Underfloor rust protection

When I was at the Renault shop in November 2024, they told me that there is a significant amount of rust underneath, and that I would have trouble to pass the German TÜV examination. I did not want to do anything in winter - weather was not suitable. But then now in May I did have a look, and indeed, there was a rust.

So I got my equipment and began sanding down the rust where I saw it. Unfortunately the sanding was not very effective - the rust was just too hard. So I did use a strong metal file and tried to mechanically remove the loose rust.

First I did use a rust remover/converter that I found on Amazon. But I was not too happy with the results - there seemed still to be rust everywhere, even after I had sprayed the rusty parts.

The rust removal and conversion with this spray did work fine on easily accessible parts such as the diagonal metal bars at the rear.

But other parts underneath still looked very rusty after having been sprayed with that converter.

So upon the advice of my brother I did use another rust converter. This one had a very gooey consistence and could not be sprayed but was painted on with a brush. It seemed to have a much better coverage.  

Then afterwards, after one day of letting the converter work and get dry, I did cover everything with a protective wax.

This then should give enough protection against rust and wetness.

A tent against heating up

Now after the winter months I again can devote some time to working on the camper. The first issue is to create a "tent" which provides a shadow in which the van can stand. My idea is to mount a kind of tarpaulin directly onto the camper, which can provide this shadow.

So I get a tarpaulin that is large enough to cover the whole roof. The 4 strong wooden poles, 4 tennis balls, and 4 flag holders.

Here is how this went:

First I mounted flag holders onto the outside of the vehicle.

Then I screwed tennis balls onto strong wooden poles ant placed these poles into the flag holders:

Then came the difficult process of putting the tarpaulin on the roof and attach it to these 4 poles.

And that is how it looks when the tarpaulin is attached:

One problem though: the tarpaulin is very sensitive to wind:

But my method of affixing the tarpaulin is not final yet... I need a way of stretching the tarpaulin so that is is straight and less affected by the wind. 

Expensive Service

The last documented service had been in 2016. So I brought the camper to HAASS in Ludwigsburg,

Several issues:

• leaking wheel hub
• defective hardy disk
• brake disks worn
• brakes stuck and rusty
• warning light re engine: something about the ignition

All needed to be fixed.

Took a whole week.

But now the camper is in top condition, for all the challenges that it will expect in 2025.

Trailer

 Had ordered online a trailer.

Munich - Octoberfest

Despite the warning lights I decided to use the camper to stay 2 nights in Munich.

First a stop at the Dickmanns family.

Then staying at a special campground at the Messegelände, only for the Octoberfest.

Travel to Switzerland

Looking for a holiday home on camp sites.

I tried in vain to get Socks into the camper. Flint was OK, but Socks jumped out. 

So I left without the two cats.

Staying at a campground in Ticino.

Driving along Lago Maggiore. Small towns in Italy.

Short stop along Lago Maggiore.

Up the Simplon Pass.

Simplon Pass.

Campground Bella-Tola in Susten.

Two warning lights on the way back:

Flint and Socks ride with the camper the first time

I managed to get my two cats into the camper cabin. And we did a 1-hour ride. Socks hid somewhere at the bottom. Flint was a bit more attentive to the traffic.

 

Both cats seemed to be relieved when we arrived back home.