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Following a period of nearly a year of looking at all the vans that have come for sale
in our price range (under £2000) we have finally managed to find one were the seller did
not lie about the condition! Do you get sick of wasting time and money when advertisers
just do not tell the truth??? The best "description" was of a very solid, original van for £2200.
Off we shoot to see it, only to find a van with so much filler that the body seems could not be
seen, all topped off with a 1/2" covering of hand painted household gloss. Loverly!!!
Anyway - back to our new van. We found it via an advert in the Type2 Owners Club and amazingly it
was being sold by its original owner (Mr. Fielding) who bought the van new in December 1969.
The only trouble was that the van was situated in Oxon and we live in North Wales which is 170 miles
away. We arranged to see it the following weekend (Good Friday) in which time Mr. Fielding posted us a couple of
recent photographs which is always useful if you are travelling so far. On seeing the van we were pleased that
the description we were given was correct. The van does need work but we were told no lies.
The best thing is the history that comes with the van. Mr. Fielding kept a book that details
any work carried out, parts used and the cost. The book begins in December 1969 at 84 miles when the
van was collected from "Devon", who carried out the camper conversion and ends at 177,000 miles when we bought the van!
The van also came with the original dealer registration document and handbook. Mr. and Mrs.
Fielding were also kind enough to loan us their photograph album which shows the camper when
new and various camping expeditions.
The van is a 1970 model, registered in 1969 - see certificate and has a 1600 single port engine. This is the
3rd engine fitted into the van. The first and original engine had continual problems with studs
breaking, resulting in the cylinder head blowing. After 9 years (77,178 miles) and 2 rebuilds the
engine was replaced with a new short engine. The cause of the problems with the first engine
were never found and the problems were put down to a "rogue" engine. The second engine caused no problems
until 1993 (151,659) when a loss of compression while in holiday in France meant that a new
factory engine was fitted at a cost of 18487 Francs (£1800).
The 170 mile drive home proved uneventful with the van running perfect at a steady 50-60 MPH
The van is finished in Savannah Beige (L620) over cloud white (L581). The interior is from a 1972 "Devon"
as Mr. Fielding has bought a 1972 van with only 34,000 miles and he preferred the interior from
the earlier model. The roof has the traditional "Devon" pop-top conversion and is walk through
between the cab and the rear area. The van also has the original quarter light opening windows on both sides in the rear.
Being a 1970 model, the van has the earlier front beam with drums on the front
and the single port engine. The brakes take some getting use to after driving the 74' which has servo assisted
disc brakes.
The van is MOT'd until November (also tax exempt) but does need a fair amount of work. The rear passenger arch needs replacing, both rear corners have
been patched, the cab floor needs a repair and the front chassis leg ahead of
the beam also needs a repair. On stripping the interior out, the floor was found to be holed near
to the sliding door. This was probably caused by becoming wet from people getting in and out of the van.
A new floor section has been ordered from Just Kampers and will be fitted shortly.
When we bought the van, Mr. Fielding very kindly loaned us a set of photographs showing the
camper in use from the day it was registered. Now this is what you call history! Again, Thanks Mr. Fielding.
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Updated August 2001
The floor section bought from Just Kampers was fitted but the results were interesting. Even though
the floor was fitted correctly, being seem welded all around and spot welded to the cross
members as per original, the floor buckled under the weight of one person! The only reason
for this can be that the corrugations were not the same shape as the original. This is a job
that will need to be completed again in the future when we can find an original floor section
but for now the floor is covered in 1/4" ply and carpet. Just Kampers refunded the cost of the panel
when shown a photo of the sagging floor. Below are pictures of the floor before removal,
during and after.
MOT time arrived and the van was booked in for the test, with a fail being expected but not to the extent
that the MOT inspector did! The van failed the test big time. The fail sheet looked more like an essay.We expected the van
to fail on near side sills as we knew these needed replacing but the list went on and on. To cap it
all the rear brake cylinder burst during the brake test which must have impressed the inspector no end.
The full list of failure was:
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Updated December 2001
Near side jacking point corroded
Near side Chassis leg corroded
Offside and near side inner wheel arch corroded
Offside front floor corroded
Front axle corroded - replacement only - no repair
Near side inner sill corroded
The chassis legs have been purchased from Alan Scolfield
but the repair to the front cross member means that the front panel has to come off and that costs a hell of a lot
as they are only
available as modified latter units. We will have to strip everything off before deciding which way to go. With the amount of work needed
it was a close call wether the van was going to be broken but we have decided to plough on. The main problem is finding somewhere to do the work. The van is too big to get into the garage so we
are on the look out for somewhere suitable. I am even looking for a new house that has suitable van storage - but don't tell the wife.......
Updated September2002
Well the van has been sold without a single picture being taken! Mark was really cheesed off when the van failed the MOT in such style. So after 6 months of sitting on the drive he decided to get the work done and got all the welding and paint work done by a professional - he just did not have the time.
The list of panels needed was mind boggling - new out riggers, jacking points, front chassis rails, belly pans, outer sills, rear arch repairs, rear corners, battery trays, new beam plus many more "small" patch repairs were panels could not be bought.
The beam proved the real pain in the butt. A rust free beam had been bought months earlier but on fitting did not fit. The 1970 van had drum brakes so an early beam had been bought but a later beam (£200 - ouch) was needed from a disc braked model. This confused things a lot - not a mistake that will be made again.
Once all the welding was completed the van was sprayed in 2K paint in the original Savannah Beige by a local spray shop. The wheels were shot blasted and painted along with the bumpers and other bits and pieces by myself.
The van was sold at Vanfest within 1 hour of arriving on the Saturday, which meant that we had to sleep in a 2 man tent at the side of my Passat.
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