Good Morning from the Cotswolds

RichardAllen · Mar 16, 2013

Good morning all.

In February we hired a California to try campervan life for a weekend in Wales, and the children loved it. In spite of the bad weather, followed by heavy rain then snow. For us this is a move from the dark side of kitted out Land Rover ownership and I could not afford a 'proper' van, so last night I bought a Beach interior (seats bed etc) from a certain auction site. Now I just have to buy the van to go round it !

Being an engineer, I would normally have got the van first. However, Supply Chain tell me to buy the scarce parts when you can.

I will keep you all posted, and thanks for the very useful information on here.

Regards
Richard

calikev · Mar 16, 2013

Good morning Richard sounds like you have made a good start I guess finding the right van
Is the easy part like you say good beach seats are rare to find. Keep us posted of your progress :thumb

Californiaman · Mar 17, 2013

We had similar weather camping at Winchcombe this weekend!

slowcoach65 · Mar 17, 2013

Just got back from the Cotswolds - rained all weekend but still a fantastic place to visit

Andy

RichardAllen · Mar 17, 2013

Thanks for the welcome.

We had a real stroke of luck yesterday. We were looking for a face lift panel van into which we want to fit the Beach interior. For continental cruising I was looking for a 140PS SWB preferably reasonably close and having trouble finding one in our budget looking online. Yesterday I put in different search criteria and up popped a BiTurbo, within budget-ish and just down the road in Cheltenham and a nice colour. So we bought it, pick up next weekend.

Time to get the bolts and brackets so I can fit the seats straightaway.

Does anyone have the definitive list of brackets and reinforcements (and numbers for each)needed to fit 4 single rails for the Beach seat etc into a SWB PV ?

Richard

calikev · Mar 17, 2013

Have a word with Colin at oxfordt5 he specialises in this kind of thing his no is 07799 626310

2into1 · Mar 17, 2013

Sounds obvious but check the sliding door configuration (ie which side it is on) is the same on the donor vehicle as it is on your van. Someone was recently selling a RHD T4 Van that they had fitted a LHD Westfalia interior to, and in the process had closed off the only side access into the rear!

Perhaps this is more straightforward on a Beach vs the full-fat side kitchen.

We (on here) couldn't believe what we thought he'd done, until I asked him, and he confirmed it!

RichardAllen · Mar 18, 2013

Brackets etc are on their way.

I think all T5 California's are for a side slide door on the right (o/s), and that's what my Beach interior is for. But my van has the slide door on the left hand, so there is a fitting question. I have spoken to Colin at Oxford T5 (really really helpful) and the rails are symetrical, so it should all basically fit, but there may be some fettling required.

Richard