I’m not fibbing. See, it’s even in a comic strip, so it must be true.

With the van completely empty and looking shabby, I really needed to get on and finish the job. The interior was mostly done (well, the new doors I cut out needed routing – so that I can put trim around the edge – and hinges, catches etc) but while the van was empty I decided to give it a make-over (see previous post for the list).

The hardest job was putting new windows in (or old windows with new rubbers). I really needed a swear box, especially when the helpful leverage supplied by screwdriver slipped and scratched the freshly tinted windows! This was not an easy job, and I am not looking forward to doing it again. Ever.

Here’s a bit of the progress from that part of the refurb, done over 12 hours:

On the Saturday just gone, I finally put the refurbed interior back in. It was a bit of a jigsaw, and I discovered that I was missing one piece (thankfully, not a crucial part, and one I can make up out of MDF quite easily). There are still some final bits of work needed – some trimming, floor, and a few other odds and sods, but basically the donkeywork is all done now. And here’s the (almost) finished result:

Well, the restoration on the units has been going pretty good. It took a couple of weeks of filling, sanding, re-fixing old joins and applying finishing touches (fablon vinyl covering and edge trimming), along with a bit of painting, varnishing and good old-fashioned cleaning. The bed/seat is recovered and everything is almost ready to go back in, although I still have to finish the cupboard doors – just waiting on finding the right router part so I can cut a groove in the doors for the trim to go in. You can see the progress in the photos below:

Now, it just needs somewhere to go, right? This weekend I bravely took to the existing interior. Once I’d pulled up the first bit of laminate floor, well, I was committed to it then. Over the next hour and a half or so, I unscrewed and pulled out the various fittings until the back of the bus was completely empty. It looks positively cavernous in there now!

Before the refurbed interior goes back in I’m going to get a few jobs done on the inside, namely:

• Wire brush all the floor and re-paint with a black rust-proof paint
• Sand all the bodywork above the suage line on the interior from the bulkhead back
• Remove the windows with the knackered seals, also replace the pop-out windows for new (non-leaky) windows
• While the windows are out, re-tint them all – easier to do on a flat surface, and can actually put the rubbers over the top of the tinting, woohoo!
• Paint the interior above the suage line white
• Lift up the pop-top, blitz the inside with a range of toxic chemicals to remove damp spots and what have you!

Sounds like a lot, but nothing too troubling really. Can do it all myself, the only question is how quickly? Watch this space!

Long time no blog post. About time I did something about that and I have just the reason – a long overdue refresh of the interior of our VW Camper (aka our Ethel).

Last week I collected an old Dormobile (D 4/6) interior from a guy in Slough . Originally he wanted just £50 for the units and the fold-out bed, then it went down to £30 but when I actually collected it he had a change of heart and decided not to take anything for it. Perhaps, in removing the units, he realised just how much work would be involved to put them right.

So, for the next few weeks I’ll be cleaning and sanding the units, re-screwing all the joints (with counter-sunk screws that I’ll fill over and sand for a flat finish), covering entirely with new Fablon (sticky vinyl covering) in Beech finish, and putting new hinges on everything. The only hurdle I’m expecting, to be honest, is finding some trip to apply to the edges of the doors – I may need to improvise somewhat!

Once all the units are in good shape inside the house, I’ll take out the existing interior and start plumbing in the new ones. I’m hoping that will be the easy part.

So, I’ll update the progress on the blog, partly for my own records, and partly in the hope that someone searching for door trim for Dormobile units might chance upon this site – and if they do, please let me know where I can get some!

… she would probably look a bit like this:

So, I don’t have a split-screen bus, so I can’t do a proper job of recreating Filmore from the film, so the Photoshopped version will have to do!

A new year, a new look - Ethel has had a make-over. Truth be told, I’ve noticed I’ve been calling the van Ethel less and less recently. I think it’s because as time has gone on, I’ve removed more of the stock Aussie camper parts (like the roo bar and spare tire, the stock engine parts) and with each subtle tweak the bus is looking a little cooler; in other words, I don’t see her as a frumpy old lady so much!

The most recent changes have taken a while to come to fruition. Back in December I got the bus lowered, taking up a timeslot that was available at short notice - I had hoped to get the bus lowered and on the set of shiny new Empi 5-spokes before my wedding day (it was going to be used as a wedding vehicle). The timing was good - it would give me three weeks before the wedding to get MoT sorted. But disaster struck.

On the way back from getting the van lowered, the engine was getting progressively louder. Half way through the journey, as I pulled up at a set of lights, I heard the reflected sound of the engine bouncing off the cars next to me. Jeez, it sounded like a friggin tractor! And a very unhealthy one at that! Before not to long, I pulled over to investigate and by the end of the journey I was crawling back on hazard lights, with the engine popping loudly all the way of the 20mph journey.

Prognosis - knackered cam shaft. There was no way I was going to get it running before the wedding.

We got married, everything went smoothly and then we went on honeymoon. When I got back, I started thinking about the bus situation - it had been in the garage while I was away having a new (recon) Remtec engine installed. There had been a few teething troubles getting it to fit in, but earlier this week I collected the bus and now she’s driving nicely, quietly and with the lowering I can really feel a difference in handling, especially going round roundabouts or other sharp turns. I’ve still got to get used to slowing down much more for speed ramps (otherwise I’ll grind out!) but that’s a small price to pay. So, say hello to Ethel version 2.0 - doesn’t she look the part?

Some time ago I wrote an article that was featured in Camper & Commercial magazine. At the end of it I wrote:

"Now, we’re getting settled in again in the UK and finding all manner of jobs that need doing on the van. She’s a rust-free Aussie battler, for sure, but she’s not show car material. She won’t win any prizes for now, unless there’s one for ‘Biggest Holiday Souvenir’. "

The funny thing is that this weekend just gone, Ethel was a show vehicle - and the reason for it was because she was a holiday souvenir. OK, well that’s not how they labelled it: I had taken the van up to Vanfest (who, incidentally, have possibly the worst VW web site in the world) in Malvern to park up in the "Well-Travelled Bus" category. Look, people actually looking at my van at a show! Actually, they’re looking at the map of the route we took around Australia rather than the van. Still counts though, doesn’t it?

I’d like to say that Vanfest was a great show but I can’t say that with hand on heart because, as I discovered, there’s a problem with exhibiting like this - you don’t get see much of the show. Sure, I wandered around the trade stands picking up some goodies for the van, but other than that I really didn’t see that many buses at the show (I hardly even took that many pictures at Vanfest, which is unusual for me). Admittedly I was only there for the day (no overnight camping) and also spent half the morning wrestling with door fittings (I’d started to strip down the cab door to replace the window winder mechanism only to discover that it was far from an easy procedure, and was made all the more horrible by the sheer volume of Waxoyl that I had previously sprayed inside the door cavity. Maybe next year I’ll make a weekend of it. And when/if I do, I’ll drive up there on a decent set of tyres that aren’t likely to blow out and cause a nasty accident en-route!

How’s that for a shocker?

I uploaded this a little while ago but neglected to post something here. It’s another self-edited video, this time of my own bus (aka Ethel) in some video clips that I still had kicking around on Mini DV tape from Australia. It’s held together with a Prodigy track (Memphis Belle) and I kinda like it. Admittedly, if you don’t have a VW or if you haven’t been to some of the places shown in the video, this won’t mean too much to you. But if you’ve ever travelled around Aus in a camper van, give it a try!

Download the video of Ethel in Australia - clips of the van in Victoria, South Australia and Western Australia [14.9mb Quicktime movie]

(AKA - A real life test/review of the Garmin Streetpilot C320)

What are camper vans for if they’re not for heading off, on an impulse, into the country for a spot of exploration? And what better to help you with that than a bit of in-bus navigation help? By that I am referring, of course to RatNav.

OK, I really mean SatNav, but Eugene, the van’s newest mascot (named somewhat unfairly after the Big Brother contestant on account of the oversized chompers) needs somewhere to sit and I don’t want to let that get in the way of a cheesy pun.

I’d always wondered what use these systems were. They were something that "other people" used, generally people in BMWs with plush leather seats. But then one day I found myself in the back of a car. A BMW, actually. With leather seats. And I was watching Tim’s Satnav follow us and guide us all around the country lanes to John’s place in Sezincote, delivering us right there on that spot in the middle of nowhere. I knew it was only a matter of time until I succumbed and bought me one of those!

I got a Garmin Streetpilot C320 about a week ago but this weekend was the first time that I tried it out for sure. I looked at a map (the old fashioned kind) and decided a bimble around the Forest of Dean would be a good idea. The unit seemed to fail its first test when I headed for the M4. I knew that I needed to head west and go over the bridge into Wales, but it was suggesting I go left, heading for London. Er … OK, let’s let it recover. Because the good thing is that if you go off route, it quickly recalculates a route for you. I worked out later that it was guiding me the right way, as I had set the unit to avoid tolls, so it was suggesting a route other than the M4 route I had headed out on (because you have to pay to go across the Severn Bridge). I unset that option then carried on my way. Oh, and paid the toll when we crossed the old Severn Bridge.

I cannot praise these things enough. It took the stress out of navigating to such a degree it was laughable. I was making my way around little towns like I’d known them for years, not once making a wrong turn. When we got to our campsite (located using the GPS), we immediately headed out, using the nearby points of interest facility on the unit to good use. By selecting one point at a time and letting the unit suggest a route, we found ourselves driving down pretty routes that we probably would not have done had we tried to navigate using the large scale map. The highlight of the weekend was undoubtedly Symonds Yat, recommended to us by some other people (kombi owners!) that we befriended at the campsite. I simply tapped in the town name, then looked for accommodation near to that town (on the basis that the accommodation closest to the centre would be a good place to start). It suggested a place called the Saracens Head Inn. Symonds Yat is a beautiful spot, and without the SatNav I might not have found it.

Bottom line - you may think that SatNav/GPS is for geeks (and I think I can qualify for that category) but it really was an excellent thing to have this weekend. I just know that it will help me find places I wouldn’t otherwise do and it will also make me feel happier about driving off down random country lanes because I know I’ll always have a guide to help me out. One that doesn’t get grumpy about being asked, too

Photos from Forest of Dean getaway are here

I just took a look at Vanshack’s website and noticed a new message on the home page:

Consider this an open apology to all type 4 owners who might want to use their services - it was my bus that made them stop servicing type 4 engines!