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Jan 29, 2019 16:12:57 GMT
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hi all working through the last few jobs on the Vivaro. Yesterday I fitted the curtain rails and made the curtains and tie backs. I have removed the earlier curtains and must say the traditional curtains are much better. Spent an hour changing the handbrake lever as the old one got damaged trying to fit a new gaiter. I have also made and fitted a retainer for the small top bed. I added soft edge trim to make it a bit more user friendly. I have also been going through the interior cleaning and sorting out the odd niggle here and there. It should be finished tomorrow all being well so I will be going for a run in it on Wednesday, weather permitting. Cheers - mike
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Jan 24, 2019 16:35:56 GMT
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Hi all got a bit more done on the Vivaro I removed the huge safety bar type rear bumper and step and replaced it with a new standard rear bumper. I have fitted an awning rail. The new rear bumper didn't come with reflectors so pooped over to the local Renault man and picked some new ones up. Whilst I was there they were bringing in a minibus for breaking so managed to nab the b post trim. On vans they finish 2 inches short so as to not foul the bulkhead but on mini buses they cover the full b post. I had a couple more bits on bling to add, a leather gear lever boot and a matching hand brake boot. The gear lever went on ok but the handbrake boot would not fit plus I broke the hand brake lever trying to make it fir so that needs replacing now. Anyways she's nearly, the next build will be on a Peugeot Boxer, can't wait. Cheers - mike
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Jan 21, 2019 13:59:09 GMT
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Hi all
spent a couple of hours on the bus earlier.
She has a decent Kenwood cd/radio/mp3 player fitted but unfortunately it was fitted by Halfords and not the best job in the world.
The radio didn't sit right in the dash so I pulled it out to find a mountain of cables, the original wiring plugged into an adapter to take it to din fitting to another adapter to go from din to the Kenwood plug. There was so much bulk that there was no chance of getting it all to sit behind the radio neatly so I have rerouted some of it and shortened the adapter for the toyota to din. The radio now slots in nicely.
The other issue I had was that only 2 out of the 4 speakers worked. One in the front and one in the door. I checked for resistance across the speaker feeds and the drivers door and passenger side rear showed no resistance whilst the other 2 showed aprox 4 ohms. I pulled the drivers side door trim off and found a very dead speaker but of an odd size but luckily managed to replace it with a 4 1/2 speaker. So as to keep things balanced I have also replaced the passenger side door speaker.
The rear speaker was a bit more challenging as its behind the quarter panel trim. The trim is a real pain to remove as the folding rear seat gets in the way. Once I had access I managed to remove the speaker which was totally dead. Luckily the passenger door speaker, although a little larger fitted ok.
She's now boxed up and the radio now sounds pretty good.
I am still on the hunt trying to track down a rattle / knock on the passenger rear suspension. I had another poke around and it looks to be wear in the linkage of the brake compensator so will pop that apart later this week and have a look.
Cheers - mike
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Jan 17, 2019 16:21:29 GMT
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Hi all got a bit more done today I spent most of the morning changing the front wishbones. Although she passed her mot with no issues I was not happy with the way she drove as there was a little twitch when coming of the power. On checking I found the nearside front wishbone bush looking a bit sad and the drivers side looked to be split. Once the old ones were off it was easy to see they were knackered. Even the rear bushes looked a bit soft. The new ones went in without a hitch and she now drives much better. Thats all for today as its not got above 2 degrees and i'm frozen to the core. Cheers - mike
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Jan 16, 2019 10:53:33 GMT
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Hi all
Made an early start before the rain arrived.
Got the service done without any issues.
As its now raining i'm going to fix the top bed in and do the final fit of the ceiling and side panels so that will be the conversion done apart from the final valet and sorting the curtains.
Tomorrow looks better for weather so the front wish bones can wait.
Cheers - mike
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Jan 16, 2019 10:47:12 GMT
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Hi there
I'm glad you got it sorted.
Years ago i bought quite a few cars with this engine cheap because of the cam follower noise and a few days later they were sorted for a few hours work and not a lot of money.
Using the correct oil is essential.
Cheers - mike
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Jan 15, 2019 17:09:05 GMT
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Hi all
have had a steady couple of days on the camper.
Added some running boards,finished making and fitted the last trim for the rear doors,cut and fitted the nose edge trim for the floor around the sliding door,have thoroughly trialled the electrics, boiled my first kettle of water and have had the fridge running.
On the downside, the main battery seems to have died so have fitted a new one this afternoon.
Tomorrow will see a full service including pollen filter, oil fuel and air filter and an oil change.I have also spotted a dead bush on the passenger side front wishbone so have got a pair to fit as well.Plus whilst i have the front in the air there's a bull bar to fit so looks like i will have a busy day.
Cheers - mike
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Jan 13, 2019 13:03:48 GMT
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Hi all had an hour on the bus earlier the paintwork is mostly the original 25 year old paint so was a bit dire in places.The bus has been splattered with what look like fence treatment and not really cleaned nor washed for many years.I set to giving the drivers side a good wash and hose off followed by using a green pad to remove the orange spots of fence treatment plus i gave a few of the worse marks a quick rub. I then used farcla g3 with a slow speed on a polishing mop and went over the whole side of the car. This was then rinsed off and a coat of good old turtle wax applied. Took about 90 mins in all. I'm happy with the results, she looks much cleaner and not overly shiny. Once the wheels are done I think she will look fine. Cheers - mike
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Jan 12, 2019 17:25:00 GMT
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Hi all
went over to the Renault breaker York in the bus today and she didn't miss a beat.
As its on an old aerodrome I had a spin around and did some off roading. She went really well but I nearly got her stuck as the mud was a good six inches deep in places. I also discovered that the over drive works on all forward gears so when you put her in low you can also disengage the overdrive which gives nearly a crawler gear.
If the weathers any good tomorrow i'm going to give some of the paint work a machine polish. Not expecting her to come up like new but hopefully get a bit of life back into the 25 year old paint work.
Cheers - mike
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Jan 12, 2019 17:19:18 GMT
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Hi all had a few hours on the camper today. Have started making the panels for lining the high top sides and ceiling. The sides are cut and lined ready for final fitting and the ceiling ones just need covering with lining carpet. I have also rewired and moved the original courtesy light so that I can fit it in the high top side panel. All being well tomorrow will see the last of the panels made for the ceiling, there are 2 led down lights to fit and a larger led light. Cheers - mike
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Jan 11, 2019 15:51:28 GMT
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Hi all not a huge amount done today, I was up half the night with my grandson as some fool (me)gave him cake with lots of smarties and stuff on so he spent the night running around like the duracell bunny. I got a few more blingy bits on. There's wind deflectors fitted to the front windows and a wind / stone deflector fitted to the bonnet. I have cut the hole and fitted the table mounts to the table and floor, fitted the table storage clip and redesigned the panel that seals off the battery and heater as I wasn't happy with it. The water container sat to high and was not secured so I have cut out the top of the panel and it now sits 8cm lower on a panel installed above the heater so is now secure and easier to remove etc. The blank for the bed is cut and just needs covering in lining carpet. Cheers - mike
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Jan 10, 2019 13:38:18 GMT
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Hi all got an early start on the camper today. The wardrobe is now fully fitted including a shelf.I have also started to fit some bits of extra trim for the owner, chrome door handles and mirrors. Tomorrow should see the small top bed made and fitted and then I can fit out the high top and ceiling. Cheers - mike
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Hi all
got an hour on the bus first thing and had a look for the vacuum leak.
There's a rubber pipe that runs across the front of the engine that carries vacuum to the egr and to say its gone hard would be an understatement. It had gone completely solid and felt more like a steel pipe so I have replaced it with some I had knocking about and the bus is back to normal.
I'm pretty impressed that it has a low vacuum sensor and warning light.
Cheers - mike
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Hi all
went out in the bus earlier and have got an issue.
The brake warning light is coming on and I have a hard brake pedal.
Looks as though I have either a vacuum leak or the servo has died.Will have a look tomorrow once its light.
Cheers - mike
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Hi all I had half an hour on the bus earlier. I checked over the work I did on friday and everything's fine. I also removed the rear exhaust hanger rubbers, reshaped the hanger on the silencer and refitted with new rubbers. The exhaust no longer rattles or clonks on the tow bar when turning the engine off. Cheers - mike
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Hi all made and early start today did a bit of tidying up and measured up for the wardrobe internals. Got the table finished. Cheers - mike
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and a bit more done whenever I fit a Dometic sink I have to modify the tap to fit as they make the hole in the sink an odd size so that only their mixer tap fits. This is no big deal unless you only want a cold water tap which has a slimmer body so I have to make a couple of spacers. The sink is now fully fitted with both the tap and waste connected. Next job should be final fitting of the worktop but as its cold and raining i'm going to retire to my workshop and make the table top. That should be about it for today. Cheers - mike
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and some pics
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did a bit more whilst waiting for my dinner to warm up
cut the hole in the worktop and fitted the pop up socket.
This one's an upgrade from my usual ones as it has an aluminium casing instead of plastic.
Just got to add the plug later.
Anyways i'm off to fit the sink and cut the holes for the waste pipes etc.
Cheers - mike
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