Sunday 27 April 2014

Battery Door Restraints

In response to one of my correspondents who wanted some of the above for their Unicorn,I have just checked the link and it has been discontinued.

The new link is :-

Battery Door Restraints

They have gone up in price as well to £2.45

Ian

Saturday 26 April 2014

Bailey Wheel Arch Cover.

Whilst we were away at Sandringham I spotted a Bailey Unicorn sporting a Bailey wheel arch cover which looked rather smart.


( This isn't the actual one I saw )

Ordered one from Bailey ( along with some other stuff so the postage wasn't too painful ).

Will take some photo's on our next trip.

Incidentally we have found that one of the curtain clip/runners on the front curtains has broken so the leading edge of the curtain hangs down.

If this happens to anyone else the runners are available from Bailey ( couldn't find anywhere else ) for 6p each ( plus of course £5 postage so order with something else ).

Ian


Monday 21 April 2014

Passat Alltrack Blog

The Passat Alltrack Blog is now up amd running :-

Passat Alltrack Blog

Still needs a bit of work but if anyone wants to comment etc. then feel free.

Ian

Thursday 17 April 2014

Sandringham,A Bevy of Orions and A Local Connection

We have just returned from a week on the CC site at Sandringham in Norfolk and a very pleasant site it is too set among the trees and quiet roads of the Sandringham Estate,can be recommended.

Just to even things up there is CC&C club site nearby where we took a walk.

Also a nice looking place,not perhaps as regimented as the CC site in layout and perhaps the better for that,or not as the case may be.

The Orion performed without fuss and with no problems after the winter lay-up.

There is a popular visitor centre near the house ( about a two mile walk away through the woods ) serving meals along with the usual tat with a royal connection ( I'm sure the Queen doesn't use many tea towels or Union Jack playing cards. ).

During our weeks stay there was an impressive appearance of Orions,ten in all over the seven days including ours.

A mixture of 440/4's,400/2's and 430/4's.I have never seen so many Orions on one site.

There was only one Pursuit.

I thought there may be a blog member among them but no-one recognised me in my red hoodie.


We pitched on a slightly sloping pitch which gave me the chance to use the Lock n' Level as mentioned in a previous post.

It worked very well,the only thing I noticed on removing it at the end of our stay was that the underside where it had rested on the pea- gravel ( not particularly sharp ) was the presence of quite a few scuffs and nicks to the fabric so on anything other than grass I would in future place it on a piece of carpet or the like.



We did some tandem rides whilst there and one such took us to the village of Wolferton where a chance chat to a group of walkers by the village church took us across the village to Wolferton Station which sadly is no more in running order but was the Royal Station for Sandringham in days gone by.

George V1 ( I think it was ) died at Sandringham and his body was put on the train at Wolferton  to take it to Westminster Abbey for burial.

The Queen now arrives at Sandringham by helicopter we were informed.

( Personally,if I was the Queen I would give Buckingham Palace the heave-ho and live at Sandringham all the time ).

The station and the associated signal box was bought in 2001by a man named Richard Brown who has restored it to its former glory.

Wolferton Station

He is a very interesting chap who has done it all out of his own pocket and will willingly answer any questions,he charges for nothing,tea,postcards,eggs,just some coins into the charity tin.

Co-incidentally he used to live in Wakefield and his daughter only lived about a mile or so from where we live.

The place is well worth a visit if you are in the area.


Ian



Wednesday 2 April 2014

Battery Box Door Update

Some of you may recall the battery box door incident where the battery left the van and was deposited on the mean streets of Castleford.

Well I fitted the door restraints that I mentioned and they would seem to do the job admirably should it happen again.






You may not be quite able to see in the picture but the blue things are connected with a clear plastic strip so if the door springs ajar again it shouldn't fall completely open.

Should be factory fit in my opinion ( with royalties to me of course ).

If they prove not to work or fall off the were only £1.80 or so I think so it is no great financial loss.

Ian


Damn Duvalays ( or One For The Gents Perhaps )

When we got our Duvalays last year I idly suggested to SWMBO that we remove the covers to wash after every trip.

Her reply was we would leave them on until the end of the season and then wash them ready for the following year.

Boy am I glad she did.

I spent a good hour yesterday afternoon trying to shoehorn the mattress and quilt into two Duvalays,they are like a chinese puzzle.

I did it eventually but you have been warned.

Then again I have trouble with quilt covers as well.

Ian

Tuesday 1 April 2014

Window Pains (sic).

Another correspondent,Paul Medcalf, has kindly sent a description of a problem with the two panes of acrylic glass in the front window rubbing together:-

Something I wanted to share with you and your followers ,
at the end of last season we noticed that our by window on the Orion 440-4 had marks between the double skin so we have pursued a claim and there is possibly  a 6 week lead time for delivery depending if the supplier has it in stock.
Should any followers have the same problem I recommend then to discuss with their dealership to pursue a claim to replace the window. The information they will need is situated on a small window sticker generally found in the top Right hand side of the bay  window when viewing the window externally or the the top left hand side when viewing the window internally ;-)


Thanks Paul,

Ian

Lock 'n Level Update.

The Lock 'n Level device I mentioned previously arrived yesterday.







If anyone is thinking of buying one here are a few stats :-

It measures 70cm x 24cms and weighs just short of 2.5Kg.

It comes with its own bag to store it in,an instruction book and two spare valve caps.

Our levelling ramps weigh 3.3Kg so there is a slight weight saving.

We don't use that many unlevel pitches but when we have used it I will report back on the findings.

In case anyone thinks otherwise I have absolutely no connection at all with the manufacturer of the device apart from being a customer.

Ian

The Triangular Cushion Problem Updated.

Wunny,one of my correspondents,has done us all 440/4 owners a big,big favour by sending me a description of how to make the rear bed up in the 440/4 without the triangular cushion falling on the floor.

This was discussed on the blog a while ago,here is what he has said ( with photo's) :-

For new readers, the solution to this problem is to move the forward seat cushion to the table and the 'triangular' (trapezoid) shaped cushion goes onto the forward seat, such that it held in by the seat side panel.

Fill in the rest of the bed with other cushions as appropriate. The small back rest wedge goes in the bottom left hand corner.













Manny thanks for that Wunny,especially the pictures,much appreciated.

Ian