A growing obsession

I don't know how I got into VWs.

I have just always loved them. Beetles, splittys, campervans...

Family and friends have fed my obsession over the years by giving me quirky 'n' cute VW or campervan related gifts. You can see from the bottom of the page I have a lot.

From chess board games to salt and pepper shakers and from waste paper baskets to cookie jars. I have even framed VW related birthday cards given to me to decorate the house.

And my obsession, it seems, is rubbing off on the kids.

My little sister once baby sat for our toddler and let him loose with his older nephew's box of cars. Our boy, who must have been just 18 months at the time, went through the whole box (literally hundreds of cars) and found two VW campers which he would not let go of. All day.

Even at the park he wouldn't let them go, toddling around with a VW camper in each hand in a pudgy vice like grip.

We're nurturing our boy's love of all things VW. When his little sister arrived we gave him a present. A 'Happy Land' bright orange camper play set (which very aptly came complete with a 'mummy', 'daddy' and 'meewee' aka Marley, our dog) and a die cast VW Transporter.

It took me absolutely ages to track down the Transporter, eventually coming across one Down Under. (From the comfort of my own sofa on eBay of course, as I was heavy with child and by that time too fat to fly.)

And that's the problem. There's loads of vintage VW gifts on the market, but very little Transporter related.

Luckily, Campervan Gifts is doing a bit of new product development, with the backing of VW, which I'm really excited about.

Top of our gift list would be a cuddly transporter kids toy. Our toddler often goes to bed with his die cast VW Transporter clasped in his little hand after several failed attempts from mummy and daddy to extract it.  A cuddly version would be far more comfy, and safer.

Second on our list would be a Transporter bunk bed. Came across a wooden split screen camper bunk at Busfest last year and loved it, but not so much the price tag. Found a DIY Bay Window version on the net which I am sure the talented husband can knock up though.

We've also been eyeing up pop up campervan play tents for the kids, but a Transporter tent would go down a storm here in our house. Especially if it was red, like our van.

Thinking about it, a lot of my vintage VW trinkets are bright orange or baby blue. And I desperately searched for a red Transporter die cast model for my boy, but it only came in black, blue or white. What is the best colour for Transporter trinkets?

Campervan Gifts are scouting for people's ideas on what would make great Transporter related gifts, and in what colour. (Team Red, Team Red!)

They are also looking for T4 or T5  photos to adorn said merchandise. So if you fancy your van being immortalised forever get in touch with them. Unfortunately the ugly mug of Elvis the T5 for 5 is not quite beautiful enough to grace a coffee mug, just yet!

Share your Transporter gift ideas here on the blog, via Twitter @t5for5 or get in touch with Campervan Gifts.

We are looking forward to seeing the results, and fuelling the obsession a little bit further.

A wheelie great Father's Day gift

We've been eyeing up alloy wheels for the van for a while now.

It's the next big (and expensive!) step in our quest to convert our commercial van into something more worthy of a T5 Forum member sticker.

We've spent hours trawling through google, eBay, the Forum and numerous VW shows looking for the holy grail of alloys.

Some we liked, some we loved and others we had to agree to disagree on.

We've looked at deep dish, mesh, stormers, turbines, 18 inch, 19 and 20. We even checked out bandeds.

Finally, when it felt like we would never find a set of wheels we liked (without having to remortgage the house and feed our entire family on beans on toast for a year) we came across a nice set on eBay.

The husband liked them. And they came with new tyres, which meant our wallet liked them too. Get in.

Now I was a bit mean here and pulled the 'we can't afford these as I am still on maternity leave' card. But I was hatching a little fathers day related plan ;)

The next day I secretly ordered the wheels over the phone, but not before being given an A Level physics test first. What was the load rating of my van? What kg per rim was I looking for? Did I want to run them on 255/40/20 or 275/40/20 tyres. Next question please!

Thankfully, with a little help from the Forum and the dealer, I order what I think is right.

The new wheels arrived next day whilst hubby was at work. They were so big I didn't think they would fit, but the delivery guy (who was a Transporter fan) looked under the arches and assured me, 'There's bags of space love. Transporters look great with fat alloys like these.' Phew. Glad you approve. Hope the husband will! 'Let's hope he gets you more than a box of chocolates next year, eh?', he chuckles.

Luckily, our local Halfords Autocentre could fit us in that afternoon to get the alloys fixed on. Cheers guys! The plan was falling into place nicely ready for the big reveal when daddy got home from work later.

With the sparkling new alloys gleaming in the sunshine and a big grin on my face I put the van onto full lock to swing out of the car park. Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.

What the hell was that? My grin was replaced by a champion gurning face and a couple of mechanics came out to take a look under my front arch. 'Just rubbing a little on the plastic weather cover' they said, 'just don't use full lock'. Right.

Terrified it would rub again or that I would kerb the new alloys I drove home like a granny, parked up outside the house, decorated the van with daddy's day banners (I would say the kids did them, but they are all my own work. Physics and art were never my strongest subjects at school) then we waited.

Daddy pulled up with a look of bewilderment on his face. 'What's all this for?' he says pointing at the banners.

'Happy early Father's Day' I say, smiling. Surely he has noticed them. How can you not notice them? They are flipping huge!

Still a look of puzzlement.

Luckily at this point our toddler pipes up 'Wheels, daddy.'

And then he clocks them. And he likes them. Result.

And here they are.

Our van's great timing

What is it with vehicles and children?

You have something important to do or you need to get somewhere fast and they just go wrong.

It's like they have this inbuilt code that tells them to do something really bad at a really, really bad time.

For example. Quick! Mum's late for the nursery run. Let's both do a great big messy poo that goes right up our backs and all over our clothes!

Or, in the case of the van, let's belch out great big black puffs of smoke just before we are about to take the family and a quarter tonne of beautiful Morrocan pottery to our very good friends wedding in the wilds of West Wales.

Cue panic stations. Will the van get us there? Is the black smoke getting worse? Will the wedding guests have to eat their delicious scrumptious food off their laps?

Thankfully the van made it, but not without erupting a few cubic square meters of volcanic gases into the atmosphere and choking and blinding the unsuspecting motorists who were unfortunate enough to be down wind of us on our journey. Boy, West Wales is hilly and yes the black smoke is getting worse. Mostly when you drive up hill!

And the problem? Busted intercooler (read all about that here).

The van also tried to self destruct on our first family holiday away in it down in Dartmouth.

Me, heavily pregnant sat in the back with a tired toddler and two teenage boys up front are just about to enter Dartmouth when I start hearing a strange whining sound every time the husband shifts the van into third and fourth gear.

'Can you hear that?' I say.

All three boys in front. 'No.'

Husband adds. 'Stop panicking. You're hearing things. It's your pregnany hormones.'

Well I had heard carrying a baby gives you a super sense of smell, but heightened hearing was a new one on me.

The noise rumbled on and I begin picturing wheels falling off, engine blowing up and terrible accidents (now that is the blasted pregnancy hormones) until eventually even the boys (with the DJ Beats or whatever they're called muffling their ears) could hear it too.

Thankfully we get to the campsite and on inspection it's some loose hose, so off husband goes in search of the nearest garage who fit a jubilee clip to keep the pipe in place. How fitting since it was the year of the Queen's Diamond Jubilee.

But I could still hear the noise, and on our return home one test drive by the lovely vehicle technician at my favourite VW Commercial Van garage in Cheltenham confirmed it was the gearbox.

Gah. Great timing. Again! Just as I am about to go on maternity leave.

I suppose any time is not a good time for something to go wrong on the van, but is it just us that it always seems to happen at the worst possible moment?

A blown fuse...or two

Van conversion is a tricky business.

It can lead to lots of blown fuses. Of the electrical and neurological type.

Firstly, there's the mind boggling range of set ups. Do you want a full camper conversion with three quarter length rock and roll bed, or a day van for your daily drive with a snazzy little picnic pod for those peckish moments when out and about?

It's what makes the VW Transporter so versatile (check out my previous post on this here) but at the same time it can be the basis for some epic arguments.

Our first argument erupted when deciding whether to install very expensive full Caravelle seats and rail system (with inbuilt isofix to keep little treasures trussed up safely in their car seats) or a rock and roll bed which is cheaper and ideal for camping, but not as safe. That's fuse number 1 blown.

Thankfully the other half saw sense and our kids are now being stylishly and safely transported around on Caravelle seats (which may as well be lined with gold the amount they cost).

The next conversion consideration is interior styling, including things like carpeting and lighting. The husband did this all himself (well done, hunny) including the installation of recessed LED decking lights in the roof. These he very cleverly decided to hook up to the interior light.

The theory was that when the doors were opened the interior, as well as the swish new decking lights, would automatically come on dazzling everyone. I say theory as no matter what he did, he couldn't get the flipping things to come on just by opening the doors.

A few hours were spent scatching heads and re wiring, then re wiring and then un wiring followed by a few choice expletives.

Luckily us Transporter owners have access to a wealth of knowledge, experience and recommendations from other Transporter owners all across the UK in the T4 and T5 Forum. Check it out. It's quickly become my bible and best friend.

So, while the husband commandeered a neighbour and fellow VW Transporter nut to help him ummm and ahh and fiddle I did a quick search on the forum whilst feeding the new born and enjoying a cup of tea.

And ping! Some fabulous Forum member had shared a solution to our very same problem.

Yep, you guessed it. Blown fuse.

Not only this, they had uploaded a handy diagram showing exactly where the blown fuse was located. Thanks, buddy!

I left it a few minutes and continued to watch the head scratching in the van. Once the little one had finished feeding and my cuppa was finished I slowly sauntered out, popped the fuse compartment on the dash, deftly located said blown fuse and tossed it to the boys in the back. 'Here's the problem guys', I said. Their faces! Priceless.

Who rule the world? Girls! (And the T4 and T5 Forum).

With all our engine troubles since then (resulting in more blown fuses. Mostly mine.) this is as far as our conversion story has got. But we have plans ;)

Wave after wave of embarrassment

Did you know what the Shaka was in my last post, or did you look it up on Wikipedia? (Refresh yourself here).

If you did, then you'll know us friendly VW van owners give each other a little wave, flash or quick hands up as we pass each other on the road. It's like an imaginary high five recognising each other's mutual coolness.

Thing is, you only do it to proper bona fide members of the VW scene. You don't give the signal to any old Bob the Builder travelling by in his work van.

And that's where we get unstuck at the mo. Despite the DRL lights (devilish sporty looking Audi-like headlights with sparkly LEDs), fat steel side bars and tinted side windows, we have still got commercial steels and our bumpers are not colour coded. In short we are a builders ride with Botox.

As a result sometimes we get a wave, and other times we give a wave and are left hanging. Awkward.

Our daily commute takes us past, what I am told, is a well known dogging spot. I'm very careful not to give any sort of signal whilst driving along this stretch of road as I don't want to inadvertently give anyone some secret coded come on.

I don't just partake in the Shaka ritual. I also enjoy giving truckers' signals too. No, I'm not talking about flicking the Vs (although when the road rage takes me I have been known to give the odd two-fingered salute or two, or three).

Basically when a HGV flashes you to let you know it's safe to move back into the lane when overtaking you pull in then give them a quick left right left of your indicator. Usually your new HGV buddy gives you a flash back for your efforts.

I am far more successful at the truckers' signal than the Shaka at the moment. So to save the red face I might shelve Shaka-ing until the van is fully converted.

In the meantime if you see me, do give me a wave as I promise I will flash back.

The lights...the lights!  Jeez, you lot have dirty minds.

One life, drive it.

Quick quiz. How VW are you?

After a quick glance at my Twitter and Facebook feeds I feel like the only person not driving over hallowed ground down the M5 to Run to the Sun this weekend. Sniff.

To distract myself I thought I would write a quick quiz to find out how nuts you lot are for VWs. It's a bit of fun for the bank holiday weekend too!

Read the 10 statements coming up and give yourself one point every time you answer yes.

I'm sure you've done those psycho babble quizzes in mags and newspapers before. You know the ones. 'What on screen couple are you and your guy?' (Baby and Johnny Castle. Patrick can put me in the corner or in the play pen or wherever really) or even 'What type of biscuit are you?' (Toughie. If you've read my previous posts you'll know it would have to be ginger nut).

Make a note of your score then see how you measure up at the end of the post.

1. You make an annual pilgrimage to Devon or Cornwall (or insert your nearest available stunning, rugged coastline here.)
Give yourself a bonus point if you go more than once a year. Lucky so-in-so.

2. You bike, skate, surf, hike, kite surf, coasteer or kayak.
An extra bonus point if you do all of the above. Crazy adrenaline junkie.

3. You or your kids own at least one T Shirt or hoodie with a camper van emblazoned on the front. We are on 9 camper van clothing items in our household, and counting ;)

4. You still call Busfest Vanfest.
Minus one point if you don't know what either of the above is.

5. You are doggie friendly.
One bonus point if you have a dog and you kit it out with a VW neckerchief at every VW event you go to. Yep. Marley, our crazy springer has a fetching baby blue one bought at Vanfest some years ago.

6. You own a VW bus themed wash bag/key ring/mug/coaster/canvas/cookie jar/money box/salt and pepper shaker/VW camper van cook book.
One bonus point if you have all of the above.
If you have not got the VW camper van cook book by Martin Dorey check it out. It's a camper's cooking bible packed full of fuss free tastiness. You don't need a VW camper van to enjoy it either.

7. Your taste in music spans all decades and genres. From 60s Beach Boys to acoustic Jack Johnson and from reggae reggae moves with Bob Marley to rocking out with the Red Hot Chillies.

8. You bring out the board shorts and flip flops at the first flash of sun, no matter how bloody cold it is (this one is for the husband). And in true British bank holiday style he is sporting them this weekend. Well, I have switched the heating on indoors as it's that flipping cold.

9. You own at least one item of clothing from Billabong, Quicksilver, Roxy, Saltrock, Animal, O'Neil, Fat Face, White Stuff, Weird Fish...
One bonus point if you have at least one item from every brand. Moneybags.

10. You know what the Shaka sign is without checking it up on Wikipedia.
One bonus point if you are sat there giving one right now whether you had to look it up or not.

So, how did you do?

0 to 3 points - Vdub newbie
4 to 6 points - Vdub rookie
7 to 10 points - Vdub devotee
10 points plus - Vdub nutty!

Enjoy the bank holiday, whatever the weather peeps!

One life, drive it.

It's all in the name

Come on. Admit it. You have a name for your car don't you.

We love our cars (except when they break down and cost us lots of money. See my very first post here for the eye watering detail).

We spend an awful lot of time in them too. So it only goes to reason that we want to personify them by giving them a name.

Vauxhall have tried to play on this emotional attachment by launching their latest offering as Adam. Apparently it's a tribute to the founder of their sister company, Adam Opel. Personally, I am looking forward to the launch of Eve which I think will be much better model ;)

Our family fun bus has a name. It's Elvis. Why? It's red. And my toddler is obsessed with Fireman Sam. And, well, Jupiter was just too big a name to live up to.

Thinking about it now it probably wasn't the best choice of name. Elvis Cridlington in Fireman Sam is a bit of a calamity, always breaking things and generally ballsing up while the one and only Elvis died on the loo blowing a gasket. Hmmm, I hope the name doesn't turn out to be a self fulfilling prophecy.

My previous cars all had names too:

1998 VW T4 Transporter - Ron Burgundy. As in The Anchorman. As in 'Hey, everyone! Come see how great I look'. Pic below. No further explanation needed.

2002 VW Golf GT TDi - Vinnie. As in Vinnie Jones. As in one hell of a mean machine. It certainly was emotional having to watch him being driven away by his new, lucky, owner.

1996 Vauxhall Corsa - Cory (the Corsa). Original. It was my first car, ok, and my inspiration came from my first pet. A hamster, called Hammie. You'll be relieved to hear my kids do not follow this naming trend.

The folks at at VW Bus T4/T5+ Magazine today put a shout out on Twitter (follow them @VWBusMag or visit www.vwbusmagazine.com) to help a fellow T5 owner struggling to name his bus. The good people of the T-scene shared their van name thinking in droves; Farley, Betty, Dennis, Oscar, Scarlet, Vader, Mrs Slocome...

There really are some great, and inspired, vdub names out there. Wish we had thought ours through a little bit more, but we are stuck with it now.

Ah, well. Let's hope Elvis has 'A little less fight and a little more spark' next time I try to start him up.

What did you name your car and why? Let me know by tweeting me @t5for5 or posting a comment below.

One life, drive it.