Innholdsfortegnelse for Issue 110 i VWt

Hello and welcome to issue 110 of VWt. Is it just me, or are things starting to feel a little bit more, dare I say... normal again? In the last few months, I’ve been to a few VW shows, a little festival and I’ve even just booked tickets for a couple of big raves coming up. Also, and I can’t believe it’s taken this long but I’ve finally managed a weekend away sleeping in the T5.1 at the recent Bristol Volkfest. Yes, I know sleeping the other side of the city where I reside hardly makes me Sir Ranulph Fiennes, but after a year or so of lockdowns and shielding I’ll take it! More surprising though was the fact that a super thin self-inflating mattress in the back of a…

Let’s face it, as we get a little older and go round the block a time or two, we begin to be able to sniff out things that are too good to be true. An unfortunate part of life is that there are scammers out there whose sole purpose in life is to cheat others out of their hard-earned cash. I think we’ve all probably fallen or almost fallen to this cheating at some stage in our lives and it makes us wary when dealing with anyone, especially remotely or over the internet. The problem is, when our bullshit filters are triggered because something looks implausible, like winning a van like this for £5.99, it’s hard to trust that the company is legit. I was guilty of this until I…

THE HANG TABLE Wish you had a quick, easy to access place to stick your beer, cuppa or grub whilst you’re outside your van? Grab yourself a Hang Table then from Tyres & Tides. This super-practical, hand finished, and yacht varnished birch plywood unit is simple, yet genius. Attach to the back of your rig or your sliding door, confident in the fact it won’t harm your paint work thanks to the 3mm neoprene van edge protection strip and plastic-coated claw hook. Dimension wise it comes in at 805mm x 355mm x 18mm, with a 2.5m long and 25mm wide adjustable strap with a powder coated black cam buckle. Top kit! Price £50 www.tyresandtides.bigcartel.com ADIDAS X SOUTH PARK TOWELIE CAMPUS 80S Check out these super exclusive Adidas x South Park…

Detailing has become massive business over the past decade. Gone are the days of grabbing a bucket, sponge, and your mum’s bottle of washing up liquid (whatever you do, don’t do that, it’ll cause more harm than good!) and giving your van a quick wipe down. Detailing your van is an art form, but with so many products on the market like clay bars, iron removers, snow foams and ceramic coatings it’s become overwhelming to the everyday enthusiast. That’s why we’ve sat down with industry expert Tom Clarke from Meguiar’s UK, to answers all those frequently asked questions... Can using the local car wash be detrimental to my paint finish? It can be, yes. Typically, the high volume of cars they are washing means they don’t wash the accessories between…

If you saw last month’s mag - I hope you did, it was a belter - you’ll know that I dropped my T5.1 off to Spencer and Myles at the Old Dub to finally get the air ride fitted. And I’m damn glad I did, as the guys did a cracking job fitting it and the ol’ girl is now packing a full Air Lift Performance T5/T6 kit with 3H management. I’d heard good things about the system and I’ve driven a few cars (but no vans) running this set-up, but I have to admit the T5.1 drives even better than I imagined it would. The way the 3H management magically combines pressure-based and drive height sensing technology is unreal, as is the fact I can actually control my suspension…

Come on, we’ve all been there. You’ve got a show-winning MK2 Golf GTi, prepped by GTi Engineering and you need something to tow it with. Oh wait. No. Only one of us has been there and his name is Adrian Williams. And yes, with a name like that there’s only one part of the UK we’re coming at you from and that’s Welsh Wales. Towing the Golf is the top priority of this 2016 T6, closely followed by its role as accommodation when Adrian is watching fast cars go round a track. “Formula One and BTCC mainly,” he says. “I’ve spent a lot of time in rented motorhomes around the UK and Europe and thought it was about time I got something for myself.” This might be Adrian’s first camper,…

Owner Name: Robin Holmes Age: 55 Occupation: warehouse and logistics manager Instagram: @skedaddle_aff_veedub I mean, where do we go from here? Honestly. The game is up. The boundaries of physics have been reached. Many claims are made about lowering that range from who did it first to who did it best - most of which are subjective. In this case the following statement is based on cold, hard facts and physics. You can’t get any lower. If you want to be the lowest around, this is your benchmark. Of course, the game is about compromise and Robin’s ride certainly comes with a few of those. The question is, are you ready to commit? You don’t go from zero to a van like this, but in 55-year-old Robin’s case he’s not…

If you’re old enough to remember when T4s came out, then you’ll know that they’ve always held their values. Most (if not all) VWs eventually fall culprit to the dreaded rot and T4s are certainly no exception. It seemed like, for such a long time, T4s were pretty new vehicles. Until that is, they were pretty old and it was hard to find one that didn’t need a ton of time invested with the welding torch. I’m currently fresh off the back of doing the metal repair on my second T4 in as many months in my other job as a VW restorer and, let me tell you, they rot like hell, to the point where we’ve decided to just say no to welding them in future. Even if a…

As I write this it’s the morning after Bristol Volksfest and I am not going to lie, I’m feeling a little delicate, but I’m sure I’m not the only one suffering from a little bit too much time at the bar. This year’s show threw just about everything at showgoers, we had sun, gale force winds, and downpours that seemed liked they’d been sent from the Gods to punish anyone who dare camp for the weekend. I know a lot of countries like to poke fun at our constant whinging at the weather, but I feel like they don’t understand just how temperamental it is. I mean c’mon, should I really expect to be ankle deep in mud and wearing a coat in August? It’s supposed to be summer! Obviously,…

Name: Stuart Court Age: 48 Occupation: SMART repair specialist for www.adwsmartrepairs.co.uk Instagram: @y_5cuf First car: I raced a Mini when I was 12-16 so that was my first car Dream car/van: For sensible an Audi RS6, for fun Porsche GT3 RS Hardest part of the build: Keeping the paintwork looking good as it gets covered in overspray on a daily basis. Also building it without having a garage or even a driveway to work on. Favourite modification: Air suspension What lesson learnt from this build would pass on: Don’t modify a daily used work van ha-ha. It’s almost impossible keeping it looking up to scratch. What’s next? I’d love to do the TSi engine conversion, but I can’t have the van off the road for that long so it’ll have…

NAVIS MAC-AT It must be said the crew at Navis are smashing it this year! We’ve had the Twin-5 alloy wheel, the Holey and Schmoov steel wheels and now there’s another rim to the line-up... ladies and gentlemen say hello to the almighty MAC-AT. We thought the Twin-5 was one tough looking rim, but this latest Swamper inspired offering just turned the Bruce Willis toughometer up to 11! Like all Navis wheels, the MAC-AT backs up its big boy looks with big boy credentials as it packs a whopping 1050kg load rating, meaning it will be more than at home on any Transporter, including a T32 and most Crafters as well. Remember, Navis wheels are developed specifically for Transporters/ Crafters, so you won’t see them on lesser vans like... ahem…

There’s nothing like a bit of scratch and gouge to offend somebody who does bodywork for a living. The mere mention of 80grit, shopping trollies, keys and parking next to anybody in a busy multi storey will make many a painter weep and physically recoil whilst sucking air through those front teeth. Unless, that is, they’re one of the relatively new-fangled and endlessly versatile SMART repair specialists who can patch scratches with ease whilst waving their wizarding rods of paintless dent removal to restore a car to showroom like flawlessness without even going near a spray booth. Anyone who’s ever seen this PDR witchcraft in action will attest that it’s considerably more complicated and highly skilled than any professional ever makes it appear. So, as we ogle a van that’s…

It’s taken a while, but I’ve finally changed the standard head unit in the T5.1 – I’ve gone for an RCD 360, as I wanted something that looked OEM and didn’t look that expensive. There are some incredible head units available for these vans and I’m not sure if stealing head units is still a thing, is it? But I’m not keen on finding out. All I need is my sat nav and my music. I want the van to fly under the radar and having a big screen sticking out the dash might get me some unwanted attention… The RCD 360 is around £275 which isn’t the cheapest headunit on the market but at the same time it’s not too crazy. The key thing I was looking for was…

Send us yours: Ever dreamed about seeing your van appear in the pages of VWt? Make that dream a reality! Simply e-mail a selection of good quality high-res images of your van to glenn.rowswell@kelsey.co.uk along with a full spec list and add the subject title ‘Your Vans’. But please remember, if you didn’t take the photos, you MUST have permission from the photographer to use the images in the magazine, and all images should be free from watermarks (by submitting an image you assume responsibility for any copyright infringement). So, what are you waiting for? Let’s see those project builds! t NEIL HEPDEN’S 2005 T5 T30 1.9TDI, Rochester Hi VWt, I’ve always liked the T5, and we needed a bigger vehicle for camping and all the gear that comes with…