Newbie - hello all!

womblecamper · Jul 29, 2014

We took the plunge last year and bought a 1995 Westfalia California Club, elvis-top, LWB T4. We are in love and have made it LEZ compliant and have it ready for weekends away. We are embarking on our longest trip this summer (only Cornwall, but it feels a long way for us!) and have just invested in a few repairs courtesy of some nasty nameless so&so who bashed into it when it was parked in our road.

Still to sort a respray, get water pump looked at (suddenly stopped working), and kitchen spruced up ... just not sure exactly where to go for little bits and pieces.

Anyway, nice to be here amongst friends.
Joanna

calikev · Jul 29, 2014

Hi Joanna welcome along :thumb

Hotel California · Jul 29, 2014

Hi and welcome , like the expression of "elvis top" fond it yourself or is it named so by VW

womblecamper · Jul 29, 2014

We drove past a VW place on way back from Swanage, and the guy there commented on our elvis top. I thought it was a "proper" vw term for our top ...
Anyway, we liked it, so stuck with it.
It's cool though - I love the layout - kitchen at the back, bedding storage in the top. There hasn't been an outing when we haven't marvelled at the storage space. Westfalia got it bang on when they made these.

2into1 · Jul 29, 2014

Welcome. Can you tell us a little about the hoops you had to jump through to get yours LEZ compliant? Did you get it reclassified at a lower weight, or fit filters etc?

I've no current need to drive in London but the info would be good for the future.

TwentyOneThirtyFive · Jul 30, 2014

Hello Joanna,

Take a look at this thread for advice on where to get replacement parts for Westfalias:

viewtopic.php?f=133&t=5207

Gunzl is usually my first stop. There's also a T4 technical area for any questions you have.

Enjoy your van and keep us updated with your travels

dan

womblecamper · Jul 30, 2014

The LEZ thing was a big headache - actually it continues to be.
Fitted a nice expensive filter (had toyed with idea of getting weight reduced on paperwork, but figured the powers that be would catch up with us at some stage in the future when they tighten rules, and also wanted to do our bit for the environment) and it has been a headache since fitting it. It now needs an additive in the hope it can function as it's supposed to. Have to re-certify the filter next month ... I'll come on here and moan loudly if we still have problems.

Ta for links for spare parts.

Currently looking for a little arm/lever that twists and extends to keep open the top windows in the hard top ... if only I knew the correct search term (extendable lever opener twistable arm for roof window?! or the equivalent in german...)