37 days to go....

[sparkywig]

8)

Have a good trip.

 

[Harry UK]

Good effort and holiday not lost as you had a plan b so lesson to us all, "buy a spare van"; look forward to holiday snaps and van completion!


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[68_early_bay]

Good effort and holiday not lost as you had a plan b so lesson to us all, "buy a spare van"; look forward to holiday snaps and van completion!


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How was the hols any pics?? How's the bay coming along any new updates??


Shaun

 

[68_early_bay]

Any updates?

 

[giraffeinbath]

Sorry to have gone quiet but there hasn't been too much to tel over the past month or so....we made it away and got bloody soaked, the day after we got totally sun fried, the day after that we got bloody soaked again so you get the idea. It was all good though, even a rainy day by the seaside is still a day at the beach and not at the desk :mrgreen:

We've been away again since and we got soaked then too, but that time we lorded it with a real bricks and mortar house so we didn't feel so wet. The upshot of this is that although we're in August and we haven't been away in the van yet, when we do by the law of averages it's going to be damn sunny.

Although a little soul-less the vito did the job, we stopped at a great little site on the way down that provided you with a huge pile of wood, a fire bowl and some marshmallows to toast for £15 which was worth every penny for entertainment value, the challenge is too burn all the wood they give you in one evening before you give the fire bowl back in the morning, we had it covered....

It also helps to give your mates some encouragement to make it too the beach if they are running a bit late...

Cornwall, the only thing bigger than the landscape are the pasties...

Having been away in the vito I can appreciate better why people sell out and buy a T5 because it is nice knowing that when you jump in the cab and turn the key to drive home it'll fire up first time without question...............the flip side is there's just no challenge or adventure as you know when you jump in the cab and turn the key to drive home it'll fire up first time without question, thus proving that the grass is always greener.

Given the option I'll stick with the bay, I think actually the grass is equally green either side of the fence but ours is the side with the daisies.

As for the van........

Well it got dropped off with my bro some weeks ago and things have ticked away in the background as they have fitted it in around other stuff. During that time I've not seen it which was a bit weird given how totally involved it was for the period before. I've comfortably slipped into it though, sometimes it's quite nice knowing that somebody else is sorting it out for you and you know it's going to come back just right.

The real news?

It's painted.

But I haven't seen it.

Apparently we're not allowed to see it until it's been flatted and polished so we get the full effect so the first time we see it is when we go to pick it up (which will also be when we take it up for it's MOT). Then it's back home to reassmble everything properly and bring the whole thing together so we can use it over the Indian summer that we've invested in with the rainy trips so far.

I've got one sneak preview photo, it's all we've seen as it's the only image my bro has sent me but I'll share it with you so we're all in the dark together as far as knowing what the end result looks like right now!

From here watch this space, I'll be sure to pick this thread up again and keep you guys posted as things progress towards a camping ready, Neptune Blue early bay van.

 

[68_early_bay]

Sounds like you had a good holiday, and even better news on the bay glad its in paint now and you'll have it back in no time, was dreading this was Gunna turn into one of those projects that all the hard work is done then it's put to the back of the garage for 2 years before its finished :roll: but good on ya and it'll be good to see it done 8)

Shaun

 

[giraffeinbath]

We're going to go and check the van out in it's painted state this evening for the first time,

Then it's on the back of a flat-bed to be delivered back home tomorrow.

I'm quite excited :mrgreen:

 

[68_early_bay]

We're going to go and check the van out in it's painted state this evening for the first time,

Then it's on the back of a flat-bed to be delivered back home tomorrow.

I'm quite excited :mrgreen:

8)

 

[giraffeinbath]

The van has been back with us a couple of weeks already and it's coming together, I'm overdue a few pics on this thread so here's a few from when we went over to see it for the first time.

The telephone pics are a bit grainy but you get an impression of just how damn flat and shiny the paint is, we were totally bowled over at just how good it looked, a bit speechless actually!

A big thanks to Matt, Nathan and Martin for all the hard work done, it looks amazing.

You'll notice the wheels and bumpers have been painted as well which was a total surprise!

Apparently my folks had popped in to see my brother just after the van had been painted and they enquired what we planned to do with the bumpers etc, to which he told them that we going to get anything done with them at the time as we had basically run out of cash.

They had a think and said to my brother that they would pay to get them done, which basically involved Martin trying to sneak the bumpers out of the locked barn by making up a story about 'checking the fit against the body' and getting me to hand them over without raising suspicion. Equally as amazing mum managed to keep it a secret the whole time we we're around theirs for tea just before we headed over to see the camper for the first time that evening

So a big thanks to my folks as well for adding the cherry to the cake, and also to their credit spending a whole day polishing off the rusty bits, previous paint, road tar and general grime from the wheel caps which sounded like a complete mission in itself!

 

[Irishpete]

They had a think and said to my brother that they would pay to get them done, which basically involved Martin trying to sneak the bumpers out of the locked barn by making up a story about 'checking the fit against the body' and getting me to hand them over without raising suspicion. Equally as amazing mum managed to keep it a secret the whole time we we're around theirs for tea just before we headed over to see the camper for the first time that evening

That's great - I love little thoughtful things like this, they really make me smile!!!

 

[68_early_bay]

Wow that's some shiny paint 8) looking good

 

[68_early_bay]

How's it coming along any updates?

 

[giraffeinbath]

It’s been a while since I last updated this thread.

There were 37 days to go when I started and a quick Google would suggest ‘ day zreo ‘ was now 4,387 past, which equates to 12 years since the last update. Needless to say a lot has changed over the last decade+ whilst other things have stayed the same, we’ve still got the same ’68 bay but delightfully there's three of us in it these days

We used the van a lot when the monkey was small with numerous trips and weekends away including a 3 week stint in France in convoy with some friends and kids in their VW camper which was a lot of fun, however it’s been off the road for a couple of summers in waiting for some fairly massive chassis work which has been completed now. I've still got some jobs to complete before it's ready to use and it'll need a good shakedown to restore confidence with certain members of the family before we take it farther afield again, which given it’s now May means I need to get my skates on. It would appear I've got older but no wiser, the last minute rush to get things completed is something the younger me should have improved upon.

I’ll leave this post brief for now as it’s beyond me to summarise a decades catch-up in a single post. I’ll follow up later with a few pics of the work that’s been completed and highlights of goods times away since I last signed off on this thread. Right now though it’s off to the unit to get cracking, I’ve not calculated how long I’ve got before our first planned trip, but it’ll be around about thirty something days...

 

[ozziedog]

Be great to see it out and about come summer. Maybe get to a VW type fest thingy with some more earlybayers.

Ozziedog,,,,,,,,looks great.

 

[mike202]

It’s been a while since I last updated this thread.

Bit of an understatement !

I started reading this thread thinking it was now, I hadn’t joined EB forum when you started it haha.
Good luck with the work to do but what are you having done?

 

[matty74]

It’s been a while since I last updated this thread.

Bit of an understatement !

I started reading this thread thinking it was now, I hadn’t joined EB forum when you started it haha.
Good luck with the work to do but what are you having done?

I did exactly the same Mike

 

[Ben72Bay]

I did exactly the same Mike

I did the same as well!

 

[giraffeinbath]

I started reading this thread thinking it was now, I hadn’t joined EB forum when you started it haha.

I did exactly the same Mike

I did the same as well!

Well if it's any consolation it doesn't feel like 12 years ago since I last posted on this thread!!

I could have started afresh but this was a pivotal moment in the van's history with us and it's as close as I've ever come to a 'build' thread on here so I thought I'd resurrect it.

With regard to what needs to be done, primarily it's getting the suspension and ride height sorted, sorting the pop top out with a mechanism to lift it again (there's nothing there currently) and working through a few brake and electrical snags.

I'm struggling to pin down the ride height and stance, I don't want to go as low as many might to keep the van practical and comfortable for other occupants so the usual route of a 175/55/R15 tyre (currently fitted) is overkill and currently looks stupid on the front, but even trawling through the numerous suspension and tyre threads on here and elsewhere I just can't pin down the best combination of settings and tyres size to make the front end look right.

I'm running a French Slammer beam with standard spindles currently which were fitted immediately prior to the van coming off the road for the chassis work so I never got as far as dialling in the suspension and ride height. I have the FS dropped spindles to hand but I'd like to retain the option to run my 14" steels and as the dropped spindles cause clearance issues with the lowest ball joint I've not used them. I feel if I can get the right tyre size on the front and maybe drop the beam adjusters by a notch to level the van out I may well be there, but without the ability to physically try different options to check for aesthetics and clearance etc it's all a bit finger in the wind. Any experience or feedback would be welcomly received.

It's funny, I love the look of a slammed earlybay but when it's come to our own van I've found myself trying to find a happy medium, which ironically is proving trickier than dropping it to the ground...

 

[Ben72Bay]

Well if it's any consolation it doesn't feel like 12 years ago since I last posted on this thread!!

I could have started afresh but this was a pivotal moment in the van's history with us and it's as close as I've ever come to a 'build' thread on here so I thought I'd resurrect it.

With regard to what needs to be done, primarily it's getting the suspension and ride height sorted, sorting the pop top out with a mechanism to lift it again (there's nothing there currently) and working through a few brake and electrical snags.

I'm struggling to pin down the ride height and stance, I don't want to go as low as many might to keep the van practical and comfortable for other occupants so the usual route of a 175/55/R15 tyre (currently fitted) is overkill and currently looks stupid on the front, but even trawling through the numerous suspension and tyre threads on here and elsewhere I just can't pin down the best combination of settings and tyres size to make the front end look right.

I'm running a French Slammer beam with standard spindles currently which were fitted immediately prior to the van coming off the road for the chassis work so I never got as far as dialling in the suspension and ride height. I have the FS dropped spindles to hand but I'd like to retain the option to run my 14" steels and as the dropped spindles cause clearance issues with the lowest ball joint I've not used them. I feel if I can get the right tyre size on the front and maybe drop the beam adjusters by a notch to level the van out I may well be there, but without the ability to physically try different options to check for aesthetics and clearance etc it's all a bit finger in the wind. Any experience or feedback would be welcomly received.

It's funny, I love the look of a slammed earlybay but when it's come to our own van I've found myself trying to find a happy medium, which ironically is proving trickier than dropping it to the ground...


View attachment 8114

It’s looking great!! And I grew up with a love of Polzeath so all good from me!!

 

[ozziedog]

If it’s any good to you, I’ve

Well if it's any consolation it doesn't feel like 12 years ago since I last posted on this thread!!

I could have started afresh but this was a pivotal moment in the van's history with us and it's as close as I've ever come to a 'build' thread on here so I thought I'd resurrect it.

With regard to what needs to be done, primarily it's getting the suspension and ride height sorted, sorting the pop top out with a mechanism to lift it again (there's nothing there currently) and working through a few brake and electrical snags.

I'm struggling to pin down the ride height and stance, I don't want to go as low as many might to keep the van practical and comfortable for other occupants so the usual route of a 175/55/R15 tyre (currently fitted) is overkill and currently looks stupid on the front, but even trawling through the numerous suspension and tyre threads on here and elsewhere I just can't pin down the best combination of settings and tyres size to make the front end look right.

I'm running a French Slammer beam with standard spindles currently which were fitted immediately prior to the van coming off the road for the chassis work so I never got as far as dialling in the suspension and ride height. I have the FS dropped spindles to hand but I'd like to retain the option to run my 14" steels and as the dropped spindles cause clearance issues with the lowest ball joint I've not used them. I feel if I can get the right tyre size on the front and maybe drop the beam adjusters by a notch to level the van out I may well be there, but without the ability to physically try different options to check for aesthetics and clearance etc it's all a bit finger in the wind. Any experience or feedback would be welcomly received.

It's funny, I love the look of a slammed earlybay but when it's come to our own van I've found myself trying to find a happy medium, which ironically is proving trickier than dropping it to the ground...


View attachment 8114

Before you go crazy with the van aesthetics and stance , have you tried driving through a shopping centre so that you can see how it’s looking while rolling? Then you could do any adjustments required on the beam after measuring where you want drop or not at the arch to the deck measurement. Fairly easy then to work out what circumference tyre will find your desired height. I. E. If you like it as is , you could drop your adjusters two clicks which should drop you an inch then you’ll need to find a tyre with a larger circumference / sidewall to give you that inch back. I’ve made up all the measurements here just as an example. I’m seeing what you’re saying about those front wheels but have you got more clicks available on those adjusters?

Ozziedog,,,,,,,,, perfection can be elusive