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Foggy51

Messages
18
Location
Welwyn garden city
Vehicle
T6 Ocean 150
Hi All, not sure if I’m doing this correctly but I’ve just joined your fine community. We’re picking up a 2019 T6 California on Saturday and we’re super excited. We last had a California in 2008. It was a 1995 T4 Westfalia which we loved. Unfortunately it had to go to cover stamp duty when we moved home.

We have been planning on replacing it ever since!
One thing I have noticed since looking at newer models is the sink/hob set up isn’t im my opinion quite as good as the old T4 set up. They were rather beautiful and durable enamel in those days. And they featured a very handy drop down draining board.
Anyway, I’m starting to waffle. Hello all. I expect I’ll be looking for all sorts of tips and advice once we have our California.
 
Great to hear of your return to the Cali world!

I had to sell camera gear and 2 guitars (amps and pedals) to scrape the money for our deposit back in the day. I can happily report that my lovely family managed to replace the guitars - 40 years later :D.
 
Foggy51 said:
Hi All, not sure if I’m doing this correctly but I’ve just joined your fine community. We’re picking up a 2019 T6 California on Saturday and we’re super excited. We last had a California in 2008. It was a 1995 T4 Westfalia which we loved. Unfortunately it had to go to cover stamp duty when we moved home.

We have been planning on replacing it ever since!
One thing I have noticed since looking at newer models is the sink/hob set up isn’t im my opinion quite as good as the old T4 set up. They were rather beautiful and durable enamel in those days. And they featured a very handy drop down draining board.
Anyway, I’m starting to waffle. Hello all. I expect I’ll be looking for all sorts of tips and advice once we have our California.
Click to expand...
There’s a whole raft of stuff that’s not as good……..
 
Message me if you want accessories as I will be selling all of mine on here. Just haven't got around to photographing them all and posting the adverts yet.
 
LRGS253 said:
Message me if you want accessories as I will be selling all of mine on here. Just haven't got around to photographing them all and posting the adverts yet.
Click to expand...
That’s certainly worth considering. Thanks.
I think I’ll be in full tinkering mode this weekend once we have picked up our T6
 
sidepod said:
There’s a whole raft of stuff that’s not as good……..
Click to expand...
Indeed..it looks like the T6 version units are very lightweight but not quite as robust.
I’m definitely thinking I need to add a little colour too as it’s a bit bland. I’ve seen that some folk wrap their tables which looks a great place to start.
I think I’ll prefer the engine though. Our old T4 was a 2.5l petrol and you could actually see the gauge dropping when going up hill:)
 
Hawthorn37 said:
Great to hear of your return to the Cali world!

I had to sell camera gear and 2 guitars (amps and pedals) to scrape the money for our deposit back in the day. I can happily report that my lovely family managed to replace the guitars - 40 years later :D.
Click to expand...
Brilliant!
I aspire to be retired an working hard at it. ;)
 
Hope you enjoy your new acquisition. Just a thought - would a checklist for your van be useful at handover? There’s a few in the resources part of this forum. You’d need to be a vip member - but that’s just £15 for the year. Just a thought.
 
img_2453-jpeg.144103
Knocked up a little oak chopping board that fits snuggly in the cutlery drawer. It just clears the trap under the sink.
 
Also added a bin. I had this one that ironically was being thrown out! I glued with Stixall a wooden block to the end cupboard and screwed a metal plate. I then glued a magnet inside the bin and hey presto! So far it stays put when driving. I figured if it’s not quite up to staying where it should I can always glue another magnet inside the bin for more grab. Easy to remove when you swing the front seat round too.
IMG_2455.jpegIMG_2456.jpeg

IMG_2457.jpeg
 
Foggy51 said:
It’s true! :)
Click to expand...
Perfectos said:
Didn't get far !
Click to expand...
We’d been looking and talking about this for ages. Then that one popped up! We really wanted something that wasn’t black or grey(our last California was grey). It felt very serendipitous.
Just ordered two new leisure batteries as these are knackered. Considering some solar too for off grid Scottish adventures….
 
Foggy51 said:
We’d been looking and talking about this for ages. Then that one popped up! We really wanted something that wasn’t black or grey(our last California was grey). It felt very serendipitous.
Just ordered two new leisure batteries as these are knackered. Considering some solar too for off grid Scottish adventures….
Click to expand...
Not wanting to be a doom merchant, but you might not want to rush at solar if just for Scotland unless you are confident of really sunny weather in the summer. Unless you stay in one place without EHU the batteries will top up with a daily drive of an hour or so.
 
chockswahay said:
Not wanting to be a doom merchant, but you might not want to rush at solar if just for Scotland unless you are confident of really sunny weather in the summer. Unless you stay in one place without EHU the batteries will top up with a daily drive of an hour or so.
Click to expand...
I appreciate your thoughts. It won’t be exclusively Scottish adventure. I realise it’s not always sunny in Scotland;).
I’ve read a lot on here about solar panels.
Seems quite good at keeping the batteries topped up just in general use and it’s certainly something I’m not rushing into.
My neighbour has a home made camper that has solar and his battery is constantly topped up. He never hooks up.
I like the idea of the freedom to get off-grid for a few days without running the risk of depleting batteries too much that they get damaged or a reduced lifespan.
 
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