What did you do to your van today?

trevskoda said:
I use 10/40 from asda ,they did a offer as new shape cans were coming in,7 bucks for 5 ltrs,i bought about 20 cans which will do car as well,we tip always fill the oil filter before fitting to engine,saves the bearing on start up
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Oil filter is horizontal on my engine so have rely on residual oil in bearings etc.
The only vehicle I can prime the filter on is my 1971 Lotus Elan - the modern cars have paper elements with holes at the bottom of 'bowl'
Whilst I do drain thoroughly (with vacuum system) I always fill up straightaway so I don't reckon the wear is significant and must be what the manufacturer expects.
When starting an engine after rebuild or standing for months I'd reckon to remove spark plugs to allow oil circulation without combustion loads. But not a lot of chance for that on a diesel 😀
 
Markd said:
But not a lot of chance for that on a diesel
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You used to be able to buy a canister that you pressurised with oil. This was connected to a oil gallery. The idea being for a first start on an expensive you could pressurise it before starting.
 
Put parallel wiring in for cooker hood and extractor fan - now 1.5 rather than 0.5 mm² so good improvement in voltage drop on high speed.

Limbering up to installing a basic watt meter to monitor solar charge.
 
Went for a 20 mile drive, first time motorhome has been off drive for 7 weeks.
Everything ok apart from amber warning light on dash. I have had this illuminated on 2/3 occasions and it has always gone off the next time I have started the engine.
Will contact the local Fiat professional dealer who as last time will say take it in when it is illuminated. The problem is it always goes out when I next start it lol.
 
The laird said:
Does it come up with anti pollution message on the high level dash display steve ?
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No, just an amber coloured warning triangle.
Went back out 30 mins after returning home and started engine, all ok ????
It only appears to occur when it hasn’t been started for a couple of weeks, will contact the Fiat dealer this week if they are open and mention if fault will show up on their plug in terminal ‘ gadget ‘.
Thinking back it happened once on my Swift a few years ago when staying at Port o Blaigh campsite overlooking the summer isles.
light came on one morning when driving off the campsite. Called out Fiat assist and whilst waiting tried starting engine and no warning light. Called Fiat assist again to save the chap coming out and they said it’s a common fault relating to a sensor on the emission side of things. It never came on again in 2 years of ownership.
 
We drove ten minutes to the nearest beach. Huge car park had quite a few cars but it's a huge area and not many people in sight. Walked along the beach and saltmarshes for two hours, then back to van for a picnic lunch and ice cream cornet (with choc sauce and nuts). Very well spread out people all enjoying the fresh air. Nobody within thirty feet of us during whole walk. Great way to celebrate our 45th wedding anniversary (since jewellers aren't open for sapphires!)
 
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Congratulations on your anniversary, 45 years is a superb achievement.

We've done 47, so far. It all seems like yesterday. Can't understand folk who say they've never had an angry word..... For us, it sets up the day nicely. 😊
 
Not strictly, what I did today, ‘ cos it was yesterday, and the day before.
Deep clean of interior, me. All clothes out and washed, ironed by my beautiful assistant.
Exterior clean, today.
All to remove 3 months of grime and single bloke, almost housekeeping 🤢
 
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Removed the mattress!
Made the bed base 16ins tall so plenty of usable storage space beneath, but the mattress I ended up buying was 11ins thick. This made for a tall bed which was a struggle with my knackered legs. My boy wanted a wider bed, so I made him a base out of pallets & gave him my mattress (only been used around a dozen times). Now to order a new mattress for the bus, looking for a 5-6ins thick orthopedic one....
 
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The local mobile caravan engineer has come to do a habitation check and sort out (I hope) some problems. Normally you have to wait weeks to book him. All socially isolated.
 
Started fitting Zunsport grill mesh which I've had for a few weeks, had my hand controls fitted a week ago so took it to fill up then for a 25 mile run to try them out in different scenarios (hills, kick down, manual mode etc). 1st run out since delivered just on lockdown and have to say I'm impressed with the new 9 speed Auto (y)

before & after photos, bottom grill still to be fitted

withoutgrill.jpgwithgrill.jpg
 
Vanterrier said:
I have been putting it off since I bought the van in November but today decided that the towbar just HAD to come off. I will never tow with the van and have no intention of adding a bike rack, so... Off it came!
Was not a bad job and the bolts and nuts all unscrewed easily. I have left the 7 pin connector still wired up and tucked away behind the bumper for now. I might keep the towbar as it might be of interest to a prospective buyer at some point in the future? But I might offer it for sale on the bay...
The whole lot came to around 32kg which is a useful addition to my available payload.

So, what did YOU do to your van today?

K ;)
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i have smashed the back bumper twice. now putting on a tow bar.not a ball just the bar. not cheep. the bumper bar so here gose. ok.pj. happy motoring.
 
pj palance said:
i have smashed the back bumper twice. now putting on a tow bar.not a ball just the bar. not cheep. the bumper bar so here gose. ok.pj. happy motoring.
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I’ve used the tow bar to take the weigh of my bike off the rear door . A piece of 32 mm x18mm box section with a M8 set screw welded to the end to act as a tensioner, hooked on to the tow bar. And no, the van isn’t laying on its side. AC56834D-DF72-48A6-BB58-BA31573BE132.jpeg8CF3194C-410B-440A-817C-1EDDFA82448F.jpeg
 
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Well after much thought and investigation, I decided to freshen the old girl up. So spent a bit of time ordering the supplies and waiting on delivery due to CV19! But finally the day came so on wae the masking tape, window protector film and off wae owt that would remove easily ( ahem forgot the ruddy wheels and tyres.... Added to to do list!)

Then oot wae the rollers, combicolour matched paint and off we went.
Now I'm nae expert but after two coats, I have to say that yes big difference.....however and you just knew there would be one!...on theses old girls, Talbot express based Bedouin Fiat based body.

Anyone that knows these talbots will know the metal sides are like orange peel anyway. (Dimpled) So the rustoleum concerns about that final appearance hadn't bothered me. But a third coat was required!! It appeared ' patchy' after the two and input this down to the rollers not getting right into the dimples.

So had to order more paint ( aha I hear you say another long wait ...nope on this occasion found a firm called Industrial coatings ltd who had it in stock and promised next day delivery!! And that was at 3pm uhu I thought! But and I take my hat off to them it was there first thing next day.... Brilliant service.

So yesterday it got the third coat sprayed on using a reasonably inexpensive airless sprayer I bought on Amazon, perfect!!

So that's the bottom half done now just the top, the Bodylines, the mirrors to repair, a couple of small welding job in the engine bay, finish the lining inside, wash the seats, the cab over bed to sort, the new fog / driving lights to finish wiring, the tracker to install..........Getting there as always like they say with Talbbots " it's a labour of love!!"
Pictures to follow hopefully ( if my tierd brain remembers!)

Acuna Mata !! Friends till we meet again and pass on our viral experiences!
 
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