1984 VW T3 Complete rebuild from scrap to well prepared

[Buckaroo]

To be honest, in 2014 when I bought this van it didn't start out as anything like overland capable.
This was supposed to be a little campervan to get myself and the wife away occasionally.
I had been looking for one of these vans for about a year when I found this one.
Completely rotten from the door handles down, interior smelled like your grannies outside dunny, complete strip out and start again.
I bought an angle grinder and a mig welder within an hour of driving the van home. The gods of vanners must have been with me that day for the vehicle to actually make it the entire 12 miles home before all manner of things collapsed.
This lot was removed due to the rot. I think I should have scrapped it at this point.
After a lot of thought ...I had ordered the new body panels, sills, chassis cross members and a shit load of other wallet emptying parts.
So I continued on the left ( as viewed from the rear) hand side.

 

[Buckaroo]

Then after the rot removal and fabricating the missing parts, time to weld in the new panels.
Got myself a pair of good trailing arms too, in 2014 when I was building the van, these were not available from the usual sources. JP Group have since started making them and are available world wide.

 

[Buckaroo]

That takes us around to the right hand side where things were looking quite grim.
More rust to cut away, more parts to fabricate and weld in and more panels to replace.

 

[Buckaroo]

We had two headlamps...and then..

 

[Buckaroo]

Standard seats were abysmal. so out they came.. fabricated a new subframe with my mig welder, in went the centre row from Kia Sedona
Nice comfy armchairs.

 

[Buckaroo]

Then I started the 40mm thick myothene insulation and the carpet lining.

 

[MazeVX]

A lot of work! Well done!
Even here in the VW Bus homeland you don't see much T3 in good condition.

 

[Buckaroo]

A lot of work! Well done!
Even here in the VW Bus homeland you don't see much T3 in good condition.

Thankyou Mathias, it's still on going.
Every week I find something I "Just Gotta Have" which usually something more capable/stronger than what I have

 

[Buckaroo]

December 2014 was a busy month.
The previous 14 owners had all added their own bit of electrical circuitry to the van, out it came and a complete rewire with heftier cable.
Installed a water gauge for the new tank
installed a swivel for the passenger seat
made a table for the passenger seat
wired the fridge for mains power and 12 volt, checked the propane connections for that too.
2 of the chickens decided to join me in the van for a bit of warmth :-)
Installed the LED roof lights around the vent.

 

[Sneaks]

Nice, damn that’s a lot of metal work! I’m building up its older brother (‘79 Bay). Ironic, everyone in the T2 world wants Vanagon seats cuz they are better than the Bay one, which makes the stock T2 seats sub-abysmal:). Watching this one!

 

[MazeVX]

Thankyou Mathias, it's still on going.
Every week I find something I "Just Gotta Have" which usually something more capable/stronger than what I have

What motor are you running?

 

[Buckaroo]

Which brings us to Spring 2015.
This is what happens when you find a set of blacked out, series 1 landrover windows at a bargain price.
.....and a pair of stainless steel side impact bars.

 

[Buckaroo]

July was a slow month due to working hours.
Rear brakes were shot, everything was either rotten, corroded solid or worn out.
soooo...... rear disc brake conversion time.
Better brakes, easier to maintain, less parts involved.


The original 14" steel wheels looked a bit tired and rusty,
then came some shiney 15" alloy fox racing wheels which I thought was a good idea at the time.
These have since been replaced with 16" steel Mefro wheels.


And the Terrawagen DRL
and the Taifun grilles

 

[Buckaroo]

What motor are you running?

This is my daily drive, I converted it from a petrol WBX engine to a 1.9L diesel from a 1996 VW Golf.

 

[Buckaroo]

August was fun.
a pic I sent to my eldest daughter, That's her van on the right.


Yes, I was working on both vans at the same time...now you know why it's taking so long.

 

[Buckaroo]

September ... Paint and solar panel installation

Birthday cake wifey and youngest daughter made for me :-)

 

[Buckaroo]

October:
Painted both vans and started putting all the fixtures and fittings back on.


Added a Hawk alarm system to mine

If you wanna disarm it, you need to dismantle the front of the van. It has it's own backup battery :-)


Fit the overhead console I bought from Germany, fit the CB radio and that rear view mirror ...more about that later.
Oooooo!, my daughters made me a new headliner from the same material as the rest of the vans lining. it's fabulous.



fit the solar controller and a test wire to the battery

 

[Buckaroo]

Onboard water supply and electrics came next.
Not available as a kit for a van as old as this, so created it myself.


50 litres of water and a water level sender unit.

Which is displayed here
after being filled up from here.
There we go, water on tap.

next up was the propane stove... I checked all the connections, fit a full 6Kg propane bottle and ...Behold, LORD OF THE FLAME

2 burners and a grill. December 2015 was a productive month in the van.

 

[Buckaroo]

Happy New Year.
January 2016 was fitting parts back into the van and upholstery

Also the 1980's taste for camper interiors for some reason had to resemble a 1960's caravan. I didn't like it.
I bought a roll of black carbon vinyl and procceded to do this?

 

[Buckaroo]

Feb. 2016.
Full curtain set from Wuppental in Germany has arrived.


..and it all fits.