Transco (a company in the UK servicing gas pipes) had a big fleet of vehicles, including Mercedes Sprinter and Ford Transit vans.
All vehicles are maintained with a full service history it seems. If you can find a vehicle that does not have too many work bruises on it you can have a good vehicle for a campervan conversion.
All Transco vans come in baby blue, which makes a nice change from the standard white.
Equipment
Transco vans come with a combination of the following equipment. When stripping the vehicle out ready for a van conversion you can sell the unwanted items to raise some cash. I have listed the prices you can expect to get for the items when selling.
- Racking – £50
- Bulkhead – £30
- Rear step – £10
- Roof yellow beacons – £20
- Spotlights – £20
- 4 x internal strip lights – £5 each
The bulkhead is riveted in with steel rivets. It is best removed by rilling off the rivet heads. It gets difficult near the bottom where these is not much room.
The van racking is bolted to brackets. The racking can be removed by just unbolting it. Some of the brackets are riveted to the plastic lining and some to the van structure.
The rear step is bolted to the chassis.
The Rooftop beacons are bolted through the roof with 3 small bolts.
The yellow track that runs up through the van is heavy and difficult to remove. It is bolted to the van with the bolts passing right through to the underside.
The spotlights brackets are rivited to the van strucutre.
The internal strip lights are screwed to the van roof structure.
Transco Van Paint
All Transco vans are paint. This appears to have been done at the factory, as the entire vehicle inside and out is the same colour. Transco use various makes of vehicle, including Mercedes, Ford and Renault. All manufacturers seem to use the same colour paint.
The light blue colour is not a standard colour. I have found the colour listed as:
JDU British Gas Light Blue (svo) 95- LRC.633
Of course Transco was a contractor for British Gas, and therefore the paint is listed under their name.
I have also seen the colour code listed as C42, although I believe this may be a Renault specific colour.
A decode of the VIN plate of an ex-Transco Mercedes Sprinter lists the colour as: 5559 light blue.
If you wish to get some paint to repair your vehicle you will almost certainly have to have some made for you.
I tried my local Halfords store, but the chap was unable to find it listed as any of the codes given above.
I found a local paint supplier that had the colour code listed on their computer, so they were able to mix some for me without having to see the vehicle. The company are Hex Holdings. I used my local Redruth Branch who were excellent. They mixed 2 cans for me (£14.09 for a 400ml spray can). The suggested white primer is the best colour to use, however they said the grey primer is easier to apply, and will require just an extra coat of the blue. I went with this option. The blue paint also requires a coat of laquer.
