Same as the one we had but with less seats. Take it for a spin if you can and see what the steering/gears/smoke are like on it.

Joe, I think the layout makes it impossible to fit another front seat because of the steps up into the bus. It's not a deal-breaker, but it would be better to have 2 or 3 up front. It does have 8 behind, so we can take half of those out and still achieve our goal. Apparently it has rails fitted and a wide central gangway with 2 sets of 2 on each side. As the auction ends before I can get to look at it, I doubt I'll bid on it, but it does look the right kind of thing.

Going to try to get Monday afternoon off work to go and see the minibus I linked to above this one for you lazy buggers! Can anyone hazard a guess why it's so much cheaper and has fewer bids than similar vehicles. The same seller has a Cat D 06 plate Convoy with a number of mechanical issues that is at £1700 with 20-odd bids!

Spoke to soon, it's getting bids now...

I think the one above has been rejected by MrsC for the solo driver configuration. Looking at a few others tomorrow.

Getting insurance is proving difficult as nobody knows whether to call it a minibus or a van or a car. May have to re-register it with the seats taken out, then re-re-register it when we put them back in to sell it!

If i may go on a slight tangent for a second... Just how much of a faff is this re-registering business? I've been toying with the idea of replacing the Astro with a mini bus based camper.

Not sure yet, Jimbob, but I'll let you know if it comes to it. Plenty of people seem to do it for your purpose so it can't be that hard. Best quote I've had is £700 including European breakdown (essential!). We can pay in 3 instalments with no extra interest, so as long as we re-sell we should only need to pay 1/3 of it.
Off to look at a couple of minibuses today daaahn in Enfield!

Any news Jim?

I shall be making an announcement shortly...!

Ladies and Gentlemen, the search is over.
Without further ado, I give you:



Max the Minibus.



Bearing a few hastily-covered scabs of rust and some fairly crusty wheel-arches...



...more seats than I have friends...



... very reasonable mileage...



The very latest in ICE...

And...



Only bloody CUP HOLDERS!

All for the princely, budget-busting sum of £1750. But it's got the Transit 2.5TD engine and 5-speed box (forgot to take a picture...), immaculately maintained and a new MOT on 01/02/2014.

Drove it back from Enfield and it seems so far to fit the bill perfectly.

Next question: Just how good is WD40 at freeing seized seat-anchor bolts...?!

I managed to get the rear row out yesterday, but I had to saw off one bolt after it tore off the nut lug (slightly rusty floor...!). I have a decent socket set and a very effective 18"-long torque wrench, but it's a bit of a struggle!

Jim, she (sorry, he) looks just the job. All you have to do now is fit a bigger turbo and some lowering springs.... .

Good luck!

Tim

Great find Jim, love the academic touch above the screen!
The transit engine will be much more biddable then the standard sloth.

Were you expecting wine glass holders then?

Hang on a wee minute - before you rip out all the seats...

DAY OUT TO THE SEASIDE!

As someone who still finds cup holders a novelty, I am just made up that this most utilitarian of beasts actually has some!

Well done Jim. I presume never raced or ralleyd but alas driven by teachers.

You got the right engine there. Fully loaded it should be happy at 70mph allday.

It should do about 30/33 mpg.

Do LDV van drivers drink from cups?

Looks a beaut Jim, well done!

Dunno, but it came with 2 free (used) paper cups in the door bin...

Looks like a decent buy.
The seats should have some sale value as they are fitted with 3-point belts.

The guy we bought it from did us a favour, as he rightly pointed out that he'd get close to £2k for the bus with a 12 month ticket. We are hoping to resell it when we get back and recoup as much as possible, so I don't think we'll sell the seats, but it is an option. I'll have to do a bit of research and see how we'll get most back.

Another issue has been the insurance. I'm paying £670 for MrsC and me, which seems astonishingly high. And that is not including the extra £100 for the AA European breakdown...

Looks like its up to the job.

Is that short term insurance Jim, or were you paying installments and just cancel it when you sell it.
I would have thought they could do a 2 month, 3k mile limited policy but hey ho.

You'd think, Nobby. They would only do us a full year - and I did shop around a bit. Some insurers were more put off by the fact that I wanted to take seats out than by the idea of me transporting 17 people!

But there's still something to be said for going straight from the bottle, eh Jim?

Indeed, Simon, especially one of those 2-litre Tesco value cider bottles*. Try getting one of those babies in a crappy cup-holder.

*I was going to say Buckfast, but thought I might get sued...

I'm trying to find somewhere on the web with a full spec sheet for the LDV (with stuff like fuel tank capacity, etc). Anyone know where to look?

The Wiki is good on history and Parkers has a few dimensions/model types, but I can't find the full horror anywhere...

This site has some info (more for some variants than others), can't seem to find fuel tank capacity anywhere though. Fill his tank to the brim and take a note?

http://www.helpfindmea.co.uk/vans/specs/ldv-convoy-specifications-65/

Good link Jim, seems to think capacity is 70 litres.

Well, if it's 70 litres, I was running on fumes yesterday, as I put 70 litres in it. I assumed 75, but maybe I was just very, very lucky the petrol station was no further!

Many thanks for the link, Jim.

Got the impression there was a 100 litre option.

Hmmm, of the 2, 70 seems most likely, unless the gauge is like something out of 70's BL. Ah...