94 Mitsubishi Delica. The Tin Top Tent.

Thanks, I did read a lot about the head issues, I got the impression (probably wrongly!) that the earlier cars don't suffer so much....here's hoping!

New belts are on the list.

Hi mate

This is our "tin top tent" and loving it.
We only use it for holidays, day trips etc. It's not a daily.
This is a 1999 LWB with about 135.000km on the clock.
I bought it cheap and spend a small fortune on it. Some by choice some needed.

We too, did not want a caravan, find a motorhome to big and a tent is for the younger ones....


Head issues are not that common but are a weak point. After I bought our van I had everything regarding the cool system checked
and most of it replaced. This should keep head issues at bay.
I installed a 2 inch lift and fitted 31" tyres on Pajero/Shogun wheels. A little bit of a nip and tuck (read hammer and bigger hammer) here and there made them fit like a glove.

I installed the bull bar and winch a few months ago. We have these massive jumpy things here that like to play cat and mouse....
We haven't had an incident with this car yet but other 4WD's did survive because of the bullbar or roo bar.

We have a fixed queens size bed in the back and 2 large drawers underneath. One holds some tools and other gear the other one is my slide out kitchen.

Not sure if this link will work for you. It's our bus "on tour" www.delicaclub.com/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=42202

Cheers

Difference between capital spending (permissions required in triplicate) and revenue spending (what you can get away with)!
We have all been there either self imposed or partner rules.
Good luck with the truck !
James

We arrive at Stockport, the closest station to Linda & Tim, Tim meets us at the station and we catch up, haven’t really seen them much since they moved back up north about 2 years ago.

20 minutes drive and we get our first look at the Delica, but it’s just a glance in passing, we’re too busy saying hello to Linda and Merlin the dog, (guess what the dog’s named after and who named it!)



Then Tim says, “you’d better move the beast before we have a drink”, he’s very strict about drink driving and it’s gone midday.

The Delica starts almost immediately, a good sign I think, after sitting for 2 weeks.

He shuffles the cars around out front and with him making sure I don’t knock over his house, I maneuver the Delica out of his front garden, on to the road and then I’m driving my Delica, a car, I’ve wanted ever since seeing one when they first started to arrive in the UK.

I drive to the roundabout and come back, parking the car in front of the house. It drives well, surprisingly comfortable, quiet and with nice steering. Not at all like driving an ocean tanker!



But and it’s a big but, the inside is appalling, filthy and smells like an Alsatian’s armpit! The headlining seems to be covered in black soot, the carpets are more mud then nylon, the seats are brown and when you add in all the random grease stains, it's not somewhere we’ll want to sleep.



I’m sure if we’d known that it was this disgusting, we’d have passed and looked for a cleaner car.

I think Cat is going to talk to Charles about acceptable levels of hygiene….

Still, too late to change our minds and the rest of the Delica seems very good, the body looks better then in the Ebay pictures and it drives well.

After a weekend with Linda & Tim, we take our leave at about 9.00am on Sunday morning and head home to Kent.


The first of many!



We take the scenic route over the Woodhead pass, doing this in the Delica, makes us feel that we’re on holiday (almost!). It’s not till later I realise that the Delica’s speedometer is over-reading by about 10 mph, we gathered quite a tailback as I plodded over the pass at speed limit minus 10 MPH!



An uneventful journey saw us home, Cat had a short drive, her first in an auto, but chickened out when it come time to park outside the local CO-OP, it was a long walk from the nearest “drive in” parking space.

No time like the present and because it was only 3.00pm, Cat started hoovering and I started taking seats out, the seats unbolted easily, lifting the center ones was another matter, very heavy with all the swivel mechanism.

Monday after work sees the front seats out along with carpets, Tuesday was time to start cleaning.





An early work finish and I get out the jet washer, a heavy dosing of Snowfoam onto carpets and seats, then a good scrub sees the original colour return



This takes about 3 hours, rinsing the Snowfoam out is the time consuming part, but the end result is worth it.



As ever, discovered some more faults, it’s missing a battery clamp, some of the inside plastic trim is damaged, one of the rear windows has a broken hinge and at some point it’s had a “small” electrical fire! This explains the sooty headlining….I think after market reversing sensors are fitted, badly. The compartment that holds the wiring for these is soot blackened!

Apologies for not updating this thread sooner, I'm sure you're all dying to know "What happened next"! 

Anyway, after cleaning the seats and carpet, we start on the rest of the trim.

I'd like to jet wash the interior, because it worked so well on the seats (they only took 3 days to dry!), but Cat stops me, she's worried about the electrics and she was probably right. instead we spend about 30 hours steam cleaning the trim.

It’s very dirty, with quite a lot of soot from the electrical fire! But it cleans up well and loses the dog smell too.




I take the steel wheels for blasting and apply etch primer, then paint them and remove the rear seatbelts, just something extra to trip over inside the back and not needed now.




It’s now ready for the bed in the back. First plan is build something that can fold and double as a seat, off to B&Q I go and return with 2 sheets of OSB.



With some timber I already have in the garage, I start building a bed. I try to make it folding, to double up as a seat. But the result is c**p! So I donate it to someone with a wood burner, it's now the ideal size!

Woodwork is not one of my strong points, I’m much happier hitting suspension parts with a big hammer! But not to worry, the newly chopped board will double as a floor. This is needed because the Delcia has a corrugated floor and it’s a bit hard on the knees!



Then it’s the August Bank Holiday and we decide to go camping, not too far, just to try out the Futon we’ve purchased and the whole principle of the Delica.

I replace carpets and trim, check the tyres and find they’re seriously under-inflated, load the truck with all our camping gear and set off, first stop being some diesel and air for the tyres.



Having spent the previous day finding out that all the bookable in advance campsites are booked, we try one about 20 miles away that is a “turn up and hope to be lucky” site.

No luck! It’s the last bank holiday and almost the last weekend of the school summer holidays, so we turn for home and get stuck in a traffic jam! Whilst in the jam, I remember another “turn up” site, which also heads us out of the jam.

20 minutes later, we’ve booked in and I’m trying to erect the tailgate awning. This came with the Delica, but is too small to fit over the tailgate and it’s a real pain to put up, worse than the big tent I own.



It’s also torn with a guy line missing, (so I can’t even sell it!), but it’ll do for the 2 days we’re booked for. Then after the struggle with both the awning and my temper, Cat offers to make a nice cuppa, she opens the plastic case that holds the little portable gas cooker and removes my impact gun, no nice cuppa then!
Both cases are very similar and under the workbench in the garage, luckily the garage is only 20 minutes away and we’ve forgotten other stuff, so while Cat prepares the rest of the gear, I drive home and collect the missing cooker and the rest of the gear.

But when I jump back into the Delica, it won’t start, just making the dreaded “clicking noise”. It’s now blocking the entrance to the car park of the flat and my other 2 cars! Cat won’t be happy to be abandoned at the campsite, but luckily,  it was just a dodgy earth lead on the battery, a pinch with a spanner and it fires first time.

Can’t deny a small panic though!

I'm not sure Cat (the girlfiend) even noticed though...she was left with emergency supplies, which she wisely opened!

How are you getting on with this one?

4 readers now

6

Love these things, look so beefy and cool. Make that 8. Good job.