Remap of the van.

My T6 is just 102bhp but moving up to the 140bhp is silly money as you have to have other stuff which I wasn't bothered about plus it was over a grand more.
I ended up going with superchips Bluefin tech.

http://www.mybluefin.co.uk/s/faq-s

Instead of taking the vehicle in I get
To the gizmo that downloads the current mapping, I send that via my laptop to them, they send the new mapping back I download that to the gizmo. Plug it into my vehicle it uploads new remap.

Advantages are if it goes in for service and a mapping update is needed, if it reverts vehicle to original 102bhp! I let the company know upload info, download new remap!
Instead of going into a garage and paying again, most companies have limited warranty to cover.
If you ever change your vehicle you get a heavily discounted new map for your car.
The company has been around since the early 70's. So feel confident.

The difference?

As the furniture was added to the van obviously slowed down mainly a lot more gear changes. And reduction in fuel efficiency.

The remap is 170bhp. That's it, the company has spent many years sorting this and have concluded this is the best mix of power and fuel efficiency.

Only done about a hundred miles and still only have 7,200 miles on the clock. But so far, I'm happy with the acceleration. Less gear changes and oh yes stuffed it up a Audi A4 on the Mway when he tried to intimidate me whilst overtaking in the outside lane gave him a run for the money 😂😂
Mpg a bit better when flooring it in the 102bhp fuel consumption dropped to low 20's now mid 20's
and as said not run it yet!

Whole thing took more than 20 mins to do. £500 seems a lot but convenience is great and 6 months interest free this winter!

95% There!

Built the final cupboard for the offside.
We originally wanted a cover for the toilet with a seat on top. A smaller cupboard above, hiding the electrics and a space above for toiletries etc.
Ah novice mistakes!
Because of the rake of the hatch rear door sloping several inches to the top meant the cupboard above the loo box, meant the "seat" was a no go, no headroom either! Was a just going to be a seat so no big deal.
Cutting the end panel was a long careful process to get it right. But I got there in the end!

So decided on another Tambour door, expensive but very light wieght.
I had to cut about 40mm off one side to fit my unit. So used the same blade style taped the area to cut etc. But nearly had a costly mistake! Once cut and I was happy i stripped the masking tape away to find several chipped of pieces on the underside! Weather is cold so I'm guessing plastic just brittle.

Fortunately the guide rail hides the chips! Slight problem when opening as it sticks a little but I'll see over time. Just don't fancy shelling out another £70!
So all that is left to do is fit a shelf ( when the rain stops!) Box in the battery and propex heater, and finish the offside rear seat box!

Rear Seats

Offside seat first.

Not particularly difficult job apart from remembering to put some rubber strip between wood and metal frame. I knew it would come in useful! Cock up in an order !

roof down orginal post August 2016

Out of sync picture!!!
 

 

Stage one, Out of sync date wise orginal 15/08/16

Finally finished stage one which was:
Poptop roof and bed
Solar panel
LED lights
( courtesy of Skyline Roofs Weston Super Mare)
Flooring
Pair of RIB Single seat/beds
Fit and wire Leisure Battery to 12v System
Wire in Solar Panel directly to Leisure Battery and it's control module
Wire LEDs directly to Solar Panel ( we'll see how this goes !)
Wire in Fridge to leisure system and test
Wire in mains electric and test.

Line pop top roof bed with "wheat coloured" lining carpet.
Line rest of van ( door frames , pop top roof frame and underside of upper bed ) with foam backed faux suede.
Panel off rear area with carpet lining I had left to tidy up and finish insulation.
Scrub floor and clean up!

Issues:
Many cuts and bruises
Sore knees!
Aching back
Still hate messing around under vehicles
Biggest worry that never was: dropping fuel tank! Piece of !
Biggest pain the faux suede I can see why most use carpet type more forgiving.

What's next:
Line the rear door frame
Seats re upholstered

Bike rack

Easy to fit not so easy to load!!
The ramp that is supplied is to narrow for my back wheel.
At home I used my own ramp which is wider worked fine.
On leaving the site I managed to over balance and dropped the bike no damage apart from a mirror.
Note of interest several "caravaners" were watching the antics none offered assistance! Luckily one of the staff came and helped!
On the continent there is a culture of help we needed a bit of a push to get the caravan into place, two families "French" were there in an instant to help us!
Upshot is need to rethink the rack to make it safer.

First try out

Abegeli Wales
Did well trip up returned 38mpg mixed traffic.
Also took the Ducati Scrambler on new rack no problems either.
Sleeping up top need a better mattress.
Lower beds will need to get the heater and battery boxed in, gives another 12" of room.
Not happy with the drawers need to rethink.
Fiamma roll out awning easy to use had some rain and the Very expensive length of rubber that seals the awning to the van worked well. So if we buy the awning that attaches to the roll out it'll keep things dry.
Not sure as these awnings are expensive and if we wanted to use the van all would have to be packed away, inconvenience mostly but the idea is to take the motorcycle to use for trips. Which also means we need a "shed"  so we're looking at a small easy erect tent for such things as chairs table etc.
Other than that it's pretty near finished and I enjoyed using the van.