Collection Day

Well, the day finally arrived.  It was actually only 4 weeks from placing the order to collecting my kit, which I think is pretty good going.  I collected the rented van at 8.00am and after the usual paperwork was on the road by about 8.30am.  It was very cold, probably about -2 or -3 degrees and it was cold in the van.  Don't worry, I thought, it will soon warm up, after all, it is a nearly new Mercedes Sprinter.  How wrong was I.  Luke warm was the best it could muster so I put my coat and gloves on and carried on.  The washers were also frozen, so that equally didn't help the journey.

I was not looking forward to the journey as Great Britain was having a torrid time of it with deep snow and freezing temperatures.  Anyway, 3 hours and a couple of pit stops later to clean the windscreen, I arrived at the factory.  To say the car park was an ice rink was an understatement and made for an interesting time getting the van up to the loading bay doors!

Anyway, the kettle was on for a very appreciated coffee (thank you Ruth) and we set about loading up the kit.  There was a very detailed check list of parts to go through and Will, who works in the parts department, was very thorough going through them one by one so I knew what the part was and where they went on the car.

The donor parts were all cleaned up and looking nice and after about an hour, everything was loaded up.  I also opted to buy a few little extras whilst I was there.  Time for a second cup of coffee and a look around the workshops.  There was a customer's car that had been through the IVA the previous day (a first time pass) and another that was being prepared ready for collection the following day to be taken all the way to Spain.  I had a long chat with Simon, the technical wizard and he gave me some good pointers to look out for along the way.

More chats with Richard and Keith before we finally sorted out the bill (well the bill to date anyway) and once that was all settled, I was on my way.  The journey back was uneventful and by 6.00pm I was back in Gloucester.  I started to unload what I could but had to wait for some help from the son-in-law (Stuart, who I think may make a few appearances in this blog as time goes on) to lift the chassis out of the van and in to the garage.

So, she (why do we always refer to cars as "she"?) is here safe and sound and so on to the build proper, which I hope to start at the weekend.