Tops and Bottoms

Lucy removing some of Milly's bits

Having seen hard tops and pop tops and measured Jim on top of Milly we decided to go for a pop top, if we could find a cheap one. Isn't e bay such a help! I found a local advert for pop tops and we contacted the guy and lo and behold he had a second hand top for a T4 by the side of his house. We hurried round and found that not only was the top for a T4 but it was also red (all be it a slightly different red to Milly). We bought our top and Ian, the guy making and selling them, not only agreed to deliver it but gave us lots of help with how to fit it.

This is scary !

......and down came the golf balls !

It was with some trepidation that Jim began, one sunny morning, to cut the roof off with a jigsaw and an angle grinder. He had just made a sizeable hole when it began to hail with stones the size of golf balls. It didn't last long and we swept the ice out, then Jim continued. He had lined the fibre glass top, fitted some powerful roof pistons and attached the side skirt to it. We had lots of help lifting the roof into place and when it went on, it was amazing! She really looked like a camper van.

Many hands.......

Looking out from under Milly's skirt

In my Easter bonnet

So much for the top!

We had a minor/major mechanical blip one morning. Milly refused to go into neutral before starting her up! It felt as if the clutch had stopped working. On closer inspection by Steve G it proved to be the master clutch cylinder that had broken which meant we had three vehicles on the drive with Milly at the bottom blocking them all in! Had this broken while we were going along it would have caused serious damage to the clutch and flywheel. Phew!

We bought some strong plywood (remember we have a weight problem) and Jim fitted it to make our bed. I climbed up. Not an easy task given my little legs but it held and the view from the window was great. The real test came when Jim joined me. This is where the 'bottoms' comes in! There is not a lot of room to get up and he's not exactly small! We found that as long as I lie down flat, he can just get up and swing his legs over my head and get in.Very cozy but I think an active sex life will be a bit too much for the bed!

Lucy testing the strength of the bed

We went into Exeter to South West Laminates and looked at some laminates for our worktop. The price was eye-watering so I asked Steve if they had any off cuts. He didn't blink when I said we needed a piece 2 metres long and gave us a full board that had been returned for just £30. It's in a black sparkly granite effect and just what we had in mind. Our kitchen will be awesome!

I ordered a foam mattress immediately so that we could consider a weekend camp in Weymouth with Milly and Jezebel II getting acquainted (Jezebel II is spooky's windy vehicle). Sadly this was not to be. Jezebel II was still receiving her top coat; the weather was atrocious and Milly continued to boil on every hill. We got her home eventually after several refill stops and she went to be rewired with a temperature gauge and fuel gauge to be fitted. It's good to have a reading telling you when you are about to come to a stop for lack of fuel and to confirm your suspicions that the steam coming out of the engine does mean she is over heating.

The excitement continued as I went out and bought a duvet, a duvet cover, towels and a potato peeler (red of course) for her. Won't we be smart! Another trip to Weymouth and despite many efforts, she continued to boil on hills. Jezebel II had finished her paint job and looked very smart in her new livery. Steven was doing gymnastics trying to rearrange the parts of his rock and roll bed into something with a flat surface. Jezebel II was beginning to show her true colours under the paint job.

Our first real trip in Milly came a couple of weeks later. The weather was fine, could even be said to be hot. We packed excitedly and went all of 10 miles to Topsham near Exeter. It was almost wild camping! There were no showers and the toilets were a bike ride away but we were as happy as pigs at piddle - we were camping in Milly!!!

Just the usual gear - bikes, duvets etc etc

Milly and Lucy - Lucy is the one on the right

We dined well, played Yahtzee and drank some wine. This did not help too much when it came to getting into bed but did make us laugh over it! We need a porta potti was the decision when we had to cycle over the field to the toilets in the dark. The sun was still shining the next morning when we woke up. The view from our bedroom window of the fields was great. It was hot already. We also need a fan and an awning!

Fan, porta potti, sink, hob, fridge and fabric for an awning ordered left the bank balance rather depleted but nothing is too much for our Milly. I began to get a little concerned when Jim woke up in a panic one morning. He had been dreaming that I had said we had to sell Milly as we had spent enough money. I think he would have seen it as grounds for divorce. She is certainly like a third person in our marriage and I'm beginning to wonder which of us he prefers!

I made the awning, Jim finished off welding a 'new' back seat from an old transit van and we set off for 3 days to north devon to camp at Woolacombe over the last of the jubilee weekend. Seemed like a good idea when we booked it. It was sunny when we arrived. We settled in, put up our smart new awning set up the table and chairs and set out the doormat (I forgot to mention that). The others arrived and the weather deteriorated. The wind which until then had been merely strong, became gale force. The awning stood up well considering but we did decide that it was definitely for sun and not rain. We all sheltered in Milly (seven of us) that evening. It was certainly cosy. The next morning was even worse. You could hardly stand up in the wind. There was an exodus from the campsite. We debated joining them but Steven was, as always, optimistic. We walked into the town, had a pub lunch and ventured onto the beach. On a summer's day it would have been fantastic, golden sand, rock pools and surf. This, however, was only June so only the surf was on form. The next day, however, the sun shone and we cycled part of the Tarka trail. Devon cream tea for lunch helped complete a great day. The weather had returned to a norm for February the next morning and we packed up in pouring rain and gale force wind and headed for home. Milly did overheat again when going up Telegraph hill but at least the gauge goes down as well as up now!

Yesterday our hob and sink arrived. They are really smart. We have a dinky fold down tap and a sink. The fridge and fan are due soon. Jim is going to finish the wiring and insulation and lining. I'm looking into hanging baskets and a herb garden to go with the bud vases and flowers on the windows. I suppose curtains will give more privacy. She's going to be great!

The outside is taking shape......

......and everyone can see what we're doing.

Bladder and Wind Problems

When Milly arrived back home the next day we decided that we would take her straight into Kath and Bills garage to get her electrics sorted out a soon as possible. Lucy opened the gates and I heard her shout "Steve's coming out!" I couldn't see him anywhere so I looked at her questioningly! "Steve's coming out" she repeated. "WHERE?" I shouted. as I was becoming agitated. "From the bonnet" she replied - "STEAMS COMING OUT!!" Ah! Steams Coming Out! Oops!
A quick check under the bonnet revealed a distinct lack of water in that bottle shaped like a nuclear reactor. Probably just an air lock through me not topping it up correctly. No problem there so I filled her up and thought no more about her leaking bladder.

Being measured up for a bed

The next day we decided to check out the roof size by me lying on top to see if I could fit. Interesting! Discussing the various problems and difficulties of making our own was proving to be a challenge. Thinking about our visit to Gloucester we were surprised how good the pop tops were but just too expensive! And the high tops were not as spacious as we thought! Back to the drawing board.

Mike came round a few days later and fiddled with the wires but still couldn't get any of the gauges to work so the instrument panel would be something we would have to replace. He did rewire the fuel pump and sort out a few minor electrical issues. While looking underneath the dashboard he was holding onto the steering wheel which suddenly came away in his hand! Shit! When he pulled the horn cover off there was no nut holding it onto the splines of the steering column! That would have been interesting a few days earlier at 88 miles an hour!!

We also discovered when rummaging underneath a hole in the back exhaust box which would account for the strange noise she was making from her rear end. So that would need changing. The next evening when Steve was fitting it he noticed that the centre exhaust box was also lacking in metal! She also needed a middle silencer box as well to control her wind! Milly, give us a break please!!

Sunset over Glocestershire

Having found that Milly was severely restricted in top speed I thought we had a major engine problem. It turned out that it was something to do with banjo bolts. These, as I have since found out, are remarkably things in a diesel fuel pump. So under telephone instructions from Steve G I removed these 'banjo' bolts to find one had a hole and the other didn't. I swapped them over so the fuel going in to the pump had a bolt with hole and was therefore unrestricted. All reconnected and off for a test drive I suddenly felt the power that Lewis Hamilton must have felt when he first stepped into an F1 machine. Awesome! Problem solved. Acceleration noticeable.
We could now turn our attention to the interior and roof. We built a full scale model in cardboard of the kitchen and rear seats and it looked pretty good. We couldn't find a roof that was cheap enough so discussed the possibility of making our own. A visit to Chris Humphrey's boat yard proved useful but daunting. The amount of work involved could be considerable. After much more research Lucy found a place in Worcester were they sold high tops and pop tops. We were convinced we wanted a high top and they had one one we could see fitted to a van so we decided a visit was essential. The place in question was some two hours drive away and it would give Milly a good run. Steve G thought it would be good for her to have a run as well so off we went. She certainly likes motorways. I managed to get her up to 88 mph, er, sorry 70 mph max UK speed limit! We were very happy.
We had a good chat with Jonny at Dirty Weekender's and saw first hand both types of roof. We began to change our minds and think a pop-top would be better but at £4k to have one fitted we needed a re-think.
So as we went to leave, Milly would not start. Bugger! We called Green Flag who sent a chap out who was very interested in what we were doing, diagnosed a broken fuse and we were soon on our way. On the M5 south we were chatting about our roof changes and what we were going to do next when suddenly Milly started to splutter and slow down. Oh dear! As I pulled onto the hard shoulder I put hazard warning lights on and she started going again. So I manoeuvred back onto the motorway and turned the hazards off. She spluttered again so off  to the hard shoulder we went again. We repeated this procedure a few times but thought we should turn off at the next junction as things were obviously not quite right. As we did so she started working normally so we turned back onto the M5 and on the slip road spluttered again and started to slow down. Hazards lights on again but this time she came to a complete halt.
We phoned the rescue services, again, and were told "on no account get out of the vehicle and wait in the vehicle, with your seatbelt on, to be relieved". As we waited the sun started to set over the countryside. It was very picturesque, apart from the traffic hurtling past and Milly wobbling in the lorry vortexes.

The rescue vehicle turned up fairly promptly and took us off the motorway to the next slip road and onto a garage. The mechanic had a look and tutted a bit and said she needed more attention than he could give. We enquired about a tow home and discovered we only had a 10 mile mile recovery distance. It would cost over £500 to get home! A few calls to Kath and Steve G, a trailer and a neighbours 4x4 was procured and would be with us in the morning. So we had to find a hotel for the night. Normally this wouldn't be problem but it was Cheltenham races this weekend so there were very few beds. So £90 later we were booked into an Ibis Hotel for the night and Milly was tucked up in a garage overnight.
The next day we were on the bus heading to the garage when we had a call from Dave from Overbrook Recovery Services, Gloucester. He had got her going! Brilliant. He had decided as there was not much to do he would have a fiddle with her wires. He had found a lot of connections had come loose. It must have been down to excessive vibration at 88mph!  A quick call to Kath had found them just filling up and about to leave - cancel that and sit tight. Phew - just in time!
So, we set off for the third time and she started bleeping! I had heard this before and knew what to do. Just disconnect a plug or two that didn't appear to do anything! No problems all the way home. She's a one that Milly but in-spite of the events to date we were starting, in a starnge sort of way, to enjoy the uncertainty of it all! She was starting to develop a character.

Piddling Pete

After much discussion on names Millie was settled upon as a name for My Windy Limo as previously discussed.  I was, however, soon corrected by her indoors as to the appropriate spelling. IT'S 'MILLIE WITH A 'Y' ! Fair enough. Correction noted. Anyway, back to Milly herself. She is proving to be quite a handful, if you pardon the expression. Just when we think she will perform, she coughs a bit and stops. She's a tease that Milly!
So, there we were again in the dark and the rain. Spanky was under Milly playing with her belts and bits and having the occasional moan, but in a nice way and seemed to be quite happy. Steve could not get any new glo plugs that matched the originals so he decided to put the old ones back in for now. All  the belts and pulleys were timed up again and we were ready for another attempt at making her go. She coughed into life much to my delight again. I thought she sounded OK for an old gal but the guys did not say anything! Then Steve said 'I can see flames around the glo plugs!' Now I don't know much about engines but this did not sound quite right. On closer inspection I could see smoke but no flames and I know the old saying! So, out came the plugs and one of them had a hairline crack. Not good I thought. Spanky said it would be no problem and he would get it sorted at work the next day. I love these guys! When there is a problem it's not a problem. I'm starting to think they like it when she doesn't start 'cos then they can find a solution. It's almost as if they have nothing better to do than lie on the ground, in the dark, in the rain, playing with our Milly! And that's what they like!
The next couple of days I spent lining Kath and Bill's garage walls so that we could use the garage to work on Milly over the coming months. I also noticed some watery yellow stains on the wheels and on the ground around Milly when I discovered that Piddling Pete had be using her as a toilet! Lovely. I was quite glad when Pete went under Milly and came out with a black streak of oil down the middle of his back. That'll teach him. Nah! He's a West Highland Terrier with the madness gene! And Spanky had been lying down in it as well!
A few nights later Steve and Bill had bought some new timing belt covers and new belts. So under Steve went to belt her up agian. Spanky had come up trumps with new glo plugs and so we were away. Steve gave me the task of putting in the glo plugs. This was more difficult than I first so when Mike came along and took over that job I was quietly relieved. No wonder Steve smiled when he gave me the plugs!
We had to modify the timing covers with a Stanley knife quite a bit, something that the designers at VW did not think of unfortunately. And then we started to put the radiator in for the first time! We were getting close now. We noticed some wires that had been worn away and needed replacing. Along with some other random wires that didn't work. 'There's bound to be teething problems' said Mike gleefully. We decided not to fill her up with water just in case we had to take the radiator out again. We fired her up and after a couple of goes she ran! And then she stopped. Shen started and ran again! And then she stopped again. What now Milly! Give us a break! She ran fine when the throttle pedal was pressed but she would not idle. Apparently the timing was slightly out again! Bugger!  'Does that mean we have to take all that lot out again - radiator, timing belt covers, belts, bolts, wires and just about everything else we've done in the last few weeks' I blurted!
Steve and Mike said they would sort it all out next week while I was away in Italy. I made it very clear that they MUST text me when she's going. So, there I was, up a mountain with 10 kids when I felt a vibrating in my pocket. I couldn't resist a 'peak' and much to my kids amazement I yelped at the top of my voice. Milly was running and I'd missed her rebirth.
When I got back to blighty Steve had already put on knew number plates and rebuilt the front end, started to fit a CD player and taken her round the block for a spin. He had to adjust some water pipes, the throttle cable was broken and the battery was buggered. Apart from that all was going well!
On Monday, in the daylight for a change, Lucy, Kath and me gave Milliy some TLC. Lucy and Kath gave her a wash. They scrubbed the bumpers, door handles and bodywork. The dashboard and interior door panels were given some elbow grease and she began to take on a new aura. The neighbours commented later that she looked as if she had been painted. Praise indeed. I took out her inside bits - an old bodged up sink unit, a bodged up bed, some dodgy wall panels and some very wet insulation. The floor was removed to reveal a considerable amount of builders crap. Final sweep out and she was looking good.
I arranged to meet Steve that night to install the new battery and throttle cable and of course as usual it was dark and wet. Nice to be back! With the new bits on, she started like a dream. I opened a celebratory beer and toasted the guys. Steve decided to take her round the block as he had trade plates. Excited was I as I sat in the passenger seat with a large grin! That night I started looking for insurance quotes.
The next day I confirmed insurance, printed of Milly's new birth certificate and hot footed it down to the post office armed with MOT and DVLA paperwork. Duly taxed and insured I decided to treat Lucy to a trip to the local tip to give her a spin. That's Milly, not Lucy! Needless to say she was thrilled with the location for our first van outing.

First outing for Lucy and Milly

So, we loaded up some rubbish, started Milly and we were off, both grinning like small children. Into first gear and 10 mph, second gear 20 mph, third gear 30 mph. Slightly sluggish we thought but we were in a built up area, so steady as she goes. Filled her up with diesel, all £74 and stared going through the gears again. Into fifth gear now and foot to the floor. Max speed 54 mph! And we had to wait till we nearly got to Newton Abbot to reach that! But at least she was running smooth and straight. Oh, and did I mention, no temperature gauge, no fuel gauge, a noisy power steering pump, window winder knob falling off, a strange sound when turning the wheel and one or two other minor things. What a great day !

We have a weight problem!!!

So, Xmas has come and gone and into the New Year we go with hopefully our van coming to life. We have got a bit bored of calling her the Van or the camper or the bus. We have thought long and hard and come up with the name Millie. Rather appropriate we thought. A gentle old lady, a bit smoky in places, one who shuffles about a bit and one who needs a lot of help to get going. But very nice for all that.
So there we were in the dark, seems to be a recurring theme this, in the rain with Millie's bonnet up. Steve G had enrolled Spanky his mate to help us work on her. We turned the engine over and round she went but no start. I thought it would be a good idea to put some diesel in so 10 litres later she was ready. We also gave her a new filter so she could drink clean diesel, if that's not a oxymoron. But still no start. Spanky started looking for the fuel pump and we found something under the carpet which could be it. There was no power to it. Indeed, little or no power to most things, apart from the reversing lights being on and the windscreen wipers dragging across the glass, due to 90% of the fuses being busted. Lots of wires located but they all seemed to disappear into the dashboard but didn't come out. We did find an Ethernet cable though !
The next visit to Millie Steve was armed with loads of fuses, Spanky brought a tool kit specific for Millie and we were all getting wet again and in the dark of course. I felt as I leant over the fuse box pretending to know what Spanky was doing with his test lead thingy that someone had attached a small water pipe to the inside of my collar which was slowly dribbling down my back and into my bum crack. This feeling was to remain with me for the rest of the evening while I looked on in marvellous mystery at the work the two guys were doing. Discovered the pump wasn't the pump after all. So eventually we found the the pump and the pipes full of air. We tried to remove the air by removing some pipes until fuel came out before reconnecting. But still no start. Found a solenoid thingy that stops the engine which seemed to work OK. Got the timing sorted out with much grunting and groaning so all apparently lined up as it said in the manual. The wrong manual, so I ordered the correct one on Amazon that night.
Before the next visit to Millie we had lots of discussions about the interior. What colour carpets? What colour worktops? What colour upholstery? What layout should the kitchen be? Where were we going to sleep? After trawling through lots of websites, bookmarking hundreds as we went, we decided that we should put a high top on her so we could sleep upstairs, just like a real house. We could get one fitted in Bradford! We spoke to the boss and we could park in his yard overnight, hook up to the electric while the glue set! Excellent. Found out we could have one fitted about 5 miles away so this looks like a better option. We discussed the type of bed we would fit in the roof and I found out that a hammock type bed seemed a good option but it could only take 80kgs! As I approach 95kgs on my own, I just happened to say to my better half  "we clearly have a weight problem here".  "WE HAVE A WEIGHT PROBLEM" came the retort. This went down like a barrel of frogs in your knickers and I haven't eaten since!
We decided after this we needed more advice so we found the T4/ T5 forum who have been very friendly and helpful. When I introduced what we were doing to the Forum boss he suggested we could go to his house and help him with lots of  DIY in exchange for a large charity donation. What a great idea! Slight problem in that he lives on the edge of Loch Morar in Scotland! It could be a nice place to visit when Millie runs. We also went to Rock Salmon, 5 miles away and had a great chat with Chris the owner. He was very helpful with the roof which he will source for us but also suggested a better system than my hammock idea! Phew! I was off the hook and I've started eating again. We also saw lots of great kitchen ideas, colours and even a camper with a kitchen at the back, which is just what we had decided on for our layout. Lucy also spotted a long wheel base Mercedes thing that was being fitted out and boldly proclaimed, "we're doing one of these next!"
We've also bought a DVD on camper conversions, bought one book and two magazines, been given a camper cookbook, a camp-site book and a metal container with blank recipes spaces for Xmas.  We have also decided  to join some DUB fests and already selected a few to visit. Perhaps a small UK tour before the Windy? We are becoming nerds.
Back on the van, we had a look at her in the daylight for a change. I did some rummaging around, fitted a bulb primer to help get rid of the air while Lucy did some cleaning and tidying and we planned some more ideas for the inside. We were actually nearly agreed on everything!
That night Mike joined us and looked at a lot of the wiring. Being an electrician he tutted quite a bit and found some more stray wires. We rechecked the timing, and a few other things. Steve G decided enough was enough and he sprayed some brake cleaner fluid into the air intake. Wow! She coughed and spluttered and fired up, with a horrendous knocking noise. They all assured me this was OK. I was unconvinced. We did it again and she ran for a couple of minutes. We had to be careful that she did not overheat as there is no  water in her. The radiator is in the back of the van along with the pipes! But she ran! Then we noticed diesel being chucked out of the pump. Bugger. This was then removed.
The next day I took this be tested at Chelston Electrics. A guy who works with Spanky made the contact and we managed to get a reduced fee for the work and a free test. So £236 worse off I returned the pump to Millie, were the guys proceeded to reassemble her in the dark, but no rain this time. A new timing belt kit was fitted, Millie was re-timed again and we were ready to try again. Diesel bulb primed the pump. I was given the honour of firing her up. Turned the key. No start. Turned again. No start. Steve G was having non of it again so out came the brake fluid cleaner into the air intake. I turned the key again. And. And AND! SHE FIRED UP!!! WHEY HEY. Fuel was pulled into the pump, I took my foot off the pedal, pushed in the choke and she ticked over very nicely, apart from a knocking sound, and smoke belching out of a glo plug. Nothing to worry about! Millie lives!
Steve G did say when she goes he was going to run around the garden naked! We are still waiting!