So I thought ok what about a caravan, a few cheap holidays for me and the kids, not a bad idea as I have my B+E Catagorie, but then there is the hassle of storing it etc etc, and again even an old one is hitting 700-800. ok so how about a retro motorhome, a Bedford or such like.... a little peruse of Ebay was down heartening even a poor old Bedford was getting to hit 2,000 then reading throught the Retro-Rides forum feeling jealous I came across an advert for "Bessie Brown"
Heres Nicks Ad
"Up for sale is a coachbuilt transit camper with tax and test, it looks a bit battle scarred and the interior could do with redoing but it is usable.. main problem is damp inside, like so many of the coachbuilt CI campers they leak, it has two double beds (one made from the dining area) a standing room only toilet room with a portapotty thing which is handy for quick p-stops on long journeys, it has a gridge which works on gas or 240v (12v side blows the fuse but think its cause fuse is only a 10amp one) it has lights from the 12v thing and an integrated inverter to provide 240v at 600 watts. The camper part as I said needs redoing in my eyes or at least teh wall boards pulling off and it all resealing up
the van part is transit mk2 pre facelift with the smoother front (no plastics round indicators etc) it is running a york diesel that although noisy and not very good on fuel does start and will move the van at 55mph all day long with no real issues except hills, was told they are about 50 hp and van is 2300kgs so you do the maths, it has corrosion around the windscreen and will need sparkly stick attention there before long, but I am using the van next weekl to do 600 miles down south and around and back up so I have no issues in trusting it at all, the engine drips a bit of oil but I just keep it topped up, there is available by seperate negotiation a transit banana DI engine that had 80k on it when removed with a bosch pump (veg oil?) and also an adapter plate to fit a petrol engine that came with an mt75 gearbox (which was full of water so don't think itll be any good so is included free with the engine.. who knows it might be ok)also there is a prop end with the gearbox, the gearbox in the van is the overdrive one bu tthe overdrive doesnt function, when you engage it it just turns the gearbox into a freewheel sort of affair where if you power off it lets the engine tickover until revs match road speed again..
so there you go, a ratty looking camper, with good tyres mot and tax, slap a coat of masonry paint around the inside and use as is or spend some time and make it your own.. I will miss it but need to concentrate on the Roma before it disintegrates on the drive and one less insurance a month out the bank account would be very handy at the moment"
So I contact Nick via the forum not holding my breath, the pictures to be fair are ok so i think its probably gone, However im wrong, a return message telling me the campers still available and to come take a look is all the enthusiasum I need to get going, its arranged I jump into my car for the 200m round trip and away I go.
The reality was a little worse than I expected, a previous owner, (not Nick) had attempted to reline the old girl inside well its a bodge at best and poorly done, the walls are peeling off literally, the skylight from the bathroom is missing and the onboard electrics are a joke, however the base is sound, so after some haggling we agree a price and a 50% deposit is left and details arranged for Nick to deliver the Van to me and for me to drop him back home in the new year.
so fast forward to January, Bessie brown is now sitting on my driveway, 2 binbags full of crap removed from her interior, along with the poor electrics, the high level wall cupboards and the walling from over the kitchen.
Damp is going to be an issue here, I need to get the ceiling water tight and replace the floor in the luton entirely.
I will post more as I progress.
