|April-16Things to buy to make life with your VW a blast CampersceneBrake system overhaulHaving recently gone through the brakes on our old project Bay Window, the Panzerfaust, we found Just Kampers had everything we needed at wallet-friendly prices. From a set of front brake shoes for £26.50 to a replacement master cylinder at £71.50 and the essential 46mm socket for removing the rear hub nuts at £15.95 JK had everything we needed to have our Bay stopping on a dime once morewww.justkampers.comBAY WINDOW THROTTLE KITIf you own a right-hand drive Late Bay from 1972-1975 that has an iffy accelerator linkage, Simon Buttsworth can help. Under his Butty’s Bits banner, he makes parts no one else makes that make all the difference to how a Bus drives. These new throttle kits feature sealed needle roller bearings at each end to ensure smooth,…3 min
VWT Lifestyle|April-16Readers’ rides’72 Early Bay Window, Roland de SouzaRoland has owned his Bay for around 15 years now, having bought it locally at Croxley Green, near Watford, where he runs his business, Croxley Tyres. He saw the Bay advertised at a local show and waited around for an hour until the owner returned and closed the deal. The distinctive paintwork was inspired by attending various music festivals such as Glastonbury and The Isle of Wight Festival. Roland is also a keen supporter of Watford Football Club, colloquially known as The Hornets, hence the smiley hornets painted on the sides of the Bus, along with a tiny mouse lighting what appears to be a, ahem, herbal cigarette.Over the years, the Bus has required some welding repairs in all the usual places, but the…3 min
VWT Lifestyle|April-16Thick end of the Wedge“It’s all down to my daughter, Amy, she’s Campervan mad!”In 1982, a factory-fresh Devon Moonraker Type 25 with two-tone paint and a 1.6-litre diesel engine option (yes, just like the one popping from these pages) would set you back a pleasant looking £9,293. Dig out some internet wizardry in the form of an inflation calculator, though, and that figure becomes decidedly less appealing at £31,867.99, suggesting this was a pretty darned expensive Camper in its day.Ironically, however, it was numbers more akin to the second group that set Paul and Amanda Wood on the path to choosing a Camper from Volkswagen’s third generation.Paul explains: “It’s all down to my daughter, Amy. She’s Campervan mad! Her room is full of them. I think she must have around 40 little models all…7 min
VWT Lifestyle|April-16Five up in a Bay“We set a cruising speed of 55mph. Slow but steady”After years of dreaming and months of searching, I finally bought my Bus – a 1973 Bay – as an empty ’shell on eBay.Leaving the welding work to my local VW specialist – Maurice of XYZ Mechanics in Tottenham, North London – I was free to put my heart and soul into the interior, installing a rock ’n’ roll, new headliner, automatic engine bay fire extinguisher system, sound system, essential gauges, re-wiring and making sure she is mechanically sound.Together with mum and her vintage Bernina sewing machine, we worked on the interior; door cards, upholstery and curtains, leaving the bodywork for a later date. After that, I couldn’t wait to put ‘Campanula’ (though my little sister insists on calling her ‘Campa’)…14 min
VWT Lifestyle|April-16And finally…I‘m not the wisest person on the planet but, if there’s one thing life has taught me, it’s you should never put things off, because you never know what tomorrow will bring, or even if there is going to be another tomorrow. I know this from personal experience and can tell you, hand on heart, that there never is a perfect time to do anything, so if something is important to you, just do it.Have you always wanted to take off on a road trip in your Bus? If so, what are you waiting for? Book the time off work, service your Bus, pack your things and go.Worried something terrible might happen? Wouldn’t it be just as terrible if fear stopped you from ever doing it at all? You’d spend…2 min
VWT Lifestyle|April-16Inside jobWe know there’s a bit of a divide between air and water-cooled VWs, but the late model Bus brigade are doing some seriously cool stuff with their rides, that we’d love to see trickle down into the classic Camper scene.Take this month’s selection of visual delights for example. Any of these elements would look right at home in a Split or Bay and show you can be every bit as creative with a T4 as you can with a T2 or T3.SHOW US YOURSSend us some pics and words about your ride to camperandbus@timeinc.com…2 min
VWT Lifestyle|April-16Decisions decisionsWhen newlyweds, Mike and Sarah Rayner, began their search for a Camper, it was a chance meeting with Steve Johnson of Johnson Autoworks (www.johnsonautoworks.com) that changed everything. You see, until then, the Rayners had been looking around at different Campers, but nothing seemed to fit the bill. Either it was the right layout and the wrong colour, or the other way round or, worse still, it had rust issues. That’s when Mike and Sarah decided to head to the Stanford Hall VW show to look for prospects.Steve: “We always have a sign on our stand at Stanford Hall that says we can source and build you a Camper. When Mike saw it, we got chatting and went from there.” Realising this was their opportunity to have the best of all…6 min
VWT Lifestyle|April-16Shop tour BRAZILIAN KAMPERSOur company focus this month is a dedicated outlet for VW Campers based on the Brazilian-built Bay Window. The company is based in the south east, within striking distance of London, the M25 and Brighton. Brazilian Kampers Ltd. offers not only sales of high-end used vehicles, but also after-sales servicing and maintenance. The company also offer a range of upgrades and are happy to carry out accessory fitment, too. The workshop services are not limited just to owners who have purchased their VW from the company, but is open to any owner of a Brazilian Bay Window.We spent the day with Brazilian Kampers at their brand new, purpose-built premises in Henfield, West Sussex to find out more about the company from owner and main man, Ian Harris.How did the company…6 min
VWT Lifestyle|April-16Our sponsorsSecond year, twice the fun!“It’s going to be a busy winter at VW Heritage as we decide how we can top VolksWorld 2015. David is investigating a couple of interesting vehicles and it’s too early to reveal them, but what we can say is he’s very excited! Barney, meanwhile, has big plans for a special, interactive display, and we have a certain itch to scratch for the foyer display, too.“However the plans come together, we will give it our all, and are pleased to have been invited back as headline sponsor. We’re aiming to make 2016 the best show ever!”Vehicle insurance“After a successful partnership in 2015, we are glad to return for our second year as one of The VolksWorld Show’s sponsors. Why not pay us a visit (we are…2 min
VWT Lifestyle|April-16VAN OF THE MONTH’72 Crossover Bay, Chris Peaco*ckTell us about your BusShe’s a ’72 Crossover bought from a very nice man on eBay (very luckily I might add). I’d been looking for a Bus for four years when I came across her and went for a viewing.So it was all plain sailing then?Not exactly. The ad stated she had a gearbox problem and, whilst I was looking at it, the listing ended and I thought I had missed out to another eBayer.What did you do then?I left the seller my number and he rang me a couple of days later to say the highest bidder was messing him about and the Bus was mine if I was still interested. According to eBay rules, he had to give the bidder a week to buy…1 min
VWT Lifestyle|April-16Progressive thinkingSo what if you were given a blank sheet of paper and asked to design the ultimate camping interior for a Split Screen Bus? What would you put in it? There’s the obvious like a sink, fridge and hob, and equally obvious is the fact that such products would only be ultimate on the day they were purchased, as the market for these things is moving at such a rate that today’s latest technology is tomorrow’s, well, yesterday’s technology. The same can be said for stereo and multi-media equipment. If someone told you 20 years ago you’d have a television screen in your dashboard that talks to you and takes you to your destination while you talk to your mum on the ’phone, you’d have laughed. I know I would.So,…9 min
VWT Lifestyle|April-16Lite(r) steering“It feels like you’re about to rip the steering wheel off sometimes” says boss man Peene of trying to coerce the beloved Panzerfaust into a parking space. There’s no doubt the pleasure of piloting either an Early or Late Bay is drastically reduced by the clunky, heavy, cumbersome steering that becomes all the more apparent if, like a lot of Bus owners these days, you drive your Bus as well as a modern day vehicle.So what do you do? “Don’t fight steer, Lite Steer” says the tagline that supports Neil Oakley’s DIY power steering conversion for VW’s venerable Bus (Type 25 kits are also available). The unit comes fully assembled, you just bolt it in and follow the wiring instructions. No welding or floor work is required and the difference…5 min
