Sommaire pour May 2017 de VWt

Camper Marmalade Now in its third year, the slightly oddly named Camper Marmalade is a VW festival set in the heart of sunny Sussex that promises a fun-packed weekend for all the family. From the show ’n’ shine and dog show to the live music, trade stands, food vans, inflatable pub and children’s entertainment, this festival is designed for all ages and all interests. You’ll be entertained during the day, before listening to the beats of Jellyfunk on Friday night and then relaxing with friends around your fire pit after more chilled tunes on the Saturday night. Mark 7-9 June in your diaries now and head on down to Horam in East Sussex that weekend to help spread the Marmalade. www.campermarmalade.co.uk NEWS AND REVIEWS We’re all about the lights…

Hello VWt, Mark here from Kettering. Having previously owned two 1970 Bay Window Vans, and having being towed back from Cornwall due to overheating engines on a few occasions, my dad and I jumped on his BMW touring bike and headed to Yorkshire to purchase this 1996 T4 800 special 1.9TD camping conversion. Travelling back down the A1 for about an hour listening for knocks and bangs but not hearing any, it felt like it was worth being a few thousand lighter in my pocket, so it was time to relax and put some tunes on… Bang! I looked in the rear view mirror to see my dad disappear in a cloud of smoke and the Van grind to a halt. Yep, you guessed it, another tow truck. I managed…

“one of the most hotly contested shows to gain access to” Telford International Conference Centre might not be the most celebrated venue in the UK, or indeed the most obvious place to host what many consider the official water-cooled VW show season opener, but those who know about this indoor and outdoor VW fest held at the start of March each year know it’s always a sure-fire winner. It’s an opportunity to see what’s been cooking over the winter, catch up with old faces and share a beer or two in the evening in one of the adjoining hotels. Ultimate Dubs has become one of the most hotly contested shows to gain access to, and the social media chatter in the build up to the event sees people posting photos…

As one of the leading VW TDi tuning specialists, it’s only natural for a company like Darkside Developments to have a recovery and transport tool on side for general business purposes, as well as transporting the company’s various project vehicles to Santa Pod for some test and tuning. Anyone who has seen the crazy little yellow Seat Arosa Darkside built at the drag strip in recent years – you know, the one with a 1.9TDi engine producing 544bhp that runs high nine-second quarters – will be fully aware that going quickly is all in a weekend’s down time for the lads. But where in the past the company made do with an old LT Pick-up, which Ryan Parkin built himself, as the works Van, this latest offering is a little…

I originally bought my Van as a very plain 2005 Panel Van for £5k. I traded in my Beetle TDi against it, and set about the task of making it into a Campervan. This is a truly a home grown, built on the driveway Van. To begin, I set about bonding the side windows in, and then insulated the roof, sides and floor before moving on to running lots of cables front to back (rear camera, speaker wires, leisure battery feeds and lighting cables). A new 12mm ply floor was also battened into place, followed by some Altro vinyl flooring and some ply lined and trimmed side panels. I also installed a 110a/h leisure battery under the driver’s seat, along with a charger. Externally, I fitted new R8-style headlights, a…

Here’s our newly restored ’99-model T4. After two years of design and research, work started with a couple of black side windows, some lowering springs and a set of alloys. Then, in October 2012, we started the interior conversion. A hemp insulation-filled cavity floor was put in, while a nod to a laminate floor was laid over the top. A split charge system with both 240V hook up and 12V wiring was also chased in as we went along, and the Van’s sides were lined with sheep’s wool and hemp (so you could literally smoke your insulation? – Ed). The cabin was trimmed in mid-grey lining carpet and the roof lining matched up and followed through the full length of the vehicle. The galley, wardrobe, fridge unit and sofa bed…

Luke Massey from Plush Automotive has recently embarked upon having his own air ride struts produced for the T5 / T6 platform, and there’s no better way to make an impression with a new product than with a demo Van wearing ’em. Andy Stephenson’s crowd-pleasing T6 now features a real carbon fibre front end, Rotiform ZRH wheels in gloss black and enough air and ICE to put Norway out of business, which meant his T6 stole the show this year. They may have been the main talking points, but delve inside and you’ll find an incredible foursome of RS4 seats, a high end Audison ICE install and the trademark Plush attention to detail and this is a Van people will remember for years to come. Sure, nothing about this Van…

“Our target was the Czech Republic, to visit Prague, before heading on to Poland” The journey began with an overnight stay at Hawthorn Farm at Cliffe near Dover. We did not want to race down to the ferry, cross and reach our first destination all in the same day, so chose to break it up with an overnight stay in England. And just as well we did really, as what should have been a 4½-hour first leg of the journey turned into eight hours. Hawthorn Farm is a pleasant site in a village close to St. Margaret’s at Cliffe, where there is a Norman church and one or two very nice, reasonably priced restaurants. After a good night’s sleep, we left the next morning for Dover where we boarded the…

“These guys live, breathe and get their kicks from diesel tuning” The Ws WHO? darksidedevelopments.co.uk WHAT? VW TDi tuning specialist WHY? To go faster in your T4, T5 or T6 WHERE? Unit 1 Carbon Court, Springvale Road, Park Springs, Barnsley, S72 7FF Tel. 01226 827999 VW TDi tuning specialists, Darkside Developments, do everything from basic ECU re-mapping to custom fabrication and from general servicing to building their own project cars and taking them drag racing. Basically, if it has a VW badge and a derv-drinking powerplant, these guys are one of the front runners when it comes to getting the best from it, whether it be a 1.9, 2.0 or 2.5TDi engine. While we were over at Darkside HQ in Barnsley recently to photograph the company’s new recovery / transport…

“It was as we discovered that it had covered over 310,000 miles that Benjamin Regan’s T4 took on a whole new perspective” It was as we discovered that it had covered over 310,000 miles that Benjamin Regan’s T4 took on a whole new perspective. How? When? Why doesn’t it look absolutely battered? What the hell has he done to it? We first learnt about Ben’s Van when he sent us a Road Trip feature a few months back (VWt Issue 48) that followed the journey of the Regan family all around the West coast of Ireland from his home in Anglesey, Wales. Not only was it one of the most scenic and inspirational Road Trips we’ve featured in a while, his Van also looked really swish. So, naturally, we started…

Here’s my Compass Calypso, or ‘The Bungalow, as it’s been nicknamed by my mates. I’d been pursuing this Van for nearly 11 years as it was left languishing on a driveway, gathering moss and grime, yet its owner refused to sell it. I made numerous offers, then finally three years ago a deal was struck and I became the owner. The first major task was to clean it up, which took several weeks. Unfortunately, the weather hadn’t been kind to the paintwork, but the body remained rust-free and the interior was remarkably clean and dry. I own and run a VW garage called Rustworks, catering for all types of VWs, so together with the guys we set about overhauling the brakes and changing the fluids and belts before sending it…

April Bus Types VW Show 14-16 April Oswestry Showground www.bus-types.co.uk Big Bang* 21-23 April Santa Pod Raceway www.big-bang.co.uk Stanford Hall* 30 April Stanford Hall, Leicestershire www.stanfordhallvw.com May Van West 5-7 May Warren Farm, Brean, Somerset www.vanwest.net VW Budburg 6-7 May Oulton Park www.vwbudburg.com Early Edition 14 May Sywell Aerodrome www.edition38.com/events Dubs at the Park 14 May Easthampstead Park, Wokingham www.dubsatthepark.co.uk Vanjamboree 19-21 May Kelham Hall, Newark www.vanjamboree.co.uk Wörthersee VW Treffen* 24-27 May Lake Wörthersee and Faakersee, Austria http://woertherseetreffen.at Volksfling 26-28 May Biggar, Scotland www.volksfling.co.uk Vanfest 26-28 May Three Countries Showground, Malvern www.vanfest.org Wurzle Dubz 26-29 May Bridgewater, Somerset www.wurzledubz.co.uk Dubs in the Middle 26-29 May Evesham, Worcester www.dubsinthemiddle.co.uk June West’est VW Fest 2-4 June Dews Lake Farm, Pembrokeshire GTi International 2-4 June Rockingham Motor Speedway www.gtiinternational.co.uk Stonor Park* 4 June…

“I got into VWs due to a love of surfing,” Ben Pettman tells us. “My previous car was a Honda Civic Type R, and I just couldn’t fit my long board in that!” My friend had just got a T5 and I soon began to see the benefits of it.” The decision made to ditch the rice burner in favour of a more multi-purpose motor, Ben spent a couple of months on the hunt for the ideal donor to tear down. “I looked as far as Scotland, I asked all the newbie questions on the T5 forum, and then one day I looked on eBay and, literally at the garage around the corner from me, there was this Van.” Being his first ever Van, the decision was made straight off…

When you are trying to get something done and everyone you ’phone starts sucking air through their front teeth and umming and aahing about your request, don’t feel down or despondent, just keep making the calls, doing your research and asking questions. Eventually, you’ll discover a firm with not only the can-do attitude, but also the ability to back it up. That’s precisely what happened to the previous owner of this classy, 2008, 2.5TDi Shuttle when he approached a number of the well-known converters, only to be told, “Nah, sorry pal, it doesn’t conform to our standard layout, or the package we offer.” Finally though, after a protracted search and enough knock backs to make anyone question their own sanity and motivation, we got the right combination of numbers and…

“the budget option can be had for as little as £750” “definitely within the realms of any home mechanic” The T5.1 facelift front end is now such a well-documented change that there’s a rising tide of resentment and a backlash against its popularity. And now having seen for ourselves the difference it makes in virtually no time at all, it’s no surprise it’s so very popular. Currently, there are two different ways of carrying it out. The first, and the way we decided to go with on project T5, is the ‘budget’ option, which makes do with the original T5 metal upper and lower crossmembers for the 2003-’09 T5 crash structures. As a result, we’re missing three fixing points that would be available if you were to use the…

 VWt: This isn’t meant to sound as blatantly sexist as it does, but what’s a nice girl like you doing in a place like this? And how come you like VWs? “I need a bigger driveway!” AR: Er, I just do! Got a problem with that? I think there are loads of women into VWs these days. I’m sure there is even a thread on the Transporter forum for spotting lady Transporter drivers. It’s not just men that can have nice Vans you know, us ladies have great taste, too. The same is true in other parts of the VW scene. There are lots of female owners around, definitely more than 15 years ago. VWt: Do you find you get a funny reaction from short-sighted folk when you say, “Yeah,…