VW Campervan Wedding Car and Photobooth Business FOR SALE

VW Campervan Wedding Car and Photobooth Business FOR SALE £28,000 ono.

‘Lola’ our beloved T2 aircooled VW bus which we have used for many camping holidays, and hundreds of fun events is now for sale. Due to a change in our circumstances, sadly we have taken the very hard decision to sell, offering the opportunity for someone else to take on what has been a hugely successful lifestyle business, and a dream van.

www.lolathevwcampervan.co.uk.

- A reliable, enjoyable to drive and iconic VW T2 Campervan built in 1974

- New Engine: 1776, Dual ICT Webers 34 Pict,123 Bluetooth Dizzy, Vintage Speed Exhaust.

- Wedding-car ready van.

- Fantastic five star reviews online for the business.

- No existing bookings to complete, suitable to run as a business anywhere in the UK (We are near Haywards Heath in Ardingly)

- A hand crafted wooden photobooth box.

- Photobooth software, linked to live screen.

- Integrated photobooth printer.

- Extensive selection of props.

- Professional logo and website.

- Handover of social media – good following on Facebook and Instagram.

- Professional photos taken from previous events to market the business as you see fit.

- Existing relationships with local venues, ready to offer work.

- Rock and roll bed, perfect for camping.

- Hammock for front of van for little ones to sleep in.

- Excellent paintwork.

- Not lowered and very easy to drive, can even pull caravan!

As keen surfers, we have always loved the iconic style of classic T2 VW campervans, and when we found Lola, we knew she was something special. With her pretty cream colour scheme and blue leather interior, she has been carefully maintained since she was built in 1974. Lola was a working Ambulance until 2000, in Sweden, and she even has the working doctors’ button in the back to buzz the driver, although these days we call it the champagne button!

We have kept Lola as original as possible; she is not lowered and therefore is a very smooth and comfortable drive.

Please get in touch if you think Lola could be an opportunity for you, she has brought us all so much joy over the years, please email Mike with any questions. [email protected]., or message/call us on 0795.024832 (Jacqui) and Mike (0798.996996)

The technical bit by Mike:

When we bought Lola in 2014 to use as a wedding car and photobooth, she had a stock (green) dual port 1600 air-cooled engine, a standard Bosch Dizzy, a standard 34 pict single carb, and the stock exhaust, factory height…of course at the time I didn’t have a clue what any of this meant!

I always wanted a campervan, and the only way I could justify the cost and maintenance, was by offsetting the purchase cost against my PAYE taxable income, and to setup a Wedding Car and Photo Booth business. Eventually, Lola was so successful in the years 2017 & 2018 that it became close to a full-time job for me.

Following the birth of my daughter in summer 2019, I needed to go back to my profession to earn more income. What’s more, as my wife works in the wedding industry also, we couldn’t both be at work and look after the little one. As such, we now feel it’s time for Lola to find a new owner, who will love her as much as we have, and who can if they want to, and grow the business once again.

She now runs a brand new 1776, Dual ICT Webers 34 Pict,123 Bluetooth Dizzy, Vintage Speed Exhaust, Mild Cam, etc. A very nice setup!

Lola was formerly a Swiss Army Ambulance (1974 to 1999), imported to the UK in 2000, and converted to a campervan with a rock and roll bed, and plush interior.

She was in reasonable condition when I luckily found her, and over the years the following issues and problems have come up on both the old 1600 & new 1776 engines, which have now been resolved:

FIRE SUPPRESSION SYSTEM – Installing the automatic fire extinguisher is a great insurance policy. I went for a. DAUS System. with red tubing that wraps round the top of the engine bay and detonates at temperatures in direct contact over 120c.

PETROL HEATER – Factory fitted petrol heater (Eberspacher BA6 6KW) would, after 10 minutes of running, ignite loads of petrol and shoot flames from its separate exhaust. Dismantled it and still could not find issue. Eventually replaced the combined 12v spark plug / glow plug (very expensive), and she is now toasty all year round.

RUST - Wheel arches and battery trays rusting out and bubbling. This is something that periodically needs doing on every bus. So, to solve THE DREADED RUST, after extensive research, I found a useful book called “Volkswagen Bay Transporter Restoration Manual”. I found this most useful and found out that the author (Fletcher Gillett) was just down the road from me in Sussex (Steyning). Fletcher, who runs Vintage Auto Repair (a few doors down from Carls Wolfsburg Wizards), did a fantastic job on Lola welding wise, and I then took Lola to a bodywork sprayer to have her finished off (Cyril now retired).

Fletcher is an honest genuine friendly mechanic, who really knows his stuff.

Countless panels and doors have been replaced over the years, as with all these classics.

Fletcher has also periodically wax oiled the inside and underside of Lola, which has done a great job of keeping her free of most of the rust problems.

RESPRAY – I worked with Jason at Illusion Custom in Hickstead. Stripped Lola bare, took all the windows out, and Jason went to work his magic on Lola. Eventually, after nearly crying about the paint cracking and reacting, the final coat settled.

Jason did an amazing attention to detail job on Lola and I have had many a compliment on his work!

DIZZY CLAMP – The standard clamp never quite gripped the distributor properly. Therefore, the timing would sometimes go out. I changed this to a. Limebug Billet Dizzy Clamp. , and have never had a problem since.

TOW BAR – I sometimes tow a small yellow teardrop trailer with Lola, when we go away in her. I installed a standard towing kit (substantial looking) and a chrome tow ball cover, so no one gets greasy trousers or dresses!

HEAT EXCHANGERS. – The factory ones eventually rusted through. It’s important to have these working, especially in summer, as you need to have airflow over the internal pipe in the heat changer, so not to overheat the rear cylinder heads (the ones closest to the gear box). I went for German quality reproductions, which still had decent fins inside (similar to the originals), but these had the added advantage of a wider diameter pipe that is less restrictive.

FRONT BEAM - The front beam needed changing as it was rusting through. I made the fatal error of purchasing an aftermarket front beam (instead of a Californian import original). Fletcher from (Vintage Auto Repair) fitted this, however, regardless of what we did; we could not get the bus back up to factory height as the leaf springs would not rotate far enough round. This changed the ride dynamic, and the suspension characteristics, meaning a pot hole would make her jump into the hedge! We quickly replaced this for a Californian original and she drove smoothly and lovely again.

I would advise against lowering a bus! Unless it’s done properly, and the front arm components are replaced correctly, your bus will drive like a dog! It’s not as simple as just replacing the front beam.

123 Distributor Bluetooth. – 1600 & 1776 - SDVA MAP Curves & Programming for air-cooled 1600 / 1776 – After the Pertronix broke down, I asked what alternatives had other people installed that are RELIABLE! The options I found would be financially all or nothing in approach.

Either;

- stay with the standard points and condensers,

Or - bight the bullet and install a 123 dizzy that could be programmed specifically for what the engine needs.

Putting a programmable 123 dizzy in (not the 20 pre-sets version), I found I couldn’t quite get the timing right. I programmed various curves, including the 009, the one size fits all VW, the 034, all never quite fired right. Later taking Lola to Andy in Sittingbourne, we ran her on the rolling road, and added 5bhp and 10ftp torque by reprogramming to the appropriate curve.

Andy says that he has seen and fitted hundreds of 123’s, in a range of different vehicles, and they are the best you can get.

NEW ENGINE 1776cc – After the End Float on my old 1600 got really bad, Jay from BJ Speed Shop built and fitted a new engine in Lola in July 2019. I endeavoured to run the engine in carefully for the first 500 miles, before another oil change. The new engine has a free flow system (with a modern oil filter). It has a mild cam, which gives Lola a little more torque over stock, especially in the low rev ranges.

As per Jay’s recommendations, I run Lola on Lucas Oil 10621 SAE 20W-50 Racing Motor Oil, which has added Zinc. Expensive stuff, but worth it to preserve the life of the engine.

TWIN CARB ICT WEBERS –After doing a Facebook pole on the forums, with ways to increase the performance (so I’m not crawling up the hills), I found a 50/50 split of suggestions between people saying put Twin Carb ICT Webers on and those saying, go to a 1776 new engine. So, I did both!

Twin carbs being lower cost, I decided to do this first. I very quickly found Mike at Way Out Westie. Had a good chat with him on the phone and booked him in to fit. He ordered, cleaned up and jetted the carbs for my 1600, and in one day we fitted these, including cutting away the old air oil bath mount with a dremel. We did have to make a few modifications for the air vacuum hose, to fit the carbs, but setup, she ran well and had more power. Mike did caveat that, I am unlikely to see the performance improvement; all the while I am restricting the engine with a near stock exhaust. (Later I found him to be right on this point).

Mike is a very friendly guy, and extremely knowledgeable about his passion, ICT Webers, that he even has a very useful installation blog on his website.

(I’d recommend at this stage, you watch a few videos and read up on what the various jets do in a carburettor, and how they work at different throttle positions)

Mike jetted for Lola’s 1600 old engine the following setup with ICT Webers; 145 mains,165 airs,55 idles, f6 emulsions,150 float jets.

When I changed my engine to a. Brand New 1776, I called Eurocarb, who specify; 140 mains,165 airs,55 idles, F78 emulsions,150 floats. Jay installed this with the new engine.

Note the Emulsion Tubes being different (along with the mains).

This ran fine on the rolling road, with an AFR of 13. However, when running on the motorway at 60mph for long periods of time, the engine temperature would get a little high. Immediately checking the spark plug colour, I could see it was a little white (should be a dark biscuit colour), and therefore the Main/Air Jet ration was a little lean. Air-cooled engines like to run slightly rich.

Installing an oil cooler was touted as an option online, but this would simply mask the problem.

I spoke to various air-cooled specialists. Alfonso from Wrexham advised that he runs the F78 emulsions, and similar jetting sizes to what Eurocarb have specified. This was mirrored by what Graham said from Rawspeed Tuning in Plymouth.

However, Mike from Way Out Westie Specifies for a 1776.160 mains,180 airs,55 idles, f6 emulsions,150 float jets. The big step up in sizing could be down to the different emulsion tube. The jury is out on whether this is the case though.

Remember, every engine is unique; some have different cams, different heads, different rods, etc. So there is no definitive science, regardless of what anyone claims.

A number of different sources suggest taking the venturi (29mm on an ICT which is the size of the throat inside), and multiplying it by a factor. On some websites (like aircooled. Net) it specifies is sometimes 4.1 to 4.3x the carb size, and on others like 5x, others 5x plus a bit.

This is a huge range between 120 up to 160!

Furthermore, some advise simply richening the mix, by just increasing the main jet. Others say that both main and air should move up.

It’s a science that wont always be right, and I think I have got it right now for winter running on E0 and summer running on E10, which she runs well very well on and surprisingly cooler, as Ethanol has a lower flame temperature (40°C lower), as is used and mixed into the fuel for lots of top end sports cars.

STAINLESS STOCK TO VINTAGE SPEED. – 1776 new engine - I didn’t expect much of an improvement when switching from stock to vintage speed on a new 1776 engine, but the engine was quieter, you could talk to the people in the rear from the front, and the engine note now has a nice low hum. The drivability is smoother, no exhaust popping downhill, and I found myself still in 4th gear at 30 mph going up a 10% gradient (although its best to change down to cool the engine, but shows the torque!). It was also easy to install with quality fitting kit parts, however, a couple of the screw threads on the exhaust itself stripped before the 16nm setting on the wrench was reached. I ground down and placed some new nuts behind this, which resolved the issue and it tightened up nicely.

Its also worked really well at cooling the engine more.

VDO OIL TEMP & PRESSURE (DON’T WORK WELL IN SUMP EXTENDERS) – The kit went in okay, the pressure worked perfectly. I had a lot of trouble with the Temperature Sender Sump Plug and Fahrenheit Gauge (Dial).

It works on electrical resistance in the sender, which reduces as the temperature increases.

The Sender Plug I installed was giving resistance values in the 1,200-to-300-ohm range hot and cold, where the gauge has (written on the inside of the sleeve),322.1 to 18 ohms. According to VDO Birmingham the product numbers showed up as incompatible, but the supplier got a different answer from the team in America (very strange). I think I had a dodgy sender, but I wasted days finding this out!

The good news; I changed the Sender and the Gauge to the Celsius version and it worked.

The bad news; the sender in the sump extender would never read over 55 degrees. It’s not a good place to measure engine temperature!

I changed this to the VDO Dipstick Sender and voila! Accurate readings.

(Apologies – Mike is a details person!)