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Not sure this is what VW meant by "Multivan".....

162K views 575 replies 54 participants last post by  Xtremjeepn 
#1 ·
I have been wanting a little camper of some sort for a long time. Unfortunately I live in a neighborhood where I can't just park a camper or any sort of "utility" vehicle. :banghead:

This means I either need to store a camper offsite or find one that will look like something else when its sitting in the driveway or fit in the garage. I really wanted something that could be used for everything from short trips to the park or long expeditions. So storing something just did not fit the bill. So a stealthy "minivan" style camper would due the trick. It also helped that I'm insanely into motorized vehicles and have a preference for the German style of craziness. :screwy:

Always looking for a deal and no minding a project, I set out to find a deal on a Eurovan that might need a bit of love......and found two:screwy:

First I discovered this wrecked 1993 Eurovan Weekender hiding in the mountains near me. Totally unfixable chassis. But I filled it away in my head in case I stumbled upon a deal on a Non-Weekender poptop.




So about a week later I found a 2002 Eurovan GLS in New Jersey that was diagnosed with needing a new set of timing chains. Original owner van. Runs smooth, just won't idel. Offered the guy $1,300 and he took it. :D

My logic is that ANY van of this generation is due for a timing chain replacement so why pay $8-$15k more for a running one and still have to do the timing chains:rolleyes:





I drove out to NJ and towed the Black van home. Took the time to visit some friends on the way.

Then ran home and made a deal on the second van (the white Weekender) for $1,250 :D Stripped all of the interior and poptop bits off of it and parted out the rest. (made everyone that wanted parts a sweet deal, took any offer made and still pocketed about $1,400 :D:D



Off to the recycler after only owning it for about a week.

 
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#105 ·
I've got a few tasks to do before getting the top all done.

First I need to weld in some new nuts for the top hinges. The holes are a bit large for a rivnut and I can just weld some in.

After that I will install the top fabric. Unfortunately the original fabric has a few wear holes and some mouse damage(more holes). l looked at the replacement tops and decided to fix this one up for the moment instead of spending $500+ for the replacement tent fabric.


So instead I came up with a fun little idea. I found some great cotton canvas just like the factory tent and started making up some fun patches!:p

 
#107 ·
Thanks man:thumbup: Good stuff to hear. Usually I just get told "it can't be done" when I dream up my projects:screwy:

I was examining the interior trim pieces and it "looks" like the only hurdle will be where the rear AC trim lines up with the weekender trim. Nothing a little fab work won't cure;)

The early overhead "Westfalia" trim panel looks like it will match up perfectly with the newer "A" pillar trim pieces. The early and late pieces look identical with the exception of these pieces have a handle on the pillar. So I can kinda keep the best of both worlds there.

I'll also end up with a Weekender/Camper with rear AC which the factory ones didn't come with. So there are some actual advantages to converting one vs just buying one. :D
 
#109 ·
It may simply have been done to maximize the bed space. Remember that these were offered through the factory but technically made by the sub contractor "Westfalia". Which means they were a conversion of sorts.

Westfalia also made a full camper version of the T4 in Europe, so maybe there was a reason to ditch the rear AC on the full camper for space or? .....that carried over to the Weekender package.
 
#110 ·
Wow- speechless

I am just impressed with your patience on the VR6 solenoid issue! I am planning on slowly making my 03 EV more capable off road. You are an inspiration!
 
#112 ·
Damn - awesome job. I'm honestly jealous. You have accomplished a cost-prohibitive feat in the US: obtained/made yourself a pop-up van without going broke. I love these vans - had two of them...the whole proposition became just too costly for me. Unfortunately, I had to get rid of my last one because I could not do the maintenance items myself. I DO miss not having a popup though.

On that subject (bear with me here - I know I'm veering a bit on subject matter), I still want one of these...but one that any shop can service. There are zillions of pop-ups in Europe, but I obviously cant get one here. There are a few Weekenders here, but the VW service experience is not for me at this time. Howeverrrrr, there are many high top vans in the US (small and large - Caravan to GMC) with the roof hole already cut...and the fiberglass hi-top roof already created. I have long wondered about getting one - for example, a hi-top Caravan - and working with a customizer to determine if it is possible to customize hinges so the top could go up and down. The interior work could be cleaned up by my upholstery guy (including the new fabricated upper bed).

Design thoughts anyone? potential problems? I'm curious about the ability of the top to be able to support the weight where the new custom "shocks" would have to mount. I could do this on the relative cheap and have a van that - from the roof down - would be completely stock and serviceable basically anywhere. Thoughts anyone?
 
#114 ·
My plan was never or leave the top white, but seeing it on there I considered it a possibility to keep things "cooler".


Neither me nor my wife could stand the look of the white top on the black van. Realistically, I've never and a heat issue with all of my black topped cars and Jeeps so I decided to make it match today.

I thought about painting it to truly match but decided that using a spray on bed liner would be more appropriate for a van that will eventually have a cargo box, skis, snowboards, mountain bikes, etc on top of it.

So here is today's minor update.





In the spirit of the original VW Camper I couldn't resist buying these yesterday. Not exactly VW original type stuff, but actually vintage Bascal, can't wait to taste a margarita out of these while camping :laugh: .....that means we have 6 extras....so who's in? :beer:

 
#117 ·
D*mn I love this post. You're doing the stuff I wanted to do but didn't. I LOVE the idea of doing the roof in the black spray-on bedliner material - we talked about doing that to ours. It makes perfect sense, especially if you will be putting stuff up there. I'd bet big money that you wont see any difference at all in temperature in the van (its fiberglass and it has the internal "liner" made of plastic or who-knows-what). The semi-flat black looks great. :beer::beer:
 
#120 ·
Eventually I want to do a full conversion, but decided to install the Weekender parts I had laying around so that we could use the van for a bit and "get a feel for it" before doing the rest of the conversion.m


So here was today's project. Weekender table, trim, rear bed/seat and shelf.

You can still see the GLS middle seat mounts in the floor.

Th table required welding in the brackets. The lower one I was able to steel out of the parts van. The upper two I had to fabricate.




The rear shelf and cubbies are just sitting in there at the moment. Had to take a few inches off the side of the cushion as board to fit with the rear AC unit. Not really a bit deal. The stock rear shelf couldn't be trimmed perfectly so I will probably just make my own version of it when I do cabinets.




Neighbor neighbor kid helping me test it out! :D




Full disclaimer, this post was written while drinking coffee at the table in the Eurovan for testing :wave::wave:
 
#130 ·
Th table required welding in the brackets. The lower one I was able to steel out of the parts van. The upper two I had to fabricate.

So you welded in the brackets for the table? I was planning on keeping the table from one of the MVs I parted out for my "work van" but was considering bolting the brackets in, it even looks like they had spots designed/intended for that? Comment(s)? I haven't welded in like 25 years... :p

 
#121 ·
By the way. This is why having a parts van and making sure you get EVERYTHING is important.

These are the rear catches for the back seat. The short ones are from my 2002 GLS, the long ones came out of the donor 1993 Weekender. Whey look the Same when mounted, but are obviously different lengths. I wouldn't have been able to install the seat without these.

 
#124 ·
I'll toss a little tech in here.

The top was full of mouse damage holes like this! :eek:




I honestly don't think the $500 for a new top with 3 windows instead of the too I one(on the early years and two for the later years) is a bad price. But I kinda wanted to know how well the stock material and window set up worked before deciding on an upgrade /replacement stock option.

Mst of it was held together with duct tape:screwy:



As I mention above we cut some new canvas, glued it down with "Bish's Tear Mender" and then ran then through the sewing machine. Did some clouds and star shapes just for the fun of a VW Van!:screwy:



 
#132 · (Edited)
Found another pic I took while pulling the EV93 MV floor nothing under the plywood (no insulation unlike the GLS').



On my 99 right now I only have a rubber carpet straight on the metal floor (that's my work van) and it's not the ideal solution, there's gap at the edges etc and wavy following the floor. I might have a pic somewhere let me see..


[EDIT] Found pics of when I removed the original EV99 carpet and put in the rubber carpet (this is my "work van")







This is the one I want to put the MV table in also and it's now engine and tranny less waiting for it's TDI swap ;)
 
#133 ·
So here is a picture of the welded on tab in the donor Weekender. (Which I should have looked at before welding mine brackets in:what:)



This is one of the little tab brackets I welded in for the table. Mine sits just a tad low when closed. This was more abou time than quality on this project since ultimately I'm taking this back out to do cabinets.



It would probably be possible to drill a few holes and bolt in the upper brackets:thumbup: Welding was just a quick answer for me.


Here I where the lower leg tab was mounted. You can see that it was reinforced with a piece of angle iron from the factory. This could absolutely be bolted int:thumbup:



I welded down a piece of angle iron and then welded the tab to it.

 
#135 ·
So here is a picture of the welded on tab in the donor Weekender. (Which I should have looked at before welding mine brackets in:what:)



This is one of the little tab brackets I welded in for the table. Mine sits just a tad low when closed. This was more abou time than quality on this project since ultimately I'm taking this back out to do cabinets.



It would probably be possible to drill a few holes and bolt in the upper brackets:thumbup: Welding was just a quick answer for me.
I removed the whole bar (#2 in pic below) and that's what I was considering bolting into the side wall, not just the little tab. How sturdy does the table feel like that? This "support bar" for the table is not there on the GLS vans. Oh and yeah riveting it was my idea heh since it seems VW even had that idea at some point (see pic again :)) I try to learn as much as possible from the VW parts prg. ;)

 
#134 ·
No. I didn't keep the floors. They were pretty nasty!

I've been looking at the thread on flooring on the UK site. Not sure what I'm going to due yet. Want something custom and nice looking, but still insulated.

Seems most of the UK builders put down insulation, then ply. I have considered trying to just peel the carpet off the ribbed insulation, then installing flooring over it. Then it would have some insulation, a touch of give, and still tuck in under the factory trim panels.
 
#136 ·
Well my plan (I obviously don't have any plans for the roll out bed) is to remove the carpet from the plywood, and fill in the holes that are in the plywood with cut out pieces, then install the already cut-to-fit rubber carpet I have in my EV99 on top of that (see pics I added above of the rubber carpet and how uneven it is now :()
 
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