It’s coming home……..the Van that is!

The baby has arrived

From conception, when Christina agreed to support my plan to retire on my 55th birthday, we’ve been through a long 24 month pregnancy. Which to be fair, has been plain sailing. Labour and delivery, has been a different matter. The final few weeks were beset with some difficulty, delaying delivery by three weeks.but we are finally here.

Firstly, the bluetooth controller on the Teralume Rock Lights was not working, so a replacement had to be ordered which took forever to arrive . But it was easily installed and now works well. In addition, the Teralume Icon spotlight wiring looms, which were supposed to be a quick “plug in and play set up”, were not compatible with the Sprinter electrics so they had to be “spliced” into the electrical system. Craig at Mclaren sought the support of a Mercedes specialist auto-electrician to ensure no disruption to the in-house electrical warning systems would occur.

Secondly, and more disruptive leading to significant delay has been the fabrication of the bespoke aluminium roof rack. However, “all good things come to he who waits” as they say and whilst the wait has been very frustrating tinged with jealousy as other vans have been finished and delivered, the wait has been worth it. The roof rack, co-designed with Jon Clare Esq., is awesome and will be the subject of a separate blog post.

Craig at Mclaren has been great and the final product is superb. Anyone looking for a bespoke build by a quality van conversion company need not look any further than Mclaren. From my initial visit to discuss a build over 18 months ago to now taking delivery, I cannot praise the team at Mclaren highly enough!

So, picked up the van early just over a week ago on Thursday morning and after a run through of all the systems etc, I set off for Scarborough! Why Scarborough you might ask?

Well, I had neglected to mention to Will of Wheeliams who fabricated the rear wheel carrier that the wheel was a 265/70 R17 as opposed to the standard 235/65 R16, so the rear right door Mercedes Benz badge, because it overlaps the left rear door was catching the right lateral aspect of the tyre.

On the way there, on the M62 just outside Saddleworth Moor, where the road becomes a steep incline, the van was labouring at around 50mph. It was then I noticed it was in AWD ( all wheel drive) and in “low range” too boot! I came off at the next junction in a panic not knowing how to take it out of AWD. Approximately one hour later and several Youtube videos, I was able to work out what to do. But by this time I was mentally exhausted and decided to go home. I went to Scarborough the next day to meet Will and sort out the wheel.

Will was great! A cool guy, who when I had discussed the issue with him a few weeks earlier, put me immediately at ease, saying “it was an easy fix”. He sorted it out in no time and I was back on my way to Wales within an hour. Check out his website Wheeliams.co.uk if you are looking for any van related fabrication. Not only is his kit good, but the service and communication is second to none. He is always on hand via instagram@wheeliamuk and responds promptly.

So what of the planned trip into Europe?

I’ll be honest……..

My origin plan was to get into Europe, via France, then into Spain. Getting down into Gibraltar to see my Mum and family. Leaving on the 23rd July in the van with Christina to meet everyone at a house we had hired from the 8-18th August in Nerja just outside Malaga, before going on to Gib. Check out the YouTube video,it looks awesome!

We postponed the house, a covid related decision to next year now. Despite not getting the Van until last Thursday, I was still keen to do the trip without the 10 day break with the kids and partners.

Think again!

One thing I learnt very quickly, was how little I knew about the Van; not only as a vehicle but more importantly how everything works. You only have to look at my first trip to Scarborough to see that!

I’m much more confident driving it now. It takes getting used to in terms of the ride height and the vehicle length at just under 7 metres.

The realisation was that it would not be wise to travel afar without a good knowledge of how everything works, trouble shoot the common problems and make the inevitable mistakes (learning from them hopefully) in an environment where help, if needed, is close at hand. So I’m staying on the Llyn peninsula til at least late August.

There is a lot to learn:-

• familiarising yourself with the control panel that contains the power supply unit by Clayton Power, the van control panel for the electrics and the panel for the Truma Combi 4 E gas heater and hot water generator.

• Filling the water and emptying the grey water
• Monitoring the LPG gas and filling the on-board tank
• using and emptying the toilet

• Using the hob and cooker, cooking a meal etc
• setting up the TV with a Amazon Fire stick so we can hotspot through the phone with a 4G signal
• sorting bedding etc
• Managing the garage space for easy but efficient use of space

Everything has a booklet/user guide, so there is a box full of manuals that I’ve been going through. Light bedtime reading!

So what is the plan……?

I’ve got through the manuals and “played” with the systems etc and have familiarised myself with everything without actually going anywhere!

Next step is to do three stints 24, 48 and 72hrs on the farm where we have the static down on the beach front approximately a mile from the caravan over the next 10 days or so. During this time we’ll be putting the van through it’s paces and testing out the roof rack. Getting the kayaks on and off and swapping out the removable panels in the process. I’m waiting on my co-designer Jon Clare to help with this.

Provided all goes well, the plan will be to go into Ireland or Scotland late August/early September for a full week and then do France and beyond mid- September.

NEXT POST

FIRST OVERNIGHT EXPERIENCES AND THE ROOF RACK

PS..The Teralume spotlights and RBG Rock lights

Very pleased with the rock light and the spots are powerful!