Katy meets Isabella

We have been looking for an awing that will go on the back for a while. We did actually get one that was meant for a caravan which we tried out and took to France with us on the Alps trip, but it was bulky, had to be taken down even for a short move and  in the end because it was too short I tore the top of it with the door when  I opened it one time 

After a spot of recent browsing I came across this small over door porch https://www.isabella.net/uk/accessories/details/door-canopy-for-caravan-black which was meant to be self supporting and just needs fastening to the bodywork or holding down with 2 pegs of you are on soft ground 

I had hoped to try it out on the Gower trip, however even though the sun was shining it was a bit windy to try something new so this last weekend we tried it on the drive and it is above the door which is perfect. 

I also recon that if we wanted to we could drive a short slow trip (to a local shop etc) without having to take it apart

That will certainly do for now until I can design (or even better get someone to design and build) a proper solution that can be bolted onto the roof rack and pulled out as needed with a capability to put it away in a very short time 
 

Some time to work on her

It's been really slow here recently. pressure of work and frequent trips away have meant that I've had little or no time to work on Katy or even to enjoy driving her

Some work that is needed for use this year is to replace the awing rail, the one I fitted was damaged going under s tree (it was on a bracket on the roof rack) and I need to do it properly so we can use the awing this year.

Also I got around to removing the 3 way fridge I had fitted in Katy today and I discovered one of the problems in that the flue was never sealed by the "supposedly professional" camper van maintenance company that did the fitting - hence the fume smell that we had that meant I had to turn it off all the time we were in it, especially overnight

BTW the company mentioned above was the ones who fitted an electrical system that drained the battery nearly leading me to missing the road run last year, I'm not going to post their name here, but if you are in South Wales and want to get in touch please do and I'll not recommend any aspect of their work

Building an Extension

What Katy has needed for a while is an extension to give us a bit more space when we're parked up and somewhere to have some shade if its hot

After some research I worked out that a Sunncamp ultima 180 should fit so we bought a second hand one and I've fashioned a rail to fit it so instead of a land rover item for many hundreds we have a solution for about £50. Here it is at the first trial fit 

 

You can see from this shot that this is just tied onto the roof rack which putt it a bit our of position and too high 

 

 There was this three inch gap at the bottom which should be sorted out when I get some awning roof rail properly installed, and also one of the doors is going to be a problem with the gas canister cupboard, but that we'll have to live with as I'm not moving it

So all in all it looks positive. Some awning rail and some brackets to hold it at the right place on the back of Katy and make the canvas reach thr groubd and some sharp edges on the gas cupbaord to sort out so we don't tear it

There's a lot more to do, but every little. We do is a step forward towards a really useable camper