1990 Mercedes T1 208D AutoTrail Navajo Camper Van

Ive always loved this shape of Merc commercial. I think the campers are the only ones to survive. I'd love a panel van of this ilk!

Yes! Sheepskin heaven!!

Nice looking camper. I used to drive d307 (i think) back in the early 1990s. I can't remember if it had power steering though. I think that it didn't and as such I remember the heavy steering rather than how good the van actually was.

No power steering here but it's not too bad really (certainly no worse than the Lada!), decent sized steering wheel and a good lock helps...

The only reason it grates in the Lada sometimes is that it has the turning circle of the Titanic!

Lovely old thing. Nice one!

I do have to admit that security is something that does worry me somewhat given that these seem to be in quite strong demand for shipping overseas.

To that end I make sure that overnight when at home it's boxed in on the driveway behind the most modern car in the houshold (VAG of some description which changes every four months). Hope being that having to shift that to get it out will make another car somewhere else an easier target for them.

Biggest problem with it just now is that fuel won't go in faster than about a pint a minute past half full - so it takes about 15 minutes to fill the thing up. Tesco pumps time out too quickly to do it in one transaction.

Most of the floor and a fair chunk of the rear wall has been rebuilt in mine already - even if the guy who did it used the most dense and impossible to work with wood I've ever come across.

Yep, I've been procrastinating about buying a windscreen scuttle from Coastal for months now...I reckon it will get the fibreglass treatment for now though. I think she's a keeper so I've no qualms about getting a proper bodyshop to do some of the work.

Mine will need a bit of work before the MOT in the spring. Mainly a complete exhaust, probably the front ball joint on the steering drag link. Oh, and the brake pads which have been in the glove box since about a fortnight after I bought it.

Nicely done! If that's the case, any chance you could snap some photos of the kitchen and bathroom areas? I'm trying to put these back how the manufacturer intended, but I've not yet been able to find a decent photo of how things were originally set up so it's been a bit of a guessing game in that department.

Nothing Invacar related today. Any work in the engine bay requires the garage door to be open, and the wind was blowing rain straight into the garage, so wasn't willing to mess around with that.

Instead though decided to get on with some of the stuff still waiting to be done inside the van well away from the weather.

Have now got most of the bathroom panelled in now. Just need to do the last foot or so and around the cabinet and a few fiddly bits. Then have wallpaper to go up (essentially glorified sticky back plastic) and seal the corners and edges.



Still looks a mess - but you can't actually see the innards of the wall any more, and should be fine once we have some decently thick wall covering over it.

Nice to get a bit of work done on this, it's been months since I really did anything on the van and the new holiday season is starting to enter my thoughts now.

Do still need to decide what to do about the exhaust...definitely will be getting a short side exit stainless system made up...question will be whether that happens before or after the MOT. The cost of the standard system may well make that decision for me. If it's expensive may just have to get it booked in to have a stainless system fitted before the MOT. Unless I can do enough to get this through a test...but with one hanger snapped off and a foot long split in the silencer that seems unlikely...especially as I will need to get the whole thing off to sort the hanger anyway as it's buried up directly above the middle of the expansion box, with the propshaft in the way on one side and fuel tank on the other preventing access while in place.

So...the Van (known) MOT to do list...

[] Fit new nearside headlight due to the current one having a tarnished reflector. Already have it, just needs fitted.
[] Replace brake pads (already in stock).
[] Repair or replace the sieve...I mean exhaust.
[] Replace rubber boot on steering drag link front ball joint.
[] Replace the weeping fuel return line.
[] Properly mount the fresh water tank (or remove it for the test).

Think that's it for the known MOT stuff. The brake pipes while serviceable are pretty old looking, so I may well get a set of flexi hoses in stock and change them while I have the wheels off to do the pads. I tend to like changing things like that on any new vehicle I get - especially one as heavy as this!

Immediate to do list that's NOT for the MOT:
[] Fit the new thermostat that has been in the glove box for several months.
[] Sort the heater blower.
[] Remove the fuel tank so I can properly clear out the vent line so it takes less than half an hour to fill the thing past 1/3 full.
[] Figure out what's squeaking up front. Keeping fingers crossed it might just be a crusty old belt.
[] Properly fit the new propshaft slip joint boot (it has had a highly technical plastic bag and cable tie substitute since a week or so after I got the van).
[] Figure out what the fluff the previous previous owner has done to the split charging system and return it to how the factory intended.
[] Finish putting the kitchen back together & plumb the gas to the fridge and cooker back in.

All stuff that can be done in nice little chunks.

Then of course there is the "sort the rust in the windscreen scuttle" which will be a world of pain.

Oh...and drive it again. Realised when sitting in the driver's seat today quite how much I'm missing wafting around in it. Yeah...Most people wouldn't class a 29 year old 78bhp 2.8 tonne van as something they would miss driving...but I am not most people.

Need to get back in here!



Still kind of amused that that is the first thing I have to jump into straight after putting the Invacar away due to how the driveway Tetris works out.