What a quiet week - not much bus-wise to report really. Off work from Tues pm with cough/cold/sore throat/The Fear and if you're too ill to go to school, you can't play out so I've done Jack Shité.

Found out that bus was built as a delivery van but with factory fitted rear windows. This means that there should be seatbelt mounts already fitted but to get to these, I'm going to have to remove some of the interior trim panels. Previous owner has covered these in stick-on grey fabric & did a really good job so I'm a little gutted that I'm going to have to disturb it all. So be it....

Will make time one night in the week to work out an approx MPG so will brim the tank up, drive round the M60, fill up again once home & divide my miles travelled. Expecting 20-30 mpg - we'll see.

Bought the engine bay unit from RCC. Was intending to pick up yesterday but too much going on to justify a trip out so will get it delivered. Also "won" the overhead cupboard on eBay so expect that to arrive later this week. Intending to cover this with the same grey material used for the rooflining etc & will fit a couple of swivel downlighters in it too so I can junk the big clumsy plastic jobs mounted over both doors.

Went to see Cal this afternoon. Much teasing from Ann (my lovely wife) about the "Bus Club" that held an exclusive meeting in the kitchen - priorities, My Dear & besides you have honorary membership as a spouse of one of the committee members. Cal refuses to attend any event that has "Freeze" in the title so DubFreeze in Feb looks like me & the boy only. Carly/Big Stu are up from Perranporth for the weekend but their suggestion of attending Run To The Sun might be a little too far away. Driving to Newquay on a Friday after work sounds beyond us!

Targetting the week between Christmas & New Year as time to get on with stuff. Too dark/cold at night & too busy at weekends at the moment to do anything practical so imagination only until then

Back from the garage

Picked the bus up Sat am from Pauls. Seats are great, gear change less so but at least first is now a negotiable option. To be fair, years of modern cars have dulled the senses and I shouldn't really expect a 26 year old van with an 2 foot gear stick to be as precise as a 2007 Zafira. New battery will take the uncertainty out of starting up each day and a functioning heater motor couldn't have been more welcome given the cold weather recently.

Got home & grandkids were round for the day. Not seen them for a few weeks so got to show off the new toy. Made lots of promises about days out in the bus once we get warmer weather (& rear seatbelts) which went down well. Roll on spring...............

Finance now dictates the way forward. The loss of Anns car last weekend to a combination of freezing weather & little or no engine oil means that throwing a wodge of cash at Camper Shak for a flash interior is a definite non-starter. Will now concentrate on just getting a new full-width back seat/bed/seatbelts and a leisure battery set up installed by Paul. Selling off the old bed, seats & hob/oven should provide funds for the awning & we've got all the other essentials already as part of the tent/camping set-up. The tent will be sold in Spring too & should pay for the purchase of lowering springs/shocks. Other than that, saving up or getting a part-time job to raise more funds are the only options.

Have seen a couple of second hand storage units on eBay while looking for bargains. One of these is the bedbase unit needed for over the engine bay from a T25 breakers in North Wales called RCC Imports. Have heard & seen some strange things about this company on various forums, usually along the lines of them asking absolute fortunes for old crappy wheels & seats but this unit is priced at £18.75 & looks in really good condition. Will call them Monday am & see what they're about. The other unit is an old Westfalia cupboard that fixes on the ceiling over the engine bay. Not the most exciting colour but think I could cover it with stickers or some carbon-fibre effect vinyl. Will fire in last minute low bid & see what happens.

Picked up a few other bits and will fit light guards and intermittent wash-wipe tomorrow, but the new passenger mirror from eBay was a shocker. A listing that said "some small marks to mirror" turned out to mean "the top third of the mirror is totally unusable because the silvering has all broken down". Fired off an e-mail & the seller refunded immediately & told me to just throw the mirror away. Fair enough but makes me think that the guy knew he was selling shité and was chancing his arm that people wouldn't complain.

Off now - it's 5am & the cricket is coming back on. England giving Australia a slapping & me owning a bus - what strange times we live in..............