w00dy's Wheels - Vana-allmymoneys-gon

[Supernaut]

Snap!

I agree with you about the east coast part of it.

Going up the west coast, through Ullapool, and around a bit of the north coast was nice. I then spent a couple of nights in a cottage west of Thurso and got rather bored.

It then took me over 5 hours from Thurso to the parents' farm in Aberdeenshire, and the standards of driving on the A9 were atrocious.

[w00dy]

The last thing I need right now is another vehicle. And yet here we are.

[w00dy]

I'm scared, but in love.

[Hertz]

That looks great. Petrol or Diesel? Have a safe trip back.

[w00dy]

  On 13/02/2023 at 15:22, Hertz said:

That looks great. Petrol or Diesel? Have a safe trip back.

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Thanks. 1.6td with a 5 speed dogleg box which seems like an nice combo. Not painfully slow and fuel economy seems pretty good.

[w00dy]

Paying for itself already*

 

 

[w00dy]

It was all going so well until it wasn't.

pleased with making good progress and on the home stretch, we were in a nice groove, cruising at a decent speed and then the cabin filled with acrid smoke. Ditched it into the emergency layby and having enjoyed* my first ever use of the SOS phone I returned to the van in hope of actually hearing the AA whilst at the side of the M5 I discovered flames eminating from under the driver's seat. Run off back to the SOS phone and await the inevitable demise of the van. Having mentioned that there was an LPG tank on board the response was significant although felt like it took ages. I think there were 4 fire trucks at one point. Luckily the fire had extinguished itself and after an excellent AA lady recovered me home (Maestro van owner even!) here we are.

[NorthernMonkey]

Fuck!!

Too tall a battery and the terminals shorted on the seat springs?

Nice to see VW kept the tradition of self combustion going in their later vans….. 😳😳

Good to see minimal damage though 👍👍

[w00dy]

  On 14/02/2023 at 10:52, NorthernMonkey said:

Fuck!!

Too tall a battery and the terminals shorted on the seat springs?

Nice to see VW kept the tradition of self combustion going in their later vans….. 😳😳

Good to see minimal damage though 👍👍

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I don't think so. Didn't give it a proper check before the incident, but there's a decent sized cover folded out of the way for that photo which should prevent it. 

Split charging leisure systems are something I know nothing about, but something tells me I need to get to grips with it.

[320touring]

Ah man. That's a pisser. Glad you are ok though.

 

Hope it's nothing major to resolve

[High Jetter]

I think you're lucky the fire died out, otherwise it could have been an ex-van. Start Stop battery tho?

[w00dy]

  On 14/02/2023 at 12:33, 320touring said:

Ah man. That's a pisser. Glad you are ok though.

 

Hope it's nothing major to resolve

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Thanks, I guess it's an opportunity to uograde and learn about the system, so that's something. I did't expect vanlife to be cheap, but hopefully it won;t be too bad

  On 14/02/2023 at 13:10, High Jetter said:

I think you're lucky the fire died out, otherwise it could have been an ex-van. Start Stop battery tho?

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Definitely. As I got off the SOS phone to tell them it was on fire and wait knowing I shouldn't get any closer to the most expensive (by far) vehicle that I've ever purchased since it was likely about to end its life a burning wreck, desperate for the Fire service to arrive it was all slightly overwhelming.  

Massive thanks have to be said for the fire service and Motorway patrol who were all excellent.

[Hertz]

Oh no what a nightmare. Thankfully you are ok that's the main thing.

The T25 community seem to be a friendly bunch so they should be able to assist if you join one of the various FB groups if you need anything.

See a lot of these go up in smoke unfortunately (mainly engine/fuel fires), I'm going to install an extinguisher in mine before we start using it in Spring.

 

[SiC]

Bit of a shitter but actually turned out well given the circumstances. They do have a reputation for self combustion and thankfully it looks like the materials used were appropriate   

[DSdriver]

At least you weren't sitting in the seat when it caught fire, a burning bum whilst on the motorway is a scary situation as I found out when the heated seat decided to spontaneously combust in one of my Volvos a few years back 

[Missy Charm]

Glad you're all right and that the fire didn't spread.  Do you know what caught yet?  

[BorniteIdentity]

Oooh - proper drama!  Haven't had that in EONS on a collection thread.  Congratulations

I always thought SOS phones and Marker Signs were now just there for decoration.  It's reassuring to know they actually work!

[dave j]

Was reading through and thought that's a lovely van, then read on. So glad it didn't go up in flames! 

[w00dy]

  On 14/02/2023 at 19:59, Hertz said:

Oh no what a nightmare. Thankfully you are ok that's the main thing.

The T25 community seem to be a friendly bunch so they should be able to assist if you join one of the various FB groups if you need anything.

See a lot of these go up in smoke unfortunately (mainly engine/fuel fires), I'm going to install an extinguisher in mine before we start using it in Spring.

 

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Thanks, I always loved the VW community when I was a Beetle owner. 

  On 14/02/2023 at 20:15, SiC said:

Bit of a shitter but actually turned out well given the circumstances. They do have a reputation for self combustion and thankfully it looks like the materials used were appropriate   

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Yeh, I wonder if the seats hadn't been partially recovered whether the original Westfalia fabric would've been quite so fire resistant and that I still have a mostly intact van is a great result.

  On 14/02/2023 at 20:34, DSdriver said:

At least you weren't sitting in the seat when it caught fire, a burning bum whilst on the motorway is a scary situation as I found out when the heated seat decided to spontaneously combust in one of my Volvos a few years back 

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Ouch! That sounds very scary.

  On 14/02/2023 at 21:01, Missy Charm said:

Glad you're all right and that the fire didn't spread.  Do you know what caught yet?  

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Thanks, I haven't really spent any time looking into it yet, but I'm guessing potentially over charging of the leisure battery

  On 14/02/2023 at 21:34, BorniteIdentity said:

Oooh - proper drama!  Haven't had that in EONS on a collection thread.  Congratulations

I always thought SOS phones and Marker Signs were now just there for decoration.  It's reassuring to know they actually work!

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I'd have preferred dull and successful, but it makes for a decent story at least!

  On 15/02/2023 at 12:43, dave j said:

Was reading through and thought that's a lovely van, then read on. So glad it didn't go up in flames! 

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Thanks. Me too, I'd have felt terrible that a decent Cali had been killed by me.

[w00dy]

So why have I bought it? This is me as a small child in the mid-90s with my families beloved 1982 Devon Moonraker (I never knew NASA was quite so into brown patterned fabric). I have many happy memories of driving down to Spain with the aircooled engine thrumming away.

Often on these trips I'd see Westfalias and other Euro-spec vans and thought they seemed impossibly cool next to our rather mode dowdy van (although the neon swoosh definitely helped in my mind, lost in a later repaint sadly) 

If you've spent as much time on Youtube as I do, you might have seen the love for Vanagon Westfalias on various "Vanlife" channels (Living The Van Life is worth a watch for excellent cinematography and scenery) 

In America and Europe these vans have a serious cult following and have become rather pricey. The Westfalia conversions are incredibly designed and built putting much more modern stuff to shame.

In 1989 Westfalia introduced the original California (and Atlantic, higher spec models) before the the T4 took over (In the UK we call it a T25 for reasons I'm not entirely clear on, but it's what I've always known them as, but T3 is often used elsewhere)

https://westfaliat3.info/html/westfalia_t3_california.html
 

For most vehicles I like the earliest examples more than facelifts in general, but I think the T25 is at its best with the quad square headlamps and bigger bumpers. I'm also a sucker for Porsche wheels on old VWs so when this popped up I was immediately taken by it.

I definitely didn't need another vehicle, but I couldn't help but ask after it since it looked so clean in the photos. Finding out there was some Youtube videos on it showing that it wasn't some hastily repainted rot box and I was already in too deep.

There are 3 videos in the series which go into the work they did and for me illustrate that the van is surprisingly clean compared to many and very original.
The chap I bought it from got it at the start of last year and spent some money on it, including the big bumper kit, lowering and the Porsche wheels as well as a new roof canvas and some interior trim. To some it'll be a shame that some originality is lost, but it's al reversible and I think it looks good.

 

[Low Horatio gearbox]

Immense buy , err congratulations on you both surviving the purchase .

I'd  suspect  the charging system /wiring as the source.

[DSdriver]

Overcharging batteries create hydrogen which tends to go boom. Fit a good monoxide alarm because although they don't tell you, these do go off when a battery is knackered and gassing whilst being charged. I found this out when the CO alarm on my boat awoke me in the middle of the night, there was nothing that could create monoxide being used but the batteries were on charge so I switched the charger off, opened the hatches and shivered for an hour. Next day I telephoned the alarm manufacturer and spoke to someone in their technical department who confirmed that the battery was the cause of the alarm.

[w00dy]

  On 15/02/2023 at 17:12, Low Horatio gearbox said:

Immense buy , err congratulations on you both surviving the purchase .

I'd  suspect  the charging system /wiring as the source.

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Thanks. I stupidly didn;t even look at it before the purchase so no idea how ropey it looked beforehand.

  On 15/02/2023 at 17:42, DSdriver said:

Overcharging batteries create hydrogen which tends to go boom. Fit a good monoxide alarm because although they don't tell you, these do go off when a battery is knackered and gassing whilst being charged. I found this out when the CO alarm on my boat awoke me in the middle of the night, there was nothing that could create monoxide being used but the batteries were on charge so I switched the charger off, opened the hatches and shivered for an hour. Next day I telephoned the alarm manufacturer and spoke to someone in their technical department who confirmed that the battery was the cause of the alarm.

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Thanks. I guess since I didn't go up in flames and the battery hasn't got any signs of leaking then it probably didn't overcharge. Definitely will get a CO alarm, I was drawing up a list of camping bits to get before it all went wrong!

[De Selby]

  On 15/02/2023 at 16:16, w00dy said:

So why have I bought it? This is me as a small child in the mid-90s with my families beloved 1982 Devon Moonraker (I never knew NASA was quite so into brown patterned fabric). I have many happy memories of driving down to Spain with the aircooled engine thrumming away.

Often on these trips I'd see Westfalias and other Euro-spec vans and thought they seemed impossibly cool next to our rather mode dowdy van (although the neon swoosh definitely helped in my mind, lost in a later repaint sadly) 

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I always had similar feelings towards T2s - we had a Devon conversion back in the 80s when they were still fairly undesirable. Not long after he bought it, Dad's car cracked its engine block so the VW became the daily driver for a few years.

This one  has an identical interior, a real symphony of cream and beige with those original fabrics. The Westfalias always seemed a bit more solid but the Devon seating layout was very practical, if completely unsafe by modern standards.

[Missy Charm]

  On 16/02/2023 at 12:32, De Selby said:

I always had similar feelings towards T2s - we had a Devon conversion back in the 80s when they were still fairly undesirable. Not long after he bought it, Dad's car cracked its engine block so the VW became the daily driver for a few years.

This one  has an identical interior, a real symphony of cream and beige with those original fabrics. The Westfalias always seemed a bit more solid but the Devon seating layout was very practical, if completely unsafe by modern standards.

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Surprised the Kombi sold by Bonham's went for so little.  Is the market saturated, do we think?  I like the things, but have always thought of them as being too expensive to bother thinking about.  Perhaps prices have declined.  

[De Selby]

  On 17/02/2023 at 16:55, Missy Charm said:

Surprised the Kombi sold by Bonham's went for so little.  Is the market saturated, do we think?  I like the things, but have always thought of them as being too expensive to bother thinking about.  Perhaps prices have declined.  

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Needed a bit of restoration and was pre 2020 I guess? Prices seem to have gone a bit nuts again since. I do really like them and that Devon Caravelle oozes pure nostalgia for me (even if I couldn't really afford one myself) but in all honesty I don't think a Type 2 is a very practical vehicle to run these days - that must surely limit prices.

[w00dy]

Having had a poke around, the only issue I can see is that the neg lead appears to have combusted. All the positive wiring seems fine aside from some soot where it was close to the negative wiring. Battery is at 12.4v. could it just have been a bad earth? Any thoughts appreciated.

[Low Horatio gearbox]

Not a elctramagician, but that earth strap looks a bit weedy and thin to  be in the charging circuit directly attached to the battery

[w00dy]

  On 21/02/2023 at 13:20, Low Horatio gearbox said:

Not a elctramagician, but that earth strap looks a bit weedy and thin to  be in the charging circuit directly attached to the battery

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It does look a bit weedy, have ordered a decent one now. Asked about on the facebook group for T25 Westys and they said a 190 height battery like mine will often short out on the cover so looks like that was the issue given the PO had only just fitted it. New battery ordered .

[w00dy]