Name Change.....

Oh another thing, I've decided that naming it after the original Norman just isnt working, hence the "its" in last post, so am open to suggestions for a new name that we can be proud of all of its own, so if you have any "sensible" ideas, leave them in the comments part of this post, thank you, when a name is decided on, this is the place to see it first ! :)

Engine Update

Started stripping the engine down yesterday, well took the rocker cover off, thats all i needed, one of the hydraulic tappets had disintegrated, and most of it had disappeared down the oil ways, the valve stem had gone through the tappet, and dropped its collets, and stuck there, so can only assume that its bent inside the valve guide, the cam was good apart from a few scratches on the one lobe where the tappet had gone, the result is that the head definately needs replacing as the bottom half of the tappet is welded into the head around the valve stem, and as Jon said there isnt much point, or its not good practice to put a recon head on a 195,000 mile bottom end, might as well stick a lower mileage engine in altogether and have more peace of mind, obviously change the cam belt and clutch while its all out. ~Then should be good for a few thousand miles at least ! Its a major setback though and is going to take some time saving for an engine etc, will have to start a bit of ebaying again, see if I can make a million like the guy on the news today !
Im hoping to get the roof finished this week, if I can stomach working on it when its so poorly ! Also need to finish off the towbar, got the rest of the bits now to do it. Just hope I dont have too much to do for the MOT thats due in April, think it may have to be SORN though for a while unless cashflow improves drastically, shame because MOT due date is my Birthday :), will lose that unless it takes a whole year to get done ! Which I hope isnt the case. Dont want it to turn into a driveway shed ! :)

Quick Piccie

Well I am still gutted, but feeling more positive at the moment, i'm kind of thinking oh well at least I can now find a lower mileage engine, because I do intend to do alot of miles in it once its finished, so maybe it was meant to be, although for it to happen on its proper first outing was a bit off !

Anyway, whilst im waiting for an engine to turn up at the right mileage and price, I will carry on with conversion, as I have stuff here that needs doing still, want to get the roof finished off, and the side door isnt covered yet either, then start building the bed seats and units. No need rush now though, dont think it will be going anywhere this season unless we win some decent money on the lottery ! :)

This is how the back is looking at the moment, the carpet on the floor was just quickly put in for this weekend, its been in the loft for 10 years or so, so the creases are part of the shape now !, but its only temporary until i decide what flooring i am going to put in.

First weekend trip and Norman DIED in traditional fashion !

I'm typing this sat next to a pitch black dining room in a haunted castle in Wales, where Norman was supposed to be bringing us for the weekend. Changed the oil just before we left, good thing ? BAD MISTAKE. It appears that the oil change dislodged some muck that was in the sump and clogged the oil ways to the top of the engine, result - 1 dead camper on the M4 just this side of the Severn Bridge. We finally got back home about 11pm thanks to the RAC, and swapped over to the Peugeot Van, and finally got here at 2am ! What a Friday 13th that turned out to be. Engine is knackered, maybe could get away with replacing the top half, but would prefer now to fit a lower mileage engine back in, but the upshot is that Norman will be off the road for a while whilst I raise funds. Camper conversion is now on hold for the foreseeable future :(.

A little bit more done.....

Did some more today, quite pleased with the progress, all the fiddly stuff is out the way now, just the panels left to do, going to get some more wood for the rear panels tomorrow, and a couple more cans of adhesive, down to my last one after this lot, then cover all the panels and put them all up at the same time so I get the full affect in one go ! Really looking forward to it, before I finish the roof panels off, I need to sort out the LED lights and the TV bracket, just in case fitting them affects where the carpet will go, Im going to wire the LED lights to the normal vehicle roof light wiring for the minute, so they come on when the doors are opened, but will re-wire them when I sort all the electrics out and put them on switches etc. The TV bracket will stay TV-less for the time being again until I sort the electrics out, and find a decent reliable form of aerial, without having to use a big pole, I want one that sits on the roof, either permanently if small enough or with a magnetic base, so if anyone has any ideas, must be able to receive the DVB digital freeview signals. Well this is it, the next pic you will see will be the fully fitted one, although i'll be taking pics along the way for myself, you will see the finished effect :) Cant wait now, the fiddly stuff was hard work, but I enjoyed it, and it wasnt as difficult as I expected it to be, thanks for all your tips Martin, they have come in really useful.

The start of the carpeting, its very BRIGHT ! :P

Ok, wanting this done by the end of the week for when we go away, I decided to get cracking this afternoon on the lining, in usual style I started with the hardest part, the window side, actually it went easier than I thought, thanks to Martin's guide, he was dead right when he said to spray some adhesive at the top first and hang the carpet up and work down, it was so much easier, you can see this in the first pic. Sorry about the quality of the pictures, I took them in low light on my mobile phone, didnt want to get spray adhesive on my slr camera :). Anyway, worked my way along, and the window itself really wasnt much of a problem, the adhesive I used, the Evo Stik one that Screwfix do, really is sticky ! What I trimmed off the bottom half in the first pic, was actually enough to do the opposite side too, so I have plenty of yellow over, I bought 6 meters of that, still have the roof to do, but will do it easily, thinking maybe I can find another use for it during the build. I bought 8 meters of the blue, but that is going to be covering the bottom of the seating and cupboards too, even so I think I'll have some of that left over as well. I did start using the blue as you can see from the pics, managed to get the back end done, and it starts to show how the 2 colours will work together, as I said very bright ! :) Nice and cheerful though, and there wont be another like it I guarantee ! :) Hoping to get some more done tomorrow, have now made up my mind to go get some more wood for the back side panels before I carpet them, having gotten wet and damp in the shed over the years, then dried out, the plywood has become very brittle and the slightest bend snaps it, not really what I want to be putting £100 worth of carpet on ! So another job to get on with. It never seems to end, but I am looking forward to seeing it all done :)

Lots of prep and Hook Up socket fitted...

Had a rare half day to spend on Norman today, so set to work on some bits and pieces, cut a big hole in the side, well it was big to me ! And Scary ! :) But did it and have now fitted a flush fitting mains hookup socket, so that when used on a site with mains hookup I can now just lift a flap and plug in ! Well I will be able to once I wire the socket :). Talking of wiring, I still have all that to do too ! I've still to finish it off properly with sealer etc, but have left that for now in case I need to drop it back out when I wire it up.

Also completely stripped the van out, including roof panels, side panels, seat belts, plastic trim etc, gave everything a clean with a damp cloth, then using a black and decker mouse, went over all the paintwork inside where Im going to be covering with the carpet, I was hoping to have started it today, but by the time I had the side window masked off, it had gotten dark and it was raining, so the inside was condensating, meaning the glue would be pretty useless, so hopefully will get that done monday afternoon unless its raining again. Martin, if you are reading this, and you see in the pics that I havent insulated yet, I do intend to asap, but need the van useable for next weekend when we are going away with it, not to camp in it, but we do need to carry passengers, so want it looking half decent :), Im not ignoring your advice honest ! :) I just want the walls carpeted and my seats made up and fixed to the floor, will probably throw duvets on it for now, they will have to come back out when I do the flooring properly, might get a piece of carpet down from the loft for next week though if I get time. Anyway, I am now at the stage where I can begin the carpeting, so fingers crossed for a nice day monday !

Well that was it for today, oh we did go and get the rest of the bits for the towbar, well except for the scotch locks, when they come, ordered a pack off ebay, I can get that finished off and we can then tow our trailer tent too !

Hopefully post some more on monday with some pics of at least a bit of carpet up :)

Window Tinting.......

Quick update, finally spent an hour or so today tinting the side windows, have had the tint since the day after the windows were fitted, but what with snow and ice etc it didnt get fitted :)
Its not perfect, there are some very small bubbles I couldnt seem to get rid of, even though I fitted it to the letter from the instructions, I had basically taught myself from videos on You Tube too, but they look pretty good, its not massive bubbles, the type you could possibly get from dust particles. I'm happy with them though, as you can see from the pics, they look smooth enough :) The tint I bought was Limo Black, the same as the back window which was already done, but they are much darker, so the back one must have been a lesser tint. Wish I could have gotten more done, but its getting there bit by bit ! :)