My mate and I have two campers, we haven't decided who owns which yet. (we have now - see further on)
This '74 bay is an excellent runner with a very decent Devon conversion. We have owned this
camper for only 2 years, the previous owner had it for 20 years!! Since buying the van, apart from basic
servicing and re-covering
of all the cushions (still on the original covers) and new curtains, the van has needed nothing!
When we bought the van it had
covered a respectable 207,000 miles. Most impressive of all is that 204,000 of the 207,000 was
done on the original 1.8 engine (now changed for a 1.7). The van is in need of a lot of panel work (the usual culprits of
front arches, rear corners and doors ) but most of the work needed is down to previously
botched jobs. In the last two years all that it has needed for the MOT have been one steering
coupling (a rubber square at the bottom of the steering column) which was the original
and air in the windscreen washer bottle. Not bad for a 26 year old daily driver!! I ask you:
Why own any other vehicle?
I contacted VW at Wolfsburg, who for the sum of 20Dm (£6) sent a certificate showing when the vehicle was made,
engine number, original colour and the optional extra's. The options included steel belted radials!!!!
brake servo, which really does help and additional under floor coverings. What this means I do not know.
When I find out more about this option, I will let you know!
I have also tried to contact the 4 previous owners. To do this, I contacted DVLA
who for the sum of £5, provide you with a copy of all registration documents. From this information, I sent a letter
to all the owners but unfortunately only received one reply from the owner of the camper in 1976. He returned the letter
with a short note saying that he remembers the camper fondly as he was a farmer and used it for short breaks.
All the other letters were returned, marked unknown. Not surprising really as all were registered at their addresses
prior to 1975. I will try to trace them by using www.192.com and searching for the surnames in the same locality. Might
pull in a few more leads!
January 2004
Finally managed an update on my 74' Devon Camper. The van was taken off the road last year when I moved house and had a garage big enough to store the van in the dry. Up until then, I had used the van for 4 years with minimal TLC - just basic servicing. It past the MOT every year and did everything I needed of it but I knew when I bought it that it would ultimately require a lot of work.
When purchased, the front wheel arches had covers welded over the top and the offside sill wad a deep gouge down its length. I have managed to buy (at shows - always the tight bugger) loads of new panels including front panel, inner, middle and outer sill, pair of doors, door skins, sliding door bottom and inner repair panels. I have also managed to cut a few pieces such as below the rear window from a camper that I scrapped.
A number of the panels I bought, when I got home were a load of rubbish - especially complete rear corners which were a total waste of time. I have also picked up a genuine VW roof rack and Westy tow bat assembly.
As soon as I finish the garage off, I can put my new welder and all the tools I have bought over the years to good use. Just hope its not too long.
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