So in need of a slightly longer run, we are just back from a week in Scotland! We stayed at a site near Fort William, 400 miles from home. The outbound trip took about 10 hours, with two stops for fuel. The first was at Scotch Corner, a few minutes after switching off the van spat a little coolant out of the radiator overflow. I kept an eye on the level throughout the trip and no problems, so I think I had not left quite enough expansion room when I had filled the radiator! The second stop was Moffat for breakfast and fuel. The van is parked down near the clock!
We drove through Glasgow, along the side of Loch Lomond, over Rannoch Moor and through the Pass of Glen Coe. The campsite near Fort William was excellent, next to the river Spean in the shadow of the Ben Nevis.
We did several things near to the campsite, but also had days in both Mallaig and Inverness, (driving along the shores on Lock Ness and back to the campsite past Aviemore and through the Cairngorms). We drove back overnight, via Dalwhinnie, Edinburgh, (over the new road bridge over the Forth) and down the A1, (including a diversion through the centre of Newcastle due to a night closure on the A1). In total, we covered 1113 miles. I haven't calculated MPG, but it was definitely better then 25, (what had budgeted for).
The camping report!
1) The double bed under the floor is very practical and comfortable, (I had put a new foam mattress in). Some of the bedding and the section for Lily's bunk sits on the mattress under the floor when travelling. The rest of the bedding tucks away behind the side seats.
2) The single (full sized single) bunk works well too! Lily somehow rolled off in the middle of the first night onto me, but was then fine for the rest of the week.
3) The old Calor cooker is excellent, (better than the cooker in our modern caravan). This should have two spring clips to hold the oven door shut, but these are missing. I used a curtain wire to hold the door shut for this trip. We have tried to make some clips, but haven't been successful yet. If anyone has one of these cookers and could photo the oven door clips for me so I can copy them, I would be very grateful! It is different to the more common slightly later versions.
4) There is enough space for everything we needed. I have relined the original onboard water tank and added a small toilet to the bottom of the wardrobe, all of which worked fine and makes off-grid and overnight travelling work perfectly for us.
The mechanical report!
1) Other than the small coolant spit-out at Scotch Corner, the cooling system held up perfectly! Even on long climbs in some very hot weather. The temperature gauge varies a bit, depending on speed and steepness, but was never anywhere near the red! When stuck in traffic, it always stayed perfectly cool!
2) On the way back from Mallaig, on a very hot day after some big hill climbs, the exhaust manifold started blowing loudly on the joint for cylinders 2 and 3. I nipped the bolts up, but this made no difference. I pick up some Holts exhaust assembly paste from the motor accessory shop in Fort William, and pressed some into the joint between the manifold and head, (not expecting it to help at all) but amazingly, this held perfectly and stayed gas tight for the rest of the whole trip! I will now pull this apart again and have a proper look.
3) The diff pinion seal doesn't! I had to top the axle up a couple of times over the week, getting through about half a litre of oil. I will change the seal, along with a rear wheel bearing that has some slight play in it!
4) At the petrol station in Inverness, the starter motor refused to do anything. I checked the battery voltage and all was fine. I reached under and turned the starter slightly using the square on the end of the armature and it started perfectly. I think there is a winding gone, as the motor occasionally has a stutter. I have a new old stock Lucas pre-engaged motor squirrelled away, so will fit this, (but retain the early floor button start). We were held up for less than five minutes - I didn't even get as far as lifting the engine lid, so I'm not counting this as a breakdown! The current starter is the original, dated 1961!
5) The engine continues to impress! It starts and runs perfectly! It pulls cleanly up even very steep hills and from low revs. The distributor advance curve and carb settings seem to be prefect!
Public reaction!
We had a lot of waves and people taking pictures. Lots of people wanted to chat about the van. An elderly gentleman in Spean Bridge was very pleased to see it, and talked about how they used to have a couple of similar vans at the school in the 60s, and took the children to Applecross in them each year. Another chap on a motorbike at the petrol station in Fort William came across for a chat, as his dad was a glazier in the 60s and had one as his work van with a rack on the side for the glass. There was lots of interest in it at the campsite too! The owners were delighted to see it, and came out to wave us off when we left.
Having spent time on the van every day for the last nine months, I am going to have a couple of weeks off, then get on with solving the leaks.