Zel's Fleet Blog - BX, Jag XJ-S, Sinclair C5, Mercedes 208D & 230TE, AC Model 70.

[van ordinaire]

Funny enough I noticed those trims in an earlier photo & remembered you making rude remarks about them soon after you 1st got it. Seem to recall you favoured some MB car trims. Remind me of the size, give me an idea of top price - & I'll see what I can pick up at Essen next month.

[Zelandeth]

Ideally I'd like to get the metal centre caps that Merc used on stuff like the W123. The only difference I believe is that the ones for commercials weren't usually painted. Wheels are 14" on this.

They've just never quite made it to the top of the to do list as there are a million things on it. Ideally I'd like to keep the pricetag below £50 given it's not exactly a major priority, though - while I realise that things like this seem to command a bit of a premium these days so not holding my breath.

[Zelandeth]

Having ignored the Invacar for the last couple of weeks while I distracted myself playing with the van, it's time I got back on track.

Off with the carb!

...Which is actually quite a faff due to access, requiring both a very skinny spanner and partial removal of the Dynastart

While a bit fiddly not a difficult job by any measure and we soon had the tiny carb off. A Weber 32ICS10 for those of you paying attention.

Yep... that's a bit manky. What was in the float bowl was even worse, there's a distinct layer of sludge at the bottom and what poured out had the colour and consistency of a cup of black coffee that's been forgotten about at the back of the garage for a week. It was also discovered quite quickly that the accelerator jet was barely finger tight.

I really need a bigger ultrasonic cleaner.

I'll finish giving it a scrub up tomorrow and get it back on the car and see if it's helped anything.

To be honest given the amount of crud in it I'm astonished the car was running at all.

Inlet manifold looks nice and clean though.

[Hell Razor5543]

I have found that a cheap cola will shift a lot of dirt. I once dumped a brass item (that was utterly black) in some cola overnight. The following morning the crud just fell away, and a going over with Brasso transformed it!

[van ordinaire]

That'll be the acid, it's like (VERY) dilute ally wheel cleaner - AND cheaper. Heard a lot about its rust removal properties but, personally never found it did anything - except leave the part sticky. Not tried it as a cleaner, but will bear that in mind.

[Zelandeth]

Not much to report today as I've been busily trying to clear our huge mountain of garden waste.

The Xantia and my vintage trailer are helping there.

For all the trailer looks rather scruffy it tows really well, yet is light enough that it's (just about!) possible to wrangle it through the gate on its side single handedly. Didn't realise quite how well mannered it was until borrowing a similarly sized modern one from a friend, that thing bounced and skipped all over the shop compared to this.

Poor thing really does need a bit of cosmetic work though. Obviously varnish on the woodwork...what do you reckon for the frame? Red, black, Invacar blue or dark grey? I'll be completely redoing the wiring as well as there are so many patches on there it's hard to tell what's part of the system and what's ancient repair work.

The carb for the Invacar is back together and back in place.

Didn't get time to do a test run today, but she's been started up and ran for a half hour or so. Had some misbehaviour for the first few minutes, but I know full well there will have been a bit of water and stuff still in there most likely so not reading too much into that. Hopefully get her out for a proper test run tomorrow.

[van ordinaire]

IMG_20190325_214206.jpg

Poor thing really does need a bit of cosmetic work though. Obviously varnish on the woodwork...what do you reckon for the frame? Red, black, Invacar blue or dark grey?

Unless it's "1/2" a combination/unit (in which case it should match the tow-car) always think trailer metalwork should be neutral & as black would be a bit stark against fresh varnish (not to mention being reminiscent of a recently restored gypsies' favourite, the dropside J-type Bedford ) so it'd have to be grey - but not TOO dark.

[daviemck2006]

Silver hammerite would be my choice of paint for the frame and mudguards of a trailer with varnished wood.

[myglaren]

From RS Online

I think I would mix black and silver Hammerite for a more muted effect.

[van ordinaire]

So that'd be grey (sort of) - so where does the beige fit in?

[myglaren]

So that'd be grey (sort of) - so where does the beige fit in?

That was a joke - I'm sure Zel will get that one.

Yes, dark grey, the silver is rather brash. I have black and silver here for a similar purpose.

[Zelandeth]

Think it's down to a dull red or dark grey, as there is evidence of both of those on the trailer in places from its past.

When collecting some tools from the van I managed to get utterly sidetracked and wound up finishing off the tiling in the kitchen.

Required a little bit of dismantling to be undertaken so I could get properly into the corners around stuff.

Having had it all apart before I knew where all the screws were and such so only took a few minutes and isn't anywhere near as drastic as it looks.

Back together in no time.

Really need to change the worktops. Ideal solution would be to find someone breaking a caravan. Would be the correct lightweight material and should already have spaces for things like the hob and sink already cut out.

Nice to be starting to put stuff back together at least. Speaking of putting stuff back together though, anyone got a clue what size these fittings are?

The smaller one in the background (the feed for the fridge) is a normal 8mm compression fitting, the rest are slightly larger, and thus far I've not been able to find a match anywhere locally. Unfortunately while I got several boxes of assorted bits and pieces with the van, the rest of these fittings are not present.

If they turn out to be something odd and obsolete I'll just get a new manifold, as I'm quite aware that hardware which was considered fine in 1990 is probably deemed horrifically unsafe now...

As far as exterior of the van goes, the one thing I'm missing is a decent set of wheel trims.

What I'm ideally after is a set of these, in 14" form.

They were an option on the commercial range, though usually unpainted rather than colour coded as on the cars. I'll likely be looking to get them repainted in the same metallic blue as the rest of the detailing on the van exterior.

Just need to find a set I don't need a second mortgage to afford now...

[RichardW]

I'd be surprised if they weren't 1/4" BSP, Zel - but you're missing the inserts, so it would probably be easier to just buy a new one. A quick search for LPG manifolds brings up plenty of options.

[Pug_XUD_KeenAmateur]

its a trailer, its supposed to be scruffy.

If the wood hasn't rotted yet, varnish it; but if its too late wait a year or few til its proper knackered then replace it with some higher sided ply to increase load capacity and also make it easier to see when reversing.

Wouldn't bother with the frame at all.

[van ordinaire]

I think you can reckon on £50 a throw, minmum, for the wheel trims - which is why I offered to see what I could turn up at Essen (although they're hardly going to be German provincial scrapyard prices). If you're going to strip/paint them anyway, 4 odd ones'll do - which might well represent a saving over a set. We'll see, ya?