Zel's Motoring Adventures...Volvo, Renault, Rover, Trabant, Invacar & A Sinclair C5 - Updated 13/11.

[Zelandeth]

Obviously tubes that you already have are cheaper than those you have to buy, but I've got some nice Osram 930 tubes in the iLoad - lovely light if like me you're bothered about such things A shame not to meet you yesterday; I was loitering by your Lada but didn't want to interrupt your coversation, and then never saw you again.

Sorry we didn't get the chance to talk, sure we'll cross paths again at some point. Or if you're in this general neck of the woods feel free to drop me a line.

 

 

Today between entertaining friends I got a few things done on the van.

 

Firstly was to excavate the main wardrobe and all the stuff buried in the service hatch below it.

 

 

Once all the crud was removed, the water pump was unearthed. Looks to be in good order...just had its hoses chopped off. Annoying as from what I remember this type of hoses aren't cheap.

 

 

I did find another bag of trim bits though, so set about reattaching some of them and the reflectors from the rear bumper that I'd unearthed a day or two back.

 

 

 

Still a few missing as the rubbing strips need to be put back in (there's a huge reel of the stuff in the bathroom) first. I may well pull a lot of this off to double check it's all sealed properly anyhow.

 

Managed to dig out some better tubes for the lighting as well, which has made one heck of a difference.

 

 

 

It's actually quite a bit brighter than the photos look, the general colour though is so much more pleasant.

 

The box of stuff I unearthed contained the taps and shower among other things, so allowed me to start putting a few things back together.

 

 

There's no pipework attached to it - nor shower tray, but it feels good to have something back in its rightful place.

[vulgalour]

That's a cosy little frauwagon and no mistake.  I wonder if the random chopping through of bits was someone just ditching anything old so they could modernise it all, regardless of whether or not the old stuff worked perfectly fine.

[Zelandeth]

That's a cosy little frauwagon and no mistake.  I wonder if the random chopping through of bits was someone just ditching anything old so they could modernise it all, regardless of whether or not the old stuff worked perfectly fine.

That appears to be exactly what has been going on. Thankfully they stopped before messing things up behind the point of no return.

 

This just arrived in the post, so hopefully I'll have a full compliment of working indicators by the end of the day.

 

 

Looking at the state of the existing mounting screws, that bit may prove "interesting" as will routing the power line back to it through the abyss buried under the washer bottle.

 

...removal of which I think requires the removal of the offside headlight. Removal of which requires the removal of the radiator grill...you see where this is going don't you.

[Keymaster]

This is making me regret selling my autotrail! What sort of nutter would cut all the wires and pipes? Keep up the great work and make sure to stock up on sika 512

[Zelandeth]

This is making me regret selling my autotrail! What sort of nutter would cut all the wires and pipes? Keep up the great work and make sure to stock up on sika 512

I honestly have no idea - especially as they've also loosened off all the hose clips anyway! From what I recall this sort of pipework isn't exactly easy to cut either...would probably have been easier to actually pull it off.

 

What version was yours and based on what chassis?

[lexi]

Nice Motor Home and project Zel.  You'll be the fastest Silicone gunner in the West, time it's finished!

[Keymaster]

What version was yours and based on what chassis?

It was a white and blue Chinook on a Talbot chassis. I had to do a fair bit of work on it over the years, there was always something letting in water/rotting out/short circuiting/falling apart. I had a real love hate relationship with that van, but looking back nothing but great times.

[Zelandeth]

I've come to the conclusion that as far as the kitchen is concerned, trying to piece the existing bits of wood back together is going to be nigh on impossible - at least without a decent picture of how stuff was originally put together. Getting a bunch of suitable timber and just making my own framework for the stuff under the worktop is going to be easier and quicker.

 

I did however discover this while rummaging around in the front locker.

 

 

This proved quite handy as it gave me some useful info on layout, and a wiring diagram.

 

About 30 seconds of reading later I figured out that the tank I had in the locker is actually the fresh water tank and the grey water tank would be in a totally different place.

 

...hey look, a water tank!

 

 

When was the last time you saw the underside of any van engine or gearbox that was this lacking in a thorough coating of oil?

 

 

It's almost comical how many leaks there are in the exhaust. I think the only section not actually blowing is the downpipe.

 

 

Oh, and the last couple of feet - though it's kind of pointless...and only helps get the fumes sucked in through the vent by the fridge. We'll be going for a side pipe to combat that problem methinks.

 

 

The chequer plate bumper is interesting!

 

 

The main event of the day though was a "what the hell was that?!?" Moment.

 

Heading up a gentle hill, had just dropped a gear to get a bit of a boost for the last few hundred yards, so was giving it some revs (nothing excessive), when there's suddenly a god awful vibration/rattle, seeming to come from roughly under the passenger seat. Initial thought of what it sounded like based on prior experience: popped prop shaft UJ. Immediate reaction, clutch in and start scanning for a place to coast over. Realise that the noise has stopped about a second later. Clutch slowly back out see if I've got drive...yes. no nasty noises...no vibration... everything seems normal. What the?

 

Thought was that I'd maybe lost a bit of the exhaust (it does rattle something rotten) and it had dropped into the propshaft. However pulling into a garage forecourt a half mile or so later showed it to be fully present and secure.

 

Given that it sounded like all hell had broken loose under there only 60 seconds before I expected to see some evidence of the event...not a thing! Only issue I spotted was a slight weep from the return line to the fuel tank. One drop in the space of like ten minutes.

 

There's always been a funny rattle at particular engine speeds higher up the rev band (my theory has always been something in the exhaust, gear linkage or something like that), and I'm sure these things are connected... however I'm at a total and complete loss.

 

Anyone got anything resembling a guess?

 

I'll record a quick video of the "usual" rattle tomorrow to see if anyone thinks it's anything beyond "normal old van noise" that I should worry about.

 

This is obviously something that needs investigating, though I've not the foggiest idea where to even look!

 

The only thing that does spring to mind is that most of the splash guards around the engine bay are pretty knackered...have to wonder if something might have got itself pulled into the cooling fan (it's a viscous one, not electric so would have been going great guns I imagine) and shredded. No obvious damage to the fan, but I can only see the edges without pulling the cowling off.

 

I'll get that off tomorrow too and have a poke around.

 

Scared the hell out of me, that's for sure!

[Zelandeth]

So I took it out for a run earlier today with the intention of provoking whatever went on yesterday, totally without success.  Not sure if that means it was indeed something falling off or if there's something else wrong that has just decided not to rear its head again yet.

 

Car related task for this afternoon was to replace the offside indicator repeater.

 

Can you tell which one is the new one and old one here?

 

 

Now, this should have been a two minute job.  However it was made somewhat more difficult thanks to the fact that someone in the past had managed to pull the positive connection clean out of the light housing entirely, so it was floating around in the engine bay.  So I needed to get things into a position that would allow me to get the wire back to the hole in the wing.

 

As such it was necessary to remove a few things to get sufficient access...

 

 

Thankfully despite looking like they were from the Titanic all the fasteners unscrewed without protest.  Given the general state of the front of the van, that was a pleasant surprise.

 

 

It was at this point that I discovered that the prime reason that access was so ridiculously tight was that the windscreen washer bottle was sitting in completely the wrong place.  It was able to be pushed a good six inches or so back.  This then allowed me to get a spanner in to unbolt the indicator lens, allowing me to get it out and to get a proper look at the wiring to it.

 

For some reason, the rubber boot that should have been keeping water from getting into the indicator was folded in on itself several inches up the wire, which was making it incredibly awkward to route things properly.  The spade terminals were also really loose.  Rectifying both of these problems made it far easier to route the cabling properly and to get the indicator itself to behave reliably.  Having the indicator itself out also meant that I had sufficient access to get my hand in to route the wiring to the repeater.

 

Finally!

 

 

That only took about an hour longer than I'd expected.  It does however mean that I've now got a full compliment of fully working indicators.

[PhilA]

The side repeaters on these have always amused me.

 

It's like the legal team approached the design team to tell them legislation had changed and the things were a requirement henceforth, the design team sent the work experience youth to get a block of wood, sand the edges round and paint it orange and black as a demonstration and the design was then never altered.

 

As for vibration, sure nothing fell off?

[Zelandeth]

As for vibration, sure nothing fell off?

 

I've no idea...It seems that whatever it was has indeed now *fallen* off, which makes it hard to find.  I did check at the time and didn't see anything in my mirrors disappearing into the undergrowth or embedding itself in the front of the car that was tailgating me.  I really am baffled!

 

Biggest problem with these side indicator repeaters is that because they stick out so far, they're very prone to getting smashed.

 

The seal also needs to be repositioned depending which side of the vehicle they're on, or the drain hole is at the top and the thing will fill up with water!

[Zelandeth]

Three tasks for today.

 

Number 1.  Do some further investigation to figure out what made that godawful racket and vibration a couple of days ago.

 

After a good crawl around underneath, I think I've figured it out.  Didn't spot it initially as when I first looked it was from the passenger side, meaning that the large main exhaust silencer was in the way - plus I was looking for something obviously smashed to pieces based on the violence that was observed from within the cab.

 

Exhibit A: The sliding joint on the propshaft - now missing 99% of its protective rubber boot.

 

 

Okay, so it shredded the boot...Wouldn't have expected that to make too huge a din though, surely?  Note the thing directly above it however - the handbrake cable.  What I reckon has happened is that the boot has let go, flailed around for a bit before departing the vehicle.  While failing around it's whacked the handbrake cable on each revolution, translating into a horrific racket in the cab - as I observed immediately to my left.

 

Is replacing that likely to be an easy driveway job, or should I just look at getting a garage to do it?

 

While I was crawling around in that general area I had a closer look to see if I could see where the slow fuel leak I'd observed was coming from - didn't take long.  Seems to be weeping out of this joint.

 

 

Given this is an extremely slow leak at this point (you're talking one drip every few minutes) I'm somewhat reluctant to disturb it in case it will no longer seal at all until I've got a replacement on hand.  I guess if all else fails I could just stick a bit of normal fuel hose between the two rigid pipes couldn't I?

 

Task no 2.  Figure out where the horrendous rattle from the exhaust is coming from.

 

This was located using the age old method of crawling around and poking various bits of it with a screwdriver to see what effect it had on things.  Pretty quickly was traced to the first box in the system (a smallish, I assume expansion box, with both pipes going into the front face), which has broken away from is hanger.  As such it's vibrating so much at idle that it's essentially a blur if you try to look at it.  Given that the second box is also in poor condition, it may well just be time for a whole new exhaust system, rather than trying to faff about repairing this one.

 

Task no 3.  Try to do *something* about the state of the front panel below the grill.

 

First up, hit it with the polycarbide mop on the grinder.

 

 

I was quite surprised how solid the panel was to be honest, though I do have a sneaking suspicion that if I went after the blister to the nearside at the bottom that I'd quickly wind up with a hole to repair.

 

Next up, throw some paint at it (after going over it with a degreasing cloth).  We're really only aiming for a "presentable from ten paces" job at this stage, mainly for the sake of our neighbours.  I did initially try to mask off the graphics, but lost interest in that after about five minutes when the tape kept tearing while I was trying to get it off the roll.

 

 

Still rough as a pair of old boots if you look too closely...

 

 

...But is a million times better from a few paces away!

 

 

 

Finally, as I promised, here's a quick little video recorded today.  Sorry about the odd shaky nonsense.  The camera was rigidly attached to the dashboard and I think the vibration has caused the anti-shake algorithm in the camera software to have a complete nervous breakdown.  Not much I can do about it aside from re-shoot the video, which I will do at some point.

 

Microphone isn't the best, but hopefully has done a halfway reasonable job of capturing the old school diesel soundtrack.  Far nicer than the tinny rattle that comes with most diesels these days I reckon...

 

 

At least there's somewhere convenient to stick the camera in this vehicle, unlike most of my fleet!

[Zelandeth]

Something I noticed yesterday was that the rubber gaiter that should be sealing the grease in and the outside world out of the universal joint attaching the steering column to the steering box was inside out - obviously not doing the job it was intended to.  As soon as I can figure out where the heck the pot of CV joint grease (assuming that will work nicely for this application) has got to, I'll re-grease that and get the boot put back where it belongs.

 

Inside out rubber boots seems to be a running theme with this van - that's two on lighting and one on a steering component I've found so far - and one that exploded on the prop shaft...so it's kinda inside out now (and in tiny fragments all over the A420 somewhere between MK and Buckingham).

 

Also noticed that half the bolts holding the offside wing on where less than finger tight.  Starting to think I need to just go around this thing end-to-end and make sure everything is screwed on properly!  I have visions of a Wacky Races moment where I hit a pot hole and the entire thing spontaneously dismantles itself around me happening!

 

While digging around in a storage locker I'd forgotten about I noticed something rolling around in the back...

 

 

Hey look, a seatbelt!  That's useful.  Especially so we can have someone back here looking after the dog during longer journeys.

 

EDIT:

 

I remembered where I'd put the grease, so went back out to address this:

 

 

Looking closer, there's a hole in it too.  Which looks like it was caused by someone poking a screwdriver through it trying to get the boot either on or off.  Thanks for that whoever it was.

 

 

Some grease added...There was more added after the photo was taken, before...

 

 

The boot was put back in place.  I've rotated it so that that hole is at the lowest point to reduce the potential for water ingress.  The boot doesn't actually move (the steering column just slips in the upper part of it), so just a blob of something suitably sticky might well solve the issue.

 

While I was crawling around down there to make sure it was seated properly on the rear edge I looked up.

 

Mmm...Crispy!

 

 

Just proving that this is indeed a 28 year old Merc T1.  To be fair, not unexpected in the slightest, this van will be seeing some attention from a body shop in the not too distant future so this will likely get sorted properly in due course.

 

Looks like I'll be needing at least a new rubber cap for this ball joint too...

 

 

Still surprised by the relative lack of oil everywhere for a diesel engine of this age...

 

 

Edit to the Edit:

 

The new wallpaper for the bathroom has now arrived!

 

 

Should fit better with the general decor than the pink flowers currently in there.

[plasticvandan]

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Ac-Invalid-Carriage/183328347912?hash=item2aaf389708:g:QM8AAOSwKUVbTJF7

 

ummm,,, new old stock model 70 body?!

[Zelandeth]

The hell?!?

 

Less than 60 miles away too...

 

Yes please!

 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Ac-Invalid-Carriage/183328347912?hash=item2aaf389708:g:QM8AAOSwKUVbTJF7

 

ummm,,, new old stock model 70 body?!

[plasticvandan]

you could almost use that to repair both of yours,certainly could take moulds off it too

[dollywobbler]

That's amazing! Nicely found.

[Zelandeth]

you could almost use that to repair both of yours,certainly could take moulds off it too

That's the thinking. Not sure I'd use them directly to sort TP, but it would be ideal to take moulds from...and obviously offer the use of to other owners.

 

Question is whether it will go for sensible money or if one of the more serious collectors will snap it up and end up with it making silly money. Guess we'll have to wait and see!

 

Next question...could I fit that lot into a combination of the Xantia and trailer. Or the van, though the side door would make that awkward.

[vulgalour]

Since that looks like a low-stress boot, you can probably get away with superglue to seal up that hole in it.

[Zelandeth]

Well the little shower we've had this evening has proven useful in looking for signs of water ingress in the van. Only bit I could really see was the offside rear corner. That looks somewhat crispy, and virtually everything off the roof drains down that corner - and is pooling on top of the bumper there, right next to a crack in the plastic. Time to test out my seal renovation technique, and to add a bit of weatherstripping to "encourage" the water to run off rather than pooling there.

 

How weather proof is the Invacar? Um...well let's face it, it would be far quicker to list where water isn't getting in than where it is!

[Zelandeth]

Despite it being 28C in the shade I was determined to get something done today - despite nearly breaking myself yesterday by wandering 12+ miles around London in similar temperatures...

 

Initially started swapping over some Invacar brake lines - to have the first two unions I attacked immediately round off. Go figure. If it comes to it I'll just swap the whole connector block over, just annoying as it's made a ten minute task far more awkward.

 

Fine... let's tick some stuff off on the van then. Not knowing when the oil was last changed bugs me, so that was high on my to do list.

 

Have it a quick run for a few miles up the road to get the oil warmed up (even though it runs sufficiently cool I'm not sure it even has a thermostat fitted), then got the Pela on while I got the stuff together. Remembering that I'd need to empty it halfway through as this thing takes somewhere between six and seven litres of oil. Also a good reason for using the Pela - all of the oil drain pans I have are only 5 litres!

 

While it was draining I loosened off the nuts holding the lid on the oil filter housing and let that start draining.

 

 

This takes a surprising amount of time, because it also appears to drain the line to the oil cooler, so a good couple of litres of oil come out.

 

Once it's mostly done, pulling the cover plate off brings the filter out attached to it.

 

 

Removing the filter from the plate should be done over a drain pan as there's invariably about half a pint of oil trapped in the filter itself waiting to go everywhere as soon as you lift the filter off.

 

New O-ring fitted and new filter added...

 

 

...and back in place.

 

 

Annoyingly I didn't spot that the cover plate was upside down (not that it matters to anything aside from my OCD) until just now.

 

By this point the oil had finished draining, so was a simple matter of refill, start engine, check for leaks, recheck level, top up, test drive and recheck.

 

These were both full when I started!

 

 

Takes a bit more oil than your average family hatchback.

 

What came out did seem quite watery to me, but I've seen far worse. At least I now know it's got fresh oil and a fresh filter in. Good for peace of mind.

 

Brake fluid will be next as that looks rather ripe judging from the colour...

 

 

Would have done that today but didn't have any DOT4 in stock, so will grab some in the week.

 

Also waiting on a new prop shaft boot arriving from eBay so I can get that sorted.

 

Nice to have at least ticked one job off, even if it is just routine servicing.

[Zelandeth]

Does anyone actually know what the technical term I should be searching for when looking for a new boot for that propshaft slip joint?

 

So far I've found several places willing to sell me the entire front bearing assembly complete with it - but thus far have drawn a blank on just the boot itself.

 

I'm assuming that if I actually went anywhere near a Mercedes dealership they would just look at me as though I was some complete alien life form given the vehicle is more than two years old.  If they're actually better about legacy parts supply than I expect, I'm quite prepared to be proven wrong...

 

One of the really useful things I've got for the Lada is a factory part number catalogue, which lists part numbers right down to every nut, bolt and washer in the car - Wish I could track one of those down for the Merc!

[cort1977]

http://mbspecialist.com/mercedes_webcatalog/601022_1979-1996/

 

Any good?

[Zelandeth]

http://mbspecialist.com/mercedes_webcatalog/601022_1979-1996/

 

Any good?

 

Sweet...That's definitely getting bookmarked - and appears to have the part I'm looking for available at a sensible price.  Thanks for that!

 

Shipping is a bit expensive for a £5 part - but I'm wanting to order some more service items anyway, so will get them all as one lot.

[dollywobbler]

For info, a chap called Barry won that spare bodyshell. He used to have a vast stash of Invacar parts, most of which he sold to the chap who cleared the field where this pair came from.

[Zelandeth]

For info, a chap called Barry won that spare bodyshell. He used to have a vast stash of Invacar parts, most of which he sold to the chap who cleared the field where this pair came from.

 

Yeah, I'm still not totally sure what went on there...I left a bid of £75, but apparently they won it for £51...My guess is sniping at the last second and the system doesn't have time to catch up?  Not by any means the first time I've had that happen either.

 

 

This afternoon I did a good job of demonstrating that I'm a complete idiot.

 

One gremlin which the van has had since the day I got it home is that the warning light on the dash for the indicators doesn't work.  Thankfully they do self-cancel pretty reliably, as the tick from the flasher unit is so quiet that once the engine is running it's essentially impossible to hear.

 

First port of call was of course checking the bulb in the warning light.  That checked out fine. 

 

Next step was to check the wiring to it.  This required taking approximately half the cab apart.  After some considerable time I figured out that I could get much better access to the back of the instrument cluster by removing the speedometer than trying to squeeze through the inch wide gap I was otherwise trying to work with.  I discovered to my cost however that the edges of that cut out are *really* sharp, and now have a nasty gash on my left wrist.  Thankfully I noticed it before bleeding all over everything for a change.

 

At this point I was able to confirm that there wasn't any power getting to the light on the dash...well, not strictly true.  There was *some* power getting there...just enough to make the meter needle float slightly above zero. 

 

At this point I spent about fifteen minutes chasing a complete red herring because I got my wires crossed.  The supply line to the indicator light on the dash is blue with a red trace.  Not red with a blue trace...

 

Eventually figuring out which wire was which, I got back on track and sure enough found that the wire from the dash did indeed terminate on the socket for the flasher unit.  A terminal which is clearly intended to have 12V on it intermittently to light the warning light...which doesn't.

 

Just to confirm it was the same wire, I grabbed a jumper wire and hooked that pin up to 12V...

 

 

...Hey look, the light does work!

 

Problem is with the flasher unit itself...and it's not just a dry joint, seems that we've got at the very least an open circuit diode and transistor to contend with.

 

Of course can I find another four pin flasher unit floating around in any of my boxes of bits?  Not a chance!

 

Seriously...why didn't I just check that immediately after proving the bulb in the lamp worked?!?

 

I've also noted that the lens on the indicator light on the dash is sadly cracked.  Don't suppose anyone has one floating around in a random box of spares somewhere do they?

[Zelandeth]

Balls...

 

Noticed on the way back from the station earlier that the Xantia was making strange squelching noises as applying the brakes. Hmm. The ride seems to have been a little jittery the last couple of times I've been out too...have we got an issue with air getting into the LHM?

 

 

...that would be a yes then. While a good head is to be desired on some beers, not in an LHM tank.

 

Right, will have a look at the suction lines tomorrow then.

 

I was just about to close the bonnet when I then spotted this.

 

 

Um...that doesn't look good. Let's just check to confirm it is indeed weeping refrigerant...

 

 

Sod it. My nose had already confirmed that, but the blacklight just confirmed it.

 

Also spotted that it's leaking from one of the service ports.

 

 

With the mental price of R134A at the moment that's the last thing I want right now. Anyone near MK with the kit to recover the charge from this so I can get it sorted?

 

Obviously weigh what comes out, hopefully stick it back in after then go get it recharged as needed afterwards - I do have the data for it at least so know what needs weighed in.

[Zelandeth]

So in a couple of weeks we're taking the van away for a long weekend. No idea where yet.

 

However that means I've got two weeks to get the living area working. Normally I'd expect to be further on by now - but this never ending heat has lost me a lot of ground. So heat exhaustion be damned... let's do this.

 

Bathroom is the first main target as it's been totally stripped.

 

The rear wall had been totally stripped to deal with a damp issue. Thankfully most of the work has already been done, I just need to finish putting it back together.

 

I'm just assuming that every seal on the rear panel and in that area need attention rather than bothering to test them. Though granted there was no sign of ingress when we had that brief downpour a couple of days back.

 

 

Dragging everything out of there to get access to the full height of the wall revealed the floor.

 

Now it's obvious that whoever had decided to start pulling this van apart and "upgrading" things didn't have any concept of the fact that weight is the enemy.

 

The flooring they had chosen in there was laminate - and the panels covering less than half the floor must have weighed north of 10kg. I also discovered that the few bits of frame they'd replaced seems to have been done using the hardest, densest wood on the planet. Thankfully it's only a couple of pieces so I'm not messing with it. Absolute swine to screw the wall panel on to it though.

 

Didn't take long to get the insulation finished off.

 

 

 

Plus adding the first bit of plywood surface.

 

 

I had to stop at that point to go collect Abby from another train station following train nonsense again. That's four days this week she's had problems with her commute.

 

Getting that all "buttoned up" shouldn't take long though, just cutting a bunch of plywood to shape/size and screwing it in. Cardboard templates will be my friend for the more complex bits.

 

 

This evening after dinner it was the turn of the kitchen.

 

Carpentry isn't my favourite of jobs, but it didn't take too long to get to this stage.

 

 

It's actually starting to look like a kitchen again!

 

The draining board is a little squint but I'm not too worried as I'm really not a huge fan of the worktops and reckon they will be getting swapped out at some point. Aside from anything else, like the bathroom floor they're at least twice as heavy as they need to be.

 

Given I'm looking at a forecast of 32C tomorrow, I'm not holding out much hope for productivity tomorrow...

[Ben_O]

This is coming on a treat!

 

Looks really cosy in there too

[Zelandeth]

As predicted it's been stupidly hot here today so productivity has been minimal.

 

I did actually take advantage of the heat though in starting to get some rust proofing applied to the underside of the van to try to reduce the rate of decay in the short term.  Mostly was working in the underside of the cab, and don't have any decent photos of that.

 

Other than the areas of the cab we've already seen it's actually in surprisingly good nick for a 28 year old van.

 

 

 

That exhaust is needlessly complicated though.  I can see that getting significantly simplified when it gets replaced.  That first expansion box has snapped its hanger off so currently vibrates and buzzes in a truly maddening way.  Will need to speak to some experts on that subject methinks.  Not least because that full length system must be unnecessarily heavy aside from anything else...and if I can save a few kg that can't be a bad thing.

 

I've also figured out some of the plumbing that's still here - all of the drainage lines from the bathroom and kitchen appear to still be here, just tied to bits of the chassis.  So I just need to drill a hole in the bits of replaced floor for them and reconnect those up.  Yay...Plumbing I don't need to do from scratch.

 

The fresh water tank and all of its piping unfortunately are gone as that used to be horizontally mounted across the back - which is where they've done remedial work on the floor in the van so everything has been removed.  All of the wiring appears to still be there though, so fingers crossed it won't be a massive headache to reinstate.

 

You can't help but notice when you're crawling around under this thing how bloody vast it is compared to most cars!