Taking my commer to Spain!...

D

danbrown1983

0
Hi, I was given a 1974 commer camper last year by a friend who bought it but didnt use it. It spent the best part of the 3 years they had it stood outside their parents bungalow.

I've spent a fair amount of time over the winter getting it ready for the road, MoT'd etc. The guy at the testing station said he had never seen one so solid and clean underneath. Which got me to thinking about doing the whole lot properly. So It has begun. I'm now stuck with one problem, all four doors (driver, passenger and rear) have big splits in the bottom. They can't be repaired so I am on the look out for some new / second hand ones.

I am assuming they are rare, I've been quite lucky so far in the way that the commer is really sturdy in every department (35k original) so have'nt had to find any parts. If anyone knows of anyone selling doors, even if it's just 1 then I would love to know about it.

Also, On July 3rd 2007, my band and I begin our trip to Benicassim in Spain, to go to a music festival. Tickets are paid, ferry is booked and the vast amounts of fans are installed. Has anyone ever travelled Europe before?

I am quite nervous about the journey, whether she will make it or not, and whether she will get over the pyrenees. I have made the trip for the last 2 years on my motorbike but I'm guessing this time will be much harder. If anyone has any advice for me? maintenance, parts that are likely to go wrong, fuel consumption (it's a 1974 1.7 petrol, 4 speed) etc I would really appreciate it.

Right, thats quite a long essay I've written so will leave it there. I will try and post some pics of Winnie soon, Got to get back to rubbing down the wheels (10pm on a Sunday!)

Dan
 
Hi Dan, im sure you can repair the splits in the doors with the correct repair panels.There is some guy called 'Woolfy' who seems to want to make panels for any vehicle..he hangs about on this forum a lot!.I would ask him about what you need!;)[^]
 
say no more its woolfy here to the rescue ,hi dan take a picture of the doors for me if you can, so i can see how bad they are and i will get you new ones made my old mate. you can either show me and others on here or email me with them at [email protected] .im sure the other readers would like to see it also .ive sold other panels to guys on this site and theyved all liked what thay have had. ive currently sold six pairs of repair door skins on ebay at present plus two sets of side panels with the flutes in. if you or anybody else whos reading this wants to call me instead you can call me on 07941 906259, or 02476 758814. im here to help guys so dont suffer in silence with all them rott problems ,call doctor woolf.:D[8D][8)]
 
Evening Dan, sounds like a brilliant trip and as you suspect it will take a little longer and use a touch more fuel than the bike. The best petrol consumption I ever achieved was on a trip along fairly good A roads was 30 mpg [^]. This was a determined effort to use the last drop of petrol to the absolute max and a steady 40 mph was kept up as much as possible. I used this van as my every day vehicle and averaged 22/25 mpg which I think is about right. Hills do tend to kill the poor old motor :( and crawling up long hills in second is the norm but the trip down the other side is very interesting [:0]. I would recommend fitting an auxiliary fan(Kenlowe)if possible but as your engine has only just been run in by the sound of it you may be OK, but check the whole cooling system for perished hoses, leaks etc. I would carry as many spares as you can within reason, there's plenty of room to stash them, plugs, points, condenser, coil are a sensible start and throw in some spare radiator hoses and remember plenty of lead replacement additive. I've never driven abroad so can't offer any advice there I'm afraid but I'm sure there are many other members who can share their experiences of foreign travel in a Commer :D
 
I would be more worried about crossing the channel than the Pyranees, those splits in the doors will let in a lot of water :D
 
Take no notice Dan, the rest of the van will probably dissolve first [}:)]. Seriously though I was prodding around underneath my old PB at the weekend and I was struck by the thickness of the metal, or is it just that I am used to welding Minis back together :D
 
Brilliant. a suprisingly big response. The list of spares is really helpfull! if only I knew where to find such treasures....[?]

Woolfy seems to be the answer. I was talking to my mate who does fabrication and he mentioned the same idea. The mpg sounds about what I expected. But the weight poor Winnie will be carrying will be somewhat excessive. A full band and all our equipment! So I won't hold my breath on getting many Euro's worth of miles.

You mention the Lead replacement? What ratio is best? I have only done about 20 miles and that whas what was in the tank already.
Which brings me to my other thing... When we fixed the brake hoses, we noticed (whilst trying the emergency stop) that fuel was leaking from a hole with a filler cap, about midway down the driverside. It comes from a tank from underneath the van, but the fuel tank is further back and fed from the chrome capper hole on the rear corner. Anyone know what this other square tank is about? Someone mentioned water tank, But I've read somewhere about there being an overflow tank??

And does anyone else have 2 fuel gauges? neither of mine work but I thought it a bit strange. (or maybe they do work but the petrols in the wrong tank [:0] )

Thanks for all your help, this is a handy place!! :D:)
 
On my Auto sleeper the water tank is slung under the drivers side half way down the van and the filler is in a square recess as you describe. The normal fuel filler is on the drivers side rear quarter, it sounds like either someone has filled the water tank with fuel by mistake or maybe thet've converted it to a long range fuel tank. You'll have to check the piping underneath, out of curiosity what comes out of the tap on the sink - but don't try it if it is an electrical pump [:0]
 
water comes out of the tap, but thats because theres a water bottle under the sink. I thought that the tank maybe for fuel, but surely it shouldnt spill out as freely as it does?

I'll go look at the pipes now whilst its jacked up
 
Petrol spilling out probably because it's a vented cap designed to hold back water [:0][:0]. The petrol filler has a vent on the neck just before it passes through the floor, you can see it if you look in the cupboard in the back right hand side of the van.
 
hello dan. i travelled down to benicassim last year (in my walk thru)... great fun (the drive was more fun than the festival!). agree with Panky, take as many spares as you can, especially hoses, fan belt, i even took an alternator, just in case. you also need to take spare bulbs, red warning triangle and at least one luminous safety jacket - this is required by law and apparently you can get done for not having this on board.

i didn't bother with breakdown cover... i was confident we'd get there and if the worst came to the worst i could always get towed to the next town and sort out what was wrong or leave van and come back later!

for the festival i'd definitely recommend taking a long euro extension lead/multi plug and some fans. it gets really hot out there. we didn't really set foot in the van once parked up... thermometer went off the scale, instead sleeping in some mesh sided gazebos. also took a solar shower, cause the queues for the on site ones can be terrible at certain times. the campervan area is by far the best place to be and if you can rig up some sort of tarpaulin sun shade over whatever it is you're sleeping in, all the better.

feel free to ask me any questions... i'd recommend going over the Milau viaduct aswell.

benicamping.jpg


van at Benicassim 2006
 
Great! you went to Benicassim! I thought it was amazing, although I have to agree with you that the journey was better. How long did it take you to get there? And where exactly is the site for the campers? I was on the one right next to the festival itself, which was good for getting to the bands, but not so good for the treck to the beach (I admit we rode there most of the time).

The shower idea seems a good one, but I'm not so sure I'd be willing to miss those glorious communal showers [8D]

I would like to know a rough sort of cost of fuel for the trip?
Do the hoses go that easily?

Are you planning on going again this year? We've just got our tickets. If you fancy sending a few more pics I would love to see them.... :)
 
I don't think that the rad hoses are any more susceptible to failure than those on any old car but ask anyone who has run a classic for any length of time and you can bet they have had one go. The same probably goes for the coil and a HT lead or two, just sensible precautions and with any luck you won't need them :D
 
we took quite a while to get down to Benicassim... about 4/5 days, but weren't really pushing it. had some problems with engine losing power (just as we left reading services!) and stopped off near Caen to try to get this sorted (still getting this sorted now).

re-read your post and realised you've already been to the festival, so you know the score there. the van area is on the Bonet campsite, behind the bar. we arrived there about 2 or 3 in the morning (or was it later?) after a mad drive from near Milau, i think... it was like something out of apocolypse now... loads of p*ssed up brits with a few foreigners having a party at the still open bar. took an hour to get in, since there are no signs to say what campsite it is and after asking people outside (something along the lines of 'excuse me, do you speak english - is this bonet campsite?' - 'howay man, i dunno... i've only been here 3 days...') managed to drive away from it before realising it must be the place and heading back. from what i remember its the first campsite you come across when you drive in - up the road from the Aldi.

this campsite is a fair way from the site and from the beach (about 20/30 mins walk to each), there are buses tho.
there's a good forum for Beni at http://www.efestivals.co.uk/forums/index.php?s=2107cdccd646e27c0a6a15d3b0a598ff&showforum=40

don't think i paid much for fuel (diesel) - it's pretty cheap over there. went back across the pyranees, which was great, stayed in andorra - amazing deals on duty free (crate of budvar £6, bombay sapphire £6). also, i think i used ferrysavers for the crossing.

i'll see if i've got any decent pics - here's one trying to change a blown tyre just before Milau:
Milaubreakdown.jpg
 
Hey we stayed in Andorra too!, Never been before. It's a strange place, finding a state in the middle of the mountains that takes twenty minutes to drive through.

Unfortunately we did'nt have a great deal of storage space to take advantage of the duty frees. You mention the euro extension lead, how long would you recommend? and how do you go about getting a hook up at the festival?

Was the campsite for the campers lively / busy / tight? I'm thinking of taking a cheap tent too this year to set up at the campsite right next to the festival (where we stayed last year) just incase I don't feel fit to get back to the proper one.

Some interesting pics you have, were you running the van on crossply tyres?
 
i'd recommend to get at least a 15m extension or longer. the elec point is in the (far left) corner, so it depends how close you park to it. plenty of space really, tho they made me move my van in since there were menat to be a load of other vans arriving (tho these never materialised). i had a 10m one and ended up buying another small extension in town.

yeah andorra was a strange place, reminded me of that old film from the 60s - 'the mouse that roared' or something. the price of booze was ridiculous and that spa in the middle was well worth a visit. stayed in a great campsite, surrounded by wountains on all sides, so one minute bright sunshine then suddenly with no warning heavy rain.
 
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