Continued from the last issue. Having sold the old interior…

After clearing out all the detritus and giving it a good wash, I started work on the front panel.  Fortunately, a new front panel was included in the sale, albeit a 4-piece kit that includes a late bay panel that is modified to make up the Early Bay front panel.  Getting the panels welded together and fitting correctly took many weekends, but it was very rewarding by the end when Henning started to resemble a T2a again.

Over the following few years Henning underwent a complete ground up restoration, every part being removed, overhauled, or replaced.  There are many very satisfying jobs when restoring a T2 but the absolute worse is scrapping off the hard and dried out under seal, what a ball-ache of a job that was!  My long-standing best friend (the one with the 70’s beetle) had also recently restored a T2 and advised me that I would need ‘patience, time and deep pockets’ – how right he was!

In 2021 the mechanical & electrical restoration was finally complete, and Henning was capable of self-propulsion.  However, the first outing was a bit of a disaster.  We had decided to drive Henning to our daughters’ house, that it just on the other side of town, filling him up on the way.  When the time came to head home Henning simply would not start.  After about an hour of fiddling about and head scratching, we managed to eventually get him started and limped home.  The problem turned out to be a blocked carburettor due to rust in the fuel tank that got washed off when we filled Henning up for the first time.

After this incident we decided to replace the fuel tank and at the same time replace the original engine (that turned out to be a bit of a ‘duffer’) with a 1776cc from The VW Engine Shop (that I can’t praise highly enough).  At the same time, I invested in twin Weber ICT carbs, a Vintage Speed exhaust and electric fuel pump setup.  Needless to say, it was a complete transformation, and I am very happy with the results.

Now that the various mechanical bits and bobs had been sorted it was finally time to address the multi-coloured bodywork.  So, in the autumn of 2021 I started to look around for local spray shops in the (naive) belief that it would only take them a few weeks to complete.  How wrong I was as everywhere was fully booked up for at least 6 months!  The bodywork eventually took 9 months to complete but I have to say I am absolutely delighted with the results.  We don’t have any regrets about keeping the original colour scheme of Pastel White and Cloud White that now positively gleams!

When Henning was finally complete (if a T2 can ever be considered as fully finished?) in 2022 we had our first proper trip away to Busfest.  We were made very welcome by the T2 Owners Club and spent a lovely weekend talking and having fun with likeminded VW enthusiasts.  What a truly great club and to cap the weekend off, we won a bottle of bubbly for ‘Best Interior’ (more about the interior to come in the next issue).

Since then, we have had several very enjoyable and memorable trips away in Henning, including a week away on the North Norfolk coast where we were the envy of others on the campsite in their modern and anonymous motorhomes!

Finally, you may be wondering why we call our Camper ‘Henning Van’.  Well, we are big fans of the German Comedy Ambassador ‘Henning Wehn’ who is from Westfalia in Germany.  At a recent ‘after show book signing’ we told him that we had named our camper van after him.  He gave us a slightly perplexed look, said ‘very good’ and gave us a German Comedy Ambassador badge!

Next issue, Simon will give us an update on how they changed the interior of Henning to scoop that Best Interior at Busfest 2022!

Spend since last report: £508. Total hours labour since last report: 88.9

Yes, that is a lot of hours since the last report. Yes, progress has been made! Last report, I noted that I had purchased a new spray gun and it was time to test it out. Prior to installing the nose / front panel, I decided to spray it before installation to get down to the bottom that is hidden when installed. At the same time, there is a lot of metal to spray on the cab floor, kick panel, seat tubs and main cargo floor. I mixed up my 2-pack L90D Pastel White and donned my trusty 3M mask and did a test spray on some cardboard to check the spray pattern. Once that was about right, I set to work and used about 750ml of paint.

I’m not very good at paint and for sure others would be faster. My garage is dusty, so there’s a few bits under the paint here and there, but it is on and looks great. The feel of 2-pack paint is that it is really durable and smooth (dusty bits excepted!).

Then I moved on to the installation of the front panel. Welding that on is simple – loads of people do it. There was a recent article from John Undie Underwood on it with clear details, and is a regular thing to do as the front takes all of the weather when driving.

Simple huh?

I started to get it clamped into position just 2,023 days after purchasing the panel from Just Kampers in 2018 and it has been sitting in the corner of my garage ever since. Every clamp in my garage was used to get it into position along with a ratchet strap to hold things tight. No matter how I tried, it would not line up properly – I managed to get everything sitting comfortably except the bulges on each side between the windscreen and the air intake vent. Possibly the panel was a poor pressing or it got bent at some point, or I simply did not know what I was doing!

I welded it all into place except the bulges. All looked good. The outer panel matched to the inner windscreen panel to within 1mm which was brilliant given that the inner panel went in rather blind due to rot on the previous one.

The air vent tabs also lined up and the spot welds were things of beauty.

Next up is the dashboard. The dash is made of the metal front, a softer rubber style grab rail in the middle and then the metal for the dials, radio and switches. Separating the 3 components was straight forward, although the nuts would have been tricky without my trusty impact driver. Everything was stripped to bare metal before dealing with the inevitable rust on the front lip. This was chopped out and a few sections of new steel let in. I was quietly pleased with how smoothly that all went on!

Once stripped, I then rust proofed it all, etch primed twice and top coated twice with John Deere matt black tractor paint that is my go-to paint for black parts and it goes on wonderfully well. I also emptied the box of other metal to be painted black as well – dash, front of dash, steering column, steering column surround, foot pedals, steering column support bracket and closure panel on the floor, and finally the air vents that sit on the front of the dashboard.

The sun came out for a change and it all got air dried and sun baked.

The inner windscreen repair panel did not come with the bracket to attach the dashboard. Never mind, I can cut rectangles of steel, bend them, drill a hole and weld a captive nut. I made one for each mounting hole of the dashboard, offered up the dashboard, marked the location and welded them in place. They looked great and I then painted them in L90D pastel white and adjourned for the day with a big smile on my face.

It was later that night that I realised that you don’t put the dashboard in flush to the top of the inner windscreen, it goes about an inch down. The next day, I carefully removed the tabs, remaking a few that were not good enough to re-use, took the paint off the tabs and the inner screen, welded them on in the right place and then offered up the dashboard. Yet more time spent doing it a second time because I don’t know what I’m doing.

I wrote an article last year about installing MGF seats in Beryl, our 1973 Westfalia Continental, and promised a follow-up article about our trip to the Emerald Isle. (Editor notes – it was written last year but Member’s Motor articles were already in the pipeline, so the seats article is in issue 190!).

Sunday 20-08-23

We set off from Liverpool, on the 10.30 a.m. sailing to Belfast. Boarding the ferry was much easier than I’d anticipated. Beryl was already attracting the attention of our fellow travellers, and the new seats were getting a big thumbs up from Vikki and I.

We booked a cabin to make our trip onboard more relaxing as the crossing is 8 hours, and as luck would have it, our porthole overlooked Beryl, parked on deck in the August sunshine!

The crossing was smooth and comfortable, and disembarking into the Port in Belfast was very organised. What had I worried about?

Although hailing from Northern Ireland and having attended University in the city, I hadn’t been back to Belfast since 1996, so driving through the streets in a vehicle that was even older was a joy.

We’d decided to spend a few days in Belfast, so we parked at our city centre hotel, The Bullit on Church Lane. We ate in the hotel steak restaurant Taylor and Clay, which was fabulous.

Monday 21-08-23

We went for a morning jog through the city centre. It was a trip down memory lane for me, and jogging past my old University was a sight to behold after it’s multi-million-pound refurbishment.

We’d organised an itinerary for our trip, and first up was a 3.5-hour secret food tour of 6 notable eateries and watering holes in the city. It was fabulous, and the company of our guide and the other participants made it a truly memorable experience.  

Tuesday 22-08-23

Being centrally located, we decided to run past the Titanic Museum before visiting later in the day. We booked tickets for the museum and a guided tour and can thoroughly recommend this for anyone visiting the Belfast.  

Back in Beryl we headed out the Shore Road past Carrickfergus to our campsite at Carnfunnock Country Park.

Wednesday 23-08-23

After a morning run along the beach and a breakfast purchased in the famous Sawers Deli in Belfast, we set off along the Shore Road towards Ballycastle, a beautiful drive along the coast and through small villages.

We ate at the Look-Out Restaurant, the sister of the established Salt House restaurant and enjoyed an evening of fantastic food and drink accompanied by stunning views of the Irish coast.

Thursday 24-08-23

We had planned to make our way to Portrush, where I’d spent the summers of my youth working in a theme park called Barrys and my evenings in the many bars, but we were enjoying Ballycastle so much we decided to stay. The weather didn’t play ball, so we ended up cosied up in Beryl and watched episodes of Elementary on the projector.

Friday 25-08-23

Homeward bound a further 25 miles to Limavady along the coast to my hometown of Limavady to join up with my family.

A few days back home brought our trip home to a fitting end before we set off home on the Sunday 10.30 a.m. crossing to Liverpool.

Paul, Vikki and Beryl

Spend since last report: £17.55. Total hours labour since last report: 8

Whilst sorting the workbench, I came across a trapezoidal piece of steel with a lip all round, covered in 50 years of muck. It is the steering box strengthener plate that goes between the box and the chassis rail. I had been looking for it last year when I fitted the steering box back onto Eric. Annoyingly, I had put the steering box on, the drag link, greased everything and it looked great.

Drag link nut came off easily but the ball joint (top of picture) steadfastly refused to separate from the Pitman arm (arm at an angle under it). After much hammering and swearing, I explained the issue to a neighbour who offered to lend me his ball joint separator, which reminded me that I had one on the tool shelf ten feet from where I had been hitting the ball joint bolt. Oops, silly me.

Once the drag link was off, it is possible to remove the steering box of a late Bay with the Pitman arm still attached, which is a good job as the arm will not come off the box so it is staying there for now! With the steering box on the bench and the strengthener plate being stripped to bare metal for a repaint, I was unhappy with the paint on the steering box so that was stripped again. 3 coats of etch prime and 2 coats of John Deere top paint in matt black to both and they looked great once more.

Seam sealer to the join between chassis and strengthener plate (it is horrendously messy stuff) and reassembly went smoothly. At the same time, since I had the etch primer and the top coat, I grabbed the box of tin ware for the engine and did that as well – I had stripped it last year and rust proofed already. Looks much better.

The brake pedal had been bothering me as I had a return spring that seemed to do nothing – I did my trusty saying “What would Malcolm do?” and contacted him. My spring had snapped, which was why it was doing nothing. JK to the rescue with that and a pack of other bits. The return spring works better when it is complete and after a small fight, it was on. I connected the handbrake cables to the brace bar that also turned up on the bench and then went through all of the suspension and steering nuts, ensuring that each one has the correct washer under the nut. During one enforced rest, I bought loads of washers and a box of drawers to store them. All labelled of course. That was easier than hunting through my assorted basket of bits for random washers and all nuts are now about 18% stronger with the washer added.

The clutch return spring was next, the previous one having never been there. Removing the circlip, the arm, the cup seal and the washer took 5 minutes, cleaning was straight forward but took about 15 minutes to remember where I had put the box of new circlips! Once found it was easy, then empty the whole of the garage of all boxes of parts, work bench, welder and everything else which took ages. Eric went down onto his 2 wheels, the rollover jig came off, new wheels went on the hubs. Those wheels went down as well…fortunately I have spares.

Eric is now on 4 wheels and I can access the front. Next up, prepare the cab for the topcoat – filler, sanding, more primer on top of the current primer, then topcoat in L90D white. The only spend this time was £17.55 on a new spray gun, the old one was about a fiver and has done about 7 years good service but keeps leaking paint out of the nozzle all over the floor. The garage looks like it has measles.

The next morning, I popped into the garage to see Eric and the overnight heavy rain had come in leaving a large puddle under the workbench and the freezer. Ho hum.