The Honeymoon - 1998 VW Transporter
Discussion
Well who would have known when we booked our wedding back in 2016 that there would be a global pandemic!
Apologies, I will get to the vehicular portion of this post eventually..
Despite 4.5 years of best laid plans the wedding got pushed back to 2021, we had the honeymoon booked for March/Aug 2021 but decided we should leave it alone and do it before the wedding. Then came the big announcement, small weddings will be able to go ahead, and that small receptions would be allowed. All of a sudden a call from the church and after a bit of deliberation and 4 weeks notice we were back on at a much reduced scale and retaining next year's dates/booking for a re-do.
Church booked, photographer booked, caterer booked and 30 guests invited, ready to rock. Day before the wedding and blam! Boris announces no wedding receptions, no facial treatments. The wife to be was still at work, called round supplier, hairdresser ok, makeup no, reception no! Nothing i like more than rushing out to Debenhams to buy makeup for her the night before the wedding.
All's well, we got married, and had 3 days away in Bath as the wife's leave was cancelled and that's all we could do. We still had they honeymoon booked, 3 nights in Singapore, a cruise through Asia back to Dubai and a hop into India for a 7 night tour of the golden triangle. Nope, cancelled, cruise no longer happening and nothing in the schedules for 2022 so refund due.
Given the Coronacoaster we'd been on, we decided to play it safe and stay in the UK. Like many people we started looking for a camper van.
Pulled the trigger just over a week ago.
1998 VW Transporter T4 1.9TD with a just ran in 200k miles.
No central locking to wrong
No electric windows to go wrong
No air conditioning to go wrong
Plus points
+ New exhaust turbo back
+ Bottom end rebuild to sort an oil leak, new belts/waterpump
+ New front shocks
+ New rear disks/pads/calipers
+ New radiator and Fans
+ recent clutch
Negatives
- Some minor rust bubbling under paint on arches
- headlight adjusters broke on drivers side
Had the van on friend's ramp and he found a small well hidden hole that had been bodged over but its not big and will get it actual metal welded in before winter sets in and the salt hits the roads.
He confirmed a good purchase that wasn't needing to become a project any time soon.
so far I have done the following;
Interior pictures to come, the wife is currently titivating the interior, will post an update when shes done with that along with the inteior spec although its very much what you would expect.
Apologies, I will get to the vehicular portion of this post eventually..
Despite 4.5 years of best laid plans the wedding got pushed back to 2021, we had the honeymoon booked for March/Aug 2021 but decided we should leave it alone and do it before the wedding. Then came the big announcement, small weddings will be able to go ahead, and that small receptions would be allowed. All of a sudden a call from the church and after a bit of deliberation and 4 weeks notice we were back on at a much reduced scale and retaining next year's dates/booking for a re-do.
Church booked, photographer booked, caterer booked and 30 guests invited, ready to rock. Day before the wedding and blam! Boris announces no wedding receptions, no facial treatments. The wife to be was still at work, called round supplier, hairdresser ok, makeup no, reception no! Nothing i like more than rushing out to Debenhams to buy makeup for her the night before the wedding.
All's well, we got married, and had 3 days away in Bath as the wife's leave was cancelled and that's all we could do. We still had they honeymoon booked, 3 nights in Singapore, a cruise through Asia back to Dubai and a hop into India for a 7 night tour of the golden triangle. Nope, cancelled, cruise no longer happening and nothing in the schedules for 2022 so refund due.
Given the Coronacoaster we'd been on, we decided to play it safe and stay in the UK. Like many people we started looking for a camper van.
Pulled the trigger just over a week ago.
1998 VW Transporter T4 1.9TD with a just ran in 200k miles.
No central locking to wrong
No electric windows to go wrong
No air conditioning to go wrong
Plus points
+ New exhaust turbo back
+ Bottom end rebuild to sort an oil leak, new belts/waterpump
+ New front shocks
+ New rear disks/pads/calipers
+ New radiator and Fans
+ recent clutch
Negatives
- Some minor rust bubbling under paint on arches
- headlight adjusters broke on drivers side
Had the van on friend's ramp and he found a small well hidden hole that had been bodged over but its not big and will get it actual metal welded in before winter sets in and the salt hits the roads.
He confirmed a good purchase that wasn't needing to become a project any time soon.
so far I have done the following;
- Headlight Loom upgrade completed
- Replaced broken adjusters
- Clutch pedal reinforcement bracket
- fueling / boost tweak (with 68bhp its no fireball, 80+bhp is achievable without buying parts but not until I've had a few months of trouble free motoring)
- Wind deflectors
- Short shift modification
Interior pictures to come, the wife is currently titivating the interior, will post an update when shes done with that along with the inteior spec although its very much what you would expect.
Edited by andburg on Monday 12th October 09:29
I was actively looking for a nice T4 just prior to the lockdown, and almost overnight the prices went utterly ridiculous. Project vans going from £1,000 to £3,000, converted vans as high as £12k 
Just a sea of potential money pits as people tried desperately to capitalise. Needless to say, I gave up.
That looks like a good one, best of luck with it and the adventures.
Just a sea of potential money pits as people tried desperately to capitalise. Needless to say, I gave up.That looks like a good one, best of luck with it and the adventures.
Congratulations! A great solution in the face of adversity and hopefully the beginning of many adventures.
How do you find the space? Do you plan to sleep in the camper or carry a tent? I am interested in something similar but not sure how I'd get on with the size - I'm not particularly big but just like a feeling of space, of not being cramped.
Be interested in your feedback.
How do you find the space? Do you plan to sleep in the camper or carry a tent? I am interested in something similar but not sure how I'd get on with the size - I'm not particularly big but just like a feeling of space, of not being cramped.
Be interested in your feedback.
Jimmy, i think advertised prices went through the roof, but actual sale prices barely moved. Spent a long time trawling ebay completed listings before i started looking properly to gauge the market. I paid under £7000 for this van, seller was reasonable and agreed that people were asking for stupid money, he had been advised by people in the scene that this was a £9000 van current market!
Spent a month looking at Bongo's and other van conversions, the bongo's were either owned by dreamers or had been in the country a while and rotten. The vivaro/transit conversions were too wide for the wife to feel comfortable driving. We had actually made an offer on a Bongo when we did this deal but i dont think the seller liked my offer.
advertised at £5500, 95 Bongo 2.5td AFT with an 18 month old full conversion and 200,000km on the clock. Looked ok in pictures but on arrival the arches had been repaired, the paint didn't match and no attempt made to blend, they were MOT solid but cosmetically poor. the conversion was lovey and clearly had not been heavily used. The free top had a failed motor so took ages to erect. 4 tyres, all called out as perished on last MOT with cracked sidewalls and the MOT was due in a month, currently under the 18 month extension. Van hadn't moved since the last MOT, SORN so no test drive possible. I left but made an offer of £4000 providing the seller replaced all 4 tyres and got a fresh MOT put on it, on the basis i wouldn't feel safe to drive home on those tyres and it would likely not pass an MOT due to the time stood and brakes sticking. She did get back to me......eventually saying she'd take £4500. Her closing push was that once the arches had been redone and a fresh MOT put on it'd be a £10k van.....dreamers never change. unsurprisingly it is still advertised now,reduced to £4500, someone who doesn't mind the mismatched paint will probably buy it but its only a £6500 van with all the work done.
BlueJ.
Its good, bed is wide enough to sleep 2 with some comfort, with the cupboards in place its about 1m20 wide, akin to a small double bed. We do intend to carry a small utility tent for a portable loo / changing room.
The wife really wanted a Bongo but the extra space of the VW convinced her, no kids so the freetop wouldnt have made much difference. If we go somehwere for a prolonged period we will take the aptly named fabric palace and full camping gear then just use the van to sleep in.
Problem is storage, no space behind the bed for anything so its small cupboards or load the floor in the middle and you lose use of the bed/rear seats.
Space under the bed is taken up with bedding, another cupboard is lost to the gas cannister and water bottles so that only leaves 2 cupboards about the size of a carry on suitcase, and a medium case for everything.
Spent a month looking at Bongo's and other van conversions, the bongo's were either owned by dreamers or had been in the country a while and rotten. The vivaro/transit conversions were too wide for the wife to feel comfortable driving. We had actually made an offer on a Bongo when we did this deal but i dont think the seller liked my offer.
advertised at £5500, 95 Bongo 2.5td AFT with an 18 month old full conversion and 200,000km on the clock. Looked ok in pictures but on arrival the arches had been repaired, the paint didn't match and no attempt made to blend, they were MOT solid but cosmetically poor. the conversion was lovey and clearly had not been heavily used. The free top had a failed motor so took ages to erect. 4 tyres, all called out as perished on last MOT with cracked sidewalls and the MOT was due in a month, currently under the 18 month extension. Van hadn't moved since the last MOT, SORN so no test drive possible. I left but made an offer of £4000 providing the seller replaced all 4 tyres and got a fresh MOT put on it, on the basis i wouldn't feel safe to drive home on those tyres and it would likely not pass an MOT due to the time stood and brakes sticking. She did get back to me......eventually saying she'd take £4500. Her closing push was that once the arches had been redone and a fresh MOT put on it'd be a £10k van.....dreamers never change. unsurprisingly it is still advertised now,reduced to £4500, someone who doesn't mind the mismatched paint will probably buy it but its only a £6500 van with all the work done.
BlueJ.
Its good, bed is wide enough to sleep 2 with some comfort, with the cupboards in place its about 1m20 wide, akin to a small double bed. We do intend to carry a small utility tent for a portable loo / changing room.
The wife really wanted a Bongo but the extra space of the VW convinced her, no kids so the freetop wouldnt have made much difference. If we go somehwere for a prolonged period we will take the aptly named fabric palace and full camping gear then just use the van to sleep in.
Problem is storage, no space behind the bed for anything so its small cupboards or load the floor in the middle and you lose use of the bed/rear seats.
Space under the bed is taken up with bedding, another cupboard is lost to the gas cannister and water bottles so that only leaves 2 cupboards about the size of a carry on suitcase, and a medium case for everything.
andburg said:
BlueJ.
Its good, bed is wide enough to sleep 2 with some comfort, with the cupboards in place its about 1m20 wide, akin to a small double bed. We do intend to carry a small utility tent for a portable loo / changing room.
The wife really wanted a Bongo but the extra space of the VW convinced her, no kids so the freetop wouldnt have made much difference. If we go somehwere for a prolonged period we will take the aptly named fabric palace and full camping gear then just use the van to sleep in.
Problem is storage, no space behind the bed for anything so its small cupboards or load the floor in the middle and you lose use of the bed/rear seats.
Space under the bed is taken up with bedding, another cupboard is lost to the gas cannister and water bottles so that only leaves 2 cupboards about the size of a carry on suitcase, and a medium case for everything.
Thanks, that's useful.Its good, bed is wide enough to sleep 2 with some comfort, with the cupboards in place its about 1m20 wide, akin to a small double bed. We do intend to carry a small utility tent for a portable loo / changing room.
The wife really wanted a Bongo but the extra space of the VW convinced her, no kids so the freetop wouldnt have made much difference. If we go somehwere for a prolonged period we will take the aptly named fabric palace and full camping gear then just use the van to sleep in.
Problem is storage, no space behind the bed for anything so its small cupboards or load the floor in the middle and you lose use of the bed/rear seats.
Space under the bed is taken up with bedding, another cupboard is lost to the gas cannister and water bottles so that only leaves 2 cupboards about the size of a carry on suitcase, and a medium case for everything.
BlueJ said:
Thanks, that's useful.
no worries, worth noting it depends on the bed fitted, and where its fitted. The bed in mine could be fitted 12" further forward and that would give storage behind but prevent the fridge from being opened when down. Some beds are made of 4 sections, the rear most lets you sit in the back facing backwards with the doors open and give you big pocket to throw cushions/duvets etc behind. Mine is 3 sections and when in seat mode the rear most is vertical and almost touching the doors so doesn't have that useful pocket of space.LWB vans are more flexible for storage but that does mean they're a bit more awkward to park and manouvre on smaller roads
Congratulations on the new purchase, the van looks lovely.
My gf and I have done exactly the same as you, we bought our T5 1.9TDI back in April which turned out to be a brilliant idea. This is the only car/van I've ever owned to go up in value. Not that we have any inclination to sell up. Anyway this is our van -
I have so many mods planned, firstly is to remove the wheels and facelift the front end.
Best of luck with yours
My gf and I have done exactly the same as you, we bought our T5 1.9TDI back in April which turned out to be a brilliant idea. This is the only car/van I've ever owned to go up in value. Not that we have any inclination to sell up. Anyway this is our van -
I have so many mods planned, firstly is to remove the wheels and facelift the front end.
Best of luck with yours
Pig benis said:
Congratulations on the new purchase, the van looks lovely.
My gf and I have done exactly the same as you, we bought our T5 1.9TDI back in April which turned out to be a brilliant idea. This is the only car/van I've ever owned to go up in value. Not that we have any inclination to sell up. Anyway this is our van -
I have so many mods planned, firstly is to remove the wheels and facelift the front end.
Best of luck with yours
ThanksMy gf and I have done exactly the same as you, we bought our T5 1.9TDI back in April which turned out to be a brilliant idea. This is the only car/van I've ever owned to go up in value. Not that we have any inclination to sell up. Anyway this is our van -
I have so many mods planned, firstly is to remove the wheels and facelift the front end.
Best of luck with yours
Fingers crossed all is well for you, we looked at a couple of T5's but they weren't realistic with our modest budget.
advice from a friend of mine, if you're doing the T6 front conversion be sure to check your ECU/Fuse housing is solid and dry. His van has been practically written off as his was cracked and whenever it rained got wet allowing rust/corrosion. New ECU and looking like a full loom replacement or at least a lot of chopping and replacing to get it working again!
Minor update, had our first issue with the van, rear door decided not to open as the bottom latch wouldn't open.
Not exactly ideal on the day you you take the in-laws and nephew out for a run and and stop for lunch. Had to put the bed down to take the table off the back door and then to put it back. Obviously not the first time as removing the ply lining revealed the carpet behind had been slice to allow access. 15 minutes with a small brush, some degreaser, a bit of wet and dry and it was operational again.
Prime Day say we spend a little money, some new dash speakers and some LED reversing bulbs so will get them fitted when they arrive.
Not exactly ideal on the day you you take the in-laws and nephew out for a run and and stop for lunch. Had to put the bed down to take the table off the back door and then to put it back. Obviously not the first time as removing the ply lining revealed the carpet behind had been slice to allow access. 15 minutes with a small brush, some degreaser, a bit of wet and dry and it was operational again.
Prime Day say we spend a little money, some new dash speakers and some LED reversing bulbs so will get them fitted when they arrive.
andburg said:
Thanks
Fingers crossed all is well for you, we looked at a couple of T5's but they [b]weren't realistic with our modest budget.[\b]
advice from a friend of mine, if you're doing the T6 front conversion be sure to check your ECU/Fuse housing is solid and dry. His van has been practically written off as his was cracked and whenever it rained got wet allowing rust/corrosion. New ECU and looking like a full loom replacement or at least a lot of chopping and replacing to get it working again!
We started with a T4 budget, as we wanted to just dip our feet into camper life without the massive outlay. But after negioating and a desperate seller, we paid T4 money for a T5. We got seriously lucky though and I have no intention of selling the big ol' bus. Fingers crossed all is well for you, we looked at a couple of T5's but they [b]weren't realistic with our modest budget.[\b]
advice from a friend of mine, if you're doing the T6 front conversion be sure to check your ECU/Fuse housing is solid and dry. His van has been practically written off as his was cracked and whenever it rained got wet allowing rust/corrosion. New ECU and looking like a full loom replacement or at least a lot of chopping and replacing to get it working again!
Oh okay, I haven't heard about that issue. I'll do some research and check it out, thanks for the tip.
Thanks
PB
A short update
Had our first proper trip, not without event!
Day 1 - steady roll to cotswolds wildlife park, pretty much had the place to ourselves. Stayed overnight at Hurley riverside park.
Day 2 - Windsor castle and Windsor and stayed ata Hurley again. Realised fridge was heating the contents when on 240v, need to investigate. Could be down to the angle of the van apparently.
Day 3 - Henley on Thames, all going ok until we started to head home and was told in traffic that we had no brake lights.
Checked bulbs/fuses and all good so called breakdown. 1hr watching die hard sat in the back and they arrived, said switch broke, nothing we can do unless you want a flatbed ride home.
Drove home with hand signals.
Switch is a mighty £4 but took it apart, cleaned it up and it’s working again, will order a new switch anyway.
This afternoon I’m off to get a small hole welded up and the investigate a metallic rattle, sounds like a heat shield has come loose.
Edit:
Hole sorted, as ever worse than it appeared but a top job done by Holme valley mot centre. While the van was up on the ramps they even did the short shift mod on the gear stick.
Rattle is coming from the cat, it’s only 3 months old so called the guy I bought it from and he’s going to order a replacement under warranty and replace it.
Had our first proper trip, not without event!
Day 1 - steady roll to cotswolds wildlife park, pretty much had the place to ourselves. Stayed overnight at Hurley riverside park.
Day 2 - Windsor castle and Windsor and stayed ata Hurley again. Realised fridge was heating the contents when on 240v, need to investigate. Could be down to the angle of the van apparently.
Day 3 - Henley on Thames, all going ok until we started to head home and was told in traffic that we had no brake lights.
Checked bulbs/fuses and all good so called breakdown. 1hr watching die hard sat in the back and they arrived, said switch broke, nothing we can do unless you want a flatbed ride home.
Drove home with hand signals.
Switch is a mighty £4 but took it apart, cleaned it up and it’s working again, will order a new switch anyway.
This afternoon I’m off to get a small hole welded up and the investigate a metallic rattle, sounds like a heat shield has come loose.
Edit:
Hole sorted, as ever worse than it appeared but a top job done by Holme valley mot centre. While the van was up on the ramps they even did the short shift mod on the gear stick.
Rattle is coming from the cat, it’s only 3 months old so called the guy I bought it from and he’s going to order a replacement under warranty and replace it.
Edited by andburg on Saturday 24th October 18:37
Edited by andburg on Saturday 24th October 18:39
Minor update:
Filled up after the trip
580 miles
64 litres
By my man maths thats about 41mpg!
The seller stayed true to his word and has replaced the cat which had become completely detached and was rattling around inside the chamber.
Work done by myself;
Trimmed down the rear facing bed trim panel which was prevent access to the nearside rear lights.
Replaced the reverse bulbs with brighter LED's so i can see where I'm going when reversing onto the drive or a camping pitch.
Was hoping for a quick november getaway but that wont be happening now.
All in I'm very happy with the van and looking forward to using it a bit more next year.
Filled up after the trip
580 miles
64 litres
By my man maths thats about 41mpg!
The seller stayed true to his word and has replaced the cat which had become completely detached and was rattling around inside the chamber.
Work done by myself;
Trimmed down the rear facing bed trim panel which was prevent access to the nearside rear lights.
Replaced the reverse bulbs with brighter LED's so i can see where I'm going when reversing onto the drive or a camping pitch.
Was hoping for a quick november getaway but that wont be happening now.
All in I'm very happy with the van and looking forward to using it a bit more next year.
Today was MOT day
1. Deice van windows
2. Find locks frozen solid
3. Deice locks
4. Turn on diesel heater to deice the inside of the van
5. Lay on ice covered ground to remove horn
6. Fit new horn in engine back for easier access and protection from road spray
7. Deice wipers and nozzles
8. Full lights check
9. Drive to mot test without crashing on black ice
10. Drive home with a pass certificate
Not clean but minor advisories
Monitor and repair if necessary (advisories):
Offside Front Track rod end ball joint has slight play (2.1.3 (b) (i))
Play in steering rack inner joint(s) ()
Brake disc worn, pitted or scored, but not seriously weakened front discs inner faces (1.1.14 (a) (ii))
Offside Front Tyre worn close to legal limit/worn on edge (5.2.3 (e))
Nearside Rear Tyre worn close to legal limit/worn on edge (5.2.3 (e))
Knew about tyres and reckon there was some corner swapping in the past.
Steering rack play is very minor.
1. Deice van windows
2. Find locks frozen solid
3. Deice locks
4. Turn on diesel heater to deice the inside of the van
5. Lay on ice covered ground to remove horn
6. Fit new horn in engine back for easier access and protection from road spray
7. Deice wipers and nozzles
8. Full lights check
9. Drive to mot test without crashing on black ice
10. Drive home with a pass certificate
Not clean but minor advisories
Monitor and repair if necessary (advisories):
Offside Front Track rod end ball joint has slight play (2.1.3 (b) (i))
Play in steering rack inner joint(s) ()
Brake disc worn, pitted or scored, but not seriously weakened front discs inner faces (1.1.14 (a) (ii))
Offside Front Tyre worn close to legal limit/worn on edge (5.2.3 (e))
Nearside Rear Tyre worn close to legal limit/worn on edge (5.2.3 (e))
Knew about tyres and reckon there was some corner swapping in the past.
Steering rack play is very minor.
minor update
very few miles done with lockdowns so had a few day trips out to places to keep it ticking over and no issues to report.
bit of tidying done, glueing loose carpet edges back down and such like. Gave the outside a very quick machine polish and the wheels a good clean.
I gained some confidence and have wound the wastegate up/tweaked the fuel screw so I can now climb hills without having to drop 2 gears. Did an oil and filter change, amazed to get oil and a mann filter for less than £15.
Getting re-married soon with the full wedding and plan to escape afterwards in the van for a few days
very few miles done with lockdowns so had a few day trips out to places to keep it ticking over and no issues to report.
bit of tidying done, glueing loose carpet edges back down and such like. Gave the outside a very quick machine polish and the wheels a good clean.
I gained some confidence and have wound the wastegate up/tweaked the fuel screw so I can now climb hills without having to drop 2 gears. Did an oil and filter change, amazed to get oil and a mann filter for less than £15.
Getting re-married soon with the full wedding and plan to escape afterwards in the van for a few days
Wedding done!
Went away to Wales for a few days after in the van, few smokey moments with those welsh hills but van never skipped a beat.
Prepped van a few days beforehand and found 1 valve was fused to the cap, managed to snap it off and had to get a mobile guy out to fit me a new valve, but better on the drive than by the side of the road with a flat!
Day 1
Tripped over to Llandudno and panicked the wife by parking in a multistory car park 1.9m height restrictions, no scrapes but it was definitely close.
Took the scenic route down the Llanberis pass on the way to the campsite
campsite was lovely, proper in the woods but with mostly flat pitches, hookup and wifi.
Day 2
Scenic drive out to Betws-Y-Coed, spot of lunch and general exploring
Portmeirion - lovely italianate fishing village, bit of a massive folly but weather was lovely and you'd be forgiven for thinking you were in Portofino.
Day 3
Ffestiniog heritage railway - First class, observation carriage train from Porthmadog to Carnaerfon and back with luxury food hampers and bubble
Day 4
Went back through Betsw-Y-Coed and stopped at swallow falls, bought some touristy crap from the shop
Van life is definitely growing on me.
Last night we went up to a friend's farm, and 3 of us parked in their field and had our own mini festival. We all laughed at how slow and crap our vans were and who'd win in a slow drag race.
After a couple of hours i found the leisure battery was flat so need to investigate that now. The van had been hooked up to 240v on charge so shouldn't have drained that fast.
booked into a campsite for another weekend away with family for my nieces birthday
Went away to Wales for a few days after in the van, few smokey moments with those welsh hills but van never skipped a beat.
Prepped van a few days beforehand and found 1 valve was fused to the cap, managed to snap it off and had to get a mobile guy out to fit me a new valve, but better on the drive than by the side of the road with a flat!
Day 1
Tripped over to Llandudno and panicked the wife by parking in a multistory car park 1.9m height restrictions, no scrapes but it was definitely close.
Took the scenic route down the Llanberis pass on the way to the campsite
campsite was lovely, proper in the woods but with mostly flat pitches, hookup and wifi.
Day 2
Scenic drive out to Betws-Y-Coed, spot of lunch and general exploring
Portmeirion - lovely italianate fishing village, bit of a massive folly but weather was lovely and you'd be forgiven for thinking you were in Portofino.
Day 3
Ffestiniog heritage railway - First class, observation carriage train from Porthmadog to Carnaerfon and back with luxury food hampers and bubble
Day 4
Went back through Betsw-Y-Coed and stopped at swallow falls, bought some touristy crap from the shop
Van life is definitely growing on me.
Last night we went up to a friend's farm, and 3 of us parked in their field and had our own mini festival. We all laughed at how slow and crap our vans were and who'd win in a slow drag race.
After a couple of hours i found the leisure battery was flat so need to investigate that now. The van had been hooked up to 240v on charge so shouldn't have drained that fast.
booked into a campsite for another weekend away with family for my nieces birthday
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