# Late 1994 Hymer S550



## adrianr (May 22, 2016)

I finally found an end of production model original as possible Hymer S550 motorhome(November 1994 making it one of the last few of that model made)  which is what I wanted on the Merc chassis - spent 10 months patiently waiting for the right one!  Worked out a deal with the owner in Amsterdam 4 weeks back, flew out collected and then drove back via the Rotterdam to Hull ferry.  

Have spent the last 4 week beavering away tidying, fixing up and modifying to suit what we wanted, and getting it registered which came through yesterday afternoon.

Have been working through a series of jobs to bring it back to glory.

Engine had a rattle  which i identified as a failed aux belt tensioner bearing and pulley, so stripped the front bits  off the engine and replaced pulley, belt, tensioner arm, tensioner spring and damper.  Also gave her a full service to baseline her.  The squeal was a failing alternator bearing so had the alternator cleaned and reconditioned.

Fixed a split vacuum pipe that has made the performance uphills normal again, on other word she will maintain 90km up most reasonable hills, before she would not.

Gave her a good clean polish and wax and noticed a bunch of  odd pin holes in the back outer aluminium double skin, plus a section of rotten floor in the back corner.  

Chassis is in great shape, a few very minor surface rust areas that i cleaned and treated with dinitoll rust converter - a job i normally do 2 x a year on my cars.  you never stop it but it slows down to almost nothing doing it that way. 

So did some things I have not done before, cut out the rotten section of floor  and made a new one up using concrete shuttering plywood.  Made a frame out of seasoned oak and mahogany which should never rot. Sealed the plywood into the frame using twin layer of windscreen sealant and then screwed it all together and into the metal frame of the chassis and the new wooden frame i made.  Nice and strong once again. Gave the whole lot 5 coats of underseal.  

Am going to make some rear mud-flaps so that will reduce amount of water that hits those areas whilst we are driving.


Then stripped the inner wall covering off the inner back wall once I got the seats out to find that water had been creeping up the wall for years. pretty unusual for Hymers since they are so watertight (whereas the floor issue is common but i suppose to be expected after 22 years and no one really paying attention to the problem and nipping it in the bud) .  Fiilled the holes in the outer skin, worked out where the water was creeping it and sealed it all with windscreen sealant (arbomast) that forms a flexible skin as it sets but the inside stays gooey and flows , messy to work with but very effective.  Used some sealant on the outside and then gave her 4 coats of hard simoniz wax that i worked into the pin holes i could not get silicone sealant into.

Built a mini greenhouse out of vinyl sheeting inside and then ran a dehumidier for 6 days inside it to focus it efforts on drying out the wet polystyrene.  once dry i sealed it with 5 coats of diiluted pva glue.  then rebuilt the inner walls using door hardboard sheets and more pva.  finally a coat of old english white chalk board paint sealed with wax afterwards.  I can keep an eye on the back over the next 6 months to make sure nothing is amiss.  if it looks fine then ill get some of the original wallpaper and re paper the back section so it looks original again.

Re wired the back motorcycle rack lights so the fog light works as it should in the uk (had some help with that). 

sailed thorough its MOT with no advisories.

Next job was to upgrade the inside lights to warm white LEDs so we have plenty of light for kitchen area and the lounge for eating and reading.  I replaced the inner parts of the existing fluorescent lights retaining the original fixtures and fittings to maintain the retro look.  I also added a hidden LED rope light behind the pelmet around the seating area that is dimmable via a remote control for when we relax.

Fitted a high flow computer fan at the back of the fridge to replace the long dead cooling fan. Shifts more air, uses less power than the original and is quiet.  ive run this off a separate switch so we can use it to assist cooling when the weather gets warm.

Fitted dodo mat soundproofing to the dashboard to quieten down the rather loud engine.

Fixed the damaged side pods above the driving seats and below the pull dow double bed. sikaflex and some metal T shaped brackets sorted that very well.

fitted a 7 way charger to the front - to run the newly fitted dash fans, and charge both ipads and both iphone at the same time.

repaired the cutlery drawer.

Fitted a carbon monoxide alarm.

found some lovely 35 year chrome and cream merc wheel trims - they will need re-spraying at some stage, they look fab.

Still to do, and I should sort these last issues this week:

- replace brake fluid
- free up the front left brake calliiper
- replace the hinges on the grey water tap cover.


She is a lovely old thing with bags of character.
Got some nice extras
big solar panel on the roof
tv and auto tracking satellite system
cruise control (which i may have fixed (have not tested it yet)
60 litre lpg tank
long range fuel tank

As she was when i bought her.









With the new old chrome wheel trims.  These need a repaint at the centre.







Keen to wildcamp in her soon.  Used to wildcamp before in my landcruiser sleeping in a very nice Hennessey Hammock. The Hymer is complete luxury compared to the hammock.


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## Makzine (May 23, 2016)

Hello and :welcome:


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## silverweed (May 23, 2016)

Wow! What a list. I can't seem to find the time to replace the door retainer. I'm envious


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## Deleted member 19733 (May 23, 2016)

Hi and welcome to the forum, have fun


:welcome::camper::have fun::cheers::dog::scooter::boat::drive::goodluck:


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## phillybarbour (May 23, 2016)

Hi, sounds like your as happy as a hymerite in a hymer. Happy travels great van.


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## jeanette (May 24, 2016)

Hi and:welcome::camper:


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## adrianr (May 24, 2016)

Thanks everyone.


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## Sharon the Cat (May 24, 2016)

I was quite worn out after reading your post. You must be very proud of your new van. Does it have a name?


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## adrianr (May 25, 2016)

She is called Heidi.


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## jeanette (May 25, 2016)

adrianr said:


> She is called Heidi.



Any particular reason for the name Adrian


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## Acti (May 25, 2016)

:welcome: to the forum :drive:


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## GinaRon (May 25, 2016)

Hello welcome to the forum, happy and safe travelling   :wave:


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## adrianr (May 26, 2016)

Chosen by me and Helen, no reason really other than it felt right.


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## Deleted member 21686 (May 26, 2016)

Welcome to the forum


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