i have a Lwb T4 and i have ben trying to find out the best way to store my surfboards inside. being still undecided, i had other jobs to do on the van, i.e the fuel gauge problem and my window washer nozzels were not working properly.
once some of the dash was off i decided, to hell with it, this needs some TLC. i have not had the van long and i have been unsure on how to tidy the interior up. the outside of the van is black, as well as some of the facias, so i decided to take the grey and make it black.
i decided to photograph the series of events as the change was being made. here is the original colour and dash, minus the clocks and the glove box
once everything was off, this is what i was left with, it was a bit daunting, but everything seemed to come off nicely. i found that i had to be very patient as there were constantly screws appearing still holding the dash in place. my trick was to pull lightly on the dash and find out where parts of it were still attached, sometimes it was clips and others were screws such as the sneaky little ones that are behind the the heater vents!! but it was patients and this paid off.
Now with the dash off, it was time for the door cards.
i have taken door cards off many a vehicle for speakers and wires etc, but these on the transporter are not very obvious too take off, so it was onto this forum to find some help and this was the link that helped me get these off without snapping anything.
http://www.vwt4forum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=8983
this is the original door card
Now removed
i then took off the other door card and took all the parts to get them ready for paint. i gave them a wipe down with some white spirit and then pressure washed them this was to ensure that they were clean
here some some parts ready for paint
look how tired my dash looks
i decided to use plasti cote paint to do the job. i got one can of black primer and 2 cans of matt black.
i primed the everything in the black primer and annoyingly ran out of primer just leaving one door card without anything on it. i then decided to use the matt black on the door card instead of the primer to see what the difference was when finished, a bit of a risk but i like experimenting.
after the primer i applied two coats of matt black to everything so i had 3 layers on every part. i did this so that in theory the finish should be tougher.
the door card that did not have the primer to begin with came out the same as every other item, so in my mind it does not matter if the plastic has the primer on it or not.
here are the items all sprayed up
they have come up really nice and you can see the difference from when it was grey.
here is the dash going back together.
here is the dash finished all tied up including the dash clocks fixed! i will post a better picture later when i have given the dash a once over with some dash cleaner. but what a difference!!!!!
here is the finished door card, i am so happy with the way that they have come out as they look so much better and cleaner.
this took me saturday (6 hours = dismantle, prep and paint) i let the paint dry overnight. and 4 hours on sunday (re-assemble and dash clock). i took my time doing this and boy has it payed off!!!
once some of the dash was off i decided, to hell with it, this needs some TLC. i have not had the van long and i have been unsure on how to tidy the interior up. the outside of the van is black, as well as some of the facias, so i decided to take the grey and make it black.
i decided to photograph the series of events as the change was being made. here is the original colour and dash, minus the clocks and the glove box
once everything was off, this is what i was left with, it was a bit daunting, but everything seemed to come off nicely. i found that i had to be very patient as there were constantly screws appearing still holding the dash in place. my trick was to pull lightly on the dash and find out where parts of it were still attached, sometimes it was clips and others were screws such as the sneaky little ones that are behind the the heater vents!! but it was patients and this paid off.
Now with the dash off, it was time for the door cards.
i have taken door cards off many a vehicle for speakers and wires etc, but these on the transporter are not very obvious too take off, so it was onto this forum to find some help and this was the link that helped me get these off without snapping anything.
http://www.vwt4forum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=8983
this is the original door card
Now removed
i then took off the other door card and took all the parts to get them ready for paint. i gave them a wipe down with some white spirit and then pressure washed them this was to ensure that they were clean
here some some parts ready for paint
look how tired my dash looks
i decided to use plasti cote paint to do the job. i got one can of black primer and 2 cans of matt black.
i primed the everything in the black primer and annoyingly ran out of primer just leaving one door card without anything on it. i then decided to use the matt black on the door card instead of the primer to see what the difference was when finished, a bit of a risk but i like experimenting.
after the primer i applied two coats of matt black to everything so i had 3 layers on every part. i did this so that in theory the finish should be tougher.
the door card that did not have the primer to begin with came out the same as every other item, so in my mind it does not matter if the plastic has the primer on it or not.
here are the items all sprayed up
they have come up really nice and you can see the difference from when it was grey.
here is the dash going back together.
here is the dash finished all tied up including the dash clocks fixed! i will post a better picture later when i have given the dash a once over with some dash cleaner. but what a difference!!!!!
here is the finished door card, i am so happy with the way that they have come out as they look so much better and cleaner.
this took me saturday (6 hours = dismantle, prep and paint) i let the paint dry overnight. and 4 hours on sunday (re-assemble and dash clock). i took my time doing this and boy has it payed off!!!