Working on my 2001 Nu Venture

[kernowjon]

Weather crap n nights drawing in make progress on the van slow. .................
I also bought a new battery off eBay for my car. Same battery as in the van and the old one seems to still read 12.76 volts after being charged and standing for 48 hours. So I’ll be keeping that one as a backup for both vehicles. At £43 inc delivery n 4 year guarantee I’m pleased with the new one as my Pug seems more sensitive to a weak battery and now runs better. I noticed they also do leisure batteries, 100 ah is about £65 I think so with next day delivery worth considering for the future eh.
The other day I spotted a post by Dunnie from 2011. Seems he had a similar job to me, wonder where he is now ?

Yes I agree about the weather. I need to Waxoyl the Toyota but it is too cold and damp outside. Threats of rain have also put a damper on other minor jobs. So instead I have been trawling about pickups on the internet. I could convert the HiLux into an EV for about 30 grand - that is a lot of diesel!
I usually get my batteries from Alpha Batteries very good and if you phone helpfull. Re Voltage readings - the battery needs to be under load A Couple of spotlights 60 watt each will give a demand of 10 amps - put them on and then you will get an accurate reading. Not under load and absolute scrap batteries will give 12v plus readings.
Jon

[Martinez]

Weather crap n nights drawing in make progress on the van slow. Bad day all round, England lost at Rugby and a nice letter I got from Shropshire telling me I got caught by a speed trap. So that’s £100 n 3 points on my clean licence ! Bugger !
Anyway, I tried to strip out opposite side of interior to get ready to fit new flooring. But a phone call from a mate asking for help stopped me. He’d got a new fan belt for his car but it was too small. So, 2 miles to his to pick him up n take him another 2 to change the belt for a bigger one then back to his. But the new belt was too big ! So back again to shop to get the original one he bought. This time though I fitted it and it’s the right size ! So half the afternoon wasted with a promise of free beer tomorrow. Anyway, I managed to remove the Propex Heater from under the bed. What a mess underneath. Plus looks like some damp down near the kitchen cupboard. Hope it’s not as bad as the other side but further investigation needed. I also bought a new battery off eBay for my car. Same battery as in the van and the old one seems to still read 12.76 volts after being charged and standing for 48 hours. So I’ll be keeping that one as a backup for both vehicles. At £43 inc delivery n 4 year guarantee I’m pleased with the new one as my Pug seems more sensitive to a weak battery and now runs better. I noticed they also do leisure batteries, 100 ah is about £65 I think so with next day delivery worth considering for the future eh.
The other day I spotted a post by Dunnie from 2011. Seems he had a similar job to me, wonder where he is now ?

[Owd Bob]

Know how you must feel been to many Auto-jumbles etc only to eventually get there and find pound shop tool stalls and Indian/Chinese made repro' rubbish. Real parts and proper junk is getting harder to find

[Martinez]

Went to Classic Bike show at Stafford on Saturday, set out at 10am and arrived 12-40pm ! Stuck in a huge traffic jam for 2 1/2 hours then £16 on the gate + £3-50 for a tray of chips and all I ended up spending was £10 !
but at least I got some rubber grommets for the cables causing the leaks at rear. I avoided the auction for fear of taking on another project but was please to arrive home and thinking how clean the van looked now, just need to crack on n get it finished eh

[Martinez]

Worro Owd Bob, you must be a glutton too reading all this ! As they say round here ‘it treks wun t know wun’

[Owd Bob]

Just read through this whole thread, you've done great work so far, i thought i was a glutton for punishment Keep it up and don't give in.

[Martinez]

Ah, the advantages of a diverse community. Or in this case, poor Kurdish people trying hard to earn a living in Wolves. These guys only charge £2-50 for normal car wash and £15 for a valet !

[kyran]

Manage to do some bits on the van. Tried out the cruise control and something still not right as it jammed the throttle open again. I may need to recalibrate it. I’m surprised it doesn’t have a failsafe of some sort to prevent this.
Found a note stuck under the wipers asking if van was for sale, so that’s a no then.
I made use of some upvc strip I’d got and stuck a couple of drip rails either side of the van. When it’s all dry I’ll deal with the wood underneath getting wet. I also decided to wash the van. Well, I tried anyway.
Took it to local supermarket which has a jet wash. I also took some step ladders. But all the crap that comes off the trees isn’t that easy to clean off, so went to my local Kurdish Hand car wash. They offered to do it all for £8 so after telling them what a **** Trump was I stood back and let 3 of them go at it with suds n foam n jet washes. I’ve never seen it look so clean, so I gave them £10 and drove home happy.

!

where do you live it costs me £20 a go to get mine cleaned

[Martinez]

Manage to do some bits on the van. Tried out the cruise control and something still not right as it jammed the throttle open again. I may need to recalibrate it. I’m surprised it doesn’t have a failsafe of some sort to prevent this.
Found a note stuck under the wipers asking if van was for sale, so that’s a no then.
I made use of some upvc strip I’d got and stuck a couple of drip rails either side of the van. When it’s all dry I’ll deal with the wood underneath getting wet. I also decided to wash the van. Well, I tried anyway.
Took it to local supermarket which has a jet wash. I also took some step ladders. But all the crap that comes off the trees isn’t that easy to clean off, so went to my local Kurdish Hand car wash. They offered to do it all for £8 so after telling them what a **** Trump was I stood back and let 3 of them go at it with suds n foam n jet washes. I’ve never seen it look so clean, so I gave them £10 and drove home happy.

I suddenly realised that after all the fiddly routing of cables to my rear view camera, I’d done it a bit wrong ! My screen which is built into the rear view mirror has the facility for 2 cameras. As my kit came as 2 parts (parking sensors and camera) I used the second lead and ran it to the screen thinking that as it was such a bugger to get up behind the head lining to the interior light, I’ll do it now to save having to take it all apart in the future. Trouble is, I really needed to keep the second lead to extend the first one as it’s not long enough. Bugger eh ? I’m thinking now I’ll just buy another lead, I don’t fancy going through all that again ! Double bugger !

[Martinez]

After days of more rain I think I’ve cracked the leak at the rear. Seems to be mostly coming from that bloody cable that runs through the toilet area to the n/s taillight. But there also seems to be some water getting in around the bottom of the door, or could be the frame ?
I’ll keep an eye on this whilst I’m fixing the rot around the wheel arch. I’ve also noticed that water runs down the outside of the van body and under the floor. Not such an issue at the back, but the main body area has no aluminium sheet underneath so the plywood is at risk. This is an obvious weakness that I’ll have to look at. If the side skirts are fitted it’ll run down the outside of course, but it’ll still get wet if driving in rain so needs better protection here. I’ve fitted and wired up my rear view camera but still need to fit the parking sensors and tidy it all up. Got a wedding to go to tomorrow so that’s another day lost and as weather was nice we took a trip out to Moreton Hall yesterday which I used as an excuse to pop over to Nantwich and collect a Garmin Nuvi 57LM for £20 ! Another bargain off Marketplace. It’s the lifetime European maps I really wanted as the cost of updating my old satnav was expensive. Hopefully I can download the maps as a file n use them on both units. He he

[Martinez]

If I can just identify the leak at the rear I’ll be happy. The rest isn’t that bad. It’s no worse than the house I bought in 1988 and I’m still fixing up.
Mm, there seems to be a pattern emerging....

[CJ. UK]

Have to admire your patience and optimism. Is the end in sight yet? Hope the rain eases off for you in the near future.Martinez

[Martinez]

Seems the more you dig the more you find !
I was aware that the n/s rear wheel arch had worn through the fibreglass at the front. I put this down to overloading and that the bump stops were worn out. No longer an issue since fitting the MAD suspension units, but after patching it from inside the arch I did wonder what I’d find when I pulled the cover off inside the van. Well, here’s the answer
CAE80217-944C-448C-8CDA-6B3BF53551ED.jpeg
its not as bad as it looks really. The only real rot is in the top plywood. The bottom piece and the timber frame all seem solid. Now the cover is off I’ll repair the wheel arch from inside the van.
The last bit of the floor that worries me is in the corner under the sink. Buts that’s for another day.
I’m still getting water on the floor at the rear, I’ve tried everything here to find where it’s getting in, but nothing obvious. I’m wondering if it’s getting in through the rear door. More investigation required methinks.

[Martinez]

Had to work 3 days this week so not got a lot done. Popped out this morning and bought some nice grey industrial vinyl flooring, enough to cover the whole floor of the van for £32. I wanted something hard wearing, waterproof and non slip and it should fit the bill nicely. What’s holding me up is the bloody rain, I need to strip the interior to fit the flooring and paint the rest of the walls. Guess I’ll just have to wait for a dry spell n crack on.
I have managed to finally fit the rear view camera and was hoping to use the wiring from the old camera to save running new wires from the front to the rear, but the old system has a different plug either end so no luck there. I also need to sort out the 240 volt system and the setup for the leisure battery. Can’t find a wiring diagram online so I’ll have to trace all the wiring throughout the van. Bugger !

[Martinez]

Had a call from my brother Friday, his drains were blocked and he wasn’t sure about best method for clearing them, so ipopped round Friday night and ended going back yesterday to finish unblocking them, then back again this morning to fix his downpipe. Also had to fix his neighbours drain which is on his property. Then he tells me that neighbour said she’d get him a bottle of Vodka for doing it. I don’t want to look in the mirror in case I can see ‘mug’ written on my forehead !
The rain has returned so limiting what I can do on the van. Noticed that the damp spot in the corner of the toilet has returned so did a little more investigating. You can see how dark the wood is
E6B1E5BE-E37C-47DE-8252-A0AD04515696.jpeg
after getting the step ladders out I noticed a bit of damage on the top corner at the rear, right above the damp spot. So I’ve used a temporary fix of squirting some glue into it and see if that resolves the damp spot. I’ll have to wait for more dry weather before filling it properly. I’ve also had to strengthen the wood frame above the door. After cutting a hole for the camera there looked to be a distinct weakness in the timber. There are 3 pieces of timber above the door so I’ve added some extra pieces to bolster it all up using glue n screws. I’m not sure I’ll bother with the original clock fitted as the battery is an odd size, so I may just invest in something more contemporary and useful like one of those weather stations. Still loads to do but I’m not beaten yet !