New Project = New Blog!

Not content with being in the middle of a house renovation; and just picking up on the outstanding Moto Guzzi v50 project, I have displayed classic "Noel behaviour" and embarked on another new project! Well, it would be bad to be idle once the others draw to a close wouldn't it?

In fairness, after 7 months hard graft on the house, we are in probably the last 4 months through to spring before the inside is substantially finished. It's definitely habitable now; just requiring decoration and some fairly light DIY really. And the Moto Guzzi is all refinished, except the lacquer and detailing on the paintwork, and then it's largely a case of reassembly and commissioning. Hopefully she'll be on the road April/May time.

So thoughts have started to turn to what I will do more of once the house is finished, and one of those things is to get out and about exploring a bit more. I like doing that on the bikes, although the lightweight camping is starting to be less enjoyable as my bones get older! Definitely that's still a thing I want to do for things like bike meets and Manx GP etc, but I fancied a bit more comfort for "general travelling".

I've pondered getting another motorhome, but don't have the space to store one, so I'd be paying storage and having the inconvenience of that. 

A couple of times while I've had odd days free visiting family in Australia I've hired a "Spaceship" campervan, based on converted Toyota Previa / Ultima people carriers. That was good fun - kind of like having a metal tent. More comfortable and more storage, plus no great effort to set up and take down as you move around the country.

So I started thinking that I could build something like that, and it would be small enough to use as my daily driver, but flexible enough to kit out if I fancied going off travelling for a spell.

Of course, once you start researching this kind of thing, you realise that a million people before you have done the same thing and most of them have YouTube channels all about it! So I embarged on absorbing an orgy of information to establish what might work for me. Just in case I decided to do something like that, once I've finished the house.....

Of course, me being an impetuous and impatient type, just before Xmas a possible vehicle popped up on Facebook Marketplace, at a dealers not 10 miles from home. Bearing in mind I don't exactly live in a densely populated metropolis, it's quite rare to see that kind of thing nearby. So obviously I went and had a bit of a browse, but I did do it when the dealer was closed - just a fact finding mission.

What I found was a very sad looking and down at heel Honda Stepwagon (actually designated a "Stepwgn" for some strange Japanese cultural (?) reason) - a Japanese Domestic Market import 8 seater MPV. The paintwork was quite scrappy, with quite a lot of surface rust and some nasty scratches by the sliding rear passenger door; the rear bumper was a bit misaligned after a small knock; wheel trims pretty gash etc, but they only wanted £1,000 for it and it had 9 months MOT. I couldn't really see much of the inside as it had tinted side and rear windows, but I could see bits of dash (e.g. cubby boxes etc) hanging off and a quite grubby looking beige interior.

I went away to do some research and have a think. I'd hardly been aware of the Stepwagon but a couple of things became apparent to me quite quickly:

1. they don't seem to suffer from the same rust issues that the Mazda Bongo have (although it is a 22 year old car so inevitably that is going to be an issue at some point.)
2. the engine is the Honda 2.0 VTEC "K20" engine, which has a very good reputation for reliability, as do Honda's in general.
3. it's a super versatile interior which should allow good adaptability to make a simple camper.
4. the boxy shape means that it has generous headroom throughout.

In terms of the specific vehicle, the MOT history showed that it had a good record of passes with just a couple of very minor fail items over the last 5 or 6 years.

I decided I'd have a think over Xmas and maybe go and have a proper look in the New Year if it was still there.

A couple of days later, on Xmas Eve, a road diversion happened to take me past the garage again, so inevitably I popped in for another look, but this time the keys were made available to me and a starter pack produced to hear it running.

It sounded good, no undue smoke or rattles; no mayonnaise on the oil filler, but the oil level was quite low, which didn't suggest careful maintenance. Moving to the interior, that definitely didn't suggest a well cared for vehicle. It smelt pretty musty and unpleasant and looked like it had been used as a waste skip! The carpets, upholstery and plastics were filthy. The heater blower didn't work. The ABS light was on. The sliding side door had to be "assisted" to open without scraping the bodywork (more than it already had!) The rear tailgate grudgingly opened after some fiddling. Apart from a bit of relatively light rust around the rear wheel arches the rust on the bonnet and roof line looked quite superficial.

I took it for a test drive and it went like a train with that VTEC engine! An emergency stop showed that the brakes were strong and pulled up straight. I won't say I was smitten, but it did appear to have the basis (with a fair bit of elbow grease) of a nice little camper for not a lot of money. 

I got back and the dealer asked if I wanted to make him an offer. I was reluctant as it was being sold as a Trade sale without a warranty. Eventually, I made what I thought was a silly offer of £700 and he accepted it! 

Now this may prove to be a right bag of nails, but at that price, I figured I could put a week and a couple of hundred pounds into tidying it up initially, seeing how reliable it might be etc and then at worst sell it on for at least double that. At best, it's the sort of vehicle I love owning and it will become my family pet!

She was delivered to the Shearer Home for Lost Causes on  6 January. Let the fun begin!