Well not alot has been done this week, due to the weather, my next job was to be tinting the windows, but it has to be done when the temperature is above 5 degrees, so not much chance this week, otherwise the next thing is to insulate the floor and the walls.
Thank you to Martin for your disk, it was very informative, the pics were great, and Im really hoping to have a good look through very soon. If anyone is thinking of converting a van to a camper, this is a must have disk. (doesnt even really need to be a VW, you can adapt most things to any van).
Ok the Blip, well as is always the case when my vehicles go wrong, Jen was the one driving, what does she do to them !??? :) Its ok Jen I dont blame you, this time. When we went to pick NII up, I was looking round him and went to start the engine, nothing happened, I queried it with Paul, and he said there was a knack to starting it, you had to lift the key slightly as it went into the start position, once he had told me that, it was fine, I did it automatically, Jen also knew what to do so all was good, then Jen needed to go to Bristol, so she took NII to do a couple of dog walks first, and said that whilst on the last walk in Tewkesbury, when she went to drive back to Gloucester the ignition wouldnt work for a few tries then did eventually, so she popped in McDonalds for a quick bite to eat, took it to a layby on the A38, stopped the engine and ate her dinner, when she went to start it again, absolutely nothing, completely unaware of the mood that awaited me, I rang Jen to check in and see how she was doing, well wish I hadnt :P. Anyway went down to where she was, tried it myself, and no matter how far round you forced the key, all you got was a slight click from the relay in the dash, so took jen on to where she was going and came back and had another quick play, took all the steering cowling apart and sprayed the ignition barrel, the contacts on the back etc, still nothing, ended up having to short the starter motor just to get the engine running, (thanks for that tip Jon, it got me out of a hole :) ), because I could hear the relay clicking, I ws starting to think that was the problem, when I rang VW Van Centre in Cheltenham to order one, the guy there said that my '99 T4 has the same ignition switch setup as the VW Polo, and they had a well known problem, his description of the switch was "awful", so this put me in the mind that it was the ignition switch and not the relay, so ordered one of those instead, thinking that the switch was going to be a horrendous price, it was actually pretty reasonable and could have been alot worse, around £22 inc vat. When Jen picked it up, the guy told here that they had modified the switch so the new one was slightly different, but went back on exactly the same as the old one. To replace it you have to take the cowling off, unplug the multi connector block from the back, and then on the left hand side of the ignition barrel as you sit in the seat looking at it, there is a very awkward philips screw to undo to release the switch, I managed to do this with the steering wheel and controls in place, but the job would have been alot easier had I taken the steering wheel off and undone the control housing to lift forward to get at the screw which butts against the steering column, I managed to get mine undone with a tiny flat blade screwdriver that fits in the corkscrew part of my swiss army knife, the type that you tighten up glasses screws. Once it was out, its very easy to put the new one in again the screw being the only awkward part of the whole job. Once it was fitted, it starts like a dream, dont have to wiggle the key when starting now, just turn the key and off he goes.
Couple of pics here to give you some visual idea ofwhat I had to do in case it happens to you if you own a T4 or Polo !
New switch on the left, old on the right, amazing this little piece of plastic can cause so much hassle !
This is the screw that holds the switch in the housing, very difficult to get at but managed eventually.
View of the Ignition Switch housing with the switch removed, this is from the left side, the slit in the metal is were the screw screws into.
View from the right side with the new switch installed and the connector block connected.
Starts like a new van now :) its nice not to have to wiggle the key to start anymore !
So thats fixed now for about £22, could have been alot worse and its a little niggle sorted, which is good :)
Got a phone call from Five Valleys today telling me they had the windscreen in now, when did I want it fitted, we agreed to talk Friday and see whats happening with the impending snow we are expected to have. (Which is falling right now as I type at almost 1am thursday morning). Anyway, it will be fitted very soon, so another job I can cross off my to do list.
Whilst at the chinese tonight, in between deliveries, I started mapping out in pencil on the floor in the back where the units would go, seats, cabinet, sink hob etc, make sure it all fitted and there was at least a little room left, all looks ok, and I can actually have a bigger sink hob than I thought, so may open up a few options. I had intended to build the seats half a meter deep, from back to front, which I thought would be ok, but am now thinking that may be a little too narrow, especially for me being a larger person !, once you take into account the back cushion, which is probably going to be made from 4" foam, it does seem a little narrow, so am going to visit a couple caravan showrooms and see how their seating is made and in what size. Also, the seat going the length of the van, I was going to make 1.5m, this doesnt leave much for the cabinet, so may now have to shorten it to 1.3m, which leaves a much more useable space for a cabine, it will leave a total length of seat / bed of 1.8m, which is just under 6ft, just long enough for us to sleep on. May rethink that and make a smaller cabinet, until I actually start building its hard to say so will work it out as I go along. I want to know the size of the seats as I want to order the foam, or at least get a quote for it quite soon.
Thats about it for now, will come back and write when I have started the next job.
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