What did you do to your van today?

Landyseverywhere said:
Looked at it,looked at the adblue emulator waiting to be fitted, thought not much of a job,looked at the new cambelt kit and water pump waiting to be fitted,thought at 66 Im too old to be rolling around the drive doing that in the middle of winter maybe next month.
5yr old van 30k progress?
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At 66 I would have been up for it. Now I've turned 78 I've just been 'persuaded' by the family to leave things like that to a garage. 😢

I still do things I shouldn't, but I wait until herself has gone out. "Up there for thinking.....down there for dancing". 😜
 
HurricaneSmith said:
At 66 I would have been up for it. Now I've turned 78 I've just been 'persuaded' by the family to leave things like that to a garage. 😢
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I'm soon going to be 75 and wish I could leave everything to a garage. Some things I accept I can't do. BUT today, considering that we are taking Hardly to Norway in the Summer, I want to renew the entire (most of it) braking system when it gets warm so I priced everything up. New discs, pads, calipers, brake shoes and drums, wheel cylinders and rubber hoses, and master cylinder. Cost from the usual GSF and Euro is about £753 for the parts.
NOW: the question is, can I do the job?
My friendly 'No VAT here, matey" garage chap would I suppose do it in a day. He charges £60 / hour. This is less than 'er indoors's hairdresser who doesn't have to rent a garage, buy compressors, car lifts, welding gear and five thousand pounds of miscellaneous tools, and a £4,500 CAN Bus diagnostic computer. These hairdressers really annoy me, what they charge for poncing around with a pair of £10 scissors and some shampoo charging £60 an hour. This isn't some posh lah-dee-dah hair coiffeur either, just a small shop in a row of news/conf/tob/betting/chip shops in a small town in the middle of the country.
Anyway so my garage chappie would charge £480 for an 8 hour day's work, and I reckon it wouldn't take him that long. I'll ask him for a quote. Hardly did pass the MOT perfectly OK but he is 25 years old and has done 68,000 miles. So I think it might be prudent to spend £1100 to make sure he doesn't go in the ditch. That's a lot cheaper than changing a wet belt . . . . . . or fixing a mis-diagnosed fault on a modern tin box.
 
gasgas said:
I'm soon going to be 75 and wish I could leave everything to a garage. Some things I accept I can't do. BUT today, considering that we are taking Hardly to Norway in the Summer, I want to renew the entire (most of it) braking system when it gets warm so I priced everything up. New discs, pads, calipers, brake shoes and drums, wheel cylinders and rubber hoses, and master cylinder. Cost from the usual GSF and Euro is about £753 for the parts.
NOW: the question is, can I do the job?
My friendly 'No VAT here, matey" garage chap would I suppose do it in a day. He charges £60 / hour. This is less than 'er indoors's hairdresser who doesn't have to rent a garage, buy compressors, car lifts, welding gear and five thousand pounds of miscellaneous tools, and a £4,500 CAN Bus diagnostic computer. These hairdressers really annoy me, what they charge for poncing around with a pair of £10 scissors and some shampoo charging £60 an hour. This isn't some posh lah-dee-dah hair coiffeur either, just a small shop in a row of news/conf/tob/betting/chip shops in a small town in the middle of the country.
Anyway so my garage chappie would charge £480 for an 8 hour day's work, and I reckon it wouldn't take him that long. I'll ask him for a quote. Hardly did pass the MOT perfectly OK but he is 25 years old and has done 68,000 miles. So I think it might be prudent to spend £1100 to make sure he doesn't go in the ditch. That's a lot cheaper than changing a wet belt . . . . . . or fixing a mis-diagnosed fault on a modern tin box.
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Spend the money as you cannot take it with you, ask can you help out in the garage, good way to keep an eye on job. ;)
 
If your calipers are definitely needing replace you can get exchange replacements which are fully refurbished cleaned and plated new seals and pistons.
 
Yes I have changed a lot of calipers in the past - but usually after I have taken them apart. Quite often you can dismantle them, clean out the bore and the piston and reassemble them. But not always, and often the rubber is split or otherwise dubious. The prices I looked up include a refundable deposit - but I always remove the old units and take them with me to check I am getting the right ones, so the refundable deposit part doesn't come into it.
I like the idea of helping out, but if I were the mechanic chappie I don't think I would want someone helping. I will be taking my 1983 Mercedes to him for work I cannot do, so by the time the Transit needs doing I guess we will be a bit more matey. He is a classic Mercedes specialist, and what he doesn't know about them can be written on the back of a Penny Black without devaluing it.
Here he is - in a disused WW1 and WW2 ammunitions factory. They had to build a canal to it to transport the finished shells. It's a fascinating place with lots of units rented out to interesting people, and a museum. Just off the A5 at Weedon Bec.

Bagged Benz | Industry & Supply

industryandsupply.com industryandsupply.com
 
I've long since given up stripping calipers/wheel cylinders ....
If they are leaking ....it's usually because one or other of the seals is damaged usually from corrosion in the cylinder wall caused by moisture in the brake fluid ...

Years of swapping one cylinder only to have another or the master cylinder go shortly after .
The last landrover I did ....
I swapped all cylinders and replaced all the brake lines .
BUT deff worth replacing the brake fluid ever few years ...

Ohh and I only ever use decent known branded brake parts ....cheap bits are cheap for a reason .
 
mistericeman said:
I've long since given up stripping calipers/wheel cylinders ....
If they are leaking ....it's usually because one or other of the seals is damaged usually from corrosion in the cylinder wall caused by moisture in the brake fluid ...

Years of swapping one cylinder only to have another or the master cylinder go shortly after .
The last landrover I did ....
I swapped all cylinders and replaced all the brake lines .
BUT deff worth replacing the brake fluid ever few years ...

Ohh and I only ever use decent known branded brake parts ....cheap bits are cheap for a reon .
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I agree with you regarding master and slave cyls, better just to replace - I've rebuilt a lot of calipers in the past though as the kits can come with new pistons if required, however most I've rebuilt the pistons have cleaned up and after a set of seals they have been fine.
 
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Cleaned 17 years of dust and general dirt out of as much of voids in ceiling as possible and fit insulation. I did this the other day but forgot to post, there is trim to put back over, hopefully the condensation wont be as bad . 20250115_153646.jpg
 
Packed with "stuff" needed in Portugal, shopping for expats pining for fray bentos pies, marmite etc. Available out there but at ridiculous prices! Dave's tools and DIY bits (can't get some things like PVA out there?) put in garage.
Cleaned, bed made up, clothes in place, filled everything which might need filling/emptying and checked all the "in case of emergency" bits are accessible. Maps in place. Charged leisure battery, not needed as full. Lists of last minute packing made and left on seat.
Two more days and we are off!:)
 
Drove from Zaragoza to Benicarlo hoping to speak to Tambo about the replacement of the over bed reading lights, after the final foul up by Camper UK at Lincoln; they had external Valeters clean the M/home after the floor delamination repair, and the Valeters must have used a power washer on the roof ...

First overnight stop en route to the ferry, we had a damp duvet, and no reading lights because water ingress had blown the LED lamps ...

I had expected to have just a quick word with Tambo and to return for the fitting of new lamps, but he was in a right strop dealing with a German M/homer; initially he said to call back around 5pm, then said he was too busy, and that I should come back tomorrow, EARLY ...

I had just driven 150+ miles from Zaragoza, so my arrival was not exactly tardy! Were it not for the fact that I need his technical expertise, I would have told him that I would go elsewhere.

He may have been busy, but politeness costs nothing. I'll visit tomorrow after a night on the Benicarlo Aire and see if Tambo is in a better mood!

He worked from his house garage and Van prior to COVID, and was very helpful and innovative with his repairs, fixing problems that other Technicians had said could not be repaired, and he built a thriving business.

Since COVID, Tambo has moved into a purpose built Workshop, with an expanded Accessory Shop, but has lost the personal touch on which he based his business. He was a bit 'off' last year when I needed a new tap fitted - again I would have been quite happy to let him have a quick look to see what was required, and then return for a fitting appointment, but he no longer gives one a chance to explain the problem.Very sad lowering of customer service

Steve
 
Sounds like the pressures of paying for premises is taking its toll :( I used to have a workshop but paying hundreds of pounds a month for something I ended up never really working from was depressing. Gave that up after a year!
 
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marchie said:
Drove from Zaragoza to Benicarlo hoping to speak to Tambo about the replacement of the over bed reading lights, after the final foul up by Camper UK at Lincoln; they had external Valeters clean the M/home after the floor delamination repair, and the Valeters must have used a power washer on the roof ...

First overnight stop en route to the ferry, we had a damp duvet, and no reading lights because water ingress had blown the LED lamps ...

I had expected to have just a quick word with Tambo and to return for the fitting of new lamps, but he was in a right strop dealing with a German M/homer; initially he said to call back around 5pm, then said he was too busy, and that I should come back tomorrow, EARLY ...

I had just driven 150+ miles from Zaragoza, so my arrival was not exactly tardy! Were it not for the fact that I need his technical expertise, I would have told him that I would go elsewhere.

He may have been busy, but politeness costs nothing. I'll visit tomorrow after a night on the Benicarlo Aire and see if Tambo is in a better mood!

He worked from his house garage and Van prior to COVID, and was very helpful and innovative with his repairs, fixing problems that other Technicians had said could not be repaired, and he built a thriving business.

Since COVID, Tambo has moved into a purpose built Workshop, with an expanded Accessory Shop, but has lost the personal touch on which he based his business. He was a bit 'off' last year when I needed a new tap fitted - again I would have been quite happy to let him have a quick look to see what was required, and then return for a fitting appointment, but he no longer gives one a chance to explain the problem.Very sad lowering of customer service

Steve
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It can only get better mate 👍
 
Fitted a couple o buzzard to tidy up the connection on battery posts. Cheers Jeff for the help in rectifying a problem that arose. 20250120_120512.jpg20250120_115719.jpg
 
trevskoda said:
Nylock nut not down enuff, thread to short, no breakfast for you today naughty boy. 😂
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The reason the nyloc was used is because I dropped the dome nut which is now down a hole hiding. As soon as the nylon touched the screwed rod it then screwed the rod further into the rivnut on the baseplate. 😉
 
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