As a lot of you know, I bought Northernraider Vario from him a few weeks ago and I promised to do a thread on the build. So here it starts.
I've always loved and wanted a Vario, but the state the bodywork can be in scares the hell out of me. Because of this, I've never come close to buying one. Tam had already done most of the work on his that I find terrifying. Not only that, he had documented it all here on Fun with 100's of images of the work in various stages.
When it looked like it might be available, it was just too tempting
A few conversations and the sale was agreed. Tam would bring his new Palace down to me to fix a bodge the previous owner had done, then I'd jump in with him up to Scotland to collect my new home.
300 miles later and the Vario is here at my workshop. Not the quietest drive as the van currently has no floor, but with earplugs it was fine. The van drives beautifully, the gearbox is great, the brakes and running gear are good - it was far better than I'd hoped. I mean tatty - yeah (obviously I knew this before buying), but a blank canvas with the vast majority of the bodywork sorted. It's just cosmetic and with a little bodywork and a nice paint job it will look really good. More importantly, because of all the work already done, it will last
So here is how it is now:
I also have a ton of bits that Tam dropped off while here, but to be honest I haven't had time to see what's there yet.
So, the plan.
This van is for us. It will be our new fulltime home. It also needs to be a bit of a showpiece for work. We want plenty of space for the two of us and the dog, plus the room to take nieces & nephews away at weekends etc.
This is the layout we are pretty happy with:
The rear of the van is the same as our current van. It works for us so don't fix what ain't broke. The bathroom is much larger (145cm x 90cm at it's widest points) and will have a marine toilet (probably) and a rain head shower set high in a skylight. The dinette converts into a fair size bed (200cm x 90cm) and there will be a drop down bed across the cab.
The drop down will only be 5'9" wide, but will be 120cm deep. I always loved overcabs as a kid, so hoping the nieces and nephews will love it up there.
The kitchen is 1.5m long plus a 60cm flip up surface across the door. A 2.1m long kitchen - pure luxury
There's then a ton of storage and a great sized boot.
This van (currently) has a payload of 3.8t, meaning we can carry more water etc. There will be a 350l fresh, 350l grey and 250l black tank. If I can fit a little more fresh in I will. There will also be a 70l gas tank.
Power wise, 900w of solar, 460Ah LiFePO4 and a lot of Victron gear. Inverter will be on full time to provide 240v for the fridge and other things.
Oh, the colour. The colour will be a deep red with black around the bottom, kind of like these ish:
Think that will do for now.
I'm snowed under with work at the moment, but hoping to get some time next month the get it painted. Then, work permitting, I'll hopefully get it done ready for the Overland show in September. Hopefully is optimistic
I've always loved and wanted a Vario, but the state the bodywork can be in scares the hell out of me. Because of this, I've never come close to buying one. Tam had already done most of the work on his that I find terrifying. Not only that, he had documented it all here on Fun with 100's of images of the work in various stages.
When it looked like it might be available, it was just too tempting
A few conversations and the sale was agreed. Tam would bring his new Palace down to me to fix a bodge the previous owner had done, then I'd jump in with him up to Scotland to collect my new home.
300 miles later and the Vario is here at my workshop. Not the quietest drive as the van currently has no floor, but with earplugs it was fine. The van drives beautifully, the gearbox is great, the brakes and running gear are good - it was far better than I'd hoped. I mean tatty - yeah (obviously I knew this before buying), but a blank canvas with the vast majority of the bodywork sorted. It's just cosmetic and with a little bodywork and a nice paint job it will look really good. More importantly, because of all the work already done, it will last
So here is how it is now:
So, the plan.
This van is for us. It will be our new fulltime home. It also needs to be a bit of a showpiece for work. We want plenty of space for the two of us and the dog, plus the room to take nieces & nephews away at weekends etc.
This is the layout we are pretty happy with:
The rear of the van is the same as our current van. It works for us so don't fix what ain't broke. The bathroom is much larger (145cm x 90cm at it's widest points) and will have a marine toilet (probably) and a rain head shower set high in a skylight. The dinette converts into a fair size bed (200cm x 90cm) and there will be a drop down bed across the cab.
The drop down will only be 5'9" wide, but will be 120cm deep. I always loved overcabs as a kid, so hoping the nieces and nephews will love it up there.
The kitchen is 1.5m long plus a 60cm flip up surface across the door. A 2.1m long kitchen - pure luxury
There's then a ton of storage and a great sized boot.
This van (currently) has a payload of 3.8t, meaning we can carry more water etc. There will be a 350l fresh, 350l grey and 250l black tank. If I can fit a little more fresh in I will. There will also be a 70l gas tank.
Power wise, 900w of solar, 460Ah LiFePO4 and a lot of Victron gear. Inverter will be on full time to provide 240v for the fridge and other things.
Oh, the colour. The colour will be a deep red with black around the bottom, kind of like these ish:
Think that will do for now.
I'm snowed under with work at the moment, but hoping to get some time next month the get it painted. Then, work permitting, I'll hopefully get it done ready for the Overland show in September. Hopefully is optimistic
