as any classic transit nut would 
but ive never had the space or time for one, anyway since our older kids have grown up and no longer come away camping with us we sold our 6 berth camper to scale down to something for the 3 of us so my plan was to get a fire van and convert it to a camper (as if i didnt have enough projects allready
)for a while ive been looking on http://www.ebay.de http://www.autoscout24.de/ and http://www.mobile.de i'd contacted a few german sellers but the problem is most of them don't want to sell to overseas buyers, not sure why but it may be because they suspect its a scam
I'd been looking for a few months on and off (so had madmark) and a couple of weeks ago mark spotted this van [ads now gone but..] 1970 mk1 good condition 1970euros, i emailed the seller and got some more photos, the van needed exhaust welding and a patch on both sills but still had a current TUV (german MOT) and only 8000miles from new
after some negotiation - the seller was origanally going to deliver it but the cost was too much - i decided to buy it i got it for 1800euros including him patching the exhaust and regestering it on temprary plates (so i could drive it home) at the current exchange rate 1800euros works out to be £1420
as i knew the van needed welding i was a bit unsure of the overall condition as photos dont show everything
but i decided the price was right and worth a gamble 
after all i didnt want a show queen that i'm too scared to use (ive got the grey cossy for that ) i want a useable solid base for a camper that i can use in all weathers my plan for fetching it back was to ride over on my motorbike, put the bike in the back of the van and drive the van back
the van still had the ladders on the roof so i thought if i need to i can use them to get the bike in so to cut a long story short i booked a ferry across, decided to go Hull to Rotterdam as its an ovenight 10/11 hour ferry which arrives at 8:00am gives me the day to get the van (which btw was in Osnabrook 180 miles away from rotterdam) then get back to catch the same ferry back 21:00 that night and arrive on UK soil 8:00am the next morning
i packed my bike with a few tools and a set of waterproofs (just incase) made a bracket for the sat nav, few ratchet straps and anything else i could think of and set off thursday 19:00
this was the bike (not me riding it ) all geared up ready to go 
got to the ferry no major hassles boarded (the ferry btw cost me £142) although i could have got it cheeper if i'd booked earlier
Arrived in Rotterdam set off strait away didnt really keep a track of the time but i arrived at the sellers place at 11:30 local time, the only problem i had was the vibration made the sat nav come off the mount but i wedged it with a glove and it was fine for speeds up to 150mph
or was that kph Unfortunatly the sat nav didnt have european small roads on it so the nearest i could get was the motorway junction and from then i followed the directions the seller had emailed me, got there and i could see the van as i approched and it looked good
got off the bike and met the seller and had a good look round .............. moment of truth there were a few bits that didnt show in the photos but overall i was pleased with it (at this point i wish i'd took a few photos but totally forgot
) managed to get the bike in the back with the sellers help - he had some ramps, he'd allready took out the centre hose rack so it went in no problems - ratcheted it down and off i went for those who dont know the vans have a 1.7V4 cologne engine - not the most powerfull but the worst part is a 5.8:1 ratio back axle 4th feels like 3rd
70kph/45mph top speed 
i knew this before had as mark had told me so i'd worked in plenty of time to get to the ferry (about 8 hrs ) pics i took on route home
and this is me
you can see the bike in the back 
one thing that did happen was i could smell burning
smelt like a wire insulation, no alt light coming on and i didnt seem to loose any electrical funtions so i carried on till the next services and stopped i popped the bonnet had a look and found this 
the washer bottle had fell off and onto the exhaust manifold
thankfully thats all it was as i didnt have any breakdown cover - my back up plan was incase of breakdown i'd get the bike out go find spares/tools to repair it but apart from that minor incident the van ran like a dream i'd also took a lead for connecting the sat nav onto the battery so it would help me get back to rotterdam - unfortunatly it took me into the town centre which is 20 miles from the europoort where i needed to be but it was nice to have a look round
i eventually got to the port just as they were opening up for boarding think it was about 16:00
anyway at 45mph flat out it seemed like i'd been driving for 3 days sailed back ok and was back home for 10:30 ish satarday morning
the ferry back had cost £250 so the total cost to get the van back was around 2 grand - i didnt record the costs exactly as i'm not doing it for profit but Ive now got to MOT it here and regester it as a UK van
Would i do it again
100% absolutley i loved every minute was a great experiance, the only thing i'd do different is take someone with me, i didnt as i was half expecting it to be chucking it down (not pleasant for a passanger on the bike 
) also my cousin could have come with me on his bike but i wasnt 100% sure i could get 2 bikes in the back easly (and also he'd slow me down 
)so here she is at home
as soon as i start work on it i'll start a progress thread but ive promised myself not to touch it untill i finish my pick up
well apart from waxoiling and undersealing and mabe a few other bits 
