Innholdsfortegnelse for April 2017 i VWT Lifestyle

March 31 – Dubs at the Mill Haslebury Mill, Yeovil, Somerset www.scrumpydubbers.co.uk April 2 - Dorset swap meet Clapcotts Farm, Spetisbury, Dorset www.dorsetswapmeet.co.uk April 8 - Elemental VW Show Crouch Valley Showground, Rayleigh, Essex www.elementalvw.org.uk April 13-17 - Camperfest Chester Race Course, Chester, CH1 2LY www.camperfest.co.uk April 14-16 - Bus Types VW Show Oswestry Showground, Oswestry, Shropshire www.bustypesvwshow.co.uk April 21-23 - Big Bang Santa Pod, Wellingborough, Northants www.big-bang.co.uk April 21-23 - Techenders Victoria Farm, Lutterworth, Leicestershire www.techenders.co.uk April 28-01 - VW TOMIE Orsett Showground, Essex www.vw-tomie.co.uk April 30 - Stanford Hall Near Lutterworth, Leicestershire www.stanfordhallvw.com April 21 - New issue of C&B out! Go grab a copy of the May issue, right now!…

’79 Bay Window, Andy Bungay Andy Bungay bought his Bay in Exmouth, Devon, the prime reason being he wanted somewhere to sleep overnight after he’d been surfing all day in North Devon. The other advantage being he could also go surfing first thing the following morning if he wanted to. “At the time, buying a Bay Window Camper was the cheapest option for me, for overnight accommodation and I paid £2,200 for my mine and that was 13 years ago,” says Andy. “Back then it was painted Marino Yellow with a white top, but three years ago I decided it was time for a little resto work. I also wanted to change the colour of the paintwork and started looking for a greeny-bluey kind of colour and ended up choosing…

When you think about it, us humans are funny lot, aren’t we? I mean, we get all emotional and attached to the strangest and most random of objects. So, imagine if you had a dog that went everywhere with an egg cup, he’d be all protective about it and growl at you if you tried to borrow it from him. You’d think it was the strangest / funniest behaviour ever, wouldn’t you? But, when a perfectly grown man decides to take it upon himself to restore an old work truck, well, that’s okay isn’t it? Actually, I’m going to say being into old Commercial vehicles is probably just as odd as loving egg cups. On the surface at least, because they’re both designed to do a specific job, and you’re…

Sheet metal fastening kit £30 A godsend when trying to hold jointed panels together in places where larger clamps are just too cumbersome. The blind fasteners exert over 18lbs of holding pressure. www.frost.co.uk Professional No-Gas MIG welder, £216 MIG welding is the easiest and therefore most common form of home welding. It’s also one of the most affordable, thanks to kits like this MIGHTYMIG100. The unit comes supplied with a comfort grip non-live torch, 1.8 meter earth cable, 0.45kg flux cored wire and 1mm contact tip. It’s set up and ready to go straight out of the box. All you need is a rusty old VW to practice on. www.sealey.co.uk Angle grinder, £57 As thin, flaky and easily removed as rusty metal is, you’ll need something to cut it all…

Let’s be honest, car manufacturers only really offer special editions as an attempt to bolster flagging sales with a special colour scheme and some different upholstery on an outgoing model. However, the Jeans Edition was something different, it was a late (1974) attempt to get young people into the Beetle. Its denim upholstery makes for a cool interior, so it follows that what works in a Beetle, should work equally as well inside a Bay Window. Like so… SHOW US YOURS Send us some pics and words about your ride to camperandbus.ed@kelsey.co.uk…

If this Bus truly is the product of a rebellious youth, then it’s time to get your rebel on, people. As Jim Robinson trained as a truck mechanic at college, he had to listen to his lecturer drone on and on about how bad air-cooled Volkswagens are. Jim tells us: “He hated them. He would go on about them all the time. Until, in the end, both me and my mate went and bought one.” After working his way through three Beetles and a Late Bay, Jim and his wife, Kerry, abandoned these shores in 2005 to try life on the opposite side of the globe – in Auckland, New Zealand, to be exact. Jim says: “My Mrs. is a nurse and so was able to take a career break.…

Every January, three hundred miles east of Los Angeles, you’ll find the biggest annual gathering of VW Buses anywhere in North America. Bus lovers flock from all across the nation for four days of unbridled celebration and general good vibes. Welcome to Buses by the Bridge. Established in 1991 and run by the London Bridge Bullis, BBB honours everything Type Two. “My wife Denise and I started this show in 1991” says John Howard. “There were about 18 Buses here then. We’re now in our 21st year and the 505th Bus has just passed through the gates!” The whole thing takes place at a pleasant camping area on the eastern shore of Lake Havasu in Arizona, barely half a mile from the fabled London Bridge, which was bought and shipped…

Does your Type 25 have an erratic dashboard? Whilst the instrument cluster may look very similar to a Mk2 Golf’s it is in fact unique to the Transporter, and it relies on a circuit printed on a flexible plastic film, which degrades over time, making the instruments increasingly erratic. The same electronics also operate the vehicle’s Dynamic Oil Pressure warning buzzer. We thought something was amiss on our ’87 Caravelle when the fuel gauge became intermittent and the temperature gauge began to have a mind of its own. Among other things, the printed circuit incorporates a voltage stabiliser, and whilst this can be the cause of these problems, it’s not sold as a separate part and even VW can’t supply a new printed circuit film or dash pack. There is…

BAY BATTERY TRAYS, £27 Autocraft Engineering are renowned for their quality repair panels and are now offering platform trays for the left side and battery trays for the left and right side of ’72-’79 Bay Windows. If you need to replace a rotten old one or to securely fit a leisure battery to your Bus, these are just the ticket. All of Autocraft’s panels are made in house and to the exact specification as they were originally. Good stuff. www.autocrafteng.co.uk Bus racks, (from) £245 These commercial-style roof racks are based along the lines of the HWE/Bekowa racks. Made by the VW Rack Shack, they use the same size steel tubing of 3/4 and ½-inch and are manufactured right here in the UK. They’re available as full-length, 3/4, ½-length and single bow Westy/Pick-Up style racks. They are…

Every now and then we get so much info from a feature vehicle owner than it would be rude not to let them tell their story in full. So, take it away Ben. “I’m known to most people in the VW scene as “Barndoor Ben.” I think the nickname is fairly self-explanatory, but for those not in the know the term Barndoor refers to the 1950-1955 Wolfsburg produced early Buses with the larger engine lid and no fresh air vent roof peak. “I guess the name Barndoor Ben came about after my hobby grew into my obsession. I’m just a car enthusiast at heart, but early Buses are what really make me tick, and over the years I’ve come to own quite a few. I’ve even had quite a few…

There are an awful lot of characters in the Volkswagen scene, so many in fact that when I was given the name of Ron Liquorish to contact, in order to put together this feature, I actually didn’t believe it was his real name. [Because everyone seems to have a nick-name in VW land, don’t they? ED] Fortunately, Ron wasn’t too put out with my asking, before we got down to Business and spoke about how he came to own this lovely 11-window Camper. Opportunity knocks Ron wasn’t actually looking for a Split Screen Bus when this one fell into his lap. He was actually quite content with owning the ’72 Bay Window he was running at the time, but then a workmate of his mentioned he had a Split Screen…

Beach Buggin’ must surely be one of the busiest one day events on the VW show calendar? With well over 1,000 vehicles attending, a huge Show ‘n’ Shine, trade stalls, autojumble and collectables, it’s difficult to see absolutely everything. While the show times are clearly noted as 10am until 4pm, by 8.45am there were already large queues of VWs arriving from all directions. For 2017 it’s hoped that another entrance gate will be opened by the council, early enough to alleviate some of the queueing. Beach Buggin’ is endowed with that friendly happy carefree, being on holiday kind of atmosphere and appeal, no doubt due to its location on the seafront at Southsea, which by early afternoon is really rockin’ with everyone having fun. While the main emphasis of Beach…