Jennings restoration

OK. Time for some mud flaps.

Front and rears were both needed. Already there is a fair dollop of carp distributed over the underside.

Came back from the local truck services supplier with a pair of tipper truck twin wheel mudflaps. These are seriously tough pieces of kit as you can imagine.

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Then cut each one into two 15inch by 10inch flaps. Just like cutting conveyor belt!

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Fixed with 5mm self tappers and some building tie strip left over from the new garage roof.

Fronts, fixed behind the chassis outrigger.

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.........and rears, fixed in front of tthe outriggers.

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All with some bituminous goo behind to prevent corrosion.

I've also put 32mm blind grommets in any of the chassis holes which are in the firing line, to keep the dirt out, but leaving enough open to give ventilation.

I won't have to avoid the puddles any more.:D
 
Met a guy yesterday who asked if it was an original Jennings. Turns out he used to work for Jennings at Sandbach, doing upholstery. We had an interesting chat, and I pointed him to this forum, so maybe he'll turn up sometime. I hope so. He said they made loads of Commers and quite a few Transits. He thought that people found the Jennings a bit heavy.:)
 
Blimey they get everywhere, I keep running into ex employees at Tatton:D
Hope he does visit us, I'm sure he's got lots of stories to tell - all good of course:)
Roadranger - heavy? Don't know what he means:rolleyes:
 
Sorry I've not been on here much. We've been on our Hadrian's Wall outing, then busy. It was our longest trip yet in Beryl.

I won't bore you with the holiday pics. The best ones of the Roman stuff have been taken by profesionals and are on the internet. Suffice it to say that living in the van is great, and I can't see a new van being much better really for us two. I did post a pic of the van in "Pictures Only Please" outside the Boar's Head pub in Brereton Green (a la Jennings publicity photos) but there was a grubby little Peugeot parked right where the van should have been.:rolleyes:

Some statistics.

Miles covered... 1100
Fuel consumption... 34.13MPG (814 miles on 108.43litres)
Oil used... 1/2 pint ish
Coolant used... nil.
Problems with the van... 3.

Won't hill start on 1 in 4 hill.
Lead came off the temperature sender (over a BIG yump).
Flasher unit packed up on the way home.​

Feeling pretty smug about all that really.:)

MOT Friday.
 
colinthefox said:
Sorry I've not been on here much. We've been on our Hadrian's Wall outing, then busy. It was our longest trip yet in Beryl.

I won't bore you with the holiday pics. The best ones of the Roman stuff have been taken by profesionals and are on the internet. Suffice it to say that living in the van is great, and I can't see a new van being much better really for us two. I did post a pic of the van in "Pictures Only Please" outside the Boar's Head pub in Brereton Green (a la Jennings publicity photos) but there was a grubby little Peugeot parked right where the van should have been.:rolleyes:

Some statistics.

Miles covered... 1100
Fuel consumption... 34.13MPG (814 miles on 108.43litres)
Oil used... 1/2 pint ish
Coolant used... nil.
Problems with the van... 3.

Won't hill start on 1 in 4 hill.
Lead came off the temperature sender (over a BIG yump).
Flasher unit packed up on the way home.​

Feeling pretty smug about all that really.:)

MOT Friday.
Click to expand...
Sounds like you had a really good trip Colin, good luck with the mot. Not to many problems either.:)
 
I confess, I've been telling fibs all along.:rolleyes:

Yes, there were actually four problems with the van, not three.

The screen leaked badly whenever we were driving in the rain.
I had tried to seal it with proper windscreen sealant (the black stuff) but that obviously didn't work.
So today I decided it had to be properly sealed.
Now getting sealant behind the rubber at the top under the peak is difficult, to say the least, but I found these in a B&Q closing down sale.

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Silicone sealer would be difficult to clean up, but I have been using this stuff on a crinkly tin roof..........................

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and it is extremely good, very much like a clear silicone, but it cleans up easily with white spirit. A lot easier than silicone. Pongs a bit though.

Anyway, the job was relatively easy and mess free, and I have high hopes of a waterproof windscreen now.

I did check first to make sure it didn't affect the paint or rubber though!

[edit] 6/9/2016 I wouldn't recommend this sealer though, as it hs swelled the rubber a little, and still pongs [/edit]

Fingers crossed!

Oh, and I promise more incontrovertible proof of Beryl's visit oop north, because I sense that not all of you were 100% convinced by the photos. All in due course.;)
 
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The bed needs reupholstering. We don't like the fabric, or the bodily fluid stains on it, or the rather musty smell.

So I took the first unit apart carefully so I could get a pattern off it. I didn't want to scrap the foam cushions, as they were in good condition, but needed good wash.

I did wonder how on earth I was going to tackle this, so I'm posting it on here to help anyone thinking of doing the same. (I think you'll want to wash yours if you read on :eek:)

Into the sink with a lot of water and detergent......................

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The foam soaks up a huge amount of water and becomes very heavy.

I found the best way to wash was to roll the cushion up, then roll the whole lot back and forth.........

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There are 8 cushions in all. I got this much muck (and more) out of each one..................

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I shudder to think what is in that lot. Just where I lay my head.

Next, a thorough rinse out on the tarmac. A hose pipe, and a couple of planks to swish water in and out of the foam. A bit like this............

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Then after wringing out as much water as possible by rolling it up and squeezing, they were carefully arranged (one at a time!) in the washer for a short spin on low speed.

Now they don't weigh much more than they did before, so they must be fairly dry. I'll just have to leave them in the sun to dry right out, then the reupholstery fun can begin!

They do smell a whole lot better now!:)

[edit] 6/9/2016 The cushions smell much sweeter, but still the "old foam rubber" smell comes through, so the foam will be scrapped and I've ordered new. Live and learn. [/edit]
 
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I've just edited the recent posts on windscreen sealing and cushion washing, as both were rather less successful than I had hoped!

The magic sealant has done a pretty good job of sealing the gaps, but has swelled the rubber slightly, and washing hasn't entirely got rid of the "old rubber" smell from the cushions.
 
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