Hi Sidepod
The duties of a Dad never end! We are trying to offer guidance to our son. We are obviously pro Calis. The only other one in the frame is an Autosleeper but living with their trim choices is very difficult!!! Agree with you about van conversions. I think he is coming over to the genuine VW article but living with LHD might be a problem for his wife. Where are you and any more details about your T4 would be appreciated. Thanks.
My folks used to hire a small fleet of T4 Autosleeper Troopers. Given the choice they would probably of preferred to hire Westfalias to people due to the styling and build quality, but as they were hiring to clients who often had no experience driving a vehicle of this size for short periods they went with the RHD Autosleeper as a way of maintaining familiarity.
As for the question of LHD, my missus gets on fine with ours. As do I (it's not just the ladies who get the fear). It's rare that you're in a position to give it the beans and overtake something, but you simply change your driving style accordingly. As you know the seating position offers a fine vantage point over most other vehicles so you can make reasonable judgements about the oncoming traffic long before you might in a car. Honestly though the proof is in the driving. You either love it or hate it, but accept that for the first few drives you'll be trying to wind the window down instead of selecting the next gear. This doesn't mean you wouldn't be able to live with it.
Engine-wise the 102BHP 2.5 TDI is probably the most desirable of the power units. There is the super-rare 150BHP 2.5TDI. I've only ever seen two of those. The 2.4 can be turbo'd but as
@sidepod says how well that has been done could be questionable. I think also that some earlier T4 Westy's came with a 1.9 non-turbo. I could be wrong, the Autosleepers did. This is very much a 'just about get you there' engine, more akin to a 1600 T2 camper.
Galvanising. That's a grey area. Some people say yes, others no. I think it's more likely the body was dipped in a zinc primer before undercoats and paint were applied. This helped fend off any rot for a prolonged period but time and salt condensation from inhabitants often works its way into any weaker areas. These are most often around the wheelarches and panel seams. Experience has taught me you can fend it off for decent amounts of time and it's well worth getting some further rust prevention added to the cavities and underside of the vehicle but inevitably some light corrosion will rear its head at sometime.
All exciting stuff. Let us know how the hunt goes.
) available.
