just a quickie

Just noticed on ebay that if you are looking for something to convert, Fastline ltd have gone into receivership and the market has now been flooded with their vans.

Why does this matter?

It matters because these are usually full service history, well maintained and also there are now loads of vans for sale with the same trendy stand out yellow strips on the side !!!!!

Till next time.....

Holiday!!!

Well the grand day came and we got all packed up and hit the road for our summer break away in the van. Yes break, not 1 day, 2 days, a whole 5 nights on the road in the van.



Our first stop was to the campsite @ Ravenglass in Cumbria (left hand side of the map) and after we found it, we were very impressed with the site.



From an ex works van to mobile home for a family of 4!!

Even space at the back for dinner.

A view from the awning into the van.



Now when away camping with children, they tend to get dirty, now with modern campsites they have laundry facilities to wash them and dry them, but what do you do when the washing is not quite dried properly

4 drying lines inside the van!!!

Now occasionally it rains when camping so what do you do? (keep it clean please!!)

Thats right, watch tv! (in the van)

We later moved onto Haltwhistle and unfortunately the heavens opened for two days ! not no matter what modifications i have made to the van, it doesn't stop the ground getting wet. As we packed up to leave, the tarpauline we were using got put in the bin as under it was this



Which does have a 4" hole in the middle of the puddle of mud.

I have kept this mainly picture based and short as it is a blog about a van conversion and not my holiday snaps, until next time........

Today i started doing fiddly bits to the van to start finishing it off.

Firstly i decided the grey wood on the inside of the back doors had to go.

nice and white!


I have finally got some flooring down on the floor and if you remember in the last blog I said about grass in the van, well here it is





I could not make up my mind if i wanted carpet, )too easy to get dirty), laminate flooring,( i did not fancy trying to lay it under the seats) so i went for, yes you guessed it, astro-turf or artificial grass. Easy to brush out and it feels like bringing the outside in doors.


Remember this ?



after a few changes it know looks like this



This is the same unit although I have changed the sink and added a tap, I got the cooker from Go Outdoors at the ridiculous price of only £24.99, double hob and grill underneath and it fit the gap perfectly. I also shortened the doors on the unit as after putting the flooring down I realised that I could not open the cupboard doors !


Under the cooker is a campingaz 907 canister that is piped up into the back of the cooking unit, calor gas bottle was too big .

So the van is just about ready for holiday time and after a couple of overnights it is time for a week long holiday, so I will let you know when it happens.

Now hands up who thought that i had given up on the blog and had finished the van?....................well no I haven't, just a slight lack of funds to get on with it.

The past couple of days has seen the van hopefully become a bit more camperlike.

After some internet searching I have managed to get the missus a bike, and a bike seat for Nathan we are already for cycling on holiday, just need to find space in the van for storage, or not




The bike rack is fitted on at the towbar ( A huge thanks has to go to Collins Tyre Services in Johnstone, after asking them to unbolt the towball they actually fitted it for me, so if you need puntures, tyres, exhausts etc, give them a look as the do offer a great service, no I am not on commission this time, just very very appreciative to them. ) and can take 3- 4 bikes on it.

I have since got a number plate made up and a lighting bar for the rear of the bikes.

Next time gas and cooker changes and i actually have grass, yes... GRASS inside the van (not the illegal type you smoke)