Demolition Day Arrives
Having spent weeks choosing cupboards, cookers, fridges, flooring, upholstery and curtains we had one major job left before we took her in - we had to strip her out! All the old cupboards, curtains, carpets and other fittings we no longer wanted had to be removed. Although the Camper Shak would have done this for us, we decided we'd like to have a go at it ourselves.Surprisingly, this summer has actually been pretty good by British standards. There have even been days when it has been deemed 'too hot'! The week leading up to Demolition Day was full of days like this. It was scorching! The pressure and heat had been building and the threat of storms was definitely in the air.
Having woken up that Friday morning I was writing in my office which was bathed in gentle morning sunlight. Anyone who writes will tell you that it can be pretty absorbing. I don't know how long I'd sat there but I suddenly became aware that the sunlight had been replaced by thick, black clouds and the rain was bouncing off the ground. Not only that, Thor had decided it was play time and for the next hour a storm raged above our house. At times it sounded as though Thor was indeed, banging his hammer directly on our roof. Brilliant! This was our one day to clear the van and we were going to be soaked, hit by lightning or both!
By the time we set off to collect Buttercup from the garage, Thor had become bored and Apollo was doing his best to get back on the scene. This clash of interests meant it was muggy, close, sticky and downright uncomfortable. Despite this, we got Buttercup back to Southport and onto my dad's drive way.
Hammers at the ready...
Funnily enough, neither Dom or I have stripped a VW camper of its fixtures and fittings before so we had no idea what to expect. Arming ourselves with the work man standard of tea, hammer and screwdrivers we made a start.
First out were the old curtains and carpet. I was surprised just how easy the carpet was to remove. Thankfully no nasty glue was holding it in place and once the seatbelts under the rock and roll bed had been untangled it just came out in one easy piece. Can't say I'm sorry to say goodbye to either...
The next job was to get the old units out. Dom was tackling these and again was surprised just how easily they came out! It was a bit alarming just how flimsy they were. It seems a miracle that the cupboards hadn't just rattled themselves loose over the years. The one thing of real quality though is the original cooker, a little Flavel number. It's in great condition and Mike is going to incorporate it into our new swing out cooker unit. So despite the heat and mugginess, Dom managed to remove the units pretty quickly.
By now we were extremely hot, sticky and more importantly starving. But one more job beckoned before lunch could be devoured. The pop top (which is original) was in need of a really, really, really good clean. Years of muck, dust and who knows what else had clung to every bit of the canvas. Only one thing would be strong enough to tackle this...Cillit Bang! Let me give you a piece of advice. Should you ever find yourself needing to clean the canvas on a pop top, don't do it on the muggiest day of the year. Spraying and cleaning in those conditions was like having an indoor shower that just didn't get you clean! Grim was most definitely the word!
Once that was done and lunch had given us a much needed energy boost the last remaining job was to remove the old speakers. I have had nothing to do with the sound system as this is Dom's area of expertise. He would rather listen to nothing than listen to music through rubbish speakers. Having inspected the old speakers they passed the stringent test but still needed to be removed as they will be relocated in the foot well of the driver cab. The screws had obviously been in place for some time but eventually and with a bit of help from some, shall we say, encouraging words they came out!
So there she was, in all her empty glory. The inside looked both bare and incredibly large with nothing but the bed left in it. Which was just as well as we had a LOT of rubbish to take to the tip!
We had expected a nightmare job stripping Buttercup but it was actually far easier than we imagined. And if you've got your own van that needs a revamp I would definitely recommend you do this bit yourself.
The next stage of the re-vamp we were more than happy to leave to the experts at The Camper Shak. And on Monday 7th July, I dropped her off with Mike and Diane. She will be totally unrecognisable when we collect her and I for one can't wait!
Next time - Beautiful Buttercup!
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