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Well thats two of us then. I thought that pastie muncher Mark would of shown up by now.

I get stuck into the van rebuild for a week or so and come back here to see who's missed me and it's all come to a standstill. What happened?

Ok to get things rolling again I propose we all post a pic of our vans inside and out, mine will go up tomorrow (coz I left my camera in the workshop) and I can't do it now.

C'mon peeps keep it lit

Hi Sam

Loving your work.
Keep us posted on how your build developes and anything you want to know..........ask these two above

Bon voyage Tai-chi

Keep us posted

Hi Ben
Welcome aboard.
Keep us posted on the build

I was concerned about the thickness of the ply used to line my Convoy out by the previous owner. This weekend i removed the swivel seats in the cab so I could paint the floor, I could just about manage to lift one on my own.
Time for a rethink. If we are going to go lightweight we need to be fully committed so will work with you on this.
I liked Mikes idea of using T&G cladding on the walls and ceiling then thought about using hollow UPVC T&G cladding. Just as easy to work with and half the weight.
No solid board for the units is another one, build frames and clad them with 3 ply.
I got a sheet of Ally chequer plate for the floor off Ebay, 3mm and light as a kite.

Now I need to do something about those seats and keep within the specs of the MOT

Couldn't of put it better CVT. That and the simplicity and being able to work on it myself

Quote. What I want to know is what make people decide where to go in there van?

Well that's just it, the not knowing. I like to set off and see what I find and I've never been let down yet, there's always something

Pootling is the way forward I reckon.
I found a way of slowing us down on the way back to the UK..........let the wife navigate. I gave Dawn the map book and refreshed her on the basics, ie, destination for that day and make a list of all places in between, simples.
What I hadn't taken into account was womens logic of taking us into the centre of every town on the list and plenty of detours to places not on the list but "I liked the sound of it and we were passing anyway so why not" towns. I must admit that after the initial frustrations of not getting to where we intended for that evening and realising that it didn't matter anyway we found some lovely spots.
Never once did we get asked to move although we did have a few visits from the law just checking us out.
A good few years back I did a race service at Mountainbike World Cup races and got paid to visit lots of places around Europe. I also made a mental list of lots of places in between I drove my race truck through and vowed to return one day, 2014 was the start of the return. My mistake was not taking long enough. As Patrick says folk say they can do 600 mile in the day, Why? We set limits for this year. No more than 50 mile a day and no driving after dark are just two to begin with and no going over 50mph can be another.
I am getting the 'Wanderlust' again writing this and wondering wether to go via Germany or the Alps but whichever way I choose to pootle I will be out there doing it 'living the dream' all ties cut and free.

All this is meant to push you over the edge and take the plunge, dive in and learn the best way by doing it.
Trevor

Hi Canopus, Welcome aboard.

I at first had my doubts about doing the van life but after seeing what Mike was doing took the plunge.

I bought a Convoy then a caravan and merged the two and set off last feb. Initially a quick trip on my own to recover a mates caravan from the south of France. Then we used the wifes last two weeks of employment holidays to head out to Croatia to visit friends and the bug bit, we came home, she handed her notice in (after working there for 22 years) and we set off again in July.
I documented parts of our tour on FB 'The Euro Bimble' and will do so again this year. Unfortunatley we had to return in Nov due to illness and family ill health. But we are ready to rumble again now after I have done a refit to re-arrange our layout.
i can only tell you to go for it, don't hesitate, just get on with it you are wasting time.

My favourite saying once was 'One day your life will flash before your eyes.........make sure it's worth watching' I am now doing my best to make that happen.

There is nothing like a different view everyday when you open the bedroom curtains and my only regret of the 10.000 miles we travelled last year is, we did it to quickly. We should of spent more time exploring the little villages we could see in the hills rather than drive past them on the main roads. So this year it's going to be a 'pootle' bimbling was to fast.

The world is out there, it's not going to come to find you so go find it.
Trevor

If you go to vandogtraveller.com on the homepage is a link 'buy me a coffee' Use that to access his Paypal account

The thing I like about Convoys is the simplicity, I don't think there is anything I couldn't fix if it went wrong.
AAAAAAnd the only problem apart from the usual general mtc things I have had is the battery in the immobiliser key went, try finding one of them in the wilds of Croatia.
Do the belts waterpump and brakes if needed and you will have a reliable old bus and get years of use if you keep on top of it.
Best of luck
T

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UiInBOVHpO8 Another favourite[/pre][/pre]

I haven't thought about this yet, we always come back for the winter and the MOT is due in Jan.
After talking to the guys at the testing station they told me I would need to get it booked in for a test as soon as I got back in UK to be legal here. They did not want to comment on the legalities of MOT expiring and still using your vehicle abroad.
I guess your insurance would be invalid as soon as it ran out as with tax.
Whenever we have been stopped by the police for vehicle checks in other countries they only seem interested in driving license and insurance and as long as we have supplied these have had no problems. Whether they can do other checks by radio or computer like they do here I do not know but I have always thought at border crossings they can get information about the vehicle and it's occupants from the registration and as long as the names tally with the reg you get waved straight through. Exeptions to this being Albania and Montenegro where we had to buy insurance as we entered as our ins company did not use the 'green card' system.
I did hear something about the driver penalty points system becoming a Europe wide thing last week so the European authorities must have access to each others record systems to keep track on driver details so if this is the case for vehicle records to we will need to find out, you can bet they ar not going to let you continue in an old van if you are 3000 mile from home and your MOT expired 6 months ago, and whether the vehicle testing can be done in the country you are in will let you proceed.
We really need to find these things out before we get caught out.

Gutted for you Dave, I know the feeling. My LDV Convoy was in a sorry state and I had to get a lot of welding done to the arches and cab floor 24 months back.
I have kept on top of her since then and she only needed minimal for her to pass this years test.
If you are anywhere local I can have a word with my mate and see if he can do anything about that £1400 price. To be fair most jobs should not take more than a couple of days, a long weekend at most.
Let me know
Trevor