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Well the time has come for a change, the Laika which has served us well for three years, but has to go, the drive is to narrow, I could pay for storage, but I'm not into giving others diesel money so our little bug hutch is going up for sale (but not before we have one last month away)
So things new.
We bought a Vauxhall Movano today for a very modest fee, 65,000 miles, all MOTs to back it up, FSH, only one careful owner, we won't mention the git who put the dent in the door.
I have been asked to do a photo log of the build, which I'm happy to do, all I ask is don't laugh, I'm fairly useful, but no Einstein in this department so there will be lots of questions from me and lots of "helpful" suggestions from my admiring fans, well OK you lot'll have to do
So as I can only post 3 pics a day I'll make a start now.
I don't do blogs so it'll be on here or nowhere.
The eagle eyed among you will see bit of body damage, SLD and a bit to the cills, not a lot, but enough to need sorting, there really isn't much to do on the other side, the odd Paddy whack (ex AMEC) we like the blue, and we can wave at all the AMEC drivers which will confuse them, and you lot will be able to spot us and wave or something
We could buy off the shelf cabinets from the lads on Ebay, but we don't want a clinical white lab effect, they do some Beech faced units too, like the wood, but it seems to be all plastic edged holes that are on offer. which just isn't for us.
We could buy ex caravan gear and some stuff might come to us that way.
We could also buy a caravan and dismantle it ourselves which is my preference to be honest, I envisage a huge tarpaulin over the whole issue so I can take it apart as it was built IE walls on last, walls off first.
I hope to make a good job of it, if I don't I will spit my dummy out, I expect to make mistakes, and probably will make loads, hopefully only on the bits which can be quickly and easily sorted, like a wire to short etc, not on the wood work.
What I really need to know is where is the best place to buy a fairly modern caravan for Ģ0.50p or less.
I should also add that this build is not going to start anytime soon, I have way too much work to do around the house, 2 bathrooms to finish, a kitchen to do, finish bedroom extension, finish lounge extension , do utility room, sounds like a manshun dunnit, taint though, just a very small bungalow with a loft conversion and extension to make it big enough for us all to live in.
I think that the SBMCC is an excellent club for the self builder and even for those who just like modifying and adding things. Whichever way you are thinking of doing it, someone will already have done it.
One thing that has come to light recently with regards to your van and similar Renault Masters is that those side strip 'buffers' can hide a rusty seam and it is very worthwhile removing them for inspection and protection.
Looking forward to the progress reports ...................
A few more photos, I said 3 per day, I know I can do 3 per post, but that might be considered extracting the urine, so 3 per day will do.
As you can see the interior is pretty spotless, it also comes with a couple of useful additions too, it has a Eberspacher diesel heater to keep the area warm for the navvies it's fitted to the floor, and has a control box next to the SLD, both of which will most likely need moving, it has a 85ah leisure battery, and is wired for both internal and external roof light, separately controlled from a purpose built panel in the dash, there is even a roof fan which sucks and blows ( behave ) a bit noisy though, I didn't know it was there til I pressed a switch on the dash.
The front passenger seat is unfortunately a duo, but fortunately there are two singles in the back with the same cloth pattern, so there will shortly be a matching set of seats on Ebay, with some frame work, we have a seat swivel in the garage from the Laika so I might use that on the passenger seat.
The floor is the type you see in most vans not plywood, Rhino floor or something so hopefully I can lift that up have some company spray some foam under it and that will do for the floor, hope Cak tanks do stuff for me.
There is also a governor to control the engine speed, as it was also a generator van, not sure how it all works but it works as a speed limiter, the van struggles to get up to 70 but is quite willing up to 50 then runs out of breath, so I need to look into that, but expect an auto sparky will tell me how it can be removed, probably a fuse out will do for now, but I'll check first.
There is a half bulkhead which isn't of any use, a couple of internal spot light on swivels to illuminate the outside workers, no use for them either I don't think, also to amber lights on the roof, Not sure whether to keep em or not, it might make waving a bit of a laugh.
The only real fly is the original engine threw a rod through the side of the block so it needed a new one, a lower mileage one was found and fitted but now the digital odometer (I prefer milometer but that's old hat now ) is throwing a wobbler, it reads gibberish then odd mileages, highest being 175k so far.
So a visit to the vet for that one I think, although there might be a Master/Movano forum somewhere, I've not looked as van is still at the sellers house for now, till the nice skip peeps come and make the drive accessible.
That'll do for now, a couple of more pics tomorrow, and not much more til I start weighing it all up, I intend making lots of cardboard models to see what goes where best, we measured the width, and it looks like a transverse bed will just fit. I'm only 5'9" I used to be taller but it became tiresome, so now I put all my efforts into becoming wider
It looks a great project, Kev, and something I've always fancied doing. My dad did one when I was a kid and hated everything to do with it, so I didn't pay much attention. I know it was an old 12-seater, which had been used as a greengrocer's delivery van for a while. He cut a whacking big hole in the roof and put a pop top on, and he spent ages with little cardboard shapes trying to make a decent layout.
I've just downloaded some pictures from Facebook, which bring back happy (sort of) memories ...
Kev wrote:-
"
So a visit to the vet for that one I think, although there might be a Master/Movano forum somewhere, ..."
I own the RenaultMaster-List at yahoo groups. This is an e-mail list for owners / enthusiasts of the Reanult Master.
I started it for owners of the original ( proper ) Masters from 1983 to 1997 but there are a few members with later Masters. I believe that the chassis etc. parts of the later Master / Movano and similar Nisan will be common but I know not about the engines / transmission.
The e-mail list is definitely *not* busy but you are welcome to join: You may not get your questions answered though, but it may be worth a try.
Also note that it is not for discussion of 'camper' subjects ( I leave that to the SBMCC and other forums of which I believe there are one or two about ) it is for the base vehicle.
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