Lockdown tasks

[kc13661]

Well last year we bought a little 2nd hand van for relatively no money at all (just under the £1000) so yes we knew it was dated, we knew there were jobs to be done and we knew the front offside corner had previously had damp (resolved) but it all depends on what you are wanting and what you feel you can do.

The Van is an Abbey Domino Two as the name suggests it is a two berth, the range was introduced at the Caravan show at Earl’s Court in 1995 when it was introduced as the companies most controversial tourer to date, with its new maple furniture design and all the gadgets (for the era) it was the glass-reinforced plastic sides that were the talking point, a design taken from the Swift Motorhome Division. It met with some success and in 1997 the Domino 4 berth was introduced.

Anyway our van is a 1996 model, large double bed at the front, end kitchen with full oven/hob and a ‘compact’ toilet/shower room, as mentioned the exterior is full GRP sides so amazingly had stood up well to the test of time, in fact when
walking around the van you struggle to find any imperfections in any panels.

So the plan was to clean up the interior and just make the most of it, then hit lockdown ..... thankfully the van is stored at home so I am able to potter along with a few little jobs.... that was the plan !

The previous owner was a contractor so used the van as accommodation rather than getting lodgings, so made a few mods such as drilling a hole in an interior panel to run an extension socket through, the sort of things you look at and think ‘jeez what we’re you thinking’

Anyway we ( wife and I ) sat and asked ourselves what do we want to spend ? And so to do what we are hoping to will probably cost around another £1000 ... wow !! I know a lot of good vans out there for £2k but our thinking is, this is a lovely little van, it was a unique design in its day with some history, why not bring it up to date, it has had a full service (September 2019)
I have replaced the rear light clusters as they were discoloured and lenses were brittle with age ( new pair were £55 plus anther £8 for new fixing grommets) all the exterior marker lights have been ordered to freshen the look up ( £34 for the lot).... the toilet compartment floor is the ‘shower tray’ and has cracks in it and the full plastic wall that incorporates the sink/vanity unit etc had some damage, so a replacement wall and tray have been sourced from a breaker and will arrive next week (£150 inc delivery)

Linda (wife) is removing the cushions, curtains and window pelmets and intends to reupholster them, as she already has the materials, that keeps the cost down.
We have been in touch with a company across at Lancaster who remove the old carpets and lay a modern wood effect vinyl floor (quote £270) and another company who make new removable carpets, like you get in new vans (again around the £250 mark) apart from that the jobs are cleaning and minor task like tightening hinges and personalising little things etc.

Oh we just acquired a beautiful Isabella awning with fibreglass poles, as new at a snip of £100 from Facebook marketplace

So for less than £2k we should have a nice little comfortable tourer, lightweight at a mere Maximum weight of 1000kg ....Looking forward to next years season