Thread: Stan the van (With Gav & Jan)

Originally Posted by Homestar

as I just don’t enjoy towing stuff - have done it for years but pretty much over it to be honest.

I hear you..

So a bit of a milestone reached. Stan is officially a Motorhome now and insured as such so I have him insured at a much better rate than the commercial insurance on it before, also with road side assist, accommodation should it need repairs while we’re out, etc.

Took a while as the insurance company needed to see the conversion was complete as far as functionality goes with things like kitchen and bed complete and with gas and electrical certification.

Finishing touches not necessary and that’s about all that needs doing now. This to do list is basically some trims, shower door, large draw below fridge,solar panels and just some general bits and pieces we’ll do as we use him more and work out what works best.

Diesel heater complete, bed frame complete - this was an Ikea sliding day bed style of thing which I heavily modified but it works like a charm now. Overhead clothing lockers also finished as well.

Have a 4 night trip in May and a 5 night trip in June booked in so we’ll get plenty of time to use him.

So one thing that’s worth sharing I think is something Janet came up with to an issue about how we could best utilise the back doors. During the summer it’s great, open them up and we had a flyscreen hanging over it and there’s not a better way of getting fresh air in. During Winter though, we need something different.

So, a bistro blind is now hanging in the back - zips up both sides which keeps all bugs out - and more importantly the heat in. With the heater on low the van stays toasty and warm while maintaining great light and views in the back. Look forward to trying it up at the river in a few weeks where we’ll be backed up within a few meters of the bank and will have a view worth looking at.

Couple of pics showing inside and out.





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Gunna encourage voyeurism at Wombat?

Long time since an update and I might even have a few pics to post by this evening. In between lockdowns we’ve been out a couple of times in Stan and it’s great - as soon as this current lockdown ends, we’ll be hitting the road for a couple of weeks to see some parts of Victoria we haven’t been to in a while.

Lots of work has been done in the meantime and the one good thing about lockdown (you have to look on the bright side don’t you) is that we’ve had plenty of time to finish off what we wanted to. It’s pretty much complete now with the exception of the roof mounted solar panels, great water tank and a few trims here and there.

Some big ticket items have been done - the clutch for one - I’ve had 2 occasions where the clutch has slipped just a bit - both times manoeuvring it around to park, etc and as it’s been close to it’s GVM it’s whole life I decided to get this done. I did think about doing it myself but ended up getting Eurostar Diesels in Sunshine West to do it. Took it there for a full service and check over as I’m no expert with Sprinters and they found a few bits and bobs that needed attention - nothing earth shattering but we discussed the clutch and some pricing and I bit the bullet. Wasn’t as expensive as you might think either. The flywheel was in good condition - they are a 3 piece unit that is prone to coming loose with high KM and they cost a bomb, so dodged a bullet there. The clutch and pressure plates that came out of it were still serviceable but clearly worn and it certainly validated my thought in doing it.

Big shout out to Harrison and his team at Eurostar - they are really fantastic to deal with and know their stuff - not pushy either, just happy to discuss pros and cons of each job and do what we decided.

Drives way better now but I’m still getting used to the new clutch as I’ve only driven it down the street and back a couple of times since it’s been done.

The other big ticket item was new tyres. It came with new ContiVanContact 200’s on it - which soon proved to be about the most horrible tyre to drive on I’ve come across. In the dry ok, but in the wet I’d rate them borderline dangerous - no grip at all - and I was tiptoeing around corners and still under steering badly. Looking at reviews there are comments about bad handling in the wet with heavy loads, so I guess Stan falls into that category. They also only had a load rating that was right in its limit so between those 2 things they had to go. To get a higher load rating tyre I had to go to a different size but after checking on forums and with Harrison, it turned out that’s what most people do when they need tyres for these so it’s gone from 195/75/16’s to 205/75/16’s - there’s still plenty of clearance between the duals and the load rating is around 25% higher. Gone with Michelin Argillis LT’s so will see if I’ve made the right choice there, but based on reviews, my own experience with Michelin and some recommendations from forums, that’s what I went for - not the cheapest but happy that I have plenty up my sleeve now.

Also fitted tyre pressure monitoring to them while I was at it - went for a truck in tyre setup with 7 sensors so even the spare has one so I can do a tyre rotation as needed.

Will post a few pics later on today of the interior as that’s pretty much complete now.

Oh, and I have also removed the Dometic roof mounted AC so height is lowered by 250mm and there’s around 60Kg gone up there - which will be replaced with solar panels.

Also removed the enormous awning for a rebuild as it had a few issues. Parts were readily available for it and it works like new again. I did need a scissor lift to remove and install it though due to its height and weight - it’s good working for a Hire company at times.

A couple of interior pics - the bathroom now has a sliding door - will be changed later as my partner doesn’t like it after all the fort I went to making it out of a privacy screen she bought but it didn’t take long so nothing really lost.

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Looking great

Thanks - just need lockdown to end so we can use it now.