Winter Plans

Now it took me a while to think what I should blog about this week. The reason being that I haven't really touched the van much recently mainly due to me being at work during the day light hours and the unpleasant weather at the weekends. With this in mind I was going to write about the "Gearbox Oil Filling Fiasco of 2009", but that fun story will have wait for a future blog, in fact, as it looks like I might have to do it again (this time I will be checking for cracks in the bell housing) I might leave it a bit and get some photos of the whole tricky process...Bet you're looking forward to that one!

So I bet you're wondering what I decided on? Well prepare to be excited (read as "disappointed")! This week I'm going to write about my winter plans. I think it'll be good for me to write them down as it'll help me clear them up in my mind, and be good to see if anyone has any comments or advice on what I'm going to attempt.

Ideally next year I'd like to go to some shows so it needs to be ready for that, but the most important challenge of next year is that myself and my girlfriend Vanessa are hoping to go to France in it to do some surfing. This means it needs to be reliable(!!!) in order to travel the many miles on the Continent, plus, it also needs to be comfortable enough to stay in for a couple of weeks whilst we are out there. And there's the basics of getting it through the MOT, that's happening in June, but I might try to get it through a bit earlier, just so it's out the way.

Bearing all this in mind the list so far goes something like this:

- Get Splitty in garage - I have now bought all the bits and this should be happening tomorrow, with the help of my friend Richard, and hopefully a couple of other friends, who don't yet know they are helping. They'll enjoy it though, I'm sure....

- Sort out leisure battery - This seems to have stopped holding charge - I think it just needs a new battery, I hope there's nothing more tricky like some sort of latent current draw to track down.

- Rust treatment - I've already treated, primered and Hammerited every bit of surface rust I could find underneath before it gets any worse, but I want to have another go at this, plus I'm considering waxoyling it. I did this on previous Nova's and my imported Impreza WRX (no underseal from factory) and it seemed to do a good job of rust prevention. Any opinions?

- Body rust treatment - some of the body rust, despite being surface, looks like it might have got a bit worse, so my plan is to sand it back a bit, and then cover the whole van with Ankor Wax to seal it all in. I think it already has this on, but I'd certainly like to hear about anyone else's experience with it?

- I have noticed that the front window frames are looking a little more serious in the rust department, so before it gets too bad, I want to whip the window out and do some thorough treatment of it. Looks quite straightforward. In an ideal world, I'd fit safari windows whilst I'm at it, but I can't really justify spending £350 on a set at the moment...

- Finally get a new handle to replace the snapped one on the cargo door. I have actually tried to get one from Just Kampers, but they didn't have any in stock when I was down there.

- Replace and potentially re-route the fuel lines (reasons mentioned in this post - Fuel Crisis

- Service engine. This is to include oil, plugs, leads and tappet adjusting - I'll have a good look at all the gaskets whilst I'm at it.

- Tightening all bolts underneath the van - After the suspension fell off I'm a little paranoid about this, so I like to go round and tighten everything up once every so often.

- Re wire whole stereo system. It works badly, I need to replace the old amp that doesn't really work, and I might even replace the head unit. Whilst I'm at it I'm going to overhaul the wiring.

- On the interior front, I might re do it completely. I've never been that happy with it, it's not the most ergonomic thing I've seen. I think it needs more specific storage rather than big cupboards if we're to go to France in it. No specific plans as of yet, but I'd like it to feel a bit more cosy.

- Cover front seat. It's not covered at all, other than by a throw. I need to choose a nice fabric and get to it. It's also not bolted in particularly effectively, so I will address that.

- Fit a power inverter - Obvious reasons.

- Fit a TV, although not sure what digital reception would be like in France, but will be useful in England

- Finish off curtains. When my friends Richard and Sally helped me make the curtains (well, actually Sally did most of the making) we we're sure how the front ones were going to work. I've subsequently got the rail from Just Kampers and installed it, so now I know what we need to do.

- Fit a rev counter and 2 ammeters - These would all be helpful.

- Find some screws that fit the pop out that I had to buy a replacement latch for. The ones I took out were dodgy chopped down ones, which wouldn't fit the shiny new one.

- Carpet the rear, the mat I've got in there currently isn't really doing much.

- Replace the side light, I'm yet to work out what bulb it is, I've already bought one, but it's completely wrong. I think a trip to the local motor spares shop with it is on the cards. I'm also going to try and replace the headlight seal whilst I'm at it.

- Refill the gear box oil and check for leaks - The whining has come back since I last did this, so I'm suspecting a problem.

- And if I really get brave, I might try and tub the rear arches to stop them rubbing. That's a really big "if" though.

Wow, looking back at this, I can't see it all getting done, this year anyway. I think I'm going to try and get a white board in the garage and write them all down! At least they should hopefully provide me with some interesting material for this blog!

Previous Blogs From Jon Ladley:


Split Screen Desire - The road to true love is never easy


Vans in the News and 19 Windows


My 27th Birthday and an AA Recovery "Low" Loader


Pushing the button...


Too low?


Welding woes


Fuel Crisis!