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@giant_scum
If you do have one, I'd happily buy it off you.
Re: the water system, I have pub line cleaner I use in my home bar, so I'll run that through it first - good shout!
I checked the water tank underneath, it is meant to tilt down like that.
I've parked it a wee bit away, but here are interior pics from the eBay auction:
I can fit in the above cab bed OK, and the cushions in the main part sit on a couple of pieces of ply to make the main bed.
There's a few switches here and there which I need to work out - will do it up at my parents' at the weekend where I can plug it in to the mains etc
Looks tidy
it actually looks really spacious.
where does the bike go 😀
That looks excellent 👍
If you’re using a gas fridge I wouldn’t stress too much about battery power.
110Ah powering LED bulbs, a bit of music & phone charging should be fine for a few days.
I saw it mentioned further up the thread but not sure if answered. A split charge relay will charge the leisure battery when using the van’s alternator when the engine is running. A van with hookup will often have a charger that will charge the leisure battery only when the hookup is plugged in. Some will be set up to charge both batteries.
Solar is excellent if you’re either using a lot of power or staying put for long periods. Ours will run everything indefinitely in all but the gloomiest days.
Op, hope you don't mind me asking but what's your insurance cost on the camper mate?
We have just renewed ours this week gone up from £260 to £275 for the year, fully comp with both of us to drive. They wont accept the girls till 25 years old so we are safe for a couple of years
If you have one nearby and still open go outdoors are cheapest for gas and leisure batteries.
Amazon or eBay for solar panels and a mppt or Pwm solar charger to keep the leisure battery topped up. I have a briefcase style portable solar panel that can put 10amps into the battery, on a sunny day. It’s rated at 120w, so doing ok.
Enjoy
Bike in a bike bag in the overcab. Out the way, can't be seen from outside, relatively crash-safe.
The LPG setup is great as it runs the oven, fridge and water heater for pennies. We went round Europe in our MH for a month last summer having only used it once (drive to layby and make a cup of tea. Abroad there are several different LPG fittings and in Italy they go batshit mental at anyone using LPG for anything except powering engines. We had a break in (at lunchtime in a busy carpark) and were pleased that the rear bike rack was fixed through a 3mm alu plate running the whole width of the vehicle as they had a bloody good go at ripping it off! The bikes had about five locks on them mind.
eBay for solar panels and a mppt or Pwm solar charger
I know I've said this before but watch out, there are a lot of dodgy mppt chargers on eBay. Dodgy as in sulfuric acid everywhere.
You've a great wee place there YGH.
I'm jealous - at that cost, I could afford to run a third vehicle!
I have a 5 metre cable and a few spare commando plugs and sockets to make up a 13 Amp to commando socket!
You can have them for free as I don't need them anymore.
Let me know if you want them.
Aye, it's a bit dated inside but it is clean and usable.
I can see a few things to modernise, but figure I'll run around in it all summer to see what I like/don't like and re-decorate over winter.
Insurance was £215/year from Adrian Flux.
There is a fold down bike rack on the back - Hamma or something like that. Looks OK. There are also heavy crash/bull bars so I can chain bikes up with a very heavy duty Almax motorbike chain when stopped. Figured I'd put them inside in a 1 ton rubble bag if I was away out walking or kayaking for the day or whatever.
Also have some behind your radiator foil insulation lying about so will make up some blinds for the windows.
Also, just mulling over how to put in both internal and external beer taps. Think I've got it sussed.
The insurance is less than my 1.2 Vauxhall Agila... 😳
Is it limited milage or anything stupid on the insurance?
Am I the only one who thinks of Jaws out of James Bond ripping the roof off when I see one of these?
That is all.
5000 mile limit
That looks ace. I’d love a camper at some point.
we need more photos !!
😎
Love that, looks like a Lego build! Just for authenticity, could you shave your head and wear a little disc as a cap when driving?
My girlfriend and I had our first night in it up at my parents'. Handy for visiting and not going in the house.
The van is great - it's very comfy and a nice place to sit in. My sister's kids loved it too.
The beds are comfy and we didn't get cold or anything. Extra bonus - no leaks despite being in a thunderstorm.
The 240v hook up worked, so I have started deciphering the electrical system. Some of the lights and the 3 pin mains sockets were working, lots of others were not - that seems to be due to the leisure battery not being in place, so I have ordered a 100ah one.
The gas bottle it came with was empty, so I will need to refill to test the boiler and cooker. I also have a Porta-potti coming in the post.
The bike rack is a bit rubbish, but I can see how I can cover it with a couple of Thule roof carriers I have and to make it more stable - a wee project.
Cool. Keep us updated.
Everyone loves a van thread
Have spent a bit more time with it now, and am beginning to decipher its mysteries.
I put the second battery in - this allowed me to work out more of the electrical system.
The wiring isn't great - there were lots of random disconnected wires and so on and the voltage to the battery when the motor was running was pretty low. Worked out that this was because the earth connection to the chassis was poor - was on a rusty bracket under the van. So I have run a nice fat cable from the front engine bay earth which is in good nick. The connections to the main battery were loose and it was just lying loose in its tray, so tidied that up too. Am going to put in a brass earth connection block in the wiring area.
Got the fridge and some lights working on 12v. Fridge is switched by a domestic fused spur behind the driver's seat, which works quite well - can easily flip it once you start driving.
There's no charging system in there, the two batteries are directly connected which isn't great - could let them both go flat, and uses the rear battery for starting. There is a big orange pull switch on the dash which I think was used to isolate/connect the rear battery. However I have ordered a voltage sensing relay to do that automatically. Am also going to install a little marine fused switching panel with a voltmeter and some USB chargers too and run everything through there. Will tidy the wiring up. I also plan to label everything so the next owner can figure things out more easily! There are speakers in the back too, so think I will wire up an old bluetooth car stereo and sub woofer I have in the cupboard. Will also order up a dashcam with a reversing camera is it's quite difficult to judge. Van has a great turning circle though!
Got the portable toilet in, all works fine. Aldi are selling the pink and blue chemicals just now for £6 a tub.
Got a new gas bottle - it's a Camping Gaz 907. A bit expensive, I might swap to Calor Butane instead as they seem cheaper. I'll see how I get on with this though.
The cooker works, but I couldn't figure out how to get the fridge to run on gas. There's a sparker button but it doesn't make a noise when you push it.
Haven't tried the hot water boiler yet, as haven't got the water system running. The water connection to the cold tap was hanging loose, and I haven't quite figured out how the 12v water pump is switched on/off - I think it's a demand thing. The whole kitchen area needs some more investigation to figure out what is going on with it. There are some random switches/weird electric connection points/painted over bulbs?
Went to visit my pal in Fife, went for a bike ride then we had a couple of beers in the back and I kipped outside his place - van is paying off already. You also get random folk telling you how much they like it, and waving at you in the street - that's fun!
What do you guys do about the keys if you've had a couple of beers? You can get done from drink driving? Can you put a keybox under the chassis or something and leave them in there?
What do you guys do about the keys if you’ve had a couple of beers? You can get done from drink driving? Can you put a keybox under the chassis or something and leave them in there
Horse pish, so long as your parked legitimately.
If your parked in a questionable spot it could be assumed you planned to move to a suitable spot.
So if parked up for the night in a safe spot with the ramps under the wheels , keys out and in the habitation and the front seat turned round(or better still just no way into the front from the back) Your not going to get done.
There's alsorts of urban legends about people getting done and when you dig deeper you find they failed the attitude test if they did get done or it's just someone interpreting the written rules really badly and no one was ever nicked.
Horse pish, so long as your parked legitimately.
Not horse pish.
You can be done for 'drunk in charge' rather than 'dunk driving' if you're parked in a "public place" - this includes privately owned land to which the public has access (e.g. pub car parks) - it's a bit of a minefield.
The onus is on you to prove that you had no intention to drive if you get picked up on it. (Things like having the van up on ramps obviously helps with this, but not particularly convenient for low-key camping. Not having access to the ignition keys seems to be good, too, but difficult in the case where the key is combined with the locking fob).
Good write-up of it here:
(Linked from the click-bait here )
no one was ever nicked.
My brother was - whilst in a sleeping bag on the rear seat of his car. Ignition keys on his person though.
See also:
https://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/driving-ban/
Good job the op isn't sleeping on the back seat of his car.
Did you see the ops van. He won't be stealthing it up anywhere.
Cool van, very retro 😀
I dont know if its an issue, but i have heard that the older vans have an osmosis issue. Though that might just be fibreglass caravans. I think it makes it really cold inside, even in summer. Maybe look for a heater, sleeping bag or such if you do find it cold.
Water pump is usually switched by a micro switch in the tap, turn tap on and the pump starts.
A couple of comments from me. We set-up our van for extended travelling a couple of years back, expecting to be touring Europe for a year. I got headhunted while we were away though (I thought I'd retired!) so we ended up only doing a couple of months although the mods we did were still useful.
Gas: When wild camping in the summer you won't use much e.g. just cooking and the fridge. It's a different ball game in the winter though as most vans aren't that well insulated and the heating rips through the gas. We have a refillable LPG system from Gaslow however up the north and west coast of Scotland it's actually easier to find replacement Calor bottles than it is finding places with an LPG pump. For that reason we usually have one Gaslow bottle and one Calor one and find that a good compromise. We mainly got the refillable system to use in Europe.
Electric: We have 160W of solar on our van with a single 120AH battery (but room for a 2nd, and I carry our old 90AH leisure battery as a spare and charge that up when we're on mains as I stick an inverter on it and use it to charge my laptop when we're wild camping). We also switched all the lights to LED to save power. In the summer that works great but in the winter the solar panels don't get a lot of charge so we'll usually go somewhere with a hookup every few days. We also carry a 2Kw Honda suitecase generator (which is pretty quiet) and sometimes use that when there is no-one around.
it drives like a bag of spanners – fishing for gears, pushing hard on the brakes and steering like you’re working out at the gym.
Now that sounds familiar! I was dropped off at the Royal Marine Training place at Dartmouth to pick up a vehicle, and according to the transport manager it was the very last LDV minibus in the whole British military. Changing gear was the biggest challenge, it really needed two hands, but that’s not ideal while driving...
Will also order up a dashcam with a reversing camera is it’s quite difficult to judge
Tell me about it! Even just having reversing sensors makes a huge difference, it’s impossible to tell where the back end is on something with a Luton box, or is a long wheelbase with no windows - I had to move a 17-seater minibus last week, just manoeuvring the bloody thing around our car park was nerve-wracking, trying not to hit cars on the corners. I love the idea of a camper, but not having to squeeze one round narrow, steep lanes!
That does look very tidy, though, have fun! 😁
Actually, speaking of desirable campers, this was parked outside the pub I stopped at for a pint this afternoon after a walk, very nice bit of kit:
Anyone like to guess what it was in a former life?
3) It has a little room in it for going to the toilet. But it does not have a toilet – so I need to buy one. Is there anything to know about them? Looks like it is set up for a wee port-a-potty style thing which I am assuming I need to dump the contents somewhat responsibly?
Much like the space shuttle, separate facilities for liquid and solid waste is an idea.
A flexible pipe discreetly venting to underneath (either into a jerrycan or, depending where you are looking at staying, nature) is rather convenient on a cold night - using that then you very rarely end up having to poo inside the van,
it’s impossible to tell where the back end is on something with a Luton box, or is a long wheelbase with no windows – I had to move a 17-seater minibus last week
If it's your vehicle, you just need some tape or a small marker on the wheel arch. Then you can reverse within a few cm every time. It's like a visual reversing measurement.
Most outdoor centre minibuses have two or three bits of tape on them for this reason.
Sounds like more training would be beneficial if your moving these around professionally.
How ever ygh van looks are bad combo of small arms and small motors with a widened body.
Big mirrors sticking out a good distance in your case would be a mega improvement.
Most modern vans will have large mirrors for this reason.
You soon get used to the size. Can do a 3* point turn on a single width fire track now in my 7.2 m long camper. Folk look at me like I'm mad when I do it mind 🙂
*33
Anyone like to guess what it was in a former life?
Prisoner transport?
I have seen the wizzard wagon in real life and it truly is awesome.
I'll guess at a BT van.
Also ygh gave me a bottle of his own barley wine, 3/4 of it and I was feeling the effects!
I am going prisoner transport truck owing to the windows.
YGH - I've got a calor butane (blue one) you can have if you find yourself up near Perth.
Spotted Asda Jewel 4:45pm Monday!
Yes, that was me - my girlfriend and I had been out to the beach down East Lothian way.
The van is quite noticeable. I've had a few pals text to say they've seen me out and about in it. I also get people waving at me as I drive past and folk coming to talk to me about it in the petrol station etc
Oldtennisshoes - thanks for the offer, I may very well take you up on that!
The campervan trundles on.
Further investigation of its innards has revealed some pretty poor wiring. Random coloured and sized cables joined badly, no markings on anything, fuses and switches all over the place and loads of disconnected or cut wires.
This was the (unfused) 12v supply to the fridge:
So currently rewiring the whole thing.
Have put in a proper earth and distribution blocks around the van and wiring between the front battery/alternator and rear battery system with a voltage sensing relay to isolate/charge the rear battery properly. Have also fixed the front battery down so it isn't rattling around loose in the engine bay. Have also added a switched control panel in the back that has 5 fused circuits, voltmeter display, USB and cigarette lighter etc.
Just need to wire in the fridge, new LED lights and exterior LED floodlight to that.
Currently can't get the water pump running, not sure why yet. Am still deciphering the wiring back and forward between it and the taps and boiler.
Have also cut out some damp carpet in the rear, so the van doesn't smell funny any more. Handy!
Wired in the dashcam/reverse cam. However it needs a 12v feed from the reverse lights to turn on the reversing camera function. While the van has reverse lights and they are wired in to the loom, there is no bulb in there and no 12v when in reverse. It also seems that there is no reverse switch on the gear box though the Haynes manual suggests there should be. Think I might wire it into the rear fog lights for now so that I have a button on the dash to turn it on. Or I may splice it in to one of the random, unused switches someone has installed in the cab.
I am quite enjoying working on it - it is pretty easy to work on as there are no electronics, access is easy and although it's old, I haven't found much in the way of seized bolts yet.
Pretty cheap too - getting the battery, toilet, new lights and wiring gubbins has been about £350