And so it begins

Right thats it.   Everything is packed (we hope) and we're off to dover.  More updates to come... stay tuned.

Preparing to prepare the preparations

This update we have some last minute prep work and modifications.  There were a number of things that were "nice to have" that we wanted to do if we had time so over the last few days I have managed to sort most of them out.

First up, a non-slip mat for the passenger side dash.  One thing we noticed during the test run was that the dashboard is quite slick, things slid all over the place.  So now they wont.  Sorted.

Next up, the center console.  I built this following the run as we needed a better way to mount the CB, somewhere to store bits, and additional cup holders :)  I added carpet and non-slip mat to finish it of.

Next item on the list, the CB speaker.  The internal speaker is small and very quiet, so we have attached an external one.  This is now "mounted" to the center of the rear seats, facing forward meaning everyone can hear it loud and clear.

Next we have the health and safety.  We had a fire extinguisher, but no-where to put it.. now we do :)

Lastly, we have the tech-controller.  As you may have noted in an earlier post, we have an automatic relay to turn on / off the power to most of the car when the engine switches on / off.  That leaves us with a small issue.  We cant use the lights without the engine running.  So to get around this I have wired in a set of bypass switches.  Not only that but have also rigged up a set of sealed lead acid batteries as backup that can charge while we are moving so we don't even need to use the car battery, reducing the risk of accidentally running it dry.   The USB ports were just some spare units i had for another project, so I fitted them into the dash as more ports are always handy :)

Just a few days left now, if you haven't already donated, please visit our Just Giving page and drop a few quid.  Its all for a good cause.

A sticky situation

Due to availability of people, and the order in which the stickers arrived, the sticking of the van has spanned two weekends.  First pass was Gregg and I, applying the non-serious stickers.   

Trial and error (without the error)

Its been over 18 months since the last time we went camping, and the long-distance survivability of the Previa is also an unknown quantity, so we decided it was worth going for a test run.

Breaker Breaker One Nine

All the cars on the ScumRun are encouraged to fit a CB radio for free communications while on the road.  We did this last time, so we are doing it again.  The antenna that was used on the GTO suffered a Gregg induced failure (it was taken out when he did a rapid, unexpected, reverse park into a tree), but as we are teaming up with Adam and Mike this time, we had another one we could use.  This was fitted to the front part of the roof, as the rear part cant be use when the moon-roof is retracted.

After a bit of fiddling, we decided to route the cable in via the moon roof.  Due to the way Toyota tend to do their sunroofs, we could do this without too much fear of a leak (the roof pushes down on a lip, rather than butting up).  Unfortunately there's no real clean way to do this other than with duct tape.

Inside the cabin, the routing options are equally limited without spending a lot of effort ripping apart the roof so we opted just to hang the cable via the hand-holds out of the way.  This then goes down to the floor, secured where possible, routed to the center of the car where the CB itself is mounted.

Currently we only have it sat on the floor, but in the final form we will have a box of some kind sat here for the CB to attach to.

Electrickery

We have been slacking a little on our updates, so there are a few to come over the next few days.  The first of which is electrics...

This car is going to be wired... literally.  We are a team comprised of techno geeks so going anywhere without at least 3 electronic devices each is unheard of.  As a result this van will be toting around phones, gps, CB radio, powered cool box, cameras, plus anything else we want to fling in to the mix.

Quite a bit of tech, so we need a way to wire it in.  The current cigarette lighter is only rated to 10 or 15 amps. Daisy chaining everything out of the dash like that would look terrible, likely be a fire hazard, and also be prone to breakage.  We needed to do it properly,  so the first step is to run a decent wire into the cabin from the battery. We still had some of the heavy duty 30amp cable we used in the GTO, so out comes the drill...

Modification time

Right then, its time to crack out the tools.  First up is storage space:

As you can see we have plenty of it, but its in one large lump which isn't so useful when you start stacking stuff in there.  We need something a little more modular, or separated so we can keep wet tents away from dry clothing and the like.  So out with the pen and paper for a quick doodle.

A simple design for a 2 shelf (plus the floor) system.  I have made space at the front for the cool-box to sit on the middle shelf, so we can get access to it from the back seats while in motion, and included some cross bracing for strength.

With the help of some spare wood supplied by Adam, from his recent home refurbishments, we started building.  We decided to not bother putting cross bars all the way up to the seats on the top shelf for several reasons.  Partly because it would have been a pain to do the smaller bits on the sides with supports etc, but also it now gives us convenient access to the middle shelf from inside the car without moving the seats.  Also remember "measure twice, cut once".

Next up the camp kitchen.  A brain-fart I had while pondering this was the idea of a pull out work top for to put the burner on for our morning bacon. An old server comes with sliding rails, and makes a convenient metal box to store hot cooking bits in, and it just so happens I have an old server.... et voilà.

Work in progress...

The whole chassis extends clear of the back of the car, and can be accessed easily from both sides.  The lid is conveniently removable so we can store the stove and bits inside and, when slid back inside the car, the boot closes without issue. 

 The finished product :)

So that's the shelving system sorted, while I was dealing with most of that, Mike attacked the dashboard. The Previa comes with a blanking plate above the radio that we wanted to remove to install the CB.  As it turns out we might be locating the CB elsewhere now, but it was still a worth while exercise as we can install a cubby-hole here for easy access storage.

 After much swearing, bashing and "persuading" the unit was loose.  Not without a few casualties though.  Not only did the cigarette lighter suffer, but the car also managed to draw first blood.

We also found a fairly random CD buried inside the dashboard kind of stuck in place with 10 year old dried up coffee. The CD had Asian writing on it, possibly Chinese, and its black on the back (much like the early play-station games.   The odd thing is the Previa doesn't even have a CD player.  Strange.  The music is some random Asian singer, so I have no idea what it is.  If anyone wants it, donate a tenner to our just giving page and it's yours :)

Anyway, after digging that out, cleaning up the coffee spill and all the other crud in the dash, we re-fitted everything ready for the electrical work next week.  

So what's next?  We have a number of things to do before we are ready to go, and with just 8 weeks left, time is running out.  Some of the things coming up in this blog are:

• Wire up the various chargers and electrical gizmos.
• Do an oil change
• Replace the balding rear tires
• Check the engine over (and possibly switch out the sparkplugs).
• Install the CB and antenna

There are more things on our list, but I will save those for later, so tune in next time....

Workin' at the car wash

Step one, clean the crap off the car so we can see what we are working with.   Lets get some before and after pics up shall we...

That's the inside sorted, off to Adams place to fire up the pressure washer to blast outside...

SOOO much crud came out of the wheel arches, its unreal, but now its all shiny.

Its not perfect and there's some rust around the edges but it should do the job.  More updates on the various mods and repairs to come, stay tuned.

The big reveal

Finally managed to snap a few pics of the wagon, check out our ride...

As you can see, its in reasonable nick, but needs a good clean.   We have a list of things to sort on her, so we will be documenting that over the coming weeks.

Toy-mota time... again.....

Well we did it.. we have a car.. its.......another...

Toyota Previa 
A "GL" Automatic this time

Is it a luxurious beast... no, not really.
Does it drive and not have bits fall of it... YES!

Its big enough for what we need, reasonably grunty and seems in ok nick.  We need to get under the bonnet and have a good poke around but a quick blast down the A27 seemed ok without any major dramas.

For reference we also looked at another Galaxy that was a total heap, a Volvo estate that, despite being massive, wasn't anywhere near big enough for our needs. a very brief look at a Mitsubishi space wagon that may have been an option but the seller didn't get back to us, and we put an offer on a VW Sharan that might be available, however the Previa is here now, so at least we have something.

Pics and more info to come (but don't hold your breath... it may be a few days).