its all about scale...

repair work on the door has moved along nicely - still plenty to do though..

In other news, I won a bench drill on ebay at a good price. Can anyone spot the slight problem?


Yes - its massive! Infact its so big, I can't fit it on the bench. It would hit the roof! Saying that there are worse things that could happen though. I am just going to have to get a bigger workshop now!

In other news, Jessica got herself a set of halogen headlights. Can you tell?

Let battle commence

so the chop chop weld weld fest begins...

holes everywhere!

the left side - what it should look like...

yuck!

Gotta get the doors done too. This is what they'll look like when they're done...

Picking up the pieces

After the big Commer weekend, tonight it was time to work out what to do next. Well Jessica won the Commer Van Fan distance award (again!) and narrowly missed out on the Shed award (due to there being no trophy!) so I have been inspired (again!) to do some prettificaiton.

Before that though there is the little matter of the MOT. There were a few advisories last year which didn't get any attention so they need to get sorted and a couple of other wooly bits that need sorting too. So tonight it was all change at little yellow towers. Molly has now made it to the front of the drive so she can get some attention (the brakes need sorting - as I found out!). And Jessica had her driver's door removed in rediness for the door step and door repair.

Molly takes poll position

Jessica pretends to have sliding doors

Wooly door bottoms

free screwdriver!

Welcome Commer Van Fan Clan!

Bin a little quiet recently I know - sorry. We've been rather busy at work and I've been bussily preparing Jessica for the big Commer Van Fan Midlands meet. Which was last weekend so here are some pics!

We took off on Thursday night and stopped off at Carlisle, it gave us a chance to shake down the van and take it easy on the long long drive.

seasoned campers

midnight feast

We got to Yoxall in plenty of time and met up with Panky, Chris and Tim. Bit drizzly, but that wasn't going to stop us. First night fish and chips went down well.

On the Saturday lots more CommerVanFans turned up as did the sun!

family, barbecue and sunshine - what more could you want?

Easter egg hunter

icecream seller

Jessica showing herself up again

the road home

tick tick tick....

Time is ticking away and there is lots to be done... What am I banging on about? Well easter weekend is the Commer Van Fan meet in the midlands and Jessica is not ready yet.

There are a few things outstanding which - today - would mean that we can't go. These are,
the exhaust down pipe, the clutch slave cylinder and the starting problem.

Now all these things are under control (if not addressed). A new exhaust downpipe and clutch slave cylinder are on order from Martin. These should be arriving at the beginning of next week.

Then there is the starting problem. This has been niggling for a while now, but its now really bad. With the battery fully charged, and the engine cold, she won't start. She'll crank and crank all day and eventually - if you're lucky - kicks to life. Martin already sorted me out with a new starter motor which is really good, but the problem was still there. So today I decided to get the battery checked out. It turned out that it was fine (a shame as that would have been a relativley easy fix). So this afternoon I took the opertunity to remove clean and replace the starter solenoid - the only part left in the system. I took it slowly and methodically and filed all the contacts to make sure they were ok. And hey presto she burst into life at the first turn of the key - I'll try again tomorrow to be sure.

Then there is the rest of the stuff to be getting on with -and of course we'll need a good shakedown run, or two. Will there be time?...

Thanks Dad!

Today my Dad played a blinder. You see my brother is taking on a lot of the running of the family bussiness these days, giving Dad the freedom to take time off when he likes. And today was one of those days. On a whim (and because my eBay junk was cluttering up his storage area) he drove up to Scotland and delivered our new/old trailer. The wiring even works (now I have finally finished the socket on the van)

Its a lovely old trailer with wooden construction (kinda heavy!) and natty little retro features like the leaf springs (hence the positive camber on the wheels) and a very (and robust) hitch.

It needs a couple of new tyres and a rear lens changing. A new numberplate would be good and then she's good to roll. Then there is the decision whether to tidy it up and prevent the inevitable water damage, or leave it as it is and keep that lovely patina. What do you think?

In other news... I managed to have a crack at sorting the hole left by the oven. It was a case of sticking the bits I had back together, but I was left with a bit of a gap and no faux-veneer to fix it with. So out came the fablon (wood pattened sticky backed plastic) and danah! Can you see the join?

Oh and Dad managed to find a set of 3/8" UNC brass manifold nuts from stock how good is that? (thats Pugh and Sanders for you). It means I should be able to have a crack at fixing the exhaust later in the week. Thanks Dad!

Springy?

Well after a few false starts, it looks as though spring is here - seems a bit early, but I ain't complain'. I can tell its spring, ok there's sunshine, and animals and plants, but on big give away is the public displays of alcohol consumption across the Lothains. The beer gardens are full, the off licences are doing a roaring trade and there is at least one sunburnt gentleman with a can of Strongbow on the train.

The there are some telltale signs in our house too. All the windows get flung open and the Mrs gets some spring cleaning done, the kids go a little bonkers and want to run around all over the place, and I can even be found pottering around the garden too, having a crack at growing some veggies.

The real sign that spring is here (sorry Bill) is my neeeed to drive around in old cars. I don't know what it is. It could be the improved weather making it a much more pratical proposition, but I like to think it has something to do with the smell of the old upholstry in the spring warmth. It could be the way rattly old engines' performance improves in the cool spring evenings. But I think its really down to the way that old cars (those designed before pedestrian safety and aerodynamics made all cars look the same) look so lovely in the setting springtime sun.