1988 LT35 camper, fresh MOT again, page 4

[gdhaydock]

Back now, I'm sure john will drop in here in a bit

[Noel Tidybeard]

I am also up & kicking, and grappling with the first puzzle of the day: how does one successfully perform a woollard on a Mk 1 LT, since the engine is located under a cover between the front seats?

 

Is there even such a thing as an *internal* woollard?

a proper Woolard involves the front bumper so the location of the donkey is largely irrelevant

[worldofceri]

Four pages and no pez station shot yet.

 

This forum isn't what it could have been yesterday.

[gdhaydock]

As requested here's the obligatory pez station shot

 

 

This is John when he first saw his new purchase

 

[greengartside]

Nice purchase! YNC is a Manchester number so it's heading home (almost).

[John F]

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[RichL]

That's the worst advert for Shell V Power I've ever seen.

 

Looks like a decent van though. Enjoy!

[John F]

On 4/26/2015 at 12:09 PM, RichardK said:

See that cross between the M1 and Market Harborough, below Leicester? That's where I am. Feel free to pop in for tea, I'll nip out and get biscuits.

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[SambaS]

No probs, looks a nice beast, glad you got it home okay!

[bub2006]

Where are the wheels and where they need going to? I can maybe help for fuel costs?

[mat_the_cat]

How did I miss this thread? Good buy

 

Bonus points for the giffer-tastic extra set of back lights! SOOPERB!

 

 

 

In my defence they are handy when the bikes are on the back, saves faffing around with a trailer board.

 

Gear linkage is a common problem - 3 main things to wear: ball at the bottom of the lever, bushes on the cross shaft, and bushes on the front to rear linkage. Ball is still available as it's shared with the T5 but bushes no longer, but I can let you have measurements if needed. (I managed to find one bush left in the dealer network, and got a few more made from this as a pattern but sadly all sold now).

[John F]

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[vulgalour]

Styling with all the grace of a towerblock sliding down a mountain.  What a superb purchase.  I look forward to seeing the camper conversion rear doors in picture form, the description sounds amazing.

[gdhaydock]

Right... back now.

 

Sorry about the lack of updates, there was no decent signal on the A1 for big chunks of the journey.

 

Edd, sorry mate - we couldn't do the detour to pick up your wheels, it would have added another couple of hours to the journey as the LT is  S L O W (although not bad for what it is I suppose).

 

First impressions were that it's a 10-footer. There's a surprising absence of 'structural wob' and it seems to be pretty clean underneath, but the paintwork is pretty patchy (it was clearly once blue). I got more worried when there was the smell of wires scorching when I started it up... thankfully this problem didn't return & everything still works, I suspect it might be the wires from the stereo that the mingebag seller had removed (the git!). Also, whoever converted it to a camper just bolted the rear doors shut & fulled the seams with wob. It looks crap and will need sorting out.

 

Initial driving impressions were also not good. The steering is shitloads heavier than my old LT28, there's a blow from the exhaust (causing fumes in the cabin) and the gear selection is crap - the linkage will definitely need attention. And there appears to be a diesel leak from the filler tube.

 

But as the journey continued, I started to like it. The engine sounds ace, apart from the blowing exhaust, and it has GOBS of torque. Roundabouts could be traversed at 20 mph in 4th gear. There weren't much in the way of squeaks & rattles, either, and the "small lorry" driving position is ace.

 

So... I'll sort out the MOT issues and the worst of the other niggles, and use it as it is for a while.

 

Verdict: happy!

 

 

It's probably worth pointing out that they have only used the bottom half of the LT's original rear doors, the upper half has what can only be described as the lift up flap from a burger van grafted in horizontally and held into place with a mixture of silicone, wob and lady luck. An aged plastic window from a 1980s caravan has then been inserted into this panel. The result is absolutely magnificent.

[John F]

On 4/27/2015 at 11:24 AM, vulgalour said:

Styling with all the grace of a towerblock sliding down a mountain.  What a superb purchase.  I look forward to seeing the camper conversion rear doors in picture form, the description sounds amazing.

 

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[gdhaydock]

We need a detailed shot of the outside of the back door arrangement as well

[John F]

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[John F]

Close-up of the threaded bar / nut gubbins:

 

 

Another view of the wobbed horror:

 

[KruJoe]

Please don't try to smarten it up too much. It's never gonna be a VW camper van.

Oh, hold on...

[John F]

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[KruJoe]

Oh shit. I feel your pain, brother.

[320touring]

I'd wager you may also get waves from other serial killers too;)

 

Horrifically lovely!

[mat_the_cat]

I'm really pleased that one of these vans has been bought by a decent engineer - I'll have someone to talk technical with! I'm a member of another forum which has an LT section, and also a FB page; but members who know what they're doing are few and far between! We've had posts such as this, which makes me despair...

http://www.brick-yard.co.uk/forum/headlights-on-lt35_topic81823.html

 

I've noticed they are becoming more 'scene', possibly as a cheap(er) way into the world of VW campers? This makes me slightly sad It doesn't bother me what other people do (although it's just not for me), but I'm half starting to worry about people thinking I only have one just to fit in!

[John F]

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[worldofceri]

... posts such as this, which makes me despair...

http://www.brick-yard.co.uk/forum/headlights-on-lt35_topic81823.html

 

Had the van four years and not figured out how the lights work?  Good grief.

[barefoot]

I'll have you know I've written an article about an LT in the June issue of a popular VW scene mag. "On the cusp of becoming the next big thing" I wrote...

[Richard]

Christ, that's worse than the Volvo forum.

[John F]

On 4/28/2015 at 5:10 PM, barefoot said:

I'll have you know I've written an article about an LT in the June issue of a popular VW scene mag. "On the cusp of becoming the next big thing" I wrote...

 

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[OwdChina]

"ive been confusing the blue light for meaning my fog lights are on....."

 

Oh God help us.........It's no wonder that I wouldn't trust some people to even manage to sit on the toilet the right way round ....................sigh

[mat_the_cat]

On the other hand, there are some good home conversions in there - I seem to remember a Turkish chap doing an excellent DIY job on his interior.

 

If it's the guy I'm thinking of he did a nice job on fitting an Audi V6 TDi engine, so there are some good engineers on there - just that they get rather 'lost' at times. LTcamper89 is one who knows his stuff too, and a decent bloke to boot.

 

at least they'll be there to pay you £shitloads if you ever decide to sell your van 

 

No danger of that happening in the foreseeable future

 

I'll have you know I've written an article about an LT in the June issue of a popular VW scene mag. "On the cusp of becoming the next big thing" I wrote...

 

I think I remember another of your articles in a mag (which also featured a gathering of LTs) about cooking...something about not being allowed in a pub for reasons of H&S!