Arthur

Panky

Panky

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So sorry Edward, I managed to delete your post. Managed to tab back and copy the text - sorry[8)]

All

I am blessed to now be the lucky owner of ESL447, or Arthur as I will call him. Having spend a number of months thinking about a old camper van, and pondering on Bedford's (too big), VW (no thought needed there!) I came across this forum...

I've toyed with the campervan idea for several years and funds now allowed that to go forward. My first foray to a "festival" this summer proved that camping is either in a tiny tent in the wilderness or not at all... gazebos should never be allowed camping...

So with a ”sleeps 2+" criteria, a constraint to be British in manufacturer and a small pool of available vans I started asking around and talking to a few people. Martin was about to point me towards a number of options, and a trip to Tatton Park confirmed that there was decent method in my madness...

So at the weekend in Yorkshire I ventured to Biggin and a firm handshake settled things... I would buy the '61 Maidstone - a van kept as original as possible, and basic enough (I hope) to get to 'know'... Martin and I chatted and agreed a small list of things to do to the van prior to purchase.

And here I thank Martin again... His idea of a small list of things has been the most incredible (and long) list of things to ensure a van that passed it's MOT and is now gleaming - inside and out... Thank you so much! Even the Christmas present of curtains from my mum has been scrubbed after Karen beautifully made me some.

So with a few niggles fixed on Monday afternoon I drove home, my girlfriend covering me as a wing(wo)man behind... And genuinely a lovely drive - much more of a delight to drive than I expected... Sure it's noisy, and may never travel that fast again (what' she need when your girlfriend is sat next to you...)

Coming off the dual carriageways and the van really became even more fun, handling nicely and bringing a constant smile to my face.

Well, the boy is currently sat on the drive waiting for two things... One to see if he fits under the carport and then behind a new garage door, and secondly for the weekend...

Panyy has declined the suggestion of fluffy dice by the mirror (I was pleased about that), but I sense a slow drive around the local villages will be made if the weather is nice, and maybe the introduction of a few yellow ducks to compliment the blue paintwork (not painted on the van mind, before you all scream at me...)

As I said at the top of this post I feel very blessed - I parked up in front of Arthur last night and beamed!!! As Martin says, I am not the owner, just the custodian...

Looking forward to sharing some photos at the weekend...

Edward
 
So cool[8D]
Nothing against fluffy dice, it's just that pink ones are a bit girly for a guy like Arthur;)

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Excellent[^]
MMMMMMMM those biscuits look erm - yummy;) Don't you know bacon butties are compulsory in a Commer picnic:p

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So it’s been a busy few month for Arthur….

…poor old lad – sad mindfully enjoying the benefits of a 50+ year career (never driven too often, sitting in a garage feeling relaxed and quiet, sleeping lots)… and then a young upstart decided that this is the moment, life should be about young meets old, the Uo3G and all that guff…
A recap on the old lad – bought from Martin in October last year, and used in the cold of January for a look mooch to Edinburgh and back (via Glastonbury, mid Wales and the Lakes)…

In the spring I settled down to consider what I had in the carport – a dinky engine, a COLD van, a box of nails for four gears… Having proposed to the now Mrs Morley, I wanted to use Arthur on the day, a child I don’t have, but the child within me lived on.
So there was a conversation about what to do. I set about to insulate every part of the vehicle that I could within interfering with look of the inside, so engine bay got noise protection, doors and body panels got insulated and the wheels and cupboards were insulated too. A big difference to noise for not a lot of effort.
Then the biggies began. I’d been in conversation with Commer Tim for a few changes to the underneath of the boy, and he went about giving me a 6-speeder, a new manifold / exhaust and a replacement alternator for the old dynamo. Plus the ever useful towing hook to the front of the van. It was a new van for poor old Tim – older and therefore different to anything he done before, and therefore nothing quite fitted, and there was angst with linkages, finding space for the spare wheel etc. But a stonking job was done… and on time for the end of August.

So married I was, and pictures duly shared of our wedding chaise…
…then the hope that Arthur would make it to Commerfest – Chris came over to pick him up from the wedding reception, but whilst she got him back to north Norfolk, problems then started. Smoke and near flames in the wiper unit meant that he holidayed no more this summer. Indeed Tim did a great job just to get him going again…
…two last hoorahs I hope for… To Tatton to complete the circle, that was when I first met Martin, and then to a late summer festival.

So to Tatton we went – the gearbox was cracking, but the pull through the gears pretty rough, and it felt as if it was getting worse… A stop at Northampton Services to check all the usuals and I was leaking coolant in a big way. Top up and stop at Donnington – more coolant loss… buy radiator sealant, use the last of our water and hope for the best. Tatton was made, and a great time was had.

Panky set to for a tinker, and a lesson to all – check the length of your coolant cap – mine wasn’t long enough, and never provided pressure to stop coolant boiling out of the overflow – d’oh. So an easy £2.50 fix, and the best place for it to have happened – a spares centre at my fingertips.
Coolant issue solved and a drive home. Barely a few miles from Tatton and I too have smoke from the wiper motor (in the rain) so stop at Congleton for a nice look chat to a lovely man from the AA, a very patient wife, and a bodge job to rewire the wipers to the battery… and the next lesson to us all… Really… one fuse! Not good. The AA man could work out which loom was blown to the wipers, but we kept blowing the single fuse. Fiddling and we thought we were ok, but a handful of spare glass fuses was offered (and accepted) and a promise to get a re-wire…

And boy was that good advice… Stop at Leicester and all going well… No coolant loss, electrics fine, but then not fine – maybe we shouldn’t have stopped, but blew a number of fuses, and shuffled home.

And so to pick a dry day (no indicators and not wanting to trust wipers too much) in order to drive to Letchworth (Avis Auto Services deserve a plug here… very good and super generous to someone like me without much knowledge.)

Well my couple of hundred pound re-wire of dash didn’t happen. It was the call that told me the loom to the wipers was melted to the inside of the door post that taught me that… and that the rest of the loom was more insulated by electrical tape than wire plastic… So the deep breath and the decision to start over… A well taken and the only safe option… I think I now have 27 fuses!!
And so to today. A rewired van, a few additions of a USB charging point front and back and an additional 12v power socket at the back to charge the cool box and that side of things was as good as new.

Additionally a (few) dials were changed. The polarity change on the battery together with burning out the fuse / loom entirely (!!) did for the fuel gauge, rev counter and water temp gauge, so they were all changed too.

And some mechanical tweaks. The engine had been back firing increasingly, and there was a really challenging flat spot in the revs since the 6-speed went in. An electrical distributor was changed to try to resolve the issue, and then smaller jets into the manifold… My poor old boys weedy engine had been unable to cope with the larger jets Tim had been using on all other conversions.
Only a wonky king-pin to go now I say with great optimism…

So good as gold I hope… and the big test happens on Thursday (tomorrow). A year after I bought Arthur from Martin, means a trip to the garage once more for the annual health check they call the MOT…

…update I hope on Thursday evening!


Picture 1 - the old loom
Picture 2 - the engine bay - note new bits!
Picture 3 - a make do on the dash - new USB and 12V... a job for the weekend to build a new dash
Picture 4 - a new (pictoral) panel under the back seat now home to double socket (for hookup) and two new USB and 12v paper

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What an eventful and expensive year it's been - and all the trouble with Arthur as well;)
Hopefully the MOT will see an end to it and you guys can concentrate on enjoying the fruits of your labour:cool:
 
Don't be shy of giving the brakes a thoroughly hard work-out on the way to the MoT test. They go out of balance with gentle use.
 
Could have (been made to) passed... but didn't...

So it's a fail and a to-do list... I think it could have been pushed to pass, but the MOT is there for a reason, and where safety is involved I don't think it's worth taking the risk. So another long - a probably expensive list...

Brake pipes - probably all over
Flexi pipe brake drums
Clutch pipe

Fuel leak

Wonky driver wheel (knew about that one)

And I guess all the risks of repairing the above and discovering / breaking something new...

...so back home and waiting for a plan to be hatched.
 
Not that upset - safety has to come first. These were more issues that if not this year, then every year until sorted... and therefore I'd rather be safe. The worry is the master cylinder etc that are found to be held together by the old bits of corrosion... so fingers crossed to none of that!

But proper good comments about the surprise about how good the van generally is, and admiration for the funds invested so far.

(I sneakily think the mechanic is rather looking forward to this job...)
 
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