This is my story of building a dream Motorhome.
In the summer of 2020 just before the second lock down, I came across this Mercedes Benz 814 Vario on eBay. I had been watching many YouTubers doing expedition trucks and explorers which had sparked my interest. One thing that many know about me, is not to give me ideas.
So, with the harmless idea of 'just looking' the kids and I set off to a farm in Reading, which I thought, 'perfect because it's a farm with animals, what can go wrong?' When we arrived on the farm it was very quiet, apart from the sound of cows.
After test driving the truck, I just fell in love with it, and I wasn't alone! So there and then placed an offer that was accepted.
Every van has to have a name, and so the kids called him ‘Big Geoff’.
The Mercedes Benz Vario is known for being the ‘Legend’ an endless versatile truck in its class! This Mercedes Vario 814 is a 4250ltr diesel euro 2 engine, with a 5 speed gearbox. Furthermore, in the case of this van, it’s been limited to 65mph. Originally the van was used by Shropshire police as a forensic unit vehicle, which you can see in the photo.
Since ‘Big Geoff’ has been at Mtec Project, all the body parts have been removed, haha....
The van was first registered in 2004 and then used very little, as its only covered 7,000 miles. Most are unaware that the police service their vehicles relentlessly and so here we have a remarkable example of the 7.5kg truck.
The painstaking process of removing all the conversion that had been carried out by the previous owner took around 7 days. From there, all the wiring has been referenced and had the self-levelling system fitted. The self-levelling system is the first thing to be done as everything after is built around this.
Watch out for more to come on this project. To be continued.....
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