Mk1 Transit CI Motorhome, Landliner..build up..

[jonochap]

Still luvin it...

[camper extraudinair]

I forgot to mention as it was a long time ago when i first fitted
the power steering it was useing the engine driven p/s pump.
The steering had no feel to it asthough it was'nt connected to
anything so i changed to the electric hydraulic power steering
pump as you see in the picture in photo bucket.
As it wasa'nt as powerful i now have p/s with feel but still
very easy to drive.
As i am working way through eve as thats what i am calling
her now short for evolution i know thats not quiet right but
there you go,
I had decided a long time ago to fit l e d rear lights as fitted
to modern busses as they consume less power & are brighter
& sharper in speed,
They are of course 24v which means a magic box to step up
the voltage i had to fit 24v bulbs to the front side lights &
indicators.
Now to the dreaded electrics.
The very nice man over the road the electrician i mentioned
earlier said he would wire it for me as he owed me lots of
favours because of all the times i had helped him in the past.
He started by taking out all the wiring that was in the camper
and started from scratch.
a year later it was still not finished,
He promised to come & finish over his three week christmas
holiday. He never turned up i phoned him & his wife's mobiles
landline but to now avail.
it turns out he has moved away & left me in the proverbial
s_ _t thanks very much.
I said to the wife i would have to rewire it myself,
When i started on the wiring i realised he did not no what he
was doing.

[camper extraudinair]

I decided i should start with a wiring diagram from the yank
so i copied it from an american works manual which i bought
for my last camper,
It was over six pages so i scanned them cut them up into small
pieces & scanned them making them full page so i ended up
with a wiring diagram two feet high & six feet long so i could
read it ten feet away,
Trying to follow a diagram over six pages with a magnifying
glass just is not on.
I bought possibly forty reels of wire from the scrap man some
years before,
I decided as the electrics would be 12v & 24v i would sheeth
the 12 in black heat shrink tubing & the 24 in yellow so as
not to get confused,
I used trailer cable to the rear lights as it is double insulated.
I fitted a 120 amp alternator as i had fitted two very large
lead acid battery's under the bonnet & a gell leisure battery
in the living quarters.
I then proceded to fit the hid convertion bulbs in quadoptic
reflectors,
air powered horns, a line locker,eight fog lights under the
front bumper,
I also fitted the yank wiper motor to the transit operating
mechanisam so i could have two speed wipers & intermitant
delay.
also two electric washer motors & three washer jets,
I fitted two auxilary headlights with side lights & indicators
as a tempary measure to get it through the mot but they
became permanent.
Also wired up the p/s pump with two relays.
I fitted gas struts to hold up the bonnet one has a switch
on it so decided to fit led illumination as well.
I forgot to mention i fitted two electric fans for cooling.
Don't ask how long this took as i lost count of the hours
days weeks & possible months i spent doing it all.

[camper extraudinair]

When the camper was painted it had no doors bonnet or grill.
I sent these off to be sandblasted as there was rust in places
i could not get to so graham painted these off the van.
The rear door i removed the inner panel & guess what more
of the dreded rot, so i stripped the door & sent it to a wood
workshop to be rebuilt, when it came back graham painted
it i fitted a new panel & keyless entry rear lock, job done as
they say.
I got robert back to fit the doors bonnet & grill as these things
are not my cup of tea,
Jamie & i put all the window's together & back in the body it
was a nightmare i can't begin to tell you the grief i had but
that's another story.
My friend Michael worked in a second hand boat place in
redhill surrey, he phoned me & asked if i would be interested
in a wood rimmed steering wheel off of a mitsubishi car i
presume i said i would come over & take a look.
It was up for sale at fifty quid i did not hesitate i paid him
went straight back home & modified it to fit the yank steering
columb.
it had the horn push in the middle "superb".
Whilst wiring up the dashboard i fitted a rev counter & volt
meter so i could see what was going on but to try & keep
it looking somewhat original.

[camper extraudinair]

Next came the mirrors, when mk1 transits were built the only mirrors
available were wing mirrors which were better than none at all
but having a larger camper body the rear vision was impaired
so after looking at door mirrors for years on all sorts of vans
i decided to fit vauxhall vivaro mirrors as they have two mounting
points a large mirror & a small one underneath.
I replaced the quarter lights with polycarbonate & had side
windows made of laminated glass with light smoke film on
the inside.the mirrors i bolted through the quarter lights
but had to space them out further for better rear vision.
I also fitted the electric window motors out of the yank
including the switches.I later fitted led repeater lights to the
mirrors their not perfect but give other people a chance to
see your intentions,

[jonochap]

Intrigued

[transitandy]

[camper extraudinair]

It is now about ten or so years since i bought the LandLiner
we are going to take it for a short journey to see what it
drives like,
I decided to go to Rykas cafe at the bottom of the famous
box hill in surrey.
I found that i had to keep correcting the steering to keep
it in a straight line & as i had tracked it myself on a laser
tracking machine i knew i could not be that,
the van itself was a dream,
I could not believe it when i drove into the car park it was
full of ford cars it turned out they hold a meeting there
the first saturday of every month.
The next time i took her out we went further afield to
ashington in west sussex about 56 miles.
The steering turned out be a minor adjustment on the
steering but greased the kingpins while i was there,
She drove absolutly bautiful, but when i put the v8 engine
in i new that the axle ratio would be to low but did not
realise just how low it was a 4.44 which means it took off
like a rockett but was flat out at about 80 miles an hour
with the engine screaming.
because of this senario the fuel consumption was horrendous.
also the transmission started to overheat on the way home,
as i did not have a cooler on it,
To cut a long story short we got a piggy back home care of
the AA,
I am now looking for a high ratio rear axle preferably with
a limited slip diff.
I was in a little shop the other day when the man behind the
counter said to a customer that i might be able to help him
as i was into fords,
The man approached me & asked it i knew where he could
get some rubber bushes for his mk3 cortina kit car
rear suspention.
I told him i had some bushes up in my loft & if he would
like to phone me tommorrow i would let him know if i had
some,
Luckily for him i had about five of them,
He came over to collect them & noticed my camper had no
interior & offered to do the work for nothing if i supplied
the materials,
About six months before i had purchased a towing caravan
& had our last holiday in it with the intention of removing
the inside & transferring it into the Landliner,
It had of course all the usual fittings water heater, zig unit
water pump, toilet shower,cooker,sink, wardrobe,& of course
beds,
So the next eight months Barry now a very good friend of
about four years standing got on when time allowed, he
brought his lovely dog with him called toscar a german
sheperd.

[camper extraudinair]

Go to photo buckett for more photos
as i have not got the hang of posting
them even though i have been told
how to but i am computer literate.
My appologies.

[camper extraudinair]

Waiting for a part for my differential, are going to hastings
for a few days rather than sit about waiting,
Will put more when we get back.
Enjoy your holidays

[jonochap]

Cant tell you how much i have enjoyed reading your version of the drama. Have good hols

[transitandy]

Cant tell you how much i have enjoyed reading your version of the drama. Have good hols

x2

[camper extraudinair]

Hi.
thank u jonochap & transit andy for your encouragement,
Have just arrived back from Hastings after three days,
Had a very relaxing time.
Alas no crush washer for my axle but should be here on
Tuesday god willing,
It'a cutting in near to the bone as we are supposed to be
leaving for the Great Dorset steam fair Wednesday morning.
Back to the story,
As Barry was panelling out the walls my friend suggested using
some 1inch thick insulating sort of foam i can't really disribe it
but it is very flexible & warm.
this we stuck with expanding foam which worked extremely well.
As Barry fitted the cupboards & other units i wired in the zig unit,
built in battery charger,leisure battery, 1000 watt inverter,
l e d down lighters,toilet & water pump. & three way fridge.
It is coming together in leaps & bounds but there is still a long
way to go to finishing it,

[camper extraudinair]

Hi Transit fans just a few more lines before we go.
Eversince I fitted the bigger engine i have been looking for a
larger fuel tank but could not find a suitable one from another
vehicle so decided to have one made.
You would not adam & eve how difficult it is to find someone
to give you a streight answer to the question can you make me
a fuel tank,
How much & when,
A very good friend of mine suggested an engineering firm he
deals with to phone them a ask.
So i did and the answer came back of course we can,
I did a drawing & a spec sheet delivered it to them & got a
reply in two days how much & four weeks if i wanted them to
go ahead.
I asked if they would require a deposit, no was the reply
& would have it ready asap.
I arrived two days after our last holiday it was absolutly
bootiful & so well made,
I then had to order a sender & gauge from a firm called frost
a well nown car restorer magazine.
I bought some time ago an oil pressure gauge from a car boot
sale brand new in the box,
I decided to fit these plus the volt meter & revcounter already
fitted,
Just at the moment i was about to remove the dashpanel good
ol Barry arrived & asked what i was up to,
I explained the reasons & he said he would make me one in
canadian spruce,
A week later Barry turned up for lunch which we do on a friday
with some other friends as well, carrying a beautiful piece of
wood with one very large hole surounded by four smaller ones
& two smaller ones at the top for warning lights,
when fitted i could not believe how original it looked hope you
think so to.

[camper extraudinair]

When I decided to improve the lights on the LandLiner i
used ordinary bulbs for the sidelights albiet 24v 5watt
so decided to upgrade to l e d but i could not find any in
24v but managed to find some 12v l e d lights in the local
parts shop so i wired them in series using two each side.
the end result u can see on photobucket.
must learn to post them on this site.
I am pretty useless ar'nt i.
use link at beginning of thread.