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stehsegler said..
You have too many boards... how to you know which one to use ;-)

It called a brain

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stehsegler said..
You have too many boards... how to you know which one to use ;-)

It called a brain

Pepe47, excellent craftsmanship.


mine holds 5 boards on the PVC pipe rack. All masts fit under the bottom rung. The box interior holds about 6 sails. The box can be slept on, if needed.

Hey Pepe47 can we get an update on how it's going?

Hi Frupus, Yep she's just clocked 15k and seems to be running fine. The gearbox has loosened up a bit making the changes easier and less noticeable. When you give it a bit of stick it really does get up and go. As said in the write up, the engine does sound a bit thrashy but apart from that I'm happy that it can last.
There's no discernible body faults, although being a bit thin skinned the parking bays can take their toll when people don't look before they open their doors
All in all, as a low mileage bus it's doing the job well. Touch wood

If the diesel had been available at the time of purchase would you have gone that route?

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grumplestiltskin said..
If the diesel had been available at the time of purchase would you have gone that route?

I'd be looking for van in petrol or electric. Diesel is on the way out. Along with LPG.

www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/article-2175879/The-great-diesel-exposed-Its-time-ditched-inferior-vehicles.html
www.racv.com.au/membership/member-benefits/royalauto/motoring/information-and-advice/where-has-all-the-lpg-gone.html

Even the VW transporter, which could only be had with diesel for many years, is once again becoming available as a petrol version.
vanadvisor.com/road-tests/volkswagen-transporter-T6-review

I don't think so Grumps, the engine size was what put me off a bit. It's a tad too small for my liking. At 1.9l it's questionable..

Pepe, I dont think you have enough fins!

Re diesels, be very, very careful about Diesel Particulate Filters, as was pointed out in one of the articles Ian K linked to. My 9 year old, 220k kms Mazda 6 Diesel eventually filled up the DPF with ash (the burn-off by product of high temp soot combustion) and Mazda quoted $8,800 in parts alone for a replacement DPF and associated sensors. The car was worth $6k at best. Cut my losses, flogged it for $1200 cash as it still drove in limp mode (with full disclosure to the buyer of course) and kissed $4k goodbye. Lesson? Know the cost of a full DPF replacement before you DPF-fitted diesel gets any serious Kms on it, and decide appropriately if you really want to hang on to it for the long run...

I was thinking that way to be on slightly higher moral ground. I know my old petrol motor is a bit smoky but it's not the same stuff as comes out a diesel. Had a fellow park a newish diesel merc behind me as I was rigging up last summer, he kept the motor running to keep the AC going. They might pass the emissions test when brand new under lab conditions, but it's a rapid slide downhill once they leave the showroom.


www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/sep/22/the-rise-diesel-in-europe-impact-on-health-pollution

"Diesel was a niche market in Europe until the mid-1990s, making up less than 10% of the car fleet. Diesels produce 15% less CO2 than petrol, but emit four times more nitrogen dioxide pollution (NO2) and 22 times more particulates - the tiny particles that penetrate the lungs, brain and heart.

Following the signing of the Kyoto protocol climate change agreement in 1997, most rich countries were legally obliged to reduce CO2 emissions by an average of 8% over 15 years.

Japanese and American car makers backed research into hybrid and electric cars, but the European commission was lobbied strongly by big German car makers BMW, Volkswagen and Daimler, to incentivise diesel. A switch to diesel was said by the industry to be a cheap and fast way to reduce the carbon emissions that drive climate change."

Rather than take a dealerships word that your DPF needs to be replaced for thousands of dollars ask around and seek knowledgeable advice to properly diagnose and advise on options. DPF's can be flushed using various methods, best preventative maintenance is to use them mostly for long windsurfing trips where they get hot and the ECU does an automatic hot burn...

...otherwise maybe go to a diesel specialist and get it checked and flushed first..

I failed to mention that I did place a $1300 bet via Sydney Diesel Specialists that they could extract, clean and reinstate the filter. They did so, thought it cleaned up reasonably well, but the car couldn't be moved out of limp mode and they subsequently advised that one or all of the sensors (each valued at $700 OEM and not available aftermarket) might be stuffed. Only way to proceed was to begin replacing them one by one and see what happened. Their advice was to ditch the car and cut my losses (which I did). The car did plenty of highway kms - 80 kph on a long uphill grade then 15 mins flat out at 110 kph including some decent hills, at least once a week. The dealership advised that my 220 k kms was the second longest distance they have ever seen and original DPF go before clogging.

...good to hear ecka's you navigated it best you could, those sensors are the other half the $$$ problem. Unless one is savvy with sourcing parts from overseas , wreckers, elsewhere if it works out cheaper , it can be a rude shock to most the cost to replace these units.

Not sure how common this solution ( ??? ) is. I suppose it's what you'd do if you picked one up for $1200.
chiptuning.com.au/articles/dpf-problems-why-you-need-dpf-delete-that-can-save-you-money/

Australia followed Europe down the wrong path with diesels a decade or two ago. Allow for the Aussie lag but we'll eventually backtrack as well.

Ayreforce1 There's never too many fins

Hi pepe47
Love the van - i've been looking at these for a while now and have bin a "white van man" many times in my working life.
Interesting you mention the Rockingham dealers as im not far away in port kennedy and have seen these at their dealership - was the customer service not good?.
Also hows the experience with petrol usage going ? - any other probs yet ? - no doubt you must be one of the "Nutters"(no offence)that we admire wind surfing on "the pond" at safety bay, whilst we're sipping our larrrtays from the boat ramp cafe.
When you took out the 2nd row seats, do you think you could turn them around to use as purely camping rear facing seats or do they fold together so you could build something over them like a table/cupboard and keep seats in ????
PS lovin the pics and mighty fine carpentry as well !!

Worrying report on "WA Today" website today about the RAC saying that they will not insure or finance "dangerous new cars" on the WA market. They mention Great Wall, LDV and Foton but not the models of concern.... They are deemed too unsafe.
The safety ratings are of particular concern to them. It will be interesting to see if other insurers follow suit.

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patsken said..
Worrying report on "WA Today" website today about the RAC saying that they will not insure or finance "dangerous new cars" on the WA market. They mention Great Wall, LDV and Foton but not the models of concern.... They are deemed too unsafe.
The safety ratings are of particular concern to them. It will be interesting to see if other insurers follow suit.

I would be more worried if an insurer was happy to insure " dangerous new cars"

ProMaster Short low is a good starting point. 3.6 gas, average 17 mpg, mostly in town.
Shorter than a Dodge Caravan by around 10", narrow enough for the smallest parking spots.
Normally carries one Formula board, and 7 shortboards, 15 masts, 5 booms, and 14 sails. For two sailors. And 14 fins.