Mechanical stuff and rust removal

We have finally got the van back from Dave the mechanic (it has only taken him 2 weeks!). We were so lucky we took the van to get checked as it had a cracked engine mount and the engine could have fallen out at any point! I thought it sounded a bit crunchy going over bumps. I really don't think it should have passed the M.O.T.

We got him to change the oil on the gear box, rear differential and engine, engine and fuel filters, break fluid and 2 engine mounts and it cost about £320 in total. Lucky we budgeted £500 for this type of thing.

We have decided to call the van Dave, as we have spent so much time over the last 2 weeks trying to get hold of Dave the mechanic that the name has sort of stuck now.

So now finally we can get on with stage 2 of the plan. Rust removal, cleaning and stripping the plylining out.


There was quite a lot of rust, especially on the wheel arches. We stripped it with this whizzy tool thing and some sandpaper (we were not too obsessive about it), gave it a clean and then painted with hammerite primer.

 Nice posing Keef

 Keef came up with the phrase " I can do anything with a hammer". Whereas I am more interested in the smaller jobs requiring a paint brush.

 What a mess! Full of animal feed, mud and rust.

 Cleaned and painted with Hammerite primer

Painted in white Hammerite
We tried some proper white car spray paint, but used an entire can and didn't get very far, so decided that it didn't matter if the paint wasn't an exact match as it would be under the floor anyway.
We also ripped out the bulkhead, which was horrible and rusty. We will replace it with plywood and a window.



I thought we were finished with this "mechanical stuff" section, but I was wrong!
As we are nearly finished building I put the van though an MOT last week, as I thought it would be easier to reclassify as a camper with a class 4 MOT (although the current situation with the DVLA seems like it will be unlikely to be reclassified as their rules seem to have changed).
Anyway, it failed the MOT, which I suppose I was not surprised about, but it needed a lot of work done to pass. The MOT when we bought it must have been done by someone who was not looking at this van as there were loads of things that had obviously been broken for a long time.
It needed new back wheel bearings, new brake pads, brake sensing valve cleaning, handbrake adjusting, a whole new exhaust and new wipers (they always say that don't they!)
This is in addition to a tyre and the new headlights (which took ages to sort out and were only eventually fixed when we got some superglue involved) and all the rewiring of the back numberplate light which I had to do myself.
Anyway, the total cost of the mechanical stuff part is now somewhere in the region of £1500, but I am scared to actually work it out as I might cry a bit.
I suppose you have to bear in mind that vans need new brake pads and exhausts and things occasionally and we didn't pay all that much for the van in the first place.
Anyway, the end result is that we now have a van that works and has a real MOT! Hooray!

Continued.....
We also had to get the engine mount re-done again as it the bolt holes were threaded and it was slipping and was in danger of cracking again. The engine had to be removed and sent off somewhere so they could re-drill the holes. While we were at it we also got the clutch done (its only money isn't it). We also got the coolant changed and the cam belt done. It is now pretty much a new van, so I really hope nothing else goes wrong!
We are not going to think about how much it cost to fix the mechanical bits, but it is probably around £2500 or something ridiculous like that. Its a good job this will be our home for a while!