It was all going so well...or was it?

Well the last 2 days have been interesting....or rather frustrating.

The garage did an MOT test, which has effectively killed my van... but not yet as the current MOT lasts until November. For £60, I now have a list of defects.  It included brake discs, pads and pipes, wipers, lights etc but they also found structural corrosion at the rear suspension, which is apparently far too complicated/expensive/pain-in-the-arse to fix on such a van. I have been assured that it is not bad enough to be a safety concern, just that its not worth putting it through another test. They didnt bother fixing anything at all... So, options are...

1- I can scrap the van for £300 and start again with the searching for another van, budget maximum £1300 (I did find a lovely green LDV for £850 but its in middle-england-shire, and to be honest, the thought of starting all over again with another unknown...well it isn't pleasant!  I could be no further forward with another cheap van... the AA would do a vehicle inspection for £190, but that plus costs to get there and drive it back would leave me with no spare cash for unforeseens. 

2- Give-up the whole thing and have a wee holiday!  :)

3- Spend a fortune getting this van able to travel europe.

4- Spend a couple of hundred pound replacing brakes, broken pulley etc and use this van for the summer, scrapping it in November when its test runs out.

Option 4, on balance is my favourite....Im still hopeful that the house will sell soon, which ups my budget for the base van, I was already making all the fittings demountable and can happily continue doing so (with or without a van) And I (and Archie) get to spend the summer practicing van life....Down side is theres nothing to say that more and more isn't going to break down, and I just keep having to buy parts to keep it running... would probably also be wise to join the AA!  And if on the off chance I happen to find a good looking welder, capable of being corrupted by flirting, it may get a 2nd innings...but more likely I'll have to find a better van to do Europe...

Anyway, I have a sofa to build tomorrow (its quite a bit narrower than the van making it easily traferred to a new van when required. I also need to board up the window a bit more neatly, and tidy up the bodywork as best I can...no more money will be spent making this van pretty!

I also managed to blag an old ice machine from work, which is made out of 2mm steel, about the size of an industrial washing machine, so should be able to get enough metal to build a gas locker... And I've even been offered a free (used) leisure battery, so between that and the old van battery I reackon I have enough power for now (if the van moves occasionally that is!)

Going to call an old friend tomorrow to ask if he'll take a look at the van, there are a few problems that haven't been addressed yet, like the van doesnt seem to be earthed properly (battery draining) and the suspension still isn't playing nice etc...I would value an opinion from one I trust...

Costs  £995.50  Carried forward
           £ 60.00  Garage
           £1055.50