Reflection on our first year together!

I reckon we have spent over 2 months in the van this year, including six weeks in the summer. It was the perfect home from home when we had major work done on the house, and our awning gave us the extra space we needed.

We haven't done much work on the van during this time; we just wanted to put her to good use. However, the gas locker has been switched 180 degrees (see previous post) and the sink waste goes directly outside now - much better than into a canister. We also topped the main table and work top with a more durable material, as scratches were beginning to show.

The major job was replacing the hinges on the pop top bed. One afternoon the ply base of the bed collapsed on my three kids who were happily watching TV. Fortunately, besides some short-lived shock, there were no injuries!

The gas props, which allow the bed base to lift up providing standing space, excert an incredible amount of force and the hinges used were too narrow. As a result the screws/edge of the ply failed - its worth checking out if you have an austop fitted before summer 2011. My solution was to replace the two hinges with three counter hinges and use bolts rather than screws. A job I finally got round to doing today.

Anyway, the verdict for year one is that the van is fab. We have so many great memories of the places we visited: North and South Wales, Yorkshire, Derbyshire, South London, Cheshire etc. It won't be long before we are back on our travels and I plan to document all the sites we stay at during 2012, plus any tweaks made to the van.

First trip with the family

Having used the van a few times on my own, we all went away as a family this Easter for a few days. We couldn't have asked for better weather, and we stayed at 4 great campsites in the Brecon Beacons, Somerset, Dorset and Wiltshire. The last three Caravan Club 'Certified Location' sites.

The trip was a good opportunity to see how the five of us would cope in the van together, and the weather certainly helped us bed in and work out the best way to do things. All in all everything worked out really well. The two boys (3 and 7) slept in the roof, and beside my eldest sliding out one night (we were on a bit of a slope), only to continue sleeping on my daughter in the cab bunk, everyone slept well. Luckily I had put a net across the hole in the pop top, which broke his fall (he ended up face down about 6 inches from the floor!), but it prompted us to add wheel levellers to our shopping list!

The only other real issue was the position of the gas bottle. It lives under the rear seat, but faces the boot so you have to take everything out, and then reach right under, to turn the gas on and off. It seemed like a good idea at the time, and thus far this appears to be the only thing that was ill planned.

As a result I am now going to get the gas locker turned through 180 degrees and an extra door put in the under bed front panel, so access is much easier. There is then no need to leave the van to have a cuppa in the morning - not a problem in the sun, but...

Sliding door stow away table

Inspired by the Avalanche Surf Bus I wanted to design and build my own stow away table, but attach it to the sliding door instead. I have been working on this for a little while, and whilst it is almost there I will need to rethink my design.

I already have one table which serves the back seats. This one stows away behind the rear frame of the Rib Seats and therefore blocks the frame off when you open the boot.

The stow away table attaches to a swing leg, which itself is stowed down the side of the Rib Seats, and this is to provide a table for the front seats.

I constructed a panel, with a cut-out for the bracket on the back of the table, for the sliding door. This allows the table to fit as flush as possible, but the sliding still does quite fully open without the table rubbing against the wheel arch.

For the table do I:

- use 6mm ply rather than the 9mm I am currently using?
- use aluminium (or similar) which would be thinner

Both these options would pose a new issue of how to attach the swing leg table bracket to the back of the table without bolting right through the table.

Watch this space.

Power steering pump disaster

Having already cut my timings pretty fine to reach Holyhead and catch the ferry to Dublin for a short trip I was a little disconcerted when I started to hear a whirring sound as I was driving along. I first noticed it when I wound my window down - about the first time all winter.

At first I thought it was the kind of sound the wheels make on some roads, but it was soon apparent that it was the van. I pulled over within 1/2 mile and popped the bonnet to see mineral oil spewing out of the breather hole of the power steering reservoir. I knew my chances of catching the ferry were slim, especially when I realised I had no mobile reception. I jumped back in the van and decided to drive a little further. Although the reception didn't improve and the whirring had turned into a drone, I found one of those little orange SOS phone boxes. Luckily I am an AA member and got through.

After an hours wait, and a brief bit of reception to enable me to delay my ferry crossing (Direct Ferries were really helpful and ended up putting my booking back three times for only a small surcharge) the AA turned up and towed me to Craven Motors in Llandudno Junction. They allowed me to kip in the van on their forecourt overnight (we didn't arrive there until almost 6pm) and promised to look at the van in the morning. Anyway, to cut a long story shorter, the upshot was the pump shaft had literally snapped to the amazement of the garage folk - hence the over pressurised oil. £650(!) and two days later it all seems to be hunky dory again.

The garage rang the VW helpline to ask if they should be looking for any other fault considering the forces that must have taken place. Apparently no. They have sold a few pumps and so it may be a fault that the T5s have.

I read on the T4 forum that if this oil drains into the boots of the steering rack then you are looking at having to replace that too. Fingers crossed.

Eberspacher and central locking

I had the Eberspacher D2 heater fitted a few weeks ago and its fab. My only gripe is that even though it is fitted under the chassis, beneath the drivers seat, you can still hear the pump 'ticking'. But it's a small cost for toasty warmth.

I ask the fitters (Derby Auto Electrics) to leave the hot air vent dangling out the back of the drivers seat so I could build a shelf in which to mount the vent. I did this today at the same time I fixed the central locking fault which affects loads of T5s. The T4 Forum has a great thread on this.

Anyway, as the driver's seat was out I built a small shelf between the fridge and drivers seat.

Photo (left) shows it looking back with the driver's seat out. You can also see my 'fix' of the central locking cable. It is the cable wrepped in the shiny black insulation tape just where the two air vents come through the floor.

The second photo shows the vent as you look through the side door. The shelf will be used to store one of the tables, plus trays etc.

The veneer chipped off the wood a little bit so its not perfect, but generally I am happy with it.

I'd always balked at the price people were charging to install the electrics in vans, but after spending 2 solid days doing this very thing, with my step dad, I can appreciate why now. Even more so when you have narrow cupboards to contend with.

Saying all that everything is now up and running exactly as we planned. The charger/distribution unit, inverter and double socket and hidden at the bottom of the wardrobe behind a little access door, along with my hook up cable.

Quite a bit of the electric equipment came off display boards from boat shows, via ebay. I saved about 80% on RRP this way, and being suitable for marine applications, means its more than suitable for the van. The splash proof switch may be a bit excessive (although the kids do make a mess at breakfast) but I have to say alot of the switches on offer aren't very aesthetic. I like the design of ours.

The two cigar lighter sockets were in the van when I bought it, so they get re-used. The switch was from Wilko's!

I think my favourite thing is the battery monitor. It tells you what % the battery is charged at, and also how many amps its using, or if its charging then at what rate. At the moment only the leisure battery is connected, but I'll add the starter battery too. The monitor sits above the fridge so you can open the slide door and check capacity

I've put the switch for the main lights beside the sliding door on the left. This means I can tuck my hand in to the left and switch it on when coming into the van, and at night its within reach, without having to move when in bed.
I 've put 4 LEDs in the roof and another into the pop top, which can only be switched on if the main switch panel is one. This stops the kids turning the light on unless we want them too - ahh the power!

I will soon add a light over the worktop, which can also be used for ambient lighting in the evening.

Electric hook-up

For some reason I have been really looking forward to doing this, having been inspired by the relevant thread on T4 Forum. I was after some nylon hinges to hinge the plastic cover under the offside rear light cluster, but in the end had to plump for some brass hinges; not ideal but I will grease them to aid against rusting. Anyway, having thread the 16amp cable through the grommet that the light cables came through I screwed the male plug (this means there are no live exposed end on the cable you bring to the van) onto the van.

The plastic cover and the plastic casing underneath need to be cut away to allow the hook up to go in. Hopefully the picture will be useful for someone attempting a similar approach.

Being a glue novice (beside pritt stick and super glue) I speculated with using chemical metal, as I had some lying around, to attach the brass hinges to the plastic. Verdict: it doesn't stick to plastic which I had guessed but as it only took 10 mins to set I thought it worth a punt. Next I tried Aruldite. This took about a day to set, kept sliding about and although faired better on the sticking front, was still pretty rubbish. Finally, I opted for bolting through the plastic, something I had hoped to avoid. However the end result, I think, is pretty good. I remembered I had some tiny bolts (about 2.5mm diameter), courtesy of my Father-in-Law, who would have loved to see this van if he was still alive.

This is where the chemical metal came to the fore. The holes in the hinges were too large, but the chemical metal had filled the holes up so I could drill through them and get a tight fit. I countersunk the external side to make the bolt heads flush with the plastic (can you see the four little silver dots on the right hand picture?) I may even touch them up with some red paint to disguise them eventually.

Although bolting through wasn't a preferred option (although better than rivets, which I have seen done) I think I will be able to drive without worrying about the plastic falling off. To aid this I have added a clip by the tailgate to stop the cover swinging open. Jobs a good 'un me thinks. 12v electrics next...

Furniture fitted

The van is back from 'Convert Your Van' in Sheffield. Scott did a great job, well pleased. My plans for a tambour door on the wardrobe were dashed because the units are too narrow for the roller, but that's a minor thing. Likewise the units over the worktop.



We decided to go for cherry, which may not be everyone's taste, but it gives a real warm glow in the van. Everything has fitted in nicely.

Scott waited for me to arrive before cutting the table as we wanted it full length, allowing the kids to sit and eat at it/play easily. A moment of genius followed whereby the table now butts up against the back of the bed frame when not in use, filling the space perfectly. Pictures to follow at some point. I have another good plan for a second table so will probably post both at the same time.

My step dad is up this weekend to weave his sorcery on the electrics.

I have now finished the carpeted panels, and fitted curtains, on the drivers side of the van. The Van-X curtains are great and very easy to fit. Rails are attached to the top and bottom of the window frame, with the supplied screws, and studs are attached to the window sides to create a really effective blackout screen.


I also bought some window rubbers, off ebay, to give a good finish to the window edges.

At the back of the van I have fitted a wider rear step, using the black caps from the old cover for two of the holes. I still need to get 2 more but they are about £2.50 each - for a small piece of plastic!

The white and blue box is a battery charger and distribution unit, with the ac power coming from a hook-up socket located behind the offside rear light cluster (which is still to be fitted). The orange 16amp cable is already in position.

The next job is for the furniture to be fitted, by 'Convert your Van' in Sheffield. Then its the electrics. I do wonder whether I should have given more thought to the lighting than I have thus far.

I also think a darker floor would have been a good idea as it shows up muddy footprints very easily.