330 swb day van projest

[Convoy Patrick]

Although my first love has always been Land Rovers (no, I don’t know why either) I’ve always liked Transits a lot. I remember the first ones coming out and what a revolution they were, with a cab that treated the driver like a human being when offerings like the Morris J4 assumed the driver was so far down the food chain that providing any sort of comfort might lead to revolution.

I’ve owned a few Transits over the years and rented loads of them to do everything from move house to take a bunch of people to Greece. The last one I owned was a a 1984 long-wheelbase panel van which I bought when it was about 12 years old and then drove to-and-fro across France totally overladen for several years.

All sorts of circumstances conspired recently to lead me to the conclusion that I needed another Transit. But something quite specific. It had to tow a caravan on occasions, it had to be small enough to be an everyday drive and it had to have air-con. I found such a vehicle, an ex-RAC job, in the shape of a 330 SWB at a price I could tolerate if not like. But it was in Cheshire whilst I, on the other hand, was on the south coast about halfway between Brighton and Portsmouth.

The deal was done, insurance obtained and yesterday morning I set off for Cheshire by train. I imagine that if you like hanging around for hours in large drafty buildings, catching other peole’s diseases and listening to the bass end of other people’s music while spending money faster than my wife in a shoe shop then trains are a great way to travel. Me, I’d rather crawl up the fast lane of the M1 than travel on a train again, but there you go.

Eventually I arrived in the appointed part of Cheshire, filled in the paperwork and set off for the nearest Asda to fill up on diesel. That complete I took myself off to a corner of the car park and started to find out what everything did and adjust the seat so I didn’t feel like a monkey on a stick while driving.

Time to set off. A couple of things I should mention here. I’m 65 and so not exactly a spring chicken, more a sort of battered old rooster. I have arthritis of the spine which while not disabiltating can get a bit uncomfortable after what seems like three days in a chuffing train. My usual drive is a Land Rover Discovery, which has an auto-box, leather upholstery that shifts about at the touch of a button, air-con, cruise control, road biased tyres and a 3.9litre V8. And here I am sitting in a diesel-engined van, contemplating a 290 mile drive at a time of the day when I’m normally contemplating sitting in front of the fire with a cup of tea and a re-run of Midsomer Murders on the box.

Five hours and 289 miles later I pulled up outside my home in Sussex. I was tired, but not exhausted, and my back, which should have been killing me, felt better than it had in days. I had averaged 56mph and that despite a limiter that kept me to a proper 70mph – not that I would have gone any faster if it hadn’t been there, of course. And that is impressive. No, that is bloody impressive.

So, the Ford Transit community has just gained one ardent fan and I shall now start converting the orange lump on my front drive into a sort of day van for old-farts. I’ll post from time-to-time regarding progress, but mainly I’ll be coming back to ask the stupid questions that newbies always ask.

[CheshireDigital]

Sounds a Great Project, My father is planning something similar.

Take plenty of pics for us

Good Luck

[transitandy]

Goodluck on your conversion and dont forget the piccies

[Convoy Patrick]

Thanks for that. There will be pictures once work begins.