An Afternoon with the Californias

It was with some trepidation that we rolled in to a car park full of T5s that were all very different from ours. All with owners that on first appearance seemed very different to us...

The natural preconception is that your average California owner isn't necessarily into the 'scene' but have bought themselves a slice of ready-made-cool without the usual rights of passage associated with working your way through some of Volkswagen's earlier models.

How would they view our van?

Kindly organised by my father, owner of an early T4 California, the club meet was one of several taking place up and down the country; an opportunity for like-minded owners to get together and share hints and tips on California ownership.

So after a morning of cleaning and detailing, we pulled up and aired-out:

On the whole I think most Cali owners liked it - a chance for them to see something different from their own (almost identical) vans. There were some funny comments, 'its on them modified springs' being the best, and it was great to see people's reactions when you tell them the van started life as an empty panel van, 'you'd never know' was the comment from one owner that made me smile.

On closer inspection you could see some variations in the Californias in attendance; variations in model year, headlight upgrades, interior accessories etc. One van that did stand out was a California that had more individuality than others - blacked out badges, awning and bike rack made this van stand apart from the others:

We hung around for around an hour and half, chatting away about our interior, camping trips and van life in general - it turns out that most California owners are cut from pretty-much the same cloth; they all crave the same spirit of getting-away in their vans...

Would I go to another? Probably. There's talk of a camp-out later in the year - chance for a longer natter over a beer with fellow campers...

If you're interested in a VW California or the California Owners Club, follow the link to their forum here.

Good weather, good omens...

...and a long-overdue update.

It's Dubfreeze again! Back out of hibernation and raring to get the 2014 show season underway. I did start to question what on earth we were doing on Saturday morning; packing the van in the rain with a cold wind blowing sideways, meeting friends and driving over the M62 and down the M6 on a day when the media is telling us not to travel unless you have to... and we're going camping!

Good morning Stafford!

But the morning after the beers had washed away the memory of bad weather dawned crisp and bright. The temp gauge said 0.5˚C and the ice on the bonnet confirmed it. The inside temp was around 12˚C thanks to the Eberspächer and the roof staying down overnight.

Roof popped, kettle on.

The journey down was yet another confirmation that the recent DMF and clutch replacement had been a complete success - no more judder under load, everything operating as it should.

If you search previous posts you'll read about my love of Dubfreeze and the fact that it's not so much a 'show' as a reason to get out - and I'm so glad we (and many others) did - it's amazing what a little bit of sunshine can do for the spirit!

On another positive note, we chatted to someone about another 'upgrade'... not so much a modification, but definitely one to keep an eye out for. It won't be happening until mid-August but fingers-crossed this will be one thing that will make the van truly unique amongst it's stablemates. Sorry, I'm not giving anything away just yet...

The van will also be going back to The Camper Shak on Friday for a few interior tweaks and a repair to some damage done last year; nothing major, just a freshen up ready for camping at the Volksworld Show in March - see you there!

Preventative measures

Okay, so Winter might not be camping and show-going every weekend but it does make for a great time to sort any little issues you might be having with your van. We've got one. It's the dreaded dual mass flywheel.

Now it's not often that Stone174 gets his fingers dirty and starts talking about things under the bonnet, but there's so much forum-talk, speculation, doom and gloom about the subject, I thought I'd do a little research and put something up on here.

Dual Mass Wha...?
The dual mass flywheel (or DMF if you like) is fitted in most modern diesel and petrol engines, both passenger car and light commercial vehicles. In fact nearly all Diesel Light Commercial Vehicles built today benefit from a DMF, providing van drivers with smoother more refined vehicles.
Engine torsional vibration (TV) has increased over the years due to greater cylinder pressure and increased compression ratios. These increases have been so great that a cure had to be found for the extra vibration. The DMF absorbs all the torsional vibration and gives the added benefits of reducing noise, reducing fuel consumption and protecting the driveline from the harmful vibration and occasional injector misfire.

Worried yet - what are the symptoms?
We first noticed ours going after the van had been stood for a couple of weeks; engage first gear from cold, pull away with a bit of gas and judder, judder, judder...
Once warmed up it all goes away. Using the van daily and it doesn't happen. Leave the van for a week and it's back.
Many people say there's nothing to worry about, it's just a build up of condensation on the flywheel, perfectly normal. I'd say ours has got noticeably worse over the past 12 months.

Time to replace?
There's never a good time I suppose, but there's always a bad one. More often than not we're in the van doing something we've been looking forward to; heading to a show, a week off work etc. The last place we want to be is on the hard-shoulder and making small-talk for several hours in the back of a recovery wagon (no offence to the AA). So, combined with a 90,000 mile service and MOT, we've chosen to replace the DMF and clutch in one go.

Is there a cheap option?
In a word, no. We're not ones for scrimping on pattern-parts, this is one item that needs to be OEM.

Parts required for the 2.5 174 engine will be:
Genuine LuK 240mm Dual Mass Flywheel
Genuine SACHS SRE Organic / Sintered Clutch Disc
Genuine SACHS SRE Pressure Plate
Genuine SACHS Releaser
Flywheel and Pressure Plate Bolts 

This is an uprated direct replacement for the OE LUK Kit found on the 2.5 TDI Transporter T5 with the 6 Speed Gearbox. The Organic Clutch Disc are rated by Sachs to 390Ft/Lbs+

Parts cost is around £675. With roughly around 6 hours to fit.

What about going back to a Single Mass Flywheel?
Initially the unit cost may be lower, however in the long run damaging vibrations that were previously isolated by the DMF could affect or damage other parts of the vehicle. Failures can occur as a result of retro-fitting solid flywheels. Vibrations not eliminated by the flywheel have been known to destroy gearbox components, contribute to broken crankshafts and increase noise or resonance within the vehicle cabin to unacceptable levels.

So there you have it, not the sexiest of Christmas presents I've ever received; not quite the glamour of new alloys and airride of this time last year - but these part are just as important. The van is booked in to Aire Valley Workshop for the first Saturday in 2014 and they're keeping it for a week.

Autumn update

As you've guessed by the lack of blog posts, not much is happening at the moment. We took a trip over to Campershak last weekend for them to look at making a few adjustments and repairs to parts of the interior - these should be done early in February next year, hopefully before Dubfreeze.

Whilst out in the Autumn sunshine it seemed a good opportunity to get a few photos:

Show report: VAG Squadron at JCT600

They say there's no such thing as a free lunch. Well 'they' are wrong - nothing like a bit of good old Yorkshire hospitality courtesy of the newly opened JCT600 dealership in Wakefield who kindly opened their doors (and their forecourt and their car park) for the VAG Squadron crew to put on a little Sunday Show.

The free hog-roast was a bit of a welcome surprise and was perfect nourishment after the hours of polishing the van. The event was also VAG Squadron's first birthday party and a good excuse to get together on an un-seasonally warm and sunny afternoon and raise a bit of money for charity.

I spent most of the weekend's daylight hours trying to get the van as spotless as possible, as far as my detailing skills (and lack of equipment) will allow.

Pic courtesy of Savage Photography

Parked up with another five T5's we definitely held our own and received loads of positive comments from young and old alike, just one minor negative when a few 'characters' decide to just climb in the van, I was not impressed.

In all, it was a great little gathering; a few show trophies and a raffle, money raised for a worthy cause, and a free lunch. Who could ask for more...?

Apologies again for the lack of 'regular' blogging. There's a few projects and maintenance jobs to do over winter, and we're attempting to camp at least once a month throughout winter too, right through until the show season starts again in 2014.

Cornwall trip & Busfest 2013

I know what you're thinking; there hasn't been a post on here for a while. So here's a long-overdue update...

There's nothing much to report on the van front other than it has been in regular use as Camper, show vehicle, bike transporter, spare room, and chill-out area. Early September saw us make our annual pilgrimage to the Southwest for some camping, surfing and general lazing about, with the return journey being interrupted by a stop at the Busfest show under the Malvern hills.

Our first stop was at our regular haunt, Trewan Hall campsite near St. Columb Major. As the week progressed, the campsite emptied leaving just us with a field to ourselves.

The weather was kind so we made our usual trips up and down the spine of Cornwall; St. Ives is one of my favourites - but it's always better when you take the park and ride train from Lelant rather than struggling to drive into town and find a parking space.

The Eden Project is always quite high on our list and one we hadn't visited in quite a while. The addition of the new aerial walkways adds a great new perspective to an already spectacular site.

Plenty of chilling out with our fellow van-campers took place. If ever there was a perfect time and location for the 'snail-like' lifestyle of carrying eveything around with you, it's Cornwall in early September when the weather can change three times in a day. One minute you're sat in the fog, the next minute you're getting ready for a spot of surfing under clear blue skies.

Perranporth sunsets are always a bit special in September.

Feeling refreshed from a few days in the southwest, it was time to head north to our next stop; the Blackmore Camping & Caravanning Club site just a mile or so down the road from Busfest at the Three Counties Showground. Being on a designated hard-standing pitch isn't quite the same as the freestyle Cornish camping, but having electric hookup was nice as the temperature had cooled.

A small selection of the awesome vans at Busfest:

Busfest was as busy as ever and there seemed to be even more of our European bus-loving cousins making the trip to the show. Loads of Germans, Dutch and Belgians in attendance - they always come over with the really cool vans that never really sold in the UK; syncro T4s and cool early bays were in abundance. The show and shine was a little thin on T5's - more than last year, and the quality/taste is getting better year on year.

This year really highlighted the need to get our interior done. Sticking with the 'no-compromise' ethos, I'd really like the dash and door cards trimmed along with the front seats and rear seat/bed. Cost-wise I fear this will have to be done in two stages; we'll get the seating done first as Mrs. Stone174 can no longer deal with making the bed up with just bare foam and an Ikea throw.

As ever, keep watching this space. I'll try and put up a few musings as to the direction I'd like the interior to take, without giving too much away! Apologies for the break between posts - but you can't blame me for being out in my van all the time!!!