Blogs from Nantwich, Cheshire, England, United Kingdom, Europe - page 2

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Europe » United Kingdom » England » Cheshire » Nantwich August 13th 2008

Well it started with a drunken night in gregorys nightclub, after not venturing there for about 4 years we turned up to act as baby sitters for my youngest brother, whose 18th birthday it was. After altercations with the bouncers and some appalling dancing we went home and sorted out our bags for the journey. The journey began in the new Black Lion, a pint before getting the 13:07 sprinter train from nantwich to crewe! Of course everything got off to a bad start as my 8 year old rucksack decided that this was the time and place for the strap to snap..... looks like there is some expensive shopping to come!... read more
The brothers in town
The i love gregs society inaugral meeting
The black lion

Europe » United Kingdom » England » Cheshire » Nantwich August 10th 2008

The height of an English summer and intermittent rain fails to stop the villagers enjoying themselves. Neither could the event at Cholmondeley Castle (pronounced Chumly!) which was also held today. The main difference was that the Cholmondeley event cost £30 per person whilst the village event cost, taking into consideration staff and security fees, litter fees, fairground organ and bouncy castle fees, approximately, rounded up to the nearest pound, roughly nothing. Granted, there would probably have been more vehicles had the Cholmondeley event not coincided, but, so what, it was a great event and, what's more, the sun shone.... read more
More Minis
Austin 7
Another Austin

Europe » United Kingdom » England » Cheshire » Nantwich June 1st 2008

Getting the table in place Back to Dave Lowe's place for the table fitting. I managed to pick up the leg, floor mount and top plate for about £20 from a company who sell all sorts of bits for boats & caravans etc. The base was made of plastic but looked strong enough. The only glitch to this bit was the strengtheners running across the bottom of the base. So having found the right spot for the table - ensuring we weren't gonna hit any pipes or suchlike underneath Dave drilled the central hole. Then to ensure we got a snug fit a little angle grinder action was needed. Photos should speak for themselves...... read more
Dave smoothing it out.
Trimming the edges
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Europe » United Kingdom » England » Cheshire » Nantwich May 22nd 2008

Rock-n-Roll Baby Yeah! Unfortunately I didn't get any pics of the bed seat fitting but it was a pretty painless process. Again, there are a few places who make the beds. I went for one made of steel in a Worksop buy a guy who has made hundreds. He's adapted his design over a number of years, and the latest version fits neatly to the existing floor mounts (so no need for additional welding etc), it has a high seat back (for extra comfort) and also includes seat belts. The total cost including the boards and high density foam made to measure for the upholstery to as £465 fully fitted. Upholstering the Boards Following the mon's tip I bought some leatherette fabric from Dunelm Mill - only about £15 for 3 metres worth. It handily comes ... read more
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Europe » United Kingdom » England » Cheshire » Nantwich May 11th 2008

Phase 7 - the Kitchen In preparation for the rock-n-roll bed in a week or so, I thought I'd get the kitchen units in some kind of shape. As I'm a very respectable 'average' handy man I recruited Mossy to assist with this bit. He's more accustomed to making streamlined commemorative cricket bats out of 8 be 2's but he said he'd have a go. Mossy's good to work with because he's good banter and he has a very strong appreciation for the great British brew. He averages about 6 a day on a regularly day and naturally it has to be accompanied with a biscuit or two. Still he was on the clock (on my time) so I kept the banter up and the brews to a minimum. It's all about Recycling!! I got one ... read more
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Random drawer unit bought second hand from my buddy Brian in edinbra
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Europe » United Kingdom » England » Cheshire » Nantwich April 27th 2008

Laying the Side Door Step Topping off the floor the next job was to insert the new plastic lining for the side step of the van. Having bartered the guy from CMC down from £35 to £35 (I'm a fully trained negotiator - its what I do) I was pleased with my bargain - at least he told me I should be, as he chased me off with a wrench in his hand. The Watchful eye of big John This was a little tricky trying to match up the ply with the step - just a question of trial and error. In this case, lots of trials and lots of errors - but I got there in the end. It was made all the more pleasurable with John (the nextdoor neighbour) watching over me, and wondering ... read more
Getting the plywood to fit
Fitting the ply
Sitting the plastic step on top

Europe » United Kingdom » England » Cheshire » Nantwich April 26th 2008

Upholstering the Walls At this point I had the choice of paying about £600 to get a T4 Conversions place to upholster the van for me, or pay around £100 for the carpet & glue and do it myself. No brainer. I started with an easy bit, the side door panel. To make sure the upholstered panel still fit snugly into the van, I took about 2mil off the edges of each panel before applying the carpet. The key was to cut the carpet with about 2 inches of overlap (to fold over), spray both the carpet and the ply, and stretch the carpet flat as you glue it. (Do you like the way I casually flip from metric to imperial like its the same thing?). I realised after the first panel that you could spray ... read more
2 to 2 1/2 inches around
 Cut the corners tight to avoid overlap
Spray both surfaces

Europe » United Kingdom » England » Cheshire » Nantwich April 26th 2008

Laying the Lino Floor... This wasn't a particularly rewarding task, particularly since it was so difficult to trim the lino accurately, and also as I'd already got a nicely fitting carpet. However, the reason for changing it to lino was because I thought it'd be a little stronger wearing with people jumping in and out of the van when the seats are in. The magic marking pencil - a block of wood with a pointy end and a hole for a pencil - allowed us to match the shape of the side of the van to the lino floor. Not particularly accurate but sufficient enough to get a reasonable fit that could be trimmed to match exactly. You can buy the real deal at B&Q but since this wasn't a big job I didn't bother. New ... read more
The first strip goes in
Marking out the wall template
Removing the bolts from the floor

Europe » United Kingdom » England » Cheshire » Nantwich April 26th 2008

Best buy so far I managed to catch up with an old mate last month - Dave Lowe. Top bloke and he know's his VW's as he's been restoring them for years. Dave's converted a couple of T4's (including a classic yellow AA van). Fittted his own pop-top roof along with all the bits inside - rock-n-roll bed, stove, sink, fridge, additional lighting, rear speakers, units, table etc etc - so a handy man to catch up with. The swivel seat is a very simple design, but there's a number of versions and depending upon where you source them, can go for nearly £200. The one I opted for was £75 on ebay, and came with it's own base (£87 inc delivery). This means I'll be able to sell my original non-swivel base, which seem to ... read more
SWIVEL SEAT
Swivel seat & carpeted walls

Europe » United Kingdom » England » Cheshire » Nantwich March 26th 2008

Phase 2... mmm.... Forgot that an MOT was due this month. I had the big 80K service done in January (which fortunately I hadn't forgotten - £500 - and I won't be forgetting in a hurry) when they told me you need a couple of new springs on both your back wheels, and your tyres are down to the metal. "They're not desperate, but you wanna get em done" the guy said. So, I took that to mean, sit on it for a few months then when you're totally illegal start thinking about it. Well, the time has come. Expecting another extortionate bill, believe it or not I was pleasantly surprised at the quote of £400. Hey, beauty, power and finesse doesn't come cheap you know. But it does mean that the interior plan will be ... read more
Reverse Angle
The bling taking shape
Low angle




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