• Welcome to A forum for van conversions, van living and travel. Please log in or sign up.

Forum upgraded!

Menu

Show posts

This section allows you to view all posts made by this member. Note that you can only see posts made in areas you currently have access to.

Show posts Menu

Messages - gc3746

#1
Snow in France is a nightmare, the major roads grind to a standstill as the lorries by law have to stop they then take up residence in the slow lane of all dual carriage ways which leaves just one lane open which inevitably gets blocked, Christmas 09 I towed a 2.5 ton trailer down to Spain, got directed off the motorway into a small town and then spent the next 3 hours trying to find a way out that was not blocked, spent all the following day in low range 4 wheel drive going across country to avoid the traffic jams, which worked.
Personally if I had to make the journey again across France in snow I would get on a toll road as soon as I got off the ferry and not get off until I`m in Spain as these are the only roads that are continuously gritted, mind the service areas as these are not gritted- found that out the hard way on a motorbike. only cross the boarder at the coast I prefer the Med I just head for Perpagnan.
Good Luck
#2
Van Conversion / Re: Swivel bench seat for LDV convoy
September 01, 2015, 09:53:27 AM
you`ll struggle to find a bench seat that will swivel without fouling the door and B post.

most people tend to fit a swivel mechanism to their existing seat which would foul the chassis as it turns (£100-£150 each) or they fit a donor seat from a people carrier, this is what I did but it does restrict the passenger seating to one instead of 2 on a bench.

you could get a pair of front seats from a people carrier with built in swivel bases, head rests and fold down inner arm rest for £100-£200 depending on condition. :)
#3
Living and travelling... in a van / MOT on the road
August 30, 2015, 06:46:53 PM
There has been quite a few people on here asking about MOT renewal whilst on the road and out of the UK for more than 13 months (12 months new + max 1 month carried over from old MOT) which is the maximum an MOT can be valid for on a vehicle over 3 years old in The UK.

Back in 2010 if your travels took you through Spain you could get your vehicle MOT`d on British plates at a Spanish garage, you needed UNA ITV VOLUNTARIA which is valid for 2 years, I can`t see that this would have changed but you would need to check the most up to date information, stick on beam deflectors were NOT a fail point. ITV cost back then was 40€.

This would have to be accepted as MOT in all EU countries even the UK.
#4
Van Conversion / Re: Running on vegetable oil?
August 26, 2015, 07:35:10 PM
Hi, I`ve been running vans and cars on used veg oil since 2008, I`ve driven my van, vito 108d to Spain & back 3 times 3,000 mile round trip and have taken all my fuel with me and stored it in the van, saves me £400 in taxes on a round trip.
I`ve driven over 100K on veg and in a nutshell here`s what I have learned

buy your oil in bulk in the UK around 30p per litre from ebay

leave the oil to stand for 2 weeks until it separates good dark stuff at the top light coloured rubbish and water at the bottom, pour the good stuff through a cheap 5 micron sock filter with a metal ring sewn in the top let gravity do the work, this is now clean enough to use as fuel.

You will need to fit a heat exchanger, the only ones that work are the ones that are plumbed into the cooling system.

Your 307 has the inline Bosch injection pump and is indirect injection the best combination for veg oil use.

Due to the age of your vehicle it would be advisable to have your injection pump rebuilt with Viton seals as anything pre early 90`s will suffer from seal swelling and an eventual breakdown due to the oil reacting with the older type rubber seals in the injection pump. google diesel Bob he is a very knowledgeable diesel injection specialist and can do the work for you, he also lists which engines you can run on veg oil and which you can`t ( I am nothing to do with his business, I just came across some good information on his website)

another thing you need to know is what will you do when the weather temperature is below 5c, oil gets thicker. You will place a huge strain on the injection pump, starter motor and battery trying to start the engine, the following solutions all work, but they all have draw backs.

pour 20 litres of hot water over the engine, this will warm the block and allow you to start the engine.

only run with enough veg oil for your journey and a couple of miles before you stop for the night dilute the remaining oil with diesel so it will be easy to start the next morning.

Run a Oil petrol mix, you can add up to 20% petrol to the veg oil this thins it,( I know people who buy mis-fuel in bulk for this purpose 15-30p per litre) but you will need to add a cetane booster, this will knacker the older type rubber seals in the injection pump, not a problem with the Viton seals.

Or the best solution is to twin tank it, I did this to the Vito, basically you fit a small auxillary fuel tank which has diesel in it and you fill the main tank with veg oil, a couple of 3 way valves and some additional fuel hose a and a 2 way switch. When you start the engine it runs on diesel until it is up to operating temperature you then flick the dash switch and it changes over to veg oil, 2 minutes before you reach journeys end flick the switch to purge the system then again just before your turn the engine off back onto diesel ready for the restart the next morning. I did this myself for a cost of £140.

There is something satisfying in repurposing a waste product, which is better for the environment and has saved me around £2,000 a year. ;D