Diary of an Ordinary Van

[ake]

I'll just use my old JCB mug if its all the same to you Pass me another Garibaldi please

I'll buy some 'Scotland' mugs next time they're on special ...

Im a late arrival to the party is there still some biccies left for me

Don't worry - we still have a virtual pallet load of Garibaldi and some real Mr Kipling Almond Slices. Now, don't start me on Kipling ...

Scotland mugs are always on special
Mr Kipling does make exceedingly good cakes, Bakewell slices are my favourite

[ginsambo]

I did a job for a man in Portsmouth last week, we got talking about his work as a spray painter.

He works on ships in the dockyard , he says that navy ships are at sea for 7-8 months in salt water and come back with zero corrosion because of the rustproofing regime that his team carries out. When he worked for Ford at southampton , they developed a Transit that would never corrode in the chassis or body , of course it will never see a showroom because they market would dry up if they did not fall apart. BACK IN 1990 it would have cost £500 extra to build one.

Was he talking about those cold galvanising marine paints? the kind industry uses to patch up galvanised pylons and stuff?What about the everlasting Transit? Was that hot dipped or painted? I would have bled him dry for info!

[Vee4]

Rust Never Sleeps - the self-help approach

viewtopic.php?p=514757#p514757



I bought the pressure washer years ago, when I still owned the Mk5. I always intended to have the wheel arches cleaned by the dealer every time it was serviced, in the hope of postponing the inevitable. They didn't do it, or did it badly. When pressure washers became cheaper, I resolved to do it myself although by then it was too late for the Mk5.

Plumbers amongst the membership will allow themselves a wry smile, but it took me quite a while to hook up the pressure washer, adding jigsaw pieces at a rate of approximately one per month.

Thread adapter, one-way valve and hose fitting (3 months):



A nice long hose (it acts as a water reservoir and buffers high pressure pulses escaping from the input to the washer) and the self-sealing Hozelock connector (2 months):



The underbody lance (another month):



At last! Ready for work (another month):



I tried it out at the weekend, and the Karcher KB 3030 (now obsolete, of course) performs well: plenty of pressure for the underbody lance, which gives a fishtail spray pattern; not too noisy; motor stops as soon as the trigger is released.

There is some sideways 'recoil' when the trigger is pressed and the spray starts because of the cranked end of the underbody lance. I need to fit a length of foam pipe insulation over the tube on the lance - wouldn't want to chip the paint on the wheel arch and cause rust spots! That will take another month ...

Phew! I need a cup of tea and a Garibaldi after that lot.



Footnote: in case you should ask, I'm still working on the letter to Ford (not enough hours in the month, etc.)

[1958 harry]

Great thread

Did you specifically point out the rust stains underneath?

As the van is still within its 3 year paint warranty period Ford should fix this with no issues. I'd kick up a real stink, ring Ford UK and write to them. That IMHO isn't acceptable. I've got a 52 year old VW with less rust underneath!

[Vee4]

Great thread

Thanks for the comments. The van has been inspected by two different dealers (viewtopic.php?p=597430#p597430) and one did speak to the Ford 'Customer Relationship Centre' for me. A phrase I recall being used was 'cosmetic rusting' but how long does it take for cosmetic rusting to turn into structurally significant rusting?

The next response has to come from Ford. I still have to find time to write to them. Ironic, because the very reason I bought a new van was to be able to carry on working without having to worry about the vehicle. Next week, I will be on a 'hurry up and wait' kind of job, so I will have to use some of the waiting time. I also plan to sort out the Extended Warranty before the time and mileage limits have passed.

Extended Warranty: viewtopic.php?f=5&t=70342

[trigger]

"Cosmetic rust" is still rust and will only get worse over time, that is disgusting for a van under 2 years old and enough to convert anyone over to Vauxhall

[madmark_50484]

"Cosmetic rust" is still rust and will only get worse over time, that is disgusting for a van under 2 years old and enough to convert anyone over to Vauxhall

You anyway I would rather have a mk6 than a Vauxhall

We had a BT engineer in work not long ago the job turned out a bit complicated we got talking about vans he said he got lumered with this crappy vivaro 3 months after brand new it was squeaking build quality just rubbish hes looking forward to a couple of months so he can get a Transit

He said its like the transit is a model the rest seem to copy this is no lie so though I can't comment on the Vivaro personally I will take the BT engineers word for it no had you said this I could get on board

"Cosmetic rust" is still rust and will only get worse over time, that is disgusting for a van under 2 years old and enough to convert anyone over to MK5 Transit

[trigger]

How can he say the Vivaro was copied from the Transit? it looks nothing like a Transit

[madmark_50484]

How can he say the Vivaro was copied from the Transit? it looks nothing like a Transit

I was quoting his words not mine

I think what he meant was the Vivarois a cheap crapcopy

[trigger]

But have you ever seen a rusty Vivaro, even the early ones? i haven't but have seen plenty of rusty mk6 and 7 Transits but i agree with your quote about converting to mk5 Transit but it will be very hard to find one with no rust at all

[Vee4]

But have you ever seen a rusty Vivaro, even the early ones?

One of my regular customers has a tradition of using Renault vans, going back through various predecessors to the 80's. I haven't seen the same signs of rust on any of them as I've seen on Transits.



The van in front is a Transit ...

[1958 harry]

We've got a 57 plate T5 in that has been smashed up the arse, the van was a Cat D sat outside for a while and having a good look over it (especially now its stripped) and there isn't a spot of rust on it, even on the smashed paintless bits!

I've also worked on loads of T4's and they dont get the grot in em like a Transit.

Its a shame - I cant understand why Ford with what is still a class leading product, cant just sort out the rust proofing on them!

[MrMPuk]

Transporters are fully galvinised. Parts of the Transit are but not fully, they are aiming for it though with the new model.

[1958 harry]

Cool - about time tbh.

Whens the new model due out? Any details of it?

[Altransit]

Transporters are fully galvinised.

Thats a recent thing then?

A mate had one a few years back which rotted away, as well as having an unreliable engine It's replacement, a MK6, fared much better