Welcome to the 21 Vanagoons BLOG about our VW T2, in it I’ll tell you what we’ve done and show plenty of before and after photos, I’ll keep updating this page every month, so be sure to come back and follow her progress.
So, This is Patricia and she is a 1972 VW T2 Bay Window (Crossover), and I’m going to convert her into a beautiful, fully functional Day van with a twist.
Let me start by saying that she didn’t start her life with us looking as sweet as the cover photo suggests. Now, don’t get me wrong, she wasn’t in a terrible state, she just wasn’t to my taste. after all there’s only so much Red and White a person can put up with.
Before I get into all the things I’ve done and all the things I will be doing to her (there will be lots of photos) let me tell you a little bit about her background.
Her Origin Story
This particular VW T2 was first registered in April 1972. That makes her a rare model (Crossover) that was only made for a year during the swap between the early bay and late bay, she has lots of features not found on other versions. you could say she is kind of a ‘Hybrid’.
Built in Germany as a right hand drive and then exported to San Mateo in sunny California where she stayed until coming to the UK in 1983. she came to me with the original owners manual and service book that’s stamped as far back as 1973 and lots of other paperwork too.
I’ve known the guy I bought her from for a long time and had been aware that she had been kept in his garage for around 8 years not being used, which is a real shame because these don’t deserve to be hidden away, so I eventually managed to talk him into letting me buy her.
First Things First
Right, lets get started with that whole conversion thing. now for those who know their VW’s, this T2 came with a 1600cc flat 4 air cooled engine. however, the one you see in this photo is not the original. This is how it looked when I drove her home.
It’s still a 1600cc and still air cooled but its been fully reconditioned and it has only covered around 500 miles. the previous owner fitted it along with taking care of most of the major problems that these older T2’s suffer with.
She’s had a complete chassis rust removal and restore, new front and rear suspension, new brakes all round, new steering rack, complete underbody seal and a new fuel tank, which is good as that’s all the most important, and expensive bits done for me.
The bits that I’ve done to the engine are mainly cosmetic, you know, the usual stuff, painted the fly wheel and pully a lovely Red, sprayed the heater hoses Cream to match the upper half of the body, I’ve even installed a Cornish Orchards cider can over the coil to give it little something extra.
But, I’ve also changed out the old points for a modern electronic ignition for more reliability, fitted new fuel pump and upgraded the air and fuel filters. new spark plugs and HT leads, the valves have been set along with the engine timing and a full service and oil change, Here’s a photo of how it looks now
A ‘Dash’ of Style
As for cab area, well take look at the this photo and ask yourself “Do those seats really belong in here?”, my answer was a straight “No”, just like it was for the red carpet and Red door cards. I also though I could do something with the drab and rusted old dashboard as well, so out it came.
The seats, carpet and door cards weren’t any problem at all, but the dashboard proved to be a bit more stubborn. but once it was out of the van I found that there were few issues with the electrical system, nothing major, just the usual bad connections and short cuts that had been made by various other people that had made some changes over the years.
I carried out a complete wiring check and repaired or replaced all the cables that needed work, rewired the fuse box (keeping the original fuses and carriers) and wired in a few little extras for myself for future use and then moved on to tackle the rusty dashboard.
The dash was stripped down and all the paint removed, I then resprayed it in Antique White (Cream) to match the upper half of the T2, all the Black rubber mouldings were recoated and refitted to the dash before it was reinstalled into the T2. I also managed to strip and restore the original air vents, Speedo, clock and instrument panel back to almost looking like new.
Luckily the guy I bought the T2 from still had the original seats that he’d 
taken out and let me have them, they are not in perfect condition and have a couple of rips in the seat, but I’ll reupholster them next month and make them look really special. take a look at the after photos and I think you’ll agree it was worth the effort
