Sleep over !

Paul Goldsmith

Paul Goldsmith

0
Finally after 6 months of Commer ownership, my wife and I had our first 'proper' outing in our van last weekend. Out on the North Norfolk coast, so not a massive excursion for us. Fantastic fun all the same :):):)

Crap weather but we kept warm and dry inside the van, although the high winds helped the van rock us to sleep ! Perhaps our Hi-Tor design didn't help cross wind stability ...

Good to find our cooker and electric hookup work fine, although our 3 way fridge sadly didn't want to know.

Another issue we discovered was the engine running close to the red but luckily we've got an auxillary electric fan to keep a lid on things. Plenty of water in the system and recently flushed and replaced coolant. Noticed major cool spots in the radiator near some decidely iffy repairs so lining up a recore to be on the safe side. Think we may be running slightly lean too which won't have helped either.

Also, parked up with a full tank of fuel I noticed our fuel filler pipe has become porous and was leaking as a result where it joins the tank. However I rigged up our empty fuel can and an oil funnel to capture most of the leaking fuel and managed to 'save' nearly a gallon over the 4 days - although mixed with dissolved underseal it's probably destined for the mower only ;) A replacement is on its way from Speedy's already !

Next weekend hopefully sees us a bit further afield in Cambridge ...
Slowly building up to the big trip down to Glastonbury at the end of the month.

ps. check out this month's Practical Classics for a feature on our camper.
 
I read that feature, but didn't realise it was your van. It looks an absolute cracker and very different from the norm. What's the story about the brakes?
 
Splendid!

I read PC over the weekend in the back of the van :D

Email me jb at commervanfan.couk with details of your van, name, age, conversion and little story and a couple of pics and I will pop it on the site.

Swampy - I haven't forgotten about yours

Everyone else - I will update the site soon with pics from teh meet promise!
 
Your van looks great in PC mag. Mine was in there in Sept. 06 and Wills was done in Feb. We should invite them along to one of our meets and get them to do a club feature.

They have done quite a bit on Commers recently, but am sure they would do that for us in due course.
 
excellent stuff, glad you have had a chance to experience a commer in its' natural habitat - and really enjoyed PC article:):)


Bessie - four star commerdation
 
I love it when the wind rocks a Commer;

Rock-a-bye Commer, in the treetop,
When the wind blows, the Commer will rock,
When the brakes fail, the Commer will roll,
And down will come Commer, owner and all.

Martin Buckley from Classic car magazine borrowed mine for a while, but I don't think anything came of it, except his kids lived in it for a week! He drove it to Gloucester and that was that until I picked it up off him and drove her to Santa Pod for Flame and Thunder!
 
Wind and Commers - I remember it well. A windswept campsite on Anglesey, kids crying, having to put the roof down in case we lost it and unfortunately we didn't get rocked to sleep, I was awake all night listening to the gale [:0] Isn't Commer suspension bouncy - even standing still:I

'Harvey the RV'
 
Paul

Good to hear another Goldsmith owns a Commer van My surname is Goldsmith aswell i own a 1972 Highwayman called Betty

there cant be that many "Goldies" out there that own Commers

Cheers
Amos
 
quote:
Originally posted by studiocommer

[8)];)

Bessie - four star commerdation



Because of the wind Kes, the wind :I

'Harvey the RV'
 
Thanks for all your responses

The PC feature was done with the previous owner a month or so before we bought our Commer last year, so the issue with the brakes was news to me too. They seem OK for now !

Will definately get together some words and pics for this site soon - thanks Admin.

Away again this weekend in Cambridge to see a Small Faces tribute band (check out Small Fakers on MySpace if they're your thing) and staying over for the Strawberry Fair. Weather doesn't look to promising though :(

Then got 2 weeks to get our Commer sorted for Glastonbury ...

BTW : can anybody advise what law states about overnighting on the street or car parks ?

ps. hi Amos !
 
if your talking overnight in cambridgeshire ? about a year ago they bought in this thing where you can stop anywhere safe for 28 days but then you have to move! & you have to leave any rubbish in black bags for collection!(not sure if this is just for the travelling community)!
Not sure I would want to try a sleep over in cambridge,sounds like a brave move!bad enough parking on grass bank for strawberry fair!I would be inclined to drive out of cambridge to some of the villages in south cambs find a quite spot where no one will worry about you...where I live they have put barriers up to stop the likes of travellers getting comfortable!perhaps do a google earth of the surrounding areas?

"SYBHIL" & N0.1
 
I don't know whether you consider Bury St Edmunds too far for an overnight stop, but we have a public car park in town with no height barriers and extra large parking bays reserved for campers (if you park a car in one of the special bays you will get a ticket). Overnight stops are allowed and there are public loos next door. It is within P4 on the attached plan.

http://www.stedmundsbury.gov.uk/sebc/live/pdf/csw/parking/parkingmap.pdf
 
Paul

Concerts sound great,im planning a trip to Clumber park in July which is about 60 miles away hope she gets there !!!! its a 80's type which has been great in the past

keep Commering

Amos
 
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