A week of expense

This week, we saw the first snow of the year. We also arranged to have the side windows fitted, and have the engine serviced. The insurance company have also told us that we need to have a Thatcham Category 2 immobiliser fitted, so we will get this done too. Altogether, we are going to spend a great deal of money on stuff you can't see, although the windows will make a real difference to the van.

The windows were the first to be fitted. Lancashire Windscreens put the windows in, and they did a really good job. I wanted to do this job myself, but now I'm glad we got someone else to do it... The cutting is straight and smooth, and the windows are in perfectly straight and square.

The next job is the service. A local garage was used, as I have had work done by them before and I know that they do a good job. The Cambelt was also changed, along with the water pump, for added piece of mind... All  the filters have also been changed, along with the oil and the coolant.

Finally, an immobiliser was fitted. This was carried out by a local firm, and they did a good job also. Altogether, it has been a very expensive week, but we are investing in our future holidays, so I can't really complain, can I?

A coat of paint

Hermann needs a coat of paint, so we bought a load of NATO green military paint (my idea, and I put my foot down about the colour, I'm afraid) from a nice man on the internet, and set about stripping him and rubbing him down. Me, Carol and Top Bloke Edd borrowed a building with enough space to work in which was sheltered from the rain. The rubbing and stripping process took most of the morning (after an 8.00am start), but by 12.00, we were ready for the next stage. The rusty areas on the roof were given a coat of Red Oxide primer, after a thorough grinding back of all the rust, and he was ready for the first coat.

The thing with Matt paint is that it does not matter how it is applied. You can brush it on, roller it or even use your fingers. Luckily, we had enough brushes and rollers to do the first two, although by the end of the process, we may as well have used our fingers looking at the state of us.

Coat one saw him looking like this, a bit rough, but pretty much covered. After leaving him overnight with everything open, we returned to do coat two. This was a much quicker process, and by 2.00pm, we had pretty much finished.

That left me and Edd to start making some sidebars, and I tried my hand at welding for the first time. After a couple more hours the paint was dry enough to put all the bits back on and take him home. A punishing weekends work, but the end result is well worth it. He looks all mean and moody now!

Sagging Door

The drivers door is a little bit saggy. The man we bought the van off told us about this, and said that he used the door as a way of accessing the roofrack, causing the door hinges to sag a little. Top Bloke Edd has a great deal of skill when it comes to welding, and he told me to come around to his so that he could fettle the door. Not wishing to appear rude, I readily accepted.

Welding is one of those skills I wish I had... I understand the principal of it, but I've never been confident enough to give it a try. One day, I will have a go, but until then, I'm stuck with watching proper men do all those manly things with electricity and welding gear.

Taking the door off, the lower hinge receptacle (not sure what to call this), is badly cracked, as you can see from the picture. This is a disaster for me, but Edd just shrugged and said 'We'll just weld it together again'...

I was sceptical, picturing me buying a new door and putting it on, but Edd just set to it. Did I mention he is a Top Bloke? 

There was some grindy stuff going on, followed by some sparky stuff. Some more grindy stuff followed, along with some flashy stuff and more sparky stuff. Right at the end, there was some more grindy stuff, and the door hinge was pretty much done. My contribution to the proceedings was to stand there holding the door. To be fair, I held it fairly professionally, and I think that my door holding skills can be counted right up there with the best of them... I also took some photographs with my none door holding hand, and the results of this can be seen on the right hand side.

Anyhow, half an hour later, the door was back on. The end result is a door that closes on it's own, without having to lift it as I close it...

Meet Hermann

So my hairdresser, Lee gave me a call and told me he had spotted this builders van in Preston. It was a bit rough, but the price was reasonable, and he had stopped his car, got out in the rain and had taken down the number. I gave the number a call, not expecting much, but the woman who answered sounded OK, so I arranged to have a look. Not expecting much, I asked Edd (everyone needs an Edd) who is a top bloke, has a T4 and knows all about mechanicking if he would mind having a look with me. And would he give me a lift there too. Edd (did I mention he was a top bloke?) agreed to my cheeky request and we went over that evening.

After a test drive, and a brief look over the exterior (in the dark, in the rain, just as it's supposed to be done), we talked turkey with the man who was selling it. Some tough negotiations followed and we settled on a price, lower than the already low price he was asking. I left a deposit and told him that I would get the remainder to him by the end of the week. The following day, we had managed to scrape enough together so we went over and paid the remainder in cash before driving it home. Like a smash and grab.

So here is Hermann. His full name is Hermann Frederick Sherman and he is a 1997 T4 long wheelbase builders van. He had 114,000 on the clock and he has a couple of minor dings and dents, but overall, he looks very solid indeed. He was first registered on the 12th December 1997, so he is almost 13. He has a 2.4 5cylinder Diesel engine and some service history. The MOT is not due until next October, but the tax is out at the end of November.

The large roofrack will be removed, and there are a few rusty spots on the roof and in the interior side door step which will need addressing, but overall, the condition of the bodywork is very good given that the van is as old as it is. The engine will need servicing and I will have the Cambelt and Water pump changed too, so that we can be as confident as we can be about the engine, but overall, we are very pleased indeed. We just need the Insurance company to settle...

in the beginning...

there was Otto Van Kamper. He was old, a little bit rough around the edges, but he was a good bus. We spent fourteen months getting him ready, and a small fortune buying little bits (and big bits) so that he was more comfortable to live in; several thousand pounds later, we started to use him to travel around the country.


We went all over the place in Otto: Volksworld show in Surrey, Vanfest in Malvern, Kelso Scooter Weekender, Gathering off the Hill near Chorley, VW Festival in Leeds, BusFreeze in Staffordshire, VanSurf in Wales plus many great weekends away over the summer.


Otto was a 1981 VW T25, and had an LPG conversion and a high roof. We got used to his little foibles: He didn't like starting, particularly in the cold, but when he did, he plodded along at 55mph, swaying in the slightest of breezes or whenever an Artic overtook us (which was often). we once got 70mph out of him, but that was on a long downhill  with a favourable wind. He was comfortable, though, with his leather Jaguar seats and bespoke interior.


We had a Sony DAB radio and Alpine speakers, so he was quite 'down with the kids'. The Rock N Roll bed had brand new foam, and was really great to sleep on. He was toasty warm with the Propex heater, and he had a huge tank of water and an electronic tap. We bought a new Smev cooker and sink, a new fridge and made him some camouflage curtains and cushions to match his NATO green exterior paintwork.

Overall, Otto was a great bus. Then, at 3pm on Wednesday 27th October 2010 on Corporation Street in Preston, Otto gave a small cough, backfired and burst into flames. With 40 litres of LPG on board, as well as two 3.8Kg Propane bottles, Otto burned for over an hour, taking out a Marks and Spencers billboard in the process. He almost took a Fishwicks Bus which was used to block the road too!

Otto was beyond repair, and worse still, we discovered that he was under insured. The prices of T25s had steadily risen, and the receipts we had added up to much more than he was insured for. We also had a lot of equipment and personal items on board, all of which went up in flames; nothing was salvageable from the wreckage, as you can see from the picture on the right. Otto was officially dead.