Thursday 17 Jun 2010 17:23

Van prep

by Tony Edgar of Steppe By Steppe

Alex washes the roof of the van

We took newly-monikered Ghengis (surname "Van", original I know) on the road for the first time last weekend, up to my sister's house in Gloucestershire to give it a scrub and get some advice on looking after it on the road.

We managed to get the majority of the clay that coated the inside off - a legacy of its previous incarnation working for Justyna's employer, Concept - with the help of two very willing assistants, Alex and Shannon. A huge thanks to them for all their amazing help - a future in car valeting awaits if the whole  'primary school' thing doesn't work out.

Shannon cleans the inside

On Sunday, we had a masterclass in rally car maintenance from local Legend, Mike. I don't have the words to describe how helpful he was - he looked the van over, gave us tips on what to check and fix before departure (installation of a sump guard and replacement cam belt being the two key points) and proceeded to teach us a litany of tricks to help on the road. Just a flavour: 

• protect the air filter in dusty conditions by stuffing the hose with foam
• detach the air hose and place it on top of the engine to be able to drive through water
• press the "big red button" to restart the engine if it cuts out after hitting a nasty pothole
• manually pump the diesel into the engine if you run out and air gets in to the system
• remember fuses, bulbs, and batteries for the key fob - without it the immobiliser will kick in

Chris and Mike fix the back door handle

I stared at him in slack-jawed awe, scribbling furiously onto a pad, and feel 1000 times more confident about the road ahead now. He was even decent enough to give us his mobile number should we get stuck in the wilds of Kazakhstan - fingers crossed we don't need to use it.

The evening ended with a demonstration from Mike and my brother-in-law Chris on puncture repair. We were planning on stocking up on multiple spare wheels but with the magic of darning kits and Oko I think we'll be just fine.

Huge thanks to Mike, Chris, Alex, Shannon, Cameron (for additional sponge-work) and Julie, for all the help and advice. If we make it past Kingston-upon-Thames, you can rest assured it's largely down to you.