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P reg Renault Trafic van - spears or reapers - £150


wuvvum

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I thought I'd try sticking this on here to see if anyone fancies taking it on - I'm not putting it on Gumtree as I don't even want to imagine the life forms that advertising a £150 van on there would bring out from under their rocks, but it'd be a shame to scrap it as these are getting quite unusual in panel van form.

 

It hasn't actually failed an MOT - I took it in to my usual garage for them to look over and they said it'd need a lot of welding so we didn't bother putting it in for a test.  Worst bit is the rear crossmember, which has gone on both sides and is near the rear spring hangers so is a fail point.  Also the inner sills have gone in a few places, the nearside rear inner arch at the bottom and one of the outriggers by the nearside front jacking point.  The actual chassis rails themselves are solid, it's just the bits round the edges that need doing.  The rest of the bodywork is a bit battered, but nothing out of the ordinary for a 20-year-old van.

 

It starts on the button and drives OK.  It's not a fast van - the engine is a 2.1 NA diesel which made 64 bhp when it was new, 20 years and 200K miles ago - but it cruises at 60-65 happily enough.  Gear shift is a bit sloppy as the bush on the bottom of the lever keeps coming out, but the gears are all easily selectable.  Clutch is a little stiff but again works fine, as do the brakes.  It has PAS, which is a boon, although it's still heavier to steer than more modern vans.  That's about it as luxuries go - it does actually have remote central locking which sometimes works (think it's the relay which is the issue as wiggling it can wake things back up), and heated rear windows which I haven't tried as the rear windows are covered over. 

 

Lights, wipers, horn etc all work - the only electrical thing that doesn't (apart from the aforementioned remote locking) is the demister fan.  The previous owner put one of those plug-in ceramic heater things on the top of the dash - it's shite.  The heater still gets warm and when the van is moving there's enough air coming through to keep the screen clear, but in traffic one sometimes has to resort to a towel.

 

Not much else to say about it really.  The interior is used but not hanging, the dash is cracked, the rear is ply lined, the tyres are just about legal.  Price is £20 more than I've been offered for scrap - that £20 is because if I scrap it I'll nick the good battery off it for the Relay (which can then donate its current (undersized) battery to the Volvo), whereas if it sells on here I obviously need to leave the battery in it.

 

In NE Norfolk.  Pictures:

 

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Oh yeah, it's currently still taxed, although to be completely legal driving it away you'd need to book it in for a test (which would then negate the need for tax, but whatevs).

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Ah, that's who you are!  Hadn't put 2 and 2 together, soz.

 

The garage didn't give me a precise quote as they were too busy to take on the work at the time, but it was going to be at least a couple of hundred quid, probably a bit more.  So probably more viable for someone who can weld themselves.

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I had use of an old 1.9D SWB 4x4 Minibus over in the Alps, was nicknamed the ZombieBus as it had quite obviously spent all its life in the mountains, and appeared to have crashed into most of them. Coupled with rampant rot on every panel and an overpowering stench of sweaty skiboots it was quite an experience to drive.

Surprisingly drove pretty well, as long as you could find any of the gears, my 60's VW van was like an MX-5 in comparison!

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  • 4 weeks later...

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