Alrite rusties and retros how are you all doing? I live in the border county Louth in Ireland, I'm now 41 years old, but when I was a kid growing up everything was cheaper across the border in Northern Ireland, smuggling was something that went on 24 hours a day 365 days a year, fuel, drink and cigarettes were the big movers across the border as there was a big difference on the southern side to that in the north. in the late 80's things starter to turn around, but the mid 90's the prices of fuel, cancer sticks and hooch had done a complete turn around and it was much cheaper to buy these goods in the south not the north. Since then its been pretty volatile and now I'm pretty sure the retail price of the killer stick is much the same both sides, drink I think is cheaper north than south, fuel is up and down like a frog on ecstasy, ok enough of the economy history lesson. and time for a little vw t25 story............. The white t25 in the pics below was nothing more than a humble hard working 86 pickup imported from Spain into Northern Ireland in 1989, its left hand drive 1.8 petrol and fully automatic which is why I bought it.............. my plan to nick the gearbox in order to build a fully automatic 1302ls - which I'm hoping will be the first of its type ever - a show car for Commonsense Car Parts. After 8 years of lying in a field outside my hometown of Dundalk (the van not me), I rescued it last year and myself and my buddy pushed it into my unit a few days ago, bolted on a new starter, new battery, cleaned up a stack of electrical connections, checked Mr Fuel Pump was still alive and up for the job, set up a temporary gravity feed of motion lotion from a petrol can on the back, 2 minutes heavy of the key and it flew into life once again - 'alive, she cried' as Jim Morrison once sang - the demon keg carrier was keen for road. OK you're lost?? This t25 pick up was no normal work truck you see...If you check out the first few pics it looks like a normal plane jane work vehicle but once the 3 sides and tail board were dropped down and 2 bolts removed the inch thick floor slid backwards (while guided by a piece of angle iron running the length of the pickup on both sides) to reveal the original floor has been cut out opening up the normal under floor storage area. This is normally only accessible from the 2 side hatches, which on this bus have been welded closed and the surrounding gap and opening handles filled in and both complete side resprayed. All in all with the 2 sides and tailboard up and a road repair sign or 2 in the back, with a shovel, a pick and wheelbarrow, who would have thought what looked like a contractor work horse had 8 kegs of beer and 4000 killer smokes hidden in it belly? According to its last owner, it ran across the border 3/4 times a week fully loaded never being stopped until 1 day it refused to start and was parked up and forgot about until I nailed it while on the hunt for a fully auto gearbox. It's in very good condition in some areas but will spit its dummy out at first sight of a wire brush in other areas. So once I've removed the heart and soul, I'll make a decision on what to do with the rest. There are plans for yet another oddity when the 1302 project is finished. At least they will keep each other company in the meantime.
Well its been a while since i have updated this. I took a could of months off from the van, I was working on another project, a house for my father so it was only the middle of October when i got back to the van. I have been doing lots of small jobs not much that looks good for picture but essential to rebuild the van. This week i got a few big jobs done, the main one is the AAZ engine is now in position, its not wired or plumbed yet but i only got it in Friday then the big freeze happened and its just too cold to be in the garage at the moment. i started putting the front of the van together, got the front light bar on, the SA grill, the clear indicators, i haven't put the top grill on yet as it will need to come off again to bleed the cooling system i got my wheels on too, the tyres will need to be changed for commerical tyres but it will be fine while i'm rolling it would the garage. you can also see the side bars i made up in the photo above i also started making up the door cards, i have the front two made, i still have to make the rear two so i think thats where i am at the moment, the finish line is getting closer but there is still a lot to do oh i also got the the van completely rewired, took all the old wiring loom out, put in a diesel loom, remote cental locking, immobiliser, bluetooth car kit and sterio system, as well as wiring in my front lights and rear load bed lights
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hi new member i have 68 bug needs a lot of work but will get ther all so have mk2 escort puting acoswort 2 lt turbo in it
I haven't touched the car in a month or so now due to family distractions tonight I got the chance to put some primer and paint on the parts I degreased, cleaned and sanded in preparation for paint weeks ago. They are engine parts, the air filter housing, the cam cover, timing belt cover etc. The timing belt cover is not the stock '73 Audi 80 item, it is from a similar era Audi 100 1.6. I used it as it has the VW and old Audi logo pressed in and it looks cooler than the plain un-logo'd one from the Audi 80 1.3 engine. so, a small update but that's about all that's happened in the last month or so.
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