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Sept 20, 2022 9:29:52 GMT
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Hi all, I started a re-build on a Mercedes Vito camper yesterday. First job is to strip out the current interior and clean and assess the van. Things started of poor and got worse. All of the tie downs were seized and corroded and put up a real fight. Once these were done it was time to sort out the rear hatch latch as it was badly corroded. This is a common problem on vitos and this one is pretty bad. The latch is toast and the bolts holding it down looked like something off the Titanic. It to a couple of hours to get it all apart. The rear panel were it sits is heavily corroded and will need repair before I can install a new striker plate. With a bit of luck I should have this sorted later today. Cheers - mike
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Sept 20, 2022 20:33:36 GMT
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Hi all got a few more hours in on the Vito. Had a bit of a nightmare getting the diesel heater out. It had been fitted using lots of seam sealant so even with the bolts removed it would not come out without a fight. Once the heater was out I could get the ply floor up. The previous converter had made no attempt to clean out the van before converting it as the is a mass of soil, sand, old screws and other rubbish under the floor. The next job is the fully de-rust the rear panel where the boot latch sits and assess whether its going to need welding up as its really quite thin. Cheers - mike
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Sept 21, 2022 10:30:29 GMT
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Watching with interest as your other camper van posts have been impressive. Bookmarked.
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Last Edit: Sept 21, 2022 10:33:17 GMT by daver555
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Sept 21, 2022 13:02:02 GMT
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Hi all had a steady morning on the Vito. Got the floor cleaned and ground down all the sharp edges left by whoever fitted the heater. Pulled the wiring cover off the rear as its pretty rusty. I suspect the tailgate has been letting water in for quite some time. Started stripping out the ceiling and found that the previous converter had not fitted any insulation and the roof panel was loosely held in with wooden lats. Have now removed all of the old lining carpet and started to scrape off the foam insulation. I have also removed the spare wheel carrier that was on the n/s rear arch as it would foul the rock and roll bed. Cheers - mike
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Sept 21, 2022 16:38:03 GMT
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Hi all got a few more hours in this afternoon, tidied up the rear wiring cover and painted and refitted it. Painted the rear panel, fitted the striker and then spent an hour aligning and adjusting the tailgate to achieve a good water tight fit. Both the upper rear quarter panels are now insulated and I have reworked the tailgate trim and covered it in lining carpet. Just waiting for some more firtree clips so I can finish securing it. Tomorrow should see the roof insulated and some new roof panels made. Cheers - mike
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Sept 22, 2022 11:34:38 GMT
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hi all got a few hours in this morning the first job of the day was to have a good tidy up. The rear lower quarter panels have been insulated and the rear lower trims have been cleaned and carpet lined. Not sure what kind of glue the previous converter used but its still wet, very tacky and takes and age to remove. The flooring arrived this morning so that's now sat in the sun getting nice and pliable so I can cut it after lunch. Cheers - mike
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Sept 23, 2022 11:19:03 GMT
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Hi all, I got rained off yesterday afternoon so spent an hour de-rusting and painting the clamps that hold the floor down. Anyways this morning has been bright and dry so I laid the new flooring in the sun for a while and then cut it out. I do this free hand using a small stanley knife when the flooring is warm it becomes soft and supple and much easier to work with. Its one of the jobs I dread doing in the winter as the flooring becomes so hard it can easily snap. I fitted the sub floor and laid the vinyl flooring on top and its a good fit. Its always a bit stressful as the flooring is pretty expensive. This afternoon I plan to cut a hole in the side of the van so that I can fit the mains hookup and that will be it until Monday as we are off to Scarborough for an end of season pub crawl. Cheers - mike
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Sept 23, 2022 21:21:47 GMT
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hi all, had a steady hour this afternoon cutting the hole for the mains inlet. I will need to modify it though as there's not enough room for it between the outer panel and the inner structure. Its about 25mm to deep. I also did a bit of carpet lining at the front so that I could fit the side step trims. Cheers - mike
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Sept 25, 2022 15:45:19 GMT
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I can imagine that it must be so difficult to "re-engineer" someone else's work, (especially if they haven't done an overly brilliant job in the first place,) You're certainly cracking on and making a very nice job of it, Looking forward to seeing future updates on this thread, Nigel
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BMW E39 525i Sport BMW E46 320d Sport Touring (now sold on.) BMW E30 325 Touring (now sold on.) BMW E30 320 Cabriolet (Project car - currently for sale.)
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Sept 26, 2022 7:40:57 GMT
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Hi all I sneaked an hour on this yesterday. I had to finesse the fit of the mains inlet as it was a bit snug after which I gave the cut edges a coat of anti rust paint. The mains inlet has been modified to allow it to work in the limited space available. I will do the final fit this morning once I have wired it up. The main job for today is to finish stripping the old ceiling out and then fit some insulation in the roof. Cheers - mike
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Sept 29, 2022 15:17:14 GMT
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hi all, have had a steady day on the Vito. Both rear quarters are now fully lined and the removable panels have been fitted. I'm working my way through the 240v and 12v systems. Both the consumer unit and fuse box are mounted and wired and tomorrow should see the on-board charger/power supply fitted and hopefully the ceiling panels fitted. Cheers - mike
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Hi all got a few hours in on this today in between the rain and winds. I have stripped out most of the wiring fitted by the previous installer as it wasn't up spec. I will be replacing it all with something more suitable. Got the front ceiling made and fitted. That's it on this one for 3 weeks as I have had to order a bed from a new supplier as the original supplier let me down. Off on a cruise next week and then away for a bit on my own boat so hope the weather settles down. Cheers - mike
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hopeso
Part of things
Posts: 340
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Perhaps you can get some pictures of your boat when your away this time. Looking forward to seeing how it has turned out.
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here's a pic of my boat from the last time I took her out.
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hopeso
Part of things
Posts: 340
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Now that's a thing of beauty.
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Thanks, she's not to bad.
I had a narrowboat before but struggled doing all the locks single handed so sold it and bought this.
She's a nice boat apart from a bit of a drink problem. Around 9mpg at 6mph!
cheers - mike
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Oct 22, 2022 11:32:36 GMT
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Hi all, just back from a week away on my boat which was great. Had both extremes of weather, Tuesday was 20 degrees and wall to wall sun and Thursday was 13 degrees and torrential rain. Had a but of an incident with a pontoon on Thursday and put a 4ft mark on the hull, was gutted, I went to the pub for a few beers and some pool before even looking at the damage. Luckily the gel coat on boats is pretty thick so a couple of hours with some wet and dry and compound and she's better than new. The fuel cost is getting a bit excessive now though. I'm running her on gtl which is a synthetic diesel which burns clean and helps the enviroment but cost £2.40+ per litre/ I should be back to working on the vito from monday and then have a vivaro to build for myself. Cheers - mike
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hopeso
Part of things
Posts: 340
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Oct 22, 2022 12:43:03 GMT
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Glad to see your enjoying your boat even if it's a tad expensive to run. At least the damage was easy to sort.
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Vito is looking like it's going to be a nice clean install. Love the cruiser too. I keep hearing about and reading up on Synthetic Fuels and the more I hear/learn the more it has to be the way forward. The latest addition of Octane has a great piece by the Editor, really makes you think that "The System" is so focused on going EV they have given up on a much more sustainable and environmentally cleaner alternative. Scrapping all the ICE vehicles and going EV is madness!
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