After seeing some of the other T3's posted here ,it has inspired me to get a thread up ,showing you all, mine .
its gonna be a kinda retrospective thread as i originally bought this van back in 2007 and most of the work was carried out in the first year of ownership by myself and coop in between jobs at work.
at the moment its sat up on my driveway awaiting the show season to start ,although there's a small list of jobs to do this year just to tidy up the paint work and sort out a few mechanical niggles. ill keep the thread updated as i tackle them .
so the story started back in 2007 when Coops dad told us about a T3 van he'd spotted on a drive in clacton looking a bit sorry for itself ,always on the lookout for a cheap vw he'd knocked and grabbed a phone number for us.
after giving the owner a call it turned out he was willing to sell ,so i went to take a look .
this is what i found when i arrived , an 89 2.1i caravelle GL in flash silver .
the bodywork was looking a little tired and beaten but it had a full length factory sliding sunroof, as well as factory rock n roll bed and the rare ABS brake option.
i had a chat with owner and found that he had laid it up after a family holiday in france, ended after the steering lock jammed on in the middle of a sharp bend.
the van had struck a bridge support and had to be recovered home.
needless to say the owners family didnt want to go out in it any more so he was pleased for it to go .
after negotiating a good price for the van i drove it home, i was really chuffed with the power the 2.1 produced and with power steering and ABS it was a joy to drive compared with the 1.9 panel vans i had owned before.
these are the first pics i took after the journey home ,the damage to the drivers side is visible in the next pic ,luckily it was confined to the front corner ,front and rear arches and door handle.
it was obvious that full repaint from the gutters down was needed ,so myself and Coop got cracking and got the job done in evenings and weekends .
sat outside the workshop before work began
feel the power injection ;D
front corner after some beating
usual seam rash ,although pretty good for a T3
ugly rubber Ariel hole cut out ready for welding.
filler work begins
coop starts laying on the primer
all the seams were resealed
followed by the basecoat
and lacquer
take one set of manky door handles
spend a day polishing and sanding and you get these
thing is they only stay like this for a couple of days before the alloy corrodes and dulls off again ..shame
back outside,bumpers colour coded ,headlamp eyebrow on,rear panel blacked
next thing to sort was the wheels and suspension....
its gonna be a kinda retrospective thread as i originally bought this van back in 2007 and most of the work was carried out in the first year of ownership by myself and coop in between jobs at work.
at the moment its sat up on my driveway awaiting the show season to start ,although there's a small list of jobs to do this year just to tidy up the paint work and sort out a few mechanical niggles. ill keep the thread updated as i tackle them .
so the story started back in 2007 when Coops dad told us about a T3 van he'd spotted on a drive in clacton looking a bit sorry for itself ,always on the lookout for a cheap vw he'd knocked and grabbed a phone number for us.
after giving the owner a call it turned out he was willing to sell ,so i went to take a look .
this is what i found when i arrived , an 89 2.1i caravelle GL in flash silver .
the bodywork was looking a little tired and beaten but it had a full length factory sliding sunroof, as well as factory rock n roll bed and the rare ABS brake option.
i had a chat with owner and found that he had laid it up after a family holiday in france, ended after the steering lock jammed on in the middle of a sharp bend.
the van had struck a bridge support and had to be recovered home.
needless to say the owners family didnt want to go out in it any more so he was pleased for it to go .
after negotiating a good price for the van i drove it home, i was really chuffed with the power the 2.1 produced and with power steering and ABS it was a joy to drive compared with the 1.9 panel vans i had owned before.
these are the first pics i took after the journey home ,the damage to the drivers side is visible in the next pic ,luckily it was confined to the front corner ,front and rear arches and door handle.
it was obvious that full repaint from the gutters down was needed ,so myself and Coop got cracking and got the job done in evenings and weekends .
sat outside the workshop before work began
feel the power injection ;D
front corner after some beating
usual seam rash ,although pretty good for a T3
ugly rubber Ariel hole cut out ready for welding.
filler work begins
coop starts laying on the primer
all the seams were resealed
followed by the basecoat
and lacquer
take one set of manky door handles
spend a day polishing and sanding and you get these
thing is they only stay like this for a couple of days before the alloy corrodes and dulls off again ..shame
back outside,bumpers colour coded ,headlamp eyebrow on,rear panel blacked
next thing to sort was the wheels and suspension....
Still, it does create quite a bit of drag with an open truck bed, so that'll be one of the first things to sort 
Then rust! Really like the look of yours, Porsche rims always look spot on on a T3. What front seats do you have fitted?
My engine is in bits at the moment , but in a few weeks the bus will be back on the road....
on 15's
