Thread: what to look for in a used 13-14' poptop

Have you seen Gav's retro van? oh that may be bacicat or homey... can't tell these days with the mods able to change there names whenever they want

Mrs hh

Originally Posted by The ho har's

Have you seen Gav's retro van? oh that may be bacicat or homey... can't tell these days with the mods able to change there names whenever they want

Mrs hh

Normal people like you can change names too.
We can change yours to she who chucks meat between the buns if you like.
Andrew

Originally Posted by LandyAndy

Normal people like you can change names too.
We can change yours to she who chucks meat between the buns if you like.
Andrew

Go for it

Older vans like mine do offer some advantages, but have drawbacks as well.

On the plus side, they are light - mine is 16' long, full height, 7'6" wide and weighs 1,300KG. It's easy to tow with just about anything - the Xtrail and Captiva both tow it easily. They are cheap to buy and if you look around, fairly plentiful. You can end up with a great little van for not much money - mine owes me under $6K as it sits, with ensuite, and all sorts of other stuff.

BUT....

The drawbacks - you probably won't find one that's ready to go - most will require a little to a lot of restoration and renovation. I've replaced the axle and drawbar on mine to make it towable, I'm halfway through the interior, and all the windows and moulds had to come off to be re sealed - a huge job. Add to that the 1,000 other things that needed doing like electrics, plumbing, etc to make it have some of the luxuries that more modern vans have.

Also, you end up with an almost 100% on road van - although I tiptoe down tracks to get it to some nice camping spots, it simply wouldn't survive if you towed it down 100KM of corrugated dirt roads. Both its original design, and 40 year old bones wouldn't take it.

For me, it's perfect for what we use it for and we love it. Others on here also have older vans that they've spend plenty of time on restoring, but they aren't or everyone. It's been on the road just under a year and we have spend just on 30 nights in it and towed it over 5,000KM - not a bad effort in my book. It rarely sits in the driveway longer than a few weeks between outings which is another reason I haven't finished it yet, doing some of the larger mods between outings is challenging.

If you have some time, passion for older things and some skill with basic tools, it may be what you're looking for though.

It's probably why there are so many Land Rover owners who like classic vans.

Oh, and for those that are half interested, here's the thread on my build over at the Classic caravan forum - http://ditzygypsy.proboards.com/thre...ld-75-franklin

The Golf take bad corregations all day long. Thick Zinc steel guard liners stop blow outs ripping through the cupboards in the van. They will require beefing and adding for 12 volt free camping etc though. My seals are all still good. Eveything works. Amazing really

Cheers

not really,, standard fare for a Golf

just down the road,,
but bench space at a premium
1999 Gazal INFINITY Caravans in Queensland - caravancampingsales.com.au[..16]%26%28%28%28SiloType%3D[Dealer%20New]|SiloType%3D[Dealer%20Used]%29|SiloType%3D[Dealer%20Near%20New]%29|SiloType%3D[Private%20Used]%29%29%26%28Category%3DCaravans%26SubCategory%3D[Pop%20Tops]%29%29%26Service%3D[Caravancampingsales]%29%26SaleStatus%3D[For%20Sale]%29&pso=30&pss=Price

hmmm, must be a trick to this linky thing