i am interested in buying a 1974 kombi campervan. i dont have much experience with kombi's so what should i look for when testing one out?
much appreciated

Welcome to the Forum Junior.

I spent a fair bit of time traveling all over Queensland checking out konbis for a friend of mine. Other here will be able to help you more for sure but you have come to the right place.

* check for rust of course - this is the measure of how long your ride will last. Mechanical / Electrical issues come a close second as they can be repaired more easily. Use a fridge magnet to search for bog in joins, panels and sills. Also look for new paint.

* See if there are any dings in the floor, missing hoses, perished rubbers, frayed lines and generally poor upkeep. This is a good indication of how the ride has been treated during it's life. Obviously if there are a couple of replacements here and there and no dings it had a good owner recently.

* Take a friend - always good to bargin in numbers. Find a friend who knows a bit about cars, even if they don't like VW's. Get then to watch the tail pipe for excess smoke on start up or get them to start it for you while you check for smoke. Look for leaks and when going for a cruise - rattles, squeeks thing that just don't quite feel right. E.g. loose steering box, spongy brakes, dicky indicator etc.

* List all these down and use any inperfection as bargaining power when neg the price. You will be lucky to find one thats of course perfect - this will take time. Don't be impulsive - be practical and stay within budget.

* Finally - keep about a 1000 - 1500 spare for a few months after the buy. Somthing will go wrong - it always does. Get a good service done and this can be avoided but generally as soon as you have dished out a lot of money and have none all hell brakes loose - the dog needs a vet, dad needs bail and your brother want his $500 back from 10 years ago.

Cheers - Enjoy the forum :thumb

I'm SURE there was a huge thread re this subject late last year. I'm at a loss as to what key words to search for. If you can spare the time to just slowly go back probably in the tech section you should find it (& learn a bit in the process!)

http://www.aussieveedubbers.com/forum/viewthread.php?tid=1728 

Yes there was a thread along these lines once before, & I'll offer the same advice as I did last time.

Grab the next kombi driver you see & ask him.

When I bought my 1st one I knew less than f#ck all about VWs. So I stopped & asked at a house that had 3 kombis out the front. One of the surfys actually came & looked at it with me.

Because kombi ownership is very much a brotherhood, most people will go out of their way to help you........

Kombi drivers are cool, man.

Don't just look for a '74 - be prepared to look for anything from 1974 to 1979 if you can. '74s only had 1800 engines, whereas from 1976 they had 2000cc engines. Fractionally more poke (but not as much as you'd think), but much easier to rebuild.

The factory camper layout also improved later. In '74, the gas bottle was a pissy 1kg cylinder mounted behind the passenger seat, with a hose going through the partition to the stove and fridge behind. Later the gas was moved to a separate sealed cabinet, accessable from the outside, and enlarged to 4kg.

The rear cupboards were also enlarged after '74, and so was the sink. In '74 it was just a square stainless tub, but it was improved afterwards to a proper sink and drain board about a metre wide.

Later, '76-'79 campers can also have 240V hotplates, bottle racks, upstairs reading lights and additional flouro lights that '74 and earlier models do not.

Come along to a VW show and check out the Kombis. See you at Dapto next month.