Diary of an Ordinary Van

[Vee4]

The Ordinary Van's New Year Resolution: to lose weight!

This doesn't mean that the driver will have to resist those clearance offers for Christmas puddings (did buy one today, in fact) and increase his jogging mileage. It does mean that it's time to reduce the amount of unnecessary equipment in the back of the OV, thereby improving fuel economy and leaving more space for stuff needed while out working.

Keeping the weight down saves fuel in the long term, and is part of the strategy used by the Econetic, e.g. the Econetic cannot be ordered with heavy options such as the driver's side sliding door.

Some info on the Econetic:

http://www.fordtransituk.co.uk/NewFordT ... onetic.htm

EU Directive quoted in the Econetic specification:

http://ec.europa.eu/enterprise/sectors/ ... eec_en.htm

Fuel consumption figures for the Econetic are most likely measured in favourable circumstances, whereas the figures for the OV are measured in a working environment with varying loads:

viewtopic.php?p=489827#p489827

There is no longer any point in carrying enough kit for running repairs to the level of engine strip down. That was born of necessity with my Mk1 and Mk2 Transits, but was never necessary with the Mk5. The Mk7 doesn't seem to lend itself to roadside repairs.

What is the minimum kit? Spare wheel and jack are there, and hand tools, torches, etc., will be there while out working.

Some suggestions, in no particular order:

(1) Jump start cables (for helping other people!)
(2) Litre of engine oil, enough to reach safety in case a leak develops
(3) Screen washer fluid
(4) Bucket and sponge to keep lamps and windows clean
(5) Tow rope (for helping other people!)
(6) Spare lamps and fuses kit
(7) Tyre pump
(8) GoClaws in case of snow or wet grass
(9) Hi-vis jacket
(10) Warning sign
(11) 12V work light

sc_BK's list: viewtopic.php?p=499663#p499663

[ake]

Its a bit of a minefield cos you know whatever you leave out will be the next thing you need

[trigger]

Do you have any racking, if you do does it all get used? if not consider removing some not all of it to save weight, does your van have roofbars, if it does do they EVER get used? if not remove them that will save weight and improve airflow

[Vee4]

Do you have any racking, does your van have roofbars?

Good points, well worth considering if you have those fitted. There's no extra hardware on the Ordinary Van. I was thinking more of the loose stuff that tends to get thrown in the back, just in case ...

[Vee4]

An Introspective Retrospective

It's fashionable in the news media at this time to have the pundits looking back at the past year and making predictions for the year to come. I'm not going to do the latter, but I have reviewed some postings from the last nine months and listed the links below. There is a wealth of information available on the Forum, although it can sometimes be difficult to find. I recommend the 'bookmark' facility, available to members via the User Control Panel, for keeping track of topics they might want to revisit - thanks to pollag for telling me about that.

Diary highlights

First Diary entry:
viewtopic.php?p=456579#p456579

Mk7 links entry:
viewtopic.php?p=457302#p457302

Something old, something new:
viewtopic.php?p=473076#p473076

Shall I compare thee to an Econetic?:
viewtopic.php?p=489827#p489827

A thousand words are worth a picture:

viewtopic.php?p=490868#p490868

At last! Pictures!:

viewtopic.php?p=495048#p495048

The satnav debate:

viewtopic.php?p=496886#p496886

The weather turns nasty:
viewtopic.php?p=497712#p497712

Dr Johnson's dictionary:
viewtopic.php?p=499359#p499359

Non-Dairy highlights

The debate continues - old better than new?:

viewtopic.php?f=5&t=42642&start=0

When is a T280 not a T280?:
viewtopic.php?f=5&t=42308&start=0

Discovering GoClaws:

viewtopic.php?p=419681#p419681

Transits gather at Ace Corner:
viewtopic.php?f=20&t=47929&start=0

ABS mystery solved:
viewtopic.php?f=5&t=51076&start=0

ake and Altransit become moderators:
viewtopic.php?p=502752#p502752

[V184]

I havent read the whole diary, but what do you use the van for ?

[Vee4]

I haven't read the whole diary,

Perhaps there was some point to a 'digest' after all.

but what do you use the van for ?

Very astute. Of course I am far too busy writing the Diary to actually use the Ordinary Van!

[Altransit]

but what do you use the van for ?

Very astute. Of course I am far too busy writing the Diary to actually use the Ordinary Van!

I was under the impression that you bought the ordinary van to drive about in, just so you could write the diary



............ oh well, another illusion shattered

[ake]

This is a crackin thread, long may it continue, Happy New Year to Vee4 and the ordinary van

[Altransit]

This is a crackin thread, long may it continue, Happy New Year to Vee4 and the ordinary van

Seconded!

[Vee4]

This is a crackin thread, long may it continue, Happy New Year to Vee4 and the ordinary van

Seconded!

Thanks, guys. The holiday has given me opportunity to trawl through the archives, so there should be some pictures of the Ordinary Van's progenitors to come in the next few weeks. You will note the 'new' avatar as a taster - I always meant to do something that tied in with the Vee4 moniker, then Andyg provided that rather nice shot of the Mk5 at Ace Corner:

The old Mk5:

sic transit gloria mundi ... *

I didn't realise that the Ordinary Van would generate such interest. It just goes to show that the Transit is no ordinary van, of course ... can't remember who said that. There are proposed future postings stacking up in the 'saved drafts' section, faster than I can format and post them!

Going back to the New Year Resolution: viewtopic.php?p=502601#p502601

I weighed all of the non-tool, non-payload stuff from the back of the OV and it came to 96kg (if you want that in pounds weight or troy ounces: http://www.sciencemadesimple.net/weight2.php). That's nearly 10% of the total payload! I'll see how much it can be reduced.


* http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sic_transit_gloria_mundi

[Vee4]

Today's item of Transit Trivia:

Clearing out some old catalogues ready for recycling, I came across the Autumn 2007 issue of Backbone. They published the results of a Ford-commissioned "White Van Man" survey. According to the article, the survey polled 418 van drivers and 500 road users (they don't say what happened to the other 82 van drivers). A couple of points caught my attention.

Some results from the White Van Man survey:

(1) Most of their vans are white (64%), blue (13%), red (8%), and silver (7%).

(2) 1% are vegetarian.

The Ordinary Van is not so ordinary for its colour. However, my recollection is that dark blue was the most common colour in the early days of the Transit. Both of my Mk1 were dark blue.

[Vee4]

Another item of Transit Trivia:

Before the archives go back under their layer of dust ...

In the Autumn 2006 issue of Backbone, along with several articles about the 'New Ford Transit - Feel the difference' (that's the Mk7 content), there was an article about a 100L Mk2 appearing on stage at the National Theatre. The van was supplied by Peter Lee (http://transitvanclub.co.uk/Transitclub.htm), and the play was David Eldridge's Market Boy.

There's a glimpse of the rear doors here:
http://www.nationaltheatre.org.uk/?lid= ... imgid=3290

and a review of the Transit and supporting cast from The Independent:
http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-enter ... 81390.html

Some other Transits star on stage and screen:
http://transitvanclub.co.uk/transitvanclubfilm.htm

[Vee4]

just route the washer jet pipe round the top hose a few times - bingo heated washer jets

The Ordinary Van is still having trouble with the washer jets freezing up in this exceptionally cold weather. Luke's suggestion is great, one of those where you wonder why you didn't think of it yourself. However, the problem seems to be the jets themselves freezing as they are exposed to the icy air which is rushing past, particularly on the right side where the jet is isolated in the centre of the air vent. Thus the jet can freeze if the fluid is heated but not flowing.

Heating the jets directly seems to be what's needed - yesterday I was able to free up the system by pouring a cup of warm water onto each jet. Prior to that, my journey was OK because it was early morning and the roads were dry with little traffic. Some of the Connect variants have heated jets: viewtopic.php?f=54&t=57940&start=0. When you have the heated screen and mirrors, the heated washers should be there too: viewtopic.php?p=506389#p506389.

I'll have to try Andyg's 'good quality screen wash additive' and see if that does the trick.

[Vee4]

New Year Resolution resolved!

I weighed all of the non-tool, non-payload stuff from the back of the OV and it came to 96kg (if you want that in pounds weight or troy ounces: http://www.sciencemadesimple.net/weight2.php). That's nearly 10% of the total payload! I'll see how much it can be reduced.

Partially resolved, anyway. I took everything out, and then put back what I deemed important. That all packed in a plastic crate which weighed in at 20kg plus 12kg of other items, a total of 32kg. Thus I have saved some space and (in theory at least) a considerable amount of fuel in the long term.

The ongoing part of the resolution (viewtopic.php?p=502601#p502601) is to make sure unnecessary stuff doesn't accumulate, and only kit appropriate to the job in hand is carried.