Needing a little more space for motorcycles and using the van more and more for camping trips, I decided it would be nice to have a bit of a project van on the go so picked up this T4 from a mate... paid £2600
1.9TD
Gearbox rebuilt with longer 5th for better crusing
Wastegate tweaked with fueling adjusted to suit
New discs/pads all round
New exhaust
Audi A4 alloys with correct Van tyres
Lowered all round 40mm
recently serviced
Plans
Cambelt change
Banded Mercedes Vito steels
Lowering to -60mm
Window installed
Ply lined
Body work made immaculate (it's not bad but needs a few bits doing)
Dinitrol/waxoyled
Badgeless grill
ply lined
Cupboard unit fitted as will be used for bikes and dayvan/camping duties
Golf VR6 chin spoiler
Red/Grey rear lights
Tinted front indicators
Fully carpeted/lino floored
sound deadened/insulated
Decent entertainment system
eventually a 1.8 20V turbo is the plan but that should keep me going a while.
It'll be getting 17" Mercedes Vito steels with a bit of banding but they aren't cheap so will have to wait until spring. Will run these over winter as the tyres have loads of life in them. Might give them a coat of silver though to make them less offensive in the short term
Ordered clear front indicators and submitted a "best offer" on red/grey rears and a VR6 chin spoiler so hopefully will get those
Lot's of research being done. Going to look at suspension options next then hopefully get a coat of silver on these temporary wheels before it gets too cold to be painting.
Will get over to a bodyshop over winter to get the work it needs quoted.
Few little jobs done on this and some more bits ordered.....
- Badgeless front grill fitted
- Gearstick extension fitted (looks OE, standard gearknob refitted it just makes it much more user friendly)
- Smoked front indicators fitted
- Red/Grey rear lights fitted
- Golf VR6 splitter purchased, trial fitting has begun, wants some fettling but will fit that soon.
- Banded steels on order (16" Merc Vito banded to 8" all round)
- Alpine 4" dash speakers fitted under standard grills. (will add 6x9's and a small sub when interior is done)
Once the wheels are on, i'll get the new suspension ordered and fit that up to set the ride height. Once that's sorted it's off to a specialist in Wales to have the bodywork done (any grot cut out and new metal welded in) and once that's done it's onto the interior work.
Been gathering more bits for this lately, some starting to arrive now, others due in the next week.
Insulation and ply lining kit including floor - picked up from someone breaking a rotten one for £50
Tinted side window - as above out of a breaker for £40 for a genuine VW one.
Faulkner short springs for the rear (torsion bar to be dropped at the front)
Sachs HD short shocks
17" Mercedes vito steels banded very slightly to 7.5" front and 8" rear to give a chunkier look but without any daft stretch or sticking out wheels rubbish, will be fitted with correctly load rated tyres, fitted properly. Painted in the same colour as the Monaro wheels.
Centre caps from a newer shape Caddy van to go with the above.
Drive away awning for camping at the weekends
But most importantly it's off to the bodyshop at the end of the month to have the few small rust areas sorted and painted so it'll be mint and of course have the glass cut in. Then I can get on with fitting all the new bits and kitting it out ready for this years camping/motorbike trackday and racing duties
Progress has been slow as i've been held up waiting on parts. Decided that bodywork can wait until winter as I now need it for trackday and camping season. Anyway, had the window cut in this week
Dampers should arrive this week so I can get the suspension all fitted and the new wheels on at some point in April. Got all the sound deading and insulation here so hoping to get it semi converted during April and of course use it for some trackday support
Made quite a bit of progress with this (cupboards now have doors too and the roof is back up) but it's all sound deadened and insulated, has a proper floor and a rock n roll bed (which is removable for motorbike transportation) which needs retrimming. Had a good first proper camping trip using it as a camper and it was ideal
lots still to do including pop top and full electrics set up and of course the rest of the trim. Swivel base for the passenger double seat is on the way currently.
Made the bed quick release on this, so couple of bolts and out it comes, some old carpet down to protect the floor and it's back to track day transport ready for Cadwell this week..
Off for bodywork in November. We've enjoyed the basic conversion this year so are going to go ahead and spend a bit more on it to really make it good for camping as we wanted to see how much use it got before spending too much, so jobs on the list before next spring...
- Side window on the other side (tomorrow)
- Bodywork to get it back to mint (booked for November)
- Pop top with bed so it's easy to pitch up for one nighters without the awing as that will make it 4 birth without the awning
- Fitted electrics for 240v and 12v with leisure battery and hook up point (as opposed to the camping hook up lead with sockets we've been using)
- Fit a proper worktop on the kitchen unit rather than the MDF we have.
- Wrap the units/build additional shelving
- permanently fix the Rock and roll bed.
- Tow bar (as i'll be using this to tow a box trailer for the bike next season and use this as a full camper at the track too)
- 12v/240v fitted fridge
- Fit a Diesel heater
- Fiamma F45 awning and privacy room instead of the driveaway awning for ease of use.
Also lowering it further and fitting the Golf VR6 splitter and red rear lights i've already got.
7x5 box trailer for a bargain £590. Needs a pair of tyres and a good cleanup (removal of those stickers!) but this will hold all my trackday gear allowing for it to be permanently campered from now on. No more pulling the bed out etc.
This is off to LJ autobodies in Cardiff tomorrow to stay with them for a couple of months.
It's having
- Screen out and rust cut out. New screen fitted
- four arches cut out (including inner arches at the rear) replaced, painted etc
- new filler flap
- Any other rust cut out and repaired properly
- bottom half respray (same colour)
- B pillars between windows black
should basically be mint when it comes back.
Then to SC customs for cambelt, waterpump, gear linkage bush replacement and a general suspension health check
As soon as it comes back it's off to Clockwork campers for the following
- Pop top with bed system (for our daughter to sleep in)
- Planar Diesel heater
- Fiamma F45 wind out awning with sides for quick easy camping set up
- roof mount solar panel
Then when back from there, i'll fit all the electrical bits i've been gathering
- Leisure battery using under bonnet bracket
- split charge system
- 12v Electrics (LED lights, 12v TV, USB charge points)
- 240v electrics for when on a camp site with hookup (with hookup hidden behind dummy fog light that's in the bumper)
Should be even better for next years camping and biking antics!
At some point next year it will get a window in the rear and the units repainted etc.
This should be back from the bodyshop end of the month. Paid my deposit on the pop top last week so that's being made currently ready for fitting when I have it back.
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