Practically Classics Forum

How nice to hear from you again John. I was beginning to think you had been kidnapped by the goblins, along with Terry. I wonder what's happened to Rich?

Thanks, Pete, I've been reading all of the new posts as they appear but have had some less enjoyable stuff going on and haven't always felt up to posting anything on any of my favourite web fora. Until, that is, I saw the latest posts relating to Zel's collection of vehicles so different from each other that even when I'm not posting so much, I can't resist having a good read. I love that the same human being can possess so disparate a selection of motors and clearly have a great fondness for each. All of these vehicles are ones that I could happily have on my multi-car policy.

Thanks folks, I do worry that my waffling is tiresome to folks sometimes and worry that I post too much trivia, so nice to see that I'm not just boring everybody!

My little fleet is eclectic that is true. Can't be many driveways where one of the most sophisticated Citroens of the mid 90s rub shoulders with a Lada - never mind the van and AC.

I'm going to be curious to see how much the AC actually ends up getting used (once the current bugs have been evicted that is - though they're inevitable after twenty years sitting in a field and I don't begrudge the car for them at all).

The fact that it's so compact and generally very well engineered made it seem a very approachable thing to take on. The only frustrating things about it I've found are the complete absence of captive nuts which frequently makes what should be five second jobs a two man task, and the completely random mish-mash of metric and imperial fasteners. So far I've not had any "why the fluff did they do that?!?" moments yet. Not like on the Citroen where I discovered that they installed the cooling fans and then built the entire car around them...

I'm really hoping that I'll be able to make use of the car and in doing so dispell a few of the myths surrounding the Invacar.

The van wasn't a planned purchase. I'd had a love affair with the Merc T1 since I first encountered one at about five years of age as a passenger in one we hired from Budget to move house. I'd always fancied one, but both struggled to justify just buying a van and thought that I'd really missed the boat on finding one anyway. Then a friend popped up with this thing - the rest of the family liked the idea of a camper, and I was suffering major withdrawal symptoms from not getting to play with-I-mean-drive buses back up north any more...so when I was offered a really good price it had to be bought. Even if it does mean selling the Lada which took me 13 years to find!

The biggest quandary I find myself facing is that I know that the Xantia will need to be replaced at some point. PSA parts supply will eventually see to that if nothing else does, though I know enough people who know people that I should be able to find most stuff for a while - even the Activa specific bits...but eventually she will need to move on, especially as she's currently the daily driver, doing more miles than such a special car probably should these days...however the reason for that is that she is such a blindingly competent beast that no task ever results in even mildly ruffled feathers.

Some day though I'm going to need to think about the future. What on earth would I replace that with?!? The only thing which I reckon would come close to being such a good all rounder is one of the bigger Volvos, a late 850 would be nice (bonus points of it has the pale wood interior trim that motoring journalists seemed to have in the late 90s but I think looks lovely). I really want a Volvo anyway as I've been a fan of Saabs since I was old enough to know what a car was and have owned several Classic 900s - really feels like I should sample a Volvo as well to see what they're like compared to the Saabs.

I also have a massive soft spot for the first generation Jeep Cherokees. I've had a major want for one of those since 1993 when I first saw one - yet still have yet to find one. I really need to get on that sooner than later before all the good ones are gone or priced beyond sense...and the prices are already on the up. Has to be petrol, has to be in Limited or Limited SE spec and not modified beyond recognition into something unstoppable off road but undrivable on tarmac, and not rotten... satisfying all of these requirements in one car so far has proven impossible. Though currently is a moot point as I've one car too many anyway!

-- -- --

Back to the present...what was done today?

First task of the day was to get the plumbing for the sink and shower sorted out as I had taken it all apart yesterday.



Much better. This lot used to be hidden behind a plywood box...not sure I will bother putting that back as it eats quite a chunk of space in the back of the wardrobe. Reckon I will add some clips to hold the pipes against the back wall and call it good, the box just seems unnecessary given this is all hidden at the back of the wardrobe anyway.

Drainage has been tested by dumping a five litre bottle of water down it, no leaks to report and it seems to drain at as close to a reasonable rate you can really hope for, though the design at least means you don't have to wait for the draining process to finish before stowing the basin.

Once that was done it was back to the tiling. Seems to be taking forever!

We are getting there though.

This is where this pattern will stop - there is a mosaic pattern to run from here up to the ceiling.



This would have taken significantly less time had I realised that the trim around the window just snaps in place - I realised that after I had already carefully made sure to measure it as close to millimetre perfect as I could on two sides...rather than just extending the tile a bit last the edge and snapping the trim back on...oh well now I know! Obviously there is one little infill strip I still need to put in there too, just waiting for an offcut the right shape to turn up.

Interior wall is also ready for the next pattern. This is really awkward to get a photo of.



I am *hoping* that I will be able to call the decorating nonsense done tomorrow as it is taking forever...though does kind of feel like it is actually moving in the right direction now.

Zelandeth wrote: Sun Mar 17, 2019 12:44 am Thanks folks, I do worry that my waffling is tiresome to folks sometimes and worry that I post too much trivia, so nice to see that I'm not just boring everybody!

No, keep it up, often don't have anything useful to say so few replies, but very much enjoying the stories.

Zelandeth wrote: Sun Mar 17, 2019 12:44 am What on earth would I replace that with?!? The only thing which I reckon would come close to being such a good all rounder is one of the bigger Volvos, a late 850 would be nice

Any excellent choice if I may say so, I'm a big fan of these, I have a 1997 (very early) V70, very similar to the 850 and I love it, against a Jeep it's a no-brainer IMHO. There's a really good Volvo forum too, for specialist advice and discussion. Give me a shout if you do go for one, I've built up quite a bit of experience on these now.

Cheers!

Luxobarge wrote: Sun Mar 17, 2019 10:26 am I'm a big fan of these

I wasn't.. Until I drove a particularly well kept one . Now though, well let us say that I know why drivers of these always seem to be smiling, even on rainy days. I had owned several of Volvo's traditional (RWD) large cars and still have a love for their simple, dependable nature, but I drove a mate's high performance 850-shaped estate and took to the car like a duck to water. They're appropriately large for a range topping Volvo, but they're outstandingly good to drive. So much so that after a very short way into my shot at the wheel, I felt at home and even managed to use the indicators without washing the screen at first attempt - a usual response when coming to European cars from Japanese cars whose stalks are the "right" way round. That last point is extremely unlikely to affect someone who can go from a Citroen to a Mercedes-Benz and then enjoy a single wheel forward tricycle that's steered by handlebar, a clever ploy that must have spared loads of cash and may, I suspect, be a production engineer's idea rather than one born of physical need on the part of the driver. Either way, the concept is appealing because it's utterly bonkers but (IMHO) in a good way and this thread is probably the single most significant piece of positive publicity that the tiny blue cars have ever received. Better late than never!

Today it has *finally* started to feel like we're starting to get somewhere and this is starting to actually look like a room again.



Bit annoying that it's impossible to get things lined up perfectly with the rear wall courtesy of our friend Pythagoras, but it's good enough for a camper van! Won't be so obvious once the sealant along the edges is in place anyway.

If I had been smart I would have realised that was going to be an issue and would have made sure not to use a repeating pattern spanning the side and rear wall...though I reckon it still looks better than it would have in plain white (or with the original pink floral pattern!). Doesn't hopefully look too out of period for the vehicle either.

Slightly delayed post on account of ImgBB being down yesterday evening.

Yesterday afternoon I had a bit of a push to get the bathroom work finished, and am glad to report that save for needing to refit the curtain rail and source a shower curtain, the bathroom is now done.

Oh...and find some brown screw caps as the white ones stick out way too much against the generally warm coloured decor.

Doesn't look too bad for an entirely home brew job though I reckon? Here's a couple of before and after pictures.













Just need to make a blanking plate to sit in the shower tray when it's not in use, re-fit the rail for the shower curtain and we should be done. Oh, and stick some water in the tank so I can confirm the taps don't leak before discovering that's an issue at the far end of the country.

Hardly any time to look at the cars today, so was just able to get a little bit of system testing done on the van.

Threw some water in the fresh water tank and set the pump running.

Soon enough we had water in the kitchen...



The odd arrangement at the base of the tap is my temporary solution to the problem presented by the emphatically not camper/caravan grade worktop being thicker than the threaded section of the tap is long. The worktop will be getting binned for something more appropriate as soon as I get around to sourcing something suitable. See also my previous comments about whoever started to "upgrade" this van having zero concept of the idea that unnecessary weight isn't your friend.

Bathroom sink had water through soon enough as well, taps work properly and don't leak which is nice - even though I do have a spare if there turned out to be any issues with the bodies.



One thing I was curious to see was whether it would be possible to actually get a useful amount of flow from the shower at an acceptably high temperature for it to actually be useful.

The water heater I have always eyed with slight suspicion given the fact that it did a good impression of a fountain the first time that I supplied water to it due to perished O-rings in several locations. Thankfully my replacements seem to be holding up just fine, and aside from making unreasonably loud gurgling noises for the first few seconds, it behaved. Yes, I did remember to close the drain down valve before turning the pump on.

Once switched on, it fired up as soon as the hot water tap was turned on, just as it should. I don't have a combustion tester, but the flame looks healthy to me.



Adjusting the shower controls to giving what feels a sensible temperature seems to be at a flow rate that's on par with any electrically heated shower I've used before. Not a power shower that's going to knock you over when you turn it on, but it's absolutely fine for taking a quick shower and to wash your hair with.



So I'm calling it done on the bathroom and plumbing in general for a bit. I still need to fit a shower curtain, finish off a few bits of silicone sealant and to fit a few pipe clips in the utility cupboard, but that's all just simple stuff. Next main target is going to be the kitchen.

What I need to do in there:

[] Rip out those poorly fitted household worktops (they're not even close to level for one thing) and install something that weighs less than a Mini.
[] Reconstruct the partitions below the worktops, including the gas cabinet and the support framework for the drawers.
[] Replace the crudely hacked off gas pipework to the oven and cabin heater. Really wish they had disconnected stuff rather than just snip the pipes off with a pair of side cutters. Need to confirm for definite if the manifold I have is a long obsolete size for with it's hard to get fittings for or not, and if so just buy a new one. If not, pick up the missing fittings so I can connect stuff up properly. I'm very, very aware that the current setup is absolutely NOT getting used beyond the one weekend away - and even then the gas was only on when we actively needed the oven or hot water.
[] Properly reattach the heat shielding around the oven - I'm absolutely certain that my current configuration isn't right as none of the holes in it line up properly. This is one of those situations where it would be really useful to be able to have a look at one of these vans in standard form so I could see how it was originally put together.
[] Once all of this is done, obviously re-route the plumbing as necessary. At least being flexible lines that's hardly an issue.

[] Finally, sort out the peeling wallpaper around that general area. I've pretty much decided at this point that the brown mosaic pattern from the bathroom will be continued around the rear window and across the worktop splash back, finishing where the cabinet for the water heater is. It should help make things look more seamless and professional I think, and be a lot easier to keep clean around the kitchen than the wallpaper.

First though, I think I need to have a bit of a tidy up. I have made quite a ridiculous amount of mess while working on the bathroom...



Some of the foam core board I didn't end up using in the bathroom will be retained though, I'm going to use that to line the floor before the cabinet bases are put down as a bit of extra insulation. It weighs nothing so no reason not to use it that I can see. Being honest though, given how foul it was outside a few days back when I was working in the van it seems pretty well insulated really. I've never actually even tested the gas fired heater yet other than establishing that the fan runs...

We're booked in for a weekend away in May - so that's my deadline to get the thing MOT'd and the kitchen into a serviceable state.

The offside rear corner is the only place on the van I've had any signs of active water ingress. As is standard for a van like this (or a coach), trying to actually match up where the rain is getting in with where it is appearing is tricky.

There was no sign of dampness anywhere above the height of the worktop (the wallpaper is peeling more because it hasn't been applied properly than due to damp. As such my guess was that it was finding a point of entry below the height of the work surface but above the floor. There is a bodywork join there and as such that has to be a favourite. No obvious issues present there other than that the infill strips were all missing. This could be to blame, especially bearing in mind that due to the slope of our driveway about 90% of all water coming off the roof of the van pours down that corner at the back.

Well I got a huge bundle of new infill strip with the van...



...So no reason not to get it and the missing end caps (which meant open screw holes!) back in place. Should be a nice quick job for the afternoon, right? This is the point at which I discovered something really rather annoying.

When whoever it was last had these strips off, they refitted them with screws rather than the original staples.



Fair enough, I would have done the same. The issue however is that what they had not done was countersink the holes in the aluminium trim. The result of this being the screws sitting just proud of the surface enough to prevent me from fitting the infill strip.

Cue me having to remove each screw, drill the hole out slightly and refit it. For Every...single...screw.

We got there in the end though - after several hours.



The only bit I still need to do here is the nearside corner, though I need to dig the old silicone out of the groove there first.

Oh...and the spare wheel retaining bolt has been greased...I had to use an uncomfortably large amount of force to remove it given the lack of structural metalwork that the carrier is attached to.

Hopefully having got a bit more sealant involved and having replaced all the infill that corner will stay dry now...guess we will see next time it rains.

The things obviously missing from the bodywork there are two high level tail lights which AutoTrail fitted to all their vans in this era.



I would quite like to get them reinstated, though as all of the wiring has been removed it will be a bit of a chore...it will happen at some point, just might not be this week.

Didn't have any time for car stuff today really, but did manage to spend fifteen minutes refitting the two main side rubbing strips. Thankfully unlike the smaller infill ones this didn't involve re-drilling three thousand holes, just slipped straight in.



I stuffed a good blob of non-setting seam sealer under the end caps so there's no chance of water getting into the panel through the screw holes.



Does help make the van look a lot less generally scruffy, though I really need to do something about the bumper sitting at an angle. That's going to be a bigger job though as the entire structure under it has been subject to quite major alteration by previous owners

I do have a new mains power socket ready to fit as the one on there currently has a broken hinge. This definitely needs to be done before we go anywhere again as it flaps around anywhere above 40mph and if the window is open all I can hear is click-click-click-click...

The nearside rubbing strip really will need to come off to redo the whole lot as the sealant under it is an absolute mess and it looks horrible.



What was a bag full of bits when I got the van has now been reduced to this.



The white circular thing is the cover for the keyhole on the toilet access door. The last four metal bits are for the lower strip behind the rear wheels. Those will need the screw holes re-drilled before I can refit the infill though.

Aside from the obvious impact on helping keep the van weather tight, I'm glad to be getting stuff like this done as I always like to turn up for an MOT in a vehicle that even if old looks to be well looked after.

Speaking of a car looking well looked after...I was feeling really guilty about the state the poor Xantia was in, so finally dropped by one of our local hand car washes and got it a mini valet.









Looking a bit more respectable now at least.