I have spent many a long hour trying to decide what to do to in order to enhance the value of my Leyland Daf 200 Series - and no I'm not going to weigh it in for scrap!
I am under no illusion that the ex-Royal Mail van has little chance of winning the various competitions that make up our Desperate Van Challenge - and my only hope is that I can pick up some valuable points by selling it for more than the £398.88 I paid for it. So how do I do that?
The most obvious thing would be to tackle the rusty bodywork, but that would mean a hell of a lot of work. My wheel arches are totally knackered and the dreaded tin-worm have eaten huge great holes in my back doors.
I have had a quick look on the internet for some new ones, but at £200 for the pair they are out of my budget.
Then I thought maybe I could just paint the whole thing instead. It's amazing what horrors you can hide with a paintbrush. I figured I could paint it black, and just leave a red line running around the side and over the rear of the roof. I could call it the 'B-Team' van. But I was put off this idea when it occurred to me that the general public might not get the joke, making me look like a bit of a p***k. Back to the drawing board.
Then I had a brainwave - why not just clean the thing instead? I bought myself a bottle of T-Cut and got to work on the bonnet. The result was nothing short of staggering. Whoever said you can't polish a turd was wrong!