Meet Flintstone, our 1992 1.9 Petrol Caravelle Syncro

[Mickyfin]

Changed the power steering and alternator belt today, quite straight forward a job.

[Mickyfin]

Flint went away last night with the welder for the replacement right hand rear wheel arch replacement, and Im missing my bus so much already. Will get her back Froday afternoon, but boy, it feels like forever.! Flint is like a member of our family now having done so much to her since buying her. Am I alone in my thinking becoming attached to my bus so quickly?

[Mickyfin]

And Flint is back

Before



After



Just has a bit of filling to do, then sand, then spray. Quite happy with the outcome

[Mickyfin]

And Flint has now passed the Finnish alternative to what is known as an MOT in the United Kingdom. (Katsastus).

No advisories either, well chuffed

Got a 600km round trip tomorrow, wife wants to go to Ikea, and Tampere is the nearest

Still waiting for my new metal cooling system pipe to arrive, ordered it from Brickwerks. Pipe on there at the moment is pin holed, and leaking.

Is there anything I can do to slow down this leaking, or strengthen the pipe to stop it blowing a bigger hole in it?

I have tried and failed wrapping it in both exhaust banding, and paste, when I treated the hole, it found another weak spot, and leaks from there now.

Im considering wrapping it with gaffer tape for the time being until my pipe arrives. Good/bad idea?

Im sure I recall someone in the forums mention some kind of wrap which was ideal for stopping leaks in pipes, but for the life of me cannot remember the name of it, ot find the thread that I first read about this.

[lloydy]

Glad your bus passed
Personally, I wouldn't drive it until the new pipes have been fitted. They are bound to burst, and take your engine out. Problem is, they hold about 1bar of pressure, not a lot of things will hold that back. If you really need to drive it, maybe something like plumbers emergancy repair tape? Thing is the more you bugger around with it the more likely you are to damage it further.
I was tempted by your van, thought long and hard about buying it (and another for a similar price) they seem to be quite cheap out there? Out of interest, does the four wheel drive work?

[Mickyfin]

Hi Lloydy, thats what I would prefer to do, say put, but the wife wants to go to Ikea, and has her heart set on the road trip now, and our daughter is also excited, she has mild down syndrome.

I will make sure I keep an eye on it, and will be taking plenty of water just in case. I did drive Flint back from where I purchased him from, some 500+km's with a small leak.

As to the 4x4 system, as far as I know, its working fine, but the rear diff lock on the dash does not light up for some reason, need to investigate that further.

I have 4 new tyres on the way which I will fit as soon as they arrive, but starting to worry now that the place we purchased the tyres maybe a scam, unsure. Its this place..

http://rengas-online.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I need to get a set of four axel stands so I can check the 4x4 a bit better.

[ThorAlex]

That online store is fine, i've used their Norwegian site with no problems. Nice van, and good luck with your trip!

[Mickyfin]

Thanks my friend, managed to sort the mix up with that tyre site, we some how was shown the cost of 4 tyres in USD, so paid the Euro amount, only to find out it was supposed to be Euros, so sent the remainder of the price last night, so all good now.

[schimanski]

I bought my tires from http://www.camskill.co.uk/, carriage to Finland was about 100euros for 8 tires and it only took 9 days and tires were at my yard

[Mickyfin]

Thanks, will bookmark them for future reference. I got 4 x 205/70 R14 tyres for €223 delivered from the link above.

About today, Flint did a 620km round trip today and didn't miss a beat, so chuffed! Of course I had to stop every now and again to top up the water due to that metal pipe leak, but apart from that, Flint purs along at 100km/h.

My wife shot a video of the beautiful Finnish roads to show you all how quiet they are. Uploading it now, so will add link when done. Here's one photo, me grinning from ear to ear driving Flint.

[Mickyfin]

And here's the first of two videos for your viewing pleasure.

http://youtu.be/DIrrgZNbSj4" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Mickyfin]

Latest spend on Flint...



Wire brushes for removing the crap that has gathered under arches, and on arms.

Underbody seal with rust protection. Will be doing the under arches and arms too.

Screen wash

Shampoo

Sponge

Brushes

Colour restorer

Fuel pump as the one fitted is an after market electric type.

When does the spending stop my wife asked

[syncropaddy]

When does the spending stop my wife asked

Around the same time as Armageddon ......

[Mickyfin]

My new pipe from Brickwerks arrived today, very quick delivery to Finland, impressed, thanks Simon.!

[Mickyfin]

And its fitted, but what a pain in the back side.! Everything was going well, then one of the allen bolts decided to go round on me

Few guys on here suggested several options to remove this bolt, and in the end I used an Easy Out extractor.



New Brickwerks pipe now fitted, and Flint no longer pisses all over the floor