Sketchy electrics

Now that I have my van its time to start thinking about improvements! As I am currently completely broke (I bought a van.. tends to deplete funds rather drastically!) I am focusing on fixing the stuff already in the van. This starts with the extremely interesting electrical system that the previous owner has left me with. Wow! What am impressive maze of cables, switches and joins! I'm surprised the car hasn't caught fire yet! I must admit I'm a little fearful of delving deeper into this wire nest he has created. For the most part my knowledge of electricity is knowing to turn off the light switch before changing a light bulb... And I feel that even that rule can be occasionally broken. The encouraging thing is that I can only be shocked by a 12V car battery. That doesn't pack much of a punch does it? Oh, I should probably Google that to make sure... I haven't yet attempted touching the electrics as yet, I'm blaming the cold miserable weather for not wanting to hang out in the back of my van playing with wires. I know this is merely an excuse to hide my terror in facing those wires. I think I'd rather thoroughly scrub the car clean than trace a dodgy wire along the van's body to see where and how its connected!

Second hand cars huh?

What happens when you buy a used car? Drama of course! I was finally able to pick up my van from my friend’s house where I had to leave it until I got it registered and bought the number plates and insurance. Having sorted all of this out I gleefully took a 3 hour train ride to his house to collect the van. After a 1.5km walk from the train station once again set eyes on my new van, its shiny green exterior calling to me! I unlocked the car excited beyond belief to finally be bringing it home with me. I inserted the key into the ignition and turned, nothing happened. There was a slight rumbling in the engine but nothing I had ever heard before (and I’m from South Africa, I’ve heard loads of cars try and fail to start!). That worried me. Usually when it’s the battery the car engine tries to turn over but doesn’t have the power to do so, similar story with there’s no gas. My car sounded like a washing machine during the wash cycle. No lie, no exaggeration! What to do then? Curl up into a ball of dismay that all my dreams of cross country travel have been shattered by the simple turning of the key in an ignition? Well obviously that wouldn’t solve anything so I sent a few messages to friends in Switzerland who know nothing about cars so naturally they couldn’t help. This followed a long distance call to a friend in South Africa who knows loads about cars but this didn’t help either as he had no idea what the sound was and being 10 000 km away couldn’t very well take a look in the engine!

There was nothing left to do but call road side assistance. If you ever need roadside assistance in Switzerland on a Sunday you will suddenly realise… K-ching! There goes all the money I saved bargaining down the price of the car! And that money was just for him to come to the car. First thing he does is check the battery, signs indicate “weak”…that’s never good. So he attaches this gizmo to the battery and wham, car starts! Well if I’d known it would be that simple I’d just carry my own gizmo around!

So once the car was started it could not be stopped. I had a bit of a hairy moment when I had to fill up with gas but it seems that the battery had enough juice to keep going, thankfully! Then without a single problem my van drove me the 200km home. But now not only do I have no money for the rest of the month, but I can’t afford a new battery until next month. I guess that means focussing on making the inside of the van absolutely awesome!

The next big adventure

After a few months of working a terrible yet pretty well paid job in the Swiss Alps I have now been able to afford a VW T4 van! Sure its no dream car, it has its flaws and is going on 20, but its still younger than me (and I'm going strong!) and most importantly its all mine! There's an incredible sense of achievement when you buy your first car. Its not the first car I've owned, but it is the first car I've bought and I'm very proud! The van started its life as a construction vehicle (poor thing) and was then bought by a windsurfer who needed the space to transport all his things. While he owned it he inserted a rather hideous yellow but none the less functional bed frame and drawers! The colour can be fixed!!! I now have a new project, to turn this van into my dream van! It has the potential and the spirit (I mean what car having gone from a builders van to a hippys home would not be excited about the change!?) and I have the time now to convert it. I need to admit I know nothing about converting a van to a campervan but I have brains and some patience and very little money.. this can be achieved! And it shall all be documented stage by stage on my blog... now where to start? Tie dying some curtains I think!