Swapped all doors
I swapped 'all' the doors from my last T4 today to try to save the tints and remove a few dents. Not a difficult job once you figure it all out and I was pleasantly surprised to find the door locks were VERY easy to remove and swap! Just two screws! I had the locks down as a nightmare.
The front doors are held on with the two visible hinges and a catch that holds the door in the open position. There is no need to remove the door card unless fitting central locking.
The side sliding door was also pretty simple by removing the two bolts at the bottom and sliding it back off the runner. There is a black runner stop that needs to be removed with a Philips screwdriver.
The rear tailgate was a bit trickier due to the weight and wiring. Again it's removed by popping the struts off and using a big screwdriver on the visible hinges. Make sure it's a good fit or you WILL round them off - I went to Halfords to buy a decent one that I quickly broke the handle off and put a spanner on to get the leverage. The wires will easily pull out but you will need patience and a wire coat hanger to get them back in again. As I also ran my 6x9 speaker wires down here I improved quickly at it
Carpeting
I bought 2m x 9m of black un-backed carpet from a eBay seller who sells T4 carpet kits. I also bought some red canned Evo Stick that is very heat resistant. It took about three days to carpet the entire van! The panels were pretty easy enough to do but the door posts and wheel arches required quite a bit of skill. I got the hang of it in the end but got some glue drips in places -DO NOT spray directly onto the carpet! I've also discovered that black shows up dirt way too well
Rust
As it's an older van i've been trying to stop the onslaught of rust to some degree. The immediate problem being the wheel arches! As i'm intending this to be a 'working' van for climbing/kayaking I simply painted the whole wheel arch with red oxide paint. I know this is a temporary measure but i'm not sure it's worth sanding and repainting them at this date. I'll have to have a think about it.
Electrics
I've been sorting out the electrical side of things with the van today, mainly as it was raining hard. I managed to complete all the ICE wiring, split charge relay, tailgate 6x9 speakers and extended the main battery wires (via butts and battery wire) to allow room for two batteries in the bonnet area. I did this by making a larger battery tray that still fits into the cornered off area. The design is on the VW books site. I bought most of the parts from an online retailer called Vehicle Wiring Products.
I also fitted a Bonnet Bra (from eBay) to hide my scruffy bonnet and prevent further stone chips. The idea being it can be carried to a new van and have a bit of longevity. Looks great!
