T3 Bluestar 'Hannover Edition'

Just picked this up at the weekend, I've been thinking about getting a bus for a bit. I hired a van a few months back and really enjoyed the driving position, diesel engine and just the amount of space. A trip out a few weeks ago and campers/motorhomes were everywhere so I decided enough's enough and I need one in my life!

It's a 1990 t3 Bluestar Multivan, running a 1.6n/a engine. They were only produced for the German market so it's LHD and found its way to the UK via Poland. The interiors all original with 7 seats and a fold out table. The rear bench is also a full width rock and roll bed. The plan is to service it, chassis wax every nook and cranny, fit a new exhaust, replace a few missing trims and just get out into the country in it. I'm UK registering at the moment, all the forms are away with the DVLA so once they come back it's all UK legal and ready to go.

Looks nice matey.

Cheers mate, it looks well. It's had a respray at some point so but it's a lighter colour than the original. I think it's a newer VW colour, seen it on a few of the older 'new' beetles.

It's a slow thing though, top speed was 70mph down a loooooong hill on the M1 and about 55mph uphill! Might have to drop an AAZ in there!  

  they're not built for speed. There's a similar one to that near me. Would love a camper of some sort one day money permitting

It's a proper steady cruiser, the problem is the que that forms behind it don't quite appreciate it like dubbers do!

Money's not really that permitting for me tbh, somethings gotta give and I reckon it might be the Mini but I'm doing my best to juggle the finances and hold on to it till I really have to let it go! One things for sure, the Golf's a keeper!

Looks coooool  

We wanted a camper for a few years and ended up with a t3 autohomes hightop in nov 12 as a non runner 1.9 petrol with auto box so the girlfriend can drive it.
I've done loads to it we both love driving it we're going to bug jam in it next weekend without the kids and up to the agm the weekend after plus the girlfriend is driving her cabby up to

Love the bus.

I'm a bit partial to a multivan and have always fancied one 

Cheers guys.  The UK reg is now sorted (DVLA turned it all around in just 2 days!) so it's been on the road and UK legal for 2 weeks now and I've used it nearly every day. It's been assigned a 1995 M reg as that's the date it was re-registered in Poland but I've sent off for a VW birth certificate to prove it's a 1990 and then it will be updated to it's correct G or H registration.

Last week we took it over the North Yorkshire Moors to Whitby (sloooooow up those hills!) and had a fish and chip supper in the back.  Then after a stroll on the beach headed back into the moors and found a quiet spot to camp for the night:










Made a hasty retreat back home in the morning for a much needed shave…


 Jobs wise I've Dinitrol waxed the whole chassis, rebuilt the door locks as the shims were a bit worn (it needed a wiggle of the key to get in), new wipers and replaced the gear knob and gaiter. I'm now waiting for pay day to do a big shop for all the service items and then I'll be getting greasy.

Here's another shot with the Sportline.  

Excellent mate. Nice roads across the top over there. Glorious scenery and a nice place to stop overnight. Very jealous    

I'd recommend getting one mate, I've never had one before and to be honest until recently didn't really fancy one.

I can't imagine not having it now though, the bug has taken hold and I'm planning what to do with the interior, looking for donor cars for engines, searching ebay for parts when I should be working etc etc  

GavB95 said

I'd recommend getting one mate, I've never had one before and to be honest until recently didn't really fancy one.

I can't imagine not having it now though, the bug has taken hold and I'm planning what to do with the interior, looking for donor cars for engines, searching ebay for parts when I should be working etc etc  

I love driving my camper but needs a bit more power looking to do a Subaru 2.0 in it over the winter

My t25 is for keeps but at a later date we would like a Vw t2 automatic camper 

nice mate!

Cheers Rich.  I've been getting some good use out of the bus over the last few months. It sailed through it's MOT and just needed the wheel bearings nipping up. It's had a service, new exhaust (old one dropped off before my new one arrived) and I've been replacing missing trims. I've also picked up a couple of camping bargains for next year - a Sunncamp drive-away awning and a Just Kampers sun canopy, it's a good time of year to buy stuff like that on ebay.  



The biggest update is that 2 weeks ago I cooked the engine… the old 1.6D engine's dead! The head gasket went and I had to be recovered on a flat back by the AA who dropped the beast back at my home address.



After a bit of head scratching and working out what to do I decided to junk the old 1.6 and 4 speed box that are in there. The 1.6 was under powered and would cost at least £100 to repair and 2nd gear on the box needed a really steady change once the box was warm, I think the synchro's on it's way out.

I've picked up a '96 Passat 5 speed box with all the Ultimate Engineering adapter plates/linkage adapters etc to allow it to be flipped upside down for the install into a T25.  With the gearing sorted I started looking for a suitable engine/donor car. I'd been looking at TDIs and was about to buy an Audi 80 1.9 TDI with 1Z engine but late on Saturday night spotted a MK3 Golf TD local to me with the cable pump AAZ engine. It's a bit grotty round the edges but has only covered 87,000, with an elderly owner who averaged about 3,000 a year going by the MOT history. It'll be a nice easy swap compared to TDI as there's no wiring to mess with on the early TD, later TDIs all have the fly by wire throttle/immobilisers etc.  The full car cost me £400, it'd cost that just to have a TDI loom adapted for a T25 so I'm chuffed.

It's still got 4 months tax and test to run on it, so for now the MK3 will be my daily and I can make sure it's all in order before the swap. Happy days.  The gearbox and Mk3 were bought this weekend so it's all come together pretty quickly (I'd expected to stagger it all out over 6 months to spread the cost). My bank balance has taken a hammering so I'll be holding off on any more spending till Xmas is out of the way!

Nice van. I was tempted to flit over to the campers about 7 years ago.

I went to BusTypes  and saw a great light blue metalic Atlantic that was in loads of magazines back then. I wante one just like it for ages but stuck with the cabby in the end. 

The Atlantic's and California's are really nice. They fetch a tidy sum though! They seem to range from £7K for a well used one up to £15K! A lot of money, but they're much more practical and usable than a Split or Bay, just not as desirable.

Here's a good Atlantic website: http://www.vw-t3-atlantic.de/english/Atlantic_IG_english/Home.html  

Forgot to say, my VW birth certificate came through so I've updated the year of registration with the DVLA and have a year correct 'G' plate on there now.  

So ran the Golf for the 4 months and it's tax ran out at the end of Feb, that gave me a bit of time to buy up some of the bits for the conversion (MPH speedo, front mount cooler, battery tray, flywheel and loads of bits from Brickwerks).

I've pulled the engine from the Golf, took off anything I thought would sell… it turns out nothing really sells for Mk3 Golfs. I wonder if there will be many mk3 enthusiasts in years to come?!

Recorded mileage at removal:








Engine tucked away in the shed…


Golfs final journey…

Got a bit distracted after that, the Mrs was moaning about her car being too slow (Mk2 Polo breadvan) and so we started looking for a suitable replacement. I've always had VWs so fancied something different, ended up with a Pug 205 1.6 GTI…



I cracked on with the van over easter. I laid some slabs down to make the jobs easier, removing the Mk3's engine on gravel was a pain!

Engine coming out…






I pulled the engine with a 3rd strap on the r/h engine mount to keep it level but it slipped as it was lifting, became a swine to get out but I managed! Going to refit the lump from beneath the van with an engine lifting/levelling bar.

Box coming out…






Found some rust in the rear corners


Cut that out and I made up the plates to go back in.


Similar repairs are needed in the opposite corner, plus the battery tray is going back in at that side too.

I got an eye full of spatter off the grinder (couldn't find my googles)  so had a little break from the body work, went to A+E and had to go to the eye clinic for a procedure as the metal had embedded right on the edge of my pupil. Bloomin sore!

To keep things going I wound back the MPH speedo to the correct mileage of the donor engine and fitted that…





Fitted…


And stuck the front mounted oil cooler on as I was tripping over the hoses in the shed.





The opening…


Fitted…


The hoses have straight couplings onto the cooler so it was a tight squeeze to raise the spare wheel back up under the van. I fitted a longer securing bolt for now but need to order some 90 degree connectors to give a bit more clearance.

I then moved back to concentrating on the engine, all the bits came off the old block and the turbo's off the AAZ so I re-indexed that. I bunged the AAZ flywheel and box back on to set TDC and then set about doing the cambelt.

  interesting thread still.