Jarl's your man on this Aardy, hopefully he'll see this thread.
I'd be dead interested myself in how you get on, as me and Hen are planning on doing the "Grey Nomad" thing in a few years time.
I cannot offer any help though, I've always bought my camper vans ready to roll!
I have a mate in the UK who used to earn his living doing conversions, he's not online much unfortunately, I could try and put you in touch with him though.
“If you trust in yourself, and believe in your dreams, and follow your star. . . you'll still get beaten by people who spent their time working hard and learning things and weren't so lazy.”
Jarlaxle Thanks just had a good look. I should of read some of the for sale before I bought this one.
It could be cheeper to buy one from the States and ship it over, than doing the Bedford up.
Hen I wouldn't want you to leave Gob one short. The fun is in the doing not the finish
Aardy, don't forget a yank one would be wrong hand drive...
Not fun in a big bus!
“If you trust in yourself, and believe in your dreams, and follow your star. . . you'll still get beaten by people who spent their time working hard and learning things and weren't so lazy.”
Having to get a policeman to read the questions for me then mark the right answers. Fun is one way to put it.
The worst part was being told you can't get a lerner's till your 18 if you couldn't read.
So I got my open lisence at 19
second at 19 and 6 months
third at 22
fourth at 27
fith at 30 and I still have it
Haven't got the bus started yet looking for a motor. Pistons 5 and 6 are full of water so if I can't replace it I am looking at a big job.
I want to find a motor!
Try this: my "starting a stored engine" procedure, copy/pasted from another site...
OK, having resurrected many stored engines (longest sat from 1979 to 2007), here's how I do it: (It should go without saying this is an extremely messy procedure. Figure on 2 50lb bags of Speedy Dry, several big buckets, and most of a roll of blue shop towels.) Pull all belts & the spark plugs. Drain and flush cooling system about six times. Totally bypass fuel system--feed out of a gas can or something similar. Drain old oil, fill TO THE TOP with engine oil cut with ~10-15% MMO or Liquid Wrench (you want, minimum, the cam submerged). Pull the valve cover & drizzle oil on the entire valvetrain (I try to fill the engine this way). Fill all cylinders to the top with a 50/50 mix of Dexron or MMO and Liquid Wrench. Replace valve covers. Let it soak overnight (2-3 days is better). Drain the crankcase (think: laundry tub)--be prepared for the nastiest, rustiest glop you've ever seen. replace valve cover. Fill with normal amount of oil (I like 15W-40 diesel oil for this part). Turn the engine SLOWLY with a wrench on the crank bolt. Clean up the MMO/Liquid Wrench that went everywhere because you turned too fast. Crank it half a dozen times with the starter to clear the cylinders. Pull the distributor & spin the oil pump with a drill (Make sure you turn it the right way!) until you have good oil pressure on a mechanical gauge--hand crank the engine at least 4 times while you do this. (Might need a second pair of hands here.) Replace plugs, refill coolant, and crank it up! (It will smoke a few minutes until the oil burns out of the cylinders.) Hold it at 2000-2500RPM for at least 10 minutes so you don't wipe the cam. Change oil after an hour or so of running, and again after the first 500 miles or so.
If your not shore what you want in the way of van- bus or camper you should just look up a few on e-bay and find out if you can have a look before you buy.
Look at as many as you can. (we didn't I just fell for the Bedford)
If you see lots of older vans that have done some miles you can see what happens to thoes beutifull Campers you see at the dealers. The best way I found to find all the little things that you wouldn't think of. Like the magnetic cupboard door latches that don't hold and need a cabin latch to stay shut.
But the brand news campers don't have the external latches but look really flash. I was told that by one owner of a bus we looked at. They paid a company to fit their bus out. It all looked great till they were on the road and near every door and draw flew open dumping everything onto the floor. Wife told us hubby pulled into a hardwear shop, came out with a box of latches and screwed every door shut. Then called the fitters and spent ages abussing anyone game enought to listen. They were compensated the cost of the hardwear and a little for damages to propperty
