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Kaz - total strip down - 2nd Project - will have lots of pics!

68K views 210 replies 34 participants last post by  T4HULK 
#1 · (Edited)
Picked this up in September 2013 after viewing a few and hunting for a base van for a new build. Was a Private buy from a lady who had been using it for a small hobby catering business and thanks must go to @Turlough for giving us the heads up on this wee gem! So time for another build thread!

Detail:
2002 2.5tdi(blue) 88bhp Panel Van, Half Bulkhead, Hatch and some scruffy VW 5 spokes.
Heres the sweetness... only 44K on the clock, This van is so clean for its age I kid you not when I say that there is virtually no rust! - its perfect for our new project.

We love our existing van 'Mishka' (see 1st build thread here) and she will remain ours until the new one is ready and then she'll hopefully go to a good home where she can continue her travels and make them as happy as us! Basically, we have a +1 on the way and I want to do a new interior to reflect that as well as itchy fingers for going all out on detail this time round having learned alot from the first build.

As a result of a good price, facilities at our new house (that stonker of a garage/workshop!) We've SORN the new van so it can be dedicated to do the work on it at leisure.

I'll be closely documenting the build as it progresses and we have a target of it being ready by winter/spring 2015 (hopefully sooner and nowhere near as long as Mishska took!) EDIT - Well that date is out the window! Finally on the road in 2020!!
If anyone wants specific pics or detail do ask as I know from doing the first one sometimes a certain pic paints a clear picture!



This is the running update so far as a working list

General theme - offroad/trek/safari but it still needs to be a functional as camper + van ie usable to some transporting, surfing, and general everyday use with a family.

Engine
  • All Belts changed - DONE
  • Stainless exhaust + decat from pptuning - DONE
  • Remap + general tuning
  • Blank EGR valve - DONE
  • Pedal box bracket upgrade - DONE
  • Headlight loom upgrade - DONE
  • Turks Quad Headlights
  • Splitcharge + 110aH Leisure battery - DONE
  • Short-shift mod - DONE
  • 5th gear mod
  • Front Mount Inter-cooler - ARRIVED to do with remap
  • Engine bay lighting - DONE
  • Loud secondary Air horn for the craic! - DONE
Exterior
  • Total strip down - all insides, windows + out inc dash - DONE
  • Treatment of anything uncovered in strip down - DONE
  • Re-paint of whole van in Matt RAL 5002 - DONE
  • Re-paint of Roof in Matt/Satin Black - DONE
  • Air in-take grille - DONE
  • Existing A-bar Restored and matt blacked. - DONE
  • LED spots mounted to A-bar (single + doubles) - ARRIVED - to do post remap
  • Rear light guards restored and blacked - DONE
  • Existing Wheels restored and Powder coated - DONE
  • AT /Chunky tyres of some kind
  • Retro dubflectas - DONE
  • x2 side windows (slider on SLD) - DONE
  • Smoked indicators - DONE
  • Part Smoked Rear lights + LED upgrades - DONE
  • Front Fog-lights - DONE
  • Heat Gun treatment to the bumpers + boot polish - DONE
  • Slashed end Side Bars - Black - DONE
  • Replace mudflaps +Customise - DONE
Interior Cab Specific
  • Removal of all cab trim and dash - DONE
  • Clean down of all trim before re-install - DONE
  • Dash + cab trim to be sprayed Matt Black - DONE
  • Flash feature colour of door handles, winders + door release - DONE
  • Laying of electric cables - DONE
  • Re-install of cab fittings - DONE
  • Lighting in footwells Red LED strip base - DONE
  • Headlining & Visor wrap - DONE
  • gearstick extension - DONE
  • Fitted Seat Covers - DONE
  • voltage monitors + additional switch control for additional electrics (to be mounted into dash) - - DONE
Interior Rear + other - Going for lightish warm colours. Mostly open wood for units which are then blowtorch stencilled. Aiming to have a bit of a mash of post-industrial/steampunk detail features
  • Full flashing/soundproofing of all inside surfaces including the cab - DONE
  • Full insulation of walls, ceiling, floor, doors etc - DONE
  • Full conversion - similar bench seat set up to Mishska but with quite a few revisions and additions - sink, additional and relocated electrics etc. - DONE
  • Smev 9222 RH sink - DONE
  • Dometic fridge - DONE
  • Water pump - DONE
  • Eberspatcher heater - DONE
  • Units will be made from simple materials but want to burn-brand them with shipping stamps, 'this way up' etc to add to the theme - DONE
  • Leisure Bat + Electrics under Driver's seat/mounted to bulk head- DONE
  • Amp - DONE
  • 10inch speakers in rear hatch - DONE
  • 6x9 speakers in bulkhead unit- - DONE
  • Sub - Mounted in bulkhead - DONE
  • Upgrade Dash speakers - - DONE
  • Lighting in roof, spot and strip LED base - DONE
  • Cab divider curtain (own made) - DONE
  • All windows to use sucker on thermal screens - DONE
+ lots to be decided / stretched over time! H:H:H:H:
 
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#3 ·
Sounds like a very exiting project T:

Like you, I got a 'minter' :D low mileage 48,000 miles one of the last T4's off the assembly line, absolutely no rust anywhere ..... and I live in Jersey !
Paid much more than you thought unfortunately :( but they're as rare as hens teeth over here.

I see you're a man with a plan, and looks like some great ideas there also.
Being as the main idea is for, lets say ..... a dual 'purpose vehicle' ( offroad / treking ) and every day use, I didn't see anything about suspension alterations. Could be quite difficult finding the right combination.

Sunroof in the rear of van a must btw T: I got mine put in a few months back, just great for getting fresh air in. Sunroof in the cab area I think is a waste of time, you want fresh air in the front ........ wind the windows down ! but that's only my opinion.

Also, twin sliders. If you need to see what they look like ( including in the sliding door ), just take a look at my build thread, as I got those done recently also.

Another thing worth considering, is the intercooler upgrade, then the remap. Should give you an extra 30bhp or there abouts.
First thing I did on mine :D = pulls like train, flies up hills, over-taking a breeze !


I'll be following your progress, great idea to document everything as I'm doing.





TURK
 
#4 · (Edited)
Cheers lad - I actually had your thread subbed for reference for the Dash painting T:T: And yes deffo in the back for the sunroofif we decide to do it.

Humm yes remap and intercooler... I'm not overly bothered at this stage about getting more bhp same goes for the suspension side of things. To be fair the wheels will be the last things that are done and will see how it pans out. :* Mind you its more a look than actually being functional as an offroader! ;)
 
#6 · (Edited)
Check your bungs!

Right so we've finished stripping out the insides (easy bit) and have De-greased everything in the back (I'm doing the cab next.)
Super clean inside just tiny bit of roughness around the old seat bolt holes. Also alot of carpet adhesive to remove on the arches and bulk head.

All the panels came out clean as did the floor so I'll be keeping them ether as templates or in the case of the ceiling they are originals so perfect for wrapping if we decide to do material up there.
Now the Arrow is pointing to something I'll talk about in a minute.:)





In removing everything you always discover things :rolleyes: This strip is welded onto the frame. Not the end of the world though as this will actually prove useful in securing the side-facing bench seat. I'm guessing it must have been for some racking in its previous use or is it a factory fitted thing? :confused:anyone know?







Now you tend to discover a few bad things. Well in this case its not so much bad but more awkward.
What you are seeing is where the rubber bung has come out of the rear wheel arch as pointed buy the arrow above. However long it has been out there was alot of mud/silt that has been sprayed up through and into the panel cavity. It has actually gone as far as half way up the van. This pic is after I'd cleaned a bit and discovered the missing bung.





Here it is all cleaned up. Not so bad just some surface corrosion and its dry. Getting at it is a bit of a twist though. So heres a lesson Check your bungs!!!LOL:LOL:

 
#7 ·
Did alot of shopping earlier in the week Currently on order is;

x2 side windows (ones a slider) + kit
various bits to start lighting and electrical
mesh for the grill (cause I couldn't be d to find my ownI:)

...and the cab headlining ,material with arrived today, not that we'll get the chance to fit it for a while mind you. :* Still havn't decided what to do with rear headlines yet..

 
#9 ·
Got a day at the van and have sped ahead with the stripping. We'll be spraying the dash and trims up and flashbanding the cab floor.
Cracked on with the cab dashboard and trim removal and all started well. Even found a tenner behind the ashtray :) T:




All good things have their equals... I dropped the bucket of swarfeega when I was refilling the sink washer and it splatted all over.LOL:



Onwards and get the seats out and cab floor up. This got quite awkward with the thick rubber glue round the center well area. Ended up cutting the glue with a Stanly knife so it can be re-stuck on return.



Majority of the fiddly bits done.



Undo the 'jesus' bolt and out it pops




Wee tip: keep masking tape handy as you can attach the screws to the various bits they come from ready for when you re-assemble.


All stacked up tidy. - Will be spraying the dash parts at a later date.

 
#10 ·
Got a day at the van and have sped ahead with the stripping. We'll be spraying the dash and trims up and flashbanding the cab floor.
Cracked on with the cab dashboard and trim removal and all started well. Even found a tenner behind the ashtray :) T:


The luck of the Irish ! :D LOL: Some people have all the luck , and paid in advance !


I don't know whether you've considered this, but as you have all your dash apart and the various air vents. Now' probably a good time to do the hazard warning 'triangle' mod. I've always thought that looked unsightly, that big triangle right next to the vents.

You could put a turbo boost gauge in there instead or a quartz clock as I have. I moved my hazard warning switch into one of the dash blanks, you can get them on ebay, I've read the passat one fits also.

What colour you spraying your dash and plastics ?





TURK
 
#12 · (Edited)
Hummm - Had'nt thought about shifting it... its a possibility. tho i'd ear marked in my head that I'd be using the 2 blanks I have for the car audio power source switch (main/aux bat) and a footwell lights master. will ponder that as its not going back together any time soon! I:

Dash and door cards going matt black - center trim and speaker covers will be the splash green. I've not decided if I'm going to swap out the door handles, openers and winders from the other van (as they are black) or if I'll paint the existing ones the splash green :*
I'm conscious that the seats will have 'ToughCovers' on so going too fancy in the cab will look a bit weird without doing fancy seats too.

Also have the dilema of whether we go Double DIN on the head unit... pondering this for the crack - Fleebay China special
 
#13 ·
That head unit doesn't look too bad actually for a hundred notes.
I weighed up the pros & cons when deciding on my head unit of choice. It's a major expense 3 to £ 400 ...... One thing I considered was the viewing angle of the touch screen, being as the mounting point as further over to the passenger side than in the center of the van, you would have to lean over just to see the screen. Higher end models have a much better viewing angle, cheap ones, you would have to be directly in front of them to see anything.

Also, I noticed it's CD/DVD ...... old technology me thinks I:

In the end, I went for a Pioneer with memory card. I can put up to 800 MP3's on a memory card the size of my thumbnail ...... and it reads avi files as it has a small screen on it !


The planning stage is half the fun isn't it :D




TURK
 
#14 ·
Back on it again today to continue the strip down... Front has been dismantled. On route it was decided that the flood lights attached the a-bar probably aren't worth restoring (for me anyway) so they are up for grabs if anyone wants them!





Also on removal of A-bar and closer look of the brackets.. again not worth restoring them so I need to get a new set of brackets. Anyone know where I can get some that match them?




more to come later this week.
 
#15 ·
Rear light guards pretty clean just need a little touching up.




Rear crossmember however is a dirrent matter - Expect I'll replace this for the sake of knowing its there under the bumper! - Everything else on the body is fine though. Literally this is the only rusty bit of the van!





I must also credit Mel who has been tirelessly removing the old carpet adhesive and De-greasing all the surfaces.T:T:

 
#16 ·
Did the seat bases the other day too... both had a bit of corrosion where they are bolted to the rubber cab floor as you would expect




Get the grinder out...



Hand sand the difficult to reach bits


Prime x1 light rattlecan coat


Check and sand any bad bits then x2 more light primer coats



x3 coats of matt black and Viola (btw the double seat only had 1 at this point but the single in the back ground was finished :)

 
#17 ·
Been busy prepping for two weeks leave where I'll mostly be working on the van. Have started alot of prep work so will get some pics up soon. Few plan changes which I'll detail later.

Meanwhile the ordering of parts continues... Focusing on ICE, electrics and paint prep at the moment. When I'm on the mainland at xmas I think I'll; be picking up most of my timber etc.
 
#18 · (Edited)
Back on the case.... Still taking bits off in advance of the re-paint.

Meanwhile have started on a few tiddly bits. Repainted the Engine/Radiator Crossbar...




Back to the rear and the bumper bar has been cleaned up with wire, hammer, sand then two Jenolite treatments. Finally 2 coats of Red Oxide on there ready for a black top coat.




Whipped the horn off and also did the spare tire rack and a few other bits while I was at it.


 
#22 · (Edited)
One more update for tonight. Colours!H:

Ordered a few tests to see what they were like and the original one we were going for was RAL 4006 which turns out is more Burgandy/pink as you can see!

The green/teel is going to be a flash colour use in the van dash.
the Blue/purple turns out more what were looking for. (these are all in Matt)





Here's that colour tested on a rough surface. As we are learning in picking, how it looks on screen is very different to the final pick.I: - Think we need to order a few more

 
#23 · (Edited)
Woohoo lots of things arriving from this months shopping - :jiggy

  • Amp + 6x9s + 10s + 4s ( holding off on a sub for the moment as I'm not sure where I'm putting it yet.
  • Head unit
  • more tester paint colours as we're not 100% decided quite yet
  • Smev 9222 RH sink
  • lots of supplies for the re-paint


Holdign off on electrics order till Dec / Jan as November is insurance renewal month :GL
 
#24 ·
Last few bits and pieces coming off the van at the moment. Door catches, locks, handels and decided to take the whole SLD off. 1 so it can be painted properly and also when I put the sliding window in it want to bond it on with it laying down and weighted to ensure good bond as the door will be opening and closing for its life.

Suction cups came in really handy when taking the door off on your own.T:

Also got the 2nd top coats on the bumper bar and the other bits that had been oxided.





 
#26 ·
Have been finding it hard to get stuck into the bigger jobs at the moment. Don't really wan to start the big keying of the van as I need to get some sheets set up. Plus its been very windy here the past few days meaning lots of dust about anyway so have been prattling about with small jobs.

Its starting to look like a vechicle parts laundry in the garage out of the wind! Cleaned, sanded and prep parts for repaint or have repainted including the main dash ready for spraying.








Had a bit of random spray hanging about so did the horn!

 
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