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Sunday 22 April 2012

Show report: Bustypes 2012

With a five-day forecast of wall-to-wall rain I was expecting Bustypes to be a total washout this year; one of those shows where you sit in the van and stare at other vans through rain-soaked windows. But alas, after driving through a few heavy downpours on the way, Oswestry greeted us with sunny intervals, drying ground and less rain than expected.

Bustypes has become one of those 'must-go' shows that really signifies the beginning of the season proper. Time to come out of hibernation and meet up with old friends and new, discuss what's been happening over the Winter, and generally chill-out.

Unfortunately the weather started to falter as the weekend progressed and by Sunday we were waking to leaden grey skies and a strong view of the next approaching deluge. This pic sums up the 'greyness' rather well...

But some moments of sunshine between the storms meant greater contrast could be had:

Regardless of the rain it was another great weekend. Good company and good food (and drink) see to that. A nice variety of vans and other assorted v-dubs, a few stalls, some good coffee and cake... what more could you want? We'll definitely be back next year.

Monday 9 April 2012

50,000 hits!


Right, that's it... no more counting until the big 100K. Once again; thanks for your continued support and reading of the blog - keep the comments and questions coming and I'm glad some of you seem to find it useful.

Richard (Stone174)

Sunday 1 April 2012

A few more 'light' jobs

With the step light fitting of last weekend being such a success we took another trip up to that great Swedish furniture outlet for a few more sets of lights - some for practical use and some purely for looks.

First off we fitted a set in the storage area under the rear section of the bed; four light units spread evenly around the 'roof' of the cubby-hole, and one just inside the doorway.


No more scrabbling around in the dark looking for that missing bottle opener! There's a switch inside, tucked up out of harm's way as most of our camping gear gets crammed in here.

Then it was on to the under-seat lighting - something I've been wanting to do since the rear seat went in. A simple 'downlight' effect to highlight the colour of the interior wood and contrast with the floor and shiny accents of the stereo. And sometimes it's nice just to have a bit of mood-lighting instead of just having the main lights blaring away. These are switched in the same way as the step light and in the same 'out of the way' location.



Hopefully I'm not veering towards bad-taste (I've opted against colour-changing and strobing lights) and I'm really looking forward to a few nights' chilling-out - after all the wiring head-scratching I think I've earned it!

An uplifting result

Yet another little job that should've been done long before today. Last week whilst fitting the new half-bra I accidentally pulled down on the lifted bonnet (thinking it was the Caddy with a gas strut) and bent the arm that holds it up.

Luckily this momentary lapse in concentration brought-forth the (£20) purchase of a new gas strut kit to lift and hold the bonnet open.


It was really simple to fit - in fact the seller's selling point is that it will take you longer to find a 13mm spanner than it will to fit the strut - and he's not wrong.



A small holding pin is removed to release the ball end from the strut's socket, screw the new ball ends into the bonnet and front inner wing (the threads are already there), pop the sockets back over the balls and replace pins. Remember to fit the fat end of the strut at the top so it lubricates the shaft correctly. Plenty of double-entendre in this post isn't there?!!!

I love how such a simple upgrade can make a world of difference - one I'd recommend to every T5 owner.