Tam and Toby ~~ Hunting Zorba .....Take two.

[Northernraider]

does this help,

Yeah mine was pretty clean in there .
Mine doesn't run on when you switch them off they just seem to park at various points almost like a clock
If you switch it on and off they stop at say 5 oclock ...then do it again and the stop at 6 oclock ...then 7 ...etc etc till it gets up as far as it can and then goes back to the start. Intermittent wouldn't work at all . When i told that to my mechanic mate he said straight away that the motor was knackered...says he's replaced lots on cars etc over the years and 99% of the time it was the motor.
This doesn't appear to have a relay for the wipers so that must be built in to the motor on it also. The replacement isnt too expensive from Germany £30 plus £17 postage compared to over £100 here in the uk so as long as it arrives without extra costs and works ill be happy

 

[Hymerbell]

Theres my point ... that's about £27k and its only 6 metres and unlikely to be a layout id like. Mine has cost £4k so far which leaves me £23k to build a better one than that which i will know inside and out and all interior fittings will be brand new etc with off grid capability etc.

There are very few nice converted ones come up for sale ... yes it will be a lot of work but i believe it will be worth it in the end. Its a completely different ballgame from a 4- 4.5 tonne motorhome ....this thing is a truck with a van body and a mechanical tank.

Yes I can see your point...it’s all about time vs money vs enjoying life and therefore using it. As you get older time is more important than money...when you’re young money is more important than time. As to enjoying life that’s always important. I’d love to spend a year doing one but then again I’d love to spending a year travelling...I tell you what...you spend a year building it whilst I spend a year travelling...then I’ll buy it off you (cheaply) and spend another year travelling in it while you spend another year building another one.

 

[Hymerbell]

Found a sliver one on a 58 plate not much rust on it and even has a wheelchair lift & access for when Tam gets older.
Tidy van & not a bad price it would seem at first glance.
LES
Broken Link Removed

That looks great ! Tam could leave it as it is and do day trips for the elderly to interesting sites around Scotland to earn a few bucks....maybe give Lenny HB a discount...

 

[monzer]

Will all be mig welded ....some by me but some of the heavier stuff like the rear frame to carry motorbike etc ill get someone to do it as it will be weight baring ....but ill see how it goes.

Give me a shout for the bike rack. If you've got a decent sketch of what you need I'm sure I could put something together.

 

[Northernraider]

Give me a shout for the bike rack. If you've got a decent sketch of what you need I'm sure I could put something together.

Are you a welder then?

If so and you want a bit of work

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[Northernraider]

Yes I can see your point...it’s all about time vs money vs enjoying life and therefore using it. As you get older time is more important than money...when you’re young money is more important than time. As to enjoying life that’s always important. I’d love to spend a year doing one but then again I’d love to spending a year travelling...I tell you what...you spend a year building it whilst I spend a year travelling...then I’ll buy it off you (cheaply) and spend another year travelling in it while you spend another year building another one.

Sod that lol ....im sacrificing my time just now building this in the hope that once done i should be hassle free snd confident to take this beast anywhere.

 

[monzer]

Are you a welder then?

If so and you want a bit of work

Yeah but ain't done much work on motors. If you are mig'ing together a box section frame I could easy do that though.

 

[Bustup15]

Yeah mine was pretty clean in there .
Mine doesn't run on when you switch them off they just seem to park at various points almost like a clock
If you switch it on and off they stop at say 5 oclock ...then do it again and the stop at 6 oclock ...then 7 ...etc etc till it gets up as far as it can and then goes back to the start. Intermittent wouldn't work at all . When i told that to my mechanic mate he said straight away that the motor was knackered...says he's replaced lots on cars etc over the years and 99% of the time it was the motor.
This doesn't appear to have a relay for the wipers so that must be built in to the motor on it also. The replacement isnt too expensive from Germany £30 plus £17 postage compared to over £100 here in the uk so as long as it arrives without extra costs and works ill be happy

That must be the one designed by Bill Haley and His Comets

Broken Link Removed

 

[TinaLes]

That looks great ! Tam could leave it as it is and do day trips for the elderly to interesting sites around Scotland to earn a few bucks....maybe give Lenny HB a discount...

Thanks Hymerbell, you & I are on the same wavelength
You see Tam?, the message here is, never look a gift horse in the mouth!
Now all we need is a website, PR/booking clerk, & the jobs a gooden.
& they would love to stroke the dogs on the journey, bloomin hell Tam, the opportunity is staring you in the face man
LES

 

[Lenny HB]

Get real fellers, Scotland is cold, wet & full of midges.

And Scotch men with electrical problems.

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[TinaLes]

Get real fellers, Scotland is cold, wet & full of midges.

And Scotch men with electrical problems.

& lets not mention the tight sporrans eh?
I should know I am one of them & proud to be an FLT, its in the genes you know
& it was Scotsman that invented the TV tube, we wont argue over the telephone though
Tam must be a Heinz 57, as he cant this head around circuit diagrams or electrics, yet
LES

 

[Hymerbell]

Thanks Hymerbell, you & I are on the same wavelength
You see Tam?, the message here is, never look a gift horse in the mouth!
Now all we need is a website, PR/booking clerk, & the jobs a gooden.
& they would love to stroke the dogs on the journey, bloomin hell Tam, the opportunity is staring you in the face man
LES

Jackie could be the clippy...giving a running commentary on a loud microphone whilst Tam drove along...

 

[jockaneezer]

Jackie could be the clippy...giving a running commentary on a loud microphone whilst Tam drove along...

He could call it the "Scottish National Express"!

 

[Northernraider]

So i finally got my day 2 test results this morning.... what a useless pointless waste of time and money that was.

I took and sent that sample on sunday 21st so 2 weeks ago now ...they received it on 23rd according to the tracking.

I then took my day 8 sample on 27th which they received the 29th

I got the results from the day 8 one on the 31st but my 10 days were up on the 30th anyway and the results from the day 2 this morning the 4th

Had i been positive at the first test i would have still been contagious when i went out on the 30th but not knowing because i hadnt got any results.

So completely pointless





But anyway now that all results have been received and confirmed i will now update the leaving italy saga.

The morning jackie and i went to find a chemist to retrieve our test results from Ancona...my result came back negative as you know ....BUT jackies came back positive.

Neither of us had any symptoms and even the pharmacist stated that there were false positives etc and that it was not necessarily correct. ....but that didn't help the situation obviously as we were due to cross in to france that morning.

So it was a bit of a dilemma but as i had a negative result and the tunnel etc booked i had to carry on and i left jackie there in susa.

She then drove to near turin and rented an air b&b for a week and then had another test done in turin on the following monday ...1 hour for results and it came back negative so she then crossed in to france .....she got another test done in caen before her ferry ...also negative and has had her day 2 result back in wales also negative.


I never mentioned her positive test on here because frankly i didn't want or need the conflicting opinions etc at the time as i know some may have been critical about me leaving her there and for proceeding despite my result being negative.

I guess we will never know whether her positive test was accurate or not or whether it was a false positive. But other than a little bit of runny nose we put down to a slight cold or big change in temperature from greece to the Alps etc neither of us had any symptoms related to covid.

It does bother me though that test result will have added to the statistics ...and had jackie fell down the stairs and broke her neck it would also be on the covid death statistics we all get fed daily.

Anyway all's well that ends well as they say and both of us have had a few negative results since then.

 

[WESTY66]

Tam, did you have to pay for these tests abroad, as you know over here in the U.K. they are free, and having just read the news it seems that despite going to a green light country it looks like we’ll have to be tested pre departure and upon arrival, and just wondering as you have travelled you would have a better insight as to how things will work. I am assuming that we’ll get a free test upon departure but coming back I suppose that we would have to get the test before the chunnel and therefore it would probably be at a cost in France!
All above is assuming France will be green
Good luck with the van conversion

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[Bluemooner]

Tam, did you have to pay for these tests abroad, as you know over here in the U.K. they are free,

In Spain we paid 35 euro each for a test, the UK ones cost around £200 each person and i have heard that test's in France are free

 

[Northernraider]

Tam, did you have to pay for these tests abroad, as you know over here in the U.K. they are free, and having just read the news it seems that despite going to a green light country it looks like we’ll have to be tested pre departure and upon arrival, and just wondering as you have travelled you would have a better insight as to how things will work. I am assuming that we’ll get a free test upon departure but coming back I suppose that we would have to get the test before the chunnel and therefore it would probably be at a cost in France!
All above is assuming France will be green
Good luck with the van conversion

I paid €60 in Italy and €30 in france

I believe you could get a free test done in france near calais BUT because of Jackie's positive result in italy i wanted my test done in france ASAP and before i did vets etc just incase.

As for how the future pans out im unsure at the minute as france is not doing well ...i guess time will tell

 

[Clarky]

Tam, did you have to pay for these tests abroad, as you know over here in the U.K. they are free, and having just read the news it seems that despite going to a green light country it looks like we’ll have to be tested pre departure and upon arrival, and just wondering as you have travelled you would have a better insight as to how things will work. I am assuming that we’ll get a free test upon departure but coming back I suppose that we would have to get the test before the chunnel and therefore it would probably be at a cost in France!
All above is assuming France will be green
Good luck with the van conversion

What makes you think that France will be 'green'?
At their present rate of infection and vaccination I would expect them to be listed as amber if not red in the very near future.
I'm very much hoping that they will be over the present wave by September when we would like to be there.
As far as tests go, I’m pretty sure you will have to pay for them in the U.K. (unless you are a school child where it would be free) and France is also free from what I read but that might be just for their citizens.

Richard.

 

[WESTY66]

What makes you think that France will be 'green'?
At their present rate of infection and vaccination I would expect them to be listed as amber if not red in the very near future.
Richard.

I don’t think they will be green, more hope they will be green, even if it’s just for transiting through. If it isn’t and with France being a big gateway to Europe we’ll all be stuffed. The other option would be Holland but I don’t know if they’re any worse than France at moment! It’s all a big mess

 

[Northernraider]

I don’t think they will be green, more hope they will be green, even if it’s just for transiting through. If it isn’t and with France being a big gateway to Europe we’ll all be stuffed. The other option would be Holland but I don’t know if they’re any worse than France at moment! It’s all a big mess

Yes when i headed over to Europe last September i made a point of driving straight out of france in to Belgium with no stops on day 1 ....i can't see how it would be a problem if you were just transiting through but its leaving the uk now thats the problem as we've now become a dictatorship and a bit like hotel California whether that changes or not over the summer is anyones guess but ill not be leaving the country before october anyway ...but i would like to get out of here over winter if i can ....but depends on a lot of things for me ... The merc doesn't have to be fully finished for me to use it but i would need it to be habitable at least before heading off.

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[Northernraider]

Despite the high winds today i decided to go up on the roof of the merc and give it a good clean ....makes it look a bit better for the neighbours and as i have surface rust on the gutters i want to clean up before they get any worse it helps to get rid of all the slime. It came up pretty well.


Those 2 white vents have to be removed and the holes welded up at a later date ....they leak like a sieve ... The large skylights im still undecided whether to keep them or replace the front one and plate over the rear one and fit a heki.

There are pros and cons to both ....the originals are far stronger than the plastic type in motorhomes ...these are steel framed bolted through the roof and reinfirced steel box section ...its toughened glass and can open either front only ,rear only or both ends and you can drive with them open....and i can fit through both of them as that's how i got on the roof . The cons are ...no flyscreen or blind , you cant tilt them open quite as much as the heki etc and im unsure how easy it would be to get Spares if they got damaged in the future.

Both these and the heki are single glazed so dont think there would be much difference in heat loss....i do think i could have elasticated external covers made to fit over these in winter.

I plan to fit a maxifan vent between these two over kitchen area and another vent at the rear over the bed .... decisions decisions

 

[Speve]

I think I would leave those two bigger vents perhaps the internal fly screens and blind for a Heki or similar would fit as I think you can get the bits separately.

 

[Northernraider]

I think I would leave those two bigger vents perhaps the internal fly screens and blind for a Heki or similar would fit as I think you can get the bits separately.

To be honest i rarely use the blinds on the skylight but i do use fly screen . But i could probably make something to do that if need be.

 

[Sasbo]

Northernraider, this company do custom made to measures blinds with a flyscreen option. Maybe of some use if you keep the original rooflights.

Account Suspended

 

[Mikey RV]

The original roof lights I would keep as like you said they are much better quality than plastic versions and being able to drive with them open is a bonus. Would be simple enough to make a fly screen to put up.

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[Northernraider]

The original roof lights I would keep as like you said they are much better quality than plastic versions and being able to drive with them open is a bonus. Would be simple enough to make a fly screen to put up.

Yes i think im swaying towards keeping them ...i also think they are harder to break in to unless you smashed the glass ...certainly cant pull them up from outside.

 

[Ditcha]

There is these in the classifieds for free if any good?

Clearing Out - free to collect

Spare Heki Rooflight interal surrounds x 2 complete with blinds and 1 clear dome.

www.motorhomefun.co.uk

 

[Hymerbell]

Yes when i headed over to Europe last September i made a point of driving straight out of france in to Belgium with no stops on day 1 ....i can't see how it would be a problem if you were just transiting through but its leaving the uk now thats the problem as we've now become a dictatorship and a bit like hotel California whether that changes or not over the summer is anyones guess but ill not be leaving the country before october anyway ...but i would like to get out of here over winter if i can ....but depends on a lot of things for me ... The merc doesn't have to be fully finished for me to use it but i would need it to be habitable at least before heading off.

October 2022 I assume you mean ?

 

[Hymerbell]

Can’t remember now but did you say you got your passport stamped at some point but when was that. Obviously not entering Italy or France because that’s Schengen. And why would the UK stamp it. Did the French stamp on leaving France for some reason ?

 

[Northernraider]

There is these in the classifieds for free if any good?

Clearing Out - free to collect

Spare Heki Rooflight interal surrounds x 2 complete with blinds and 1 clear dome.

www.motorhomefun.co.uk

Yeah unfortunately yorkshire is a bit far to collect

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}