Haven't updated this in a while!
Been using the van quite a bit, however the past few months she's been getting me down, several mechanical things have gone wrong (such as steering!), she hasn't been running nicely and she was due an MOT, plus living outside has had a bit of a toll on it. To be honest I was getting to the point where all the negatives were outweighing the positives and I was considering selling.
BUT
She was due an MOT just before London to Brighton, so had a new arse panel welded in, sorted out a few niggles and booked her in for a full service and MOT which she passed on the Friday, then drove to Brighton on the Saturday morning without a hiccup.
Was a little damp on the campsite, therefore this is the only photo I have of the van as we sheltered in the tent:
However one thing was getting me down... It's always had a heavy clutch, which I put down to it being an old car, today this heavy clutch turned into a clutch that would stick half way, then suddenly spring up, resulting in comedic accidental wheel-spins and less than smooth driving. So today at lunch I decided to stick on the spare clutch cable I've had floating round the van for 9 months (being away from my toolkit, it gave me the excuse to buy a rather tasty set of ratchet spanners hehe). Now I'm wondering why didn't I change it sooner, it took 20 minutes and it's like a different car
My journey home from work was lovely, although I'm having to learn how to drive it properly - the stiffness caused by the old clutch cable resulted in quite a violent driving style.
In even better news, the van is getting a garage very soon too, I move house on Thursday.
The other half has also purchased me some new wheels as the old ones are rusty and rather past it.
The welder is going to sort out the doors as well soon - there's not much left at the bottom of either of them, and he's not sure the passenger one is salvageable (so if anyone has an Acadiane passenger door that requires less welding than mine, I will be interested!).
So whilst it's never going to be a show stopper, it's actually on its way to becoming a lot more solid and all round pleasant van.
Now I need to look at these running issues...
