[Pduk]

Aha, still a cool pic none the less
I know the feeling of being impatient, went to Manchester to look at a van, quite look round it and said I'd take it. Since then while working on it I've come across issues that weren't made remotely clear beforehand, but I enjoy tinkering and it was a little cheaper than others so I had some spare cash to sort things. Certainly not bought a vehicle in the dark though but at least it worked out...for you anyway! haha
When's the next episode?

 

[Supernube]

Yeah I know what you mean.... the bloke that had it before me bodged so many things on the van ..and dealing with those little bodges showed up bigger problems for me... He had jubilee clipped the starter motor cable to the starter motor because the bolt had snapped or burnt off it...Alternator wire was a bare wire jammed in tight ..no plug...
Loads of wires loose and bodged together ...lives taken from anywhere he could ..loads of little things that caused bigger problems than if he had just done it properly the in the first place....hey ho....its my van now.

 

[Pduk]

It's scary what people will do for a quick fix, I popped in to see my mechanic who had a Discovery up on the ramp, he started pointing out all the rust and then it became apparent that one of the owners must have had shares in zip ties, many of the brackets were simply rusted away so zip ties were used. It must have sounded like a drumming band when being driven with everything swinging around! ???
As you say it's yours and you can get it to a much better quality level ?

 

[Supernube]

I decided to bring the brakes home so I could overhaul those at night rather than spend time during the day when I could be doing other things....things I was not at all sure about .... suspension arm bushes for starters.

The wife loved this on her new worktop...so I was banished to the shed with the rest

at night too ...it was soooo cold ...poor old me.
I started the suspension arm bushes...something I was told by everybody was going to be an absolute nightmare....they were an absolute nightmare.

Front bolts came straight out...lovely...which I took as a good omen....it wasn't... the rear eccentric bolts wouldn't budge...at all...couple this with my "should I be doing this like this" concerns and it was very stressful.....it hurt my brain...I hit it and hit it...twisted and hit it...hit it and pulled it...looked at it...thought about it.. hit it some more....there wasnt enough room to get a proper swing at it because of the fuel tank....but I eventually found the right tool for the job ..and then it was easy.

Specialist eccentric bolt removal tool...£50 Argos ...my local tool hire company....use it take it back

like a hot knife through butter...

Once this was off I started to relax....for some reason this was the main stress for me...I think because of how many people said it was a nightmare job..."let a garage do it"...etc etc...and my lack of knowledge...but there it was on the grass... lovely Jubbly.

I remember people mentioning the pressure on those torsion bars was pretty bad....I initially wedged a piece of hardwood in there but it even crushed that too much for it to work properly...so I used my felling wedge ...worked a treat....popped out once...scared the fxxking sxxt out of me lol.
That evening ...I did all the bushes and cleaned everything up ...not easy getting them out...I used a hammer and chisel ....just hammered the rubber out and cut through the metal with the chisel.. straight down one side and kind of folded it out....cleaned it up with a file inside...all nice a smooth.
Getting the new ones back in is a txxt too lol...the Haynes manual said 11 degrees when refitting the rear bushes ...so...with some help from the wife.. it turned out to be a pain in the ****...but not too bad.
I pressed them in using the ball joint tool I got off Amazon... same as this but the box is blue and a 32mm socket.
And while Im on the subject...without my missus.. half the things I try to do would never happen...she's my extra hands...and I love her very much

Its funny...there are so many horrible memories coming back as I look at these pictures lol.

This.. however ..was a nice feeling ...cant explain lol.... garage ? Puh

 

[BitterandTwisted]

All coming along nicely
I'm glad that i'm only reading this not actually having to fight /curse/sweat/cry trying to carry out each of these tasks .
My missus is my extra pair of hands .....she's SOOO cack handed though ? but i do still love her and i try to winge under my breath so she can't hear .

 

[Supernube]

My wife is used to helpting me now...so she's pretty handy lol.
So....with all the brake parts stripped cleaned and rebuilt...all the suspension parts done...it was time to refit it all.
I was planning on changing the shocks but couldnt decide on which ones I wanted or what setup I was going to go for... I just decided to sort all that out after the holiday as I have more to do at a later date anyway....it was annoying because it was all off ...but hey ho.
So back to the yard to do the Upper and lower Ball joints...track rod ends...torsion bar bushes...drop links...drive shafts...suspension arms etc ....I did everything on both sides weather it failed on it or not...I wanted to know In my slighty fxxked up head ..that everything was new and shiney.

This tool from Amazon worked a treat...there might well be a better tool...I dont know...but this was the one I went for ...and it was great.
As a side note...my fxxking knees were killing me about now...grass didnt help with that one little bit lol.

I was torn between buying new calipers or spending time rather than money doing them in the evening at home...I wanted to save as much money as I could without cutting corners...well big corners anyway....maybe I should have just fitted new.

It did feel good looking at it all coming together again... Im sure people will look at all this and think "whats the big deal" lol...but I really enjoyed doing all this to the van myself...painfull knees and stress aside...It felt right that I was the one doing it.

One of the rear brake caliper carrier bolts...ON BOTH SIDES... were seized solid....even had my mate pop over to the yard with his proper buzz gun etc to try and get them off ...but they were going nowhere....didnt have the option to heat them up properly so ...they stayed on...luckily the disks were good and nearly new with plenty of life left in them...so thats now a problem for another day.....I'll add it to the list

My knees had had enough by now...and the rain was setting in ...so we set up a bit of cover...

I say "we" ....my little boy Michael had other plans....he's always busy breaking something...bless him.
So by the time "we" were finshed...it was getting late...

and we were getting hungry....must be dinner time I reckon

 

[smarty63]

Top class job going on there Supernube. keep it up mate.
Great thread starter - how many meals have you missed working on these vans of ours.
last Saturday working on the Crafter started 08.30 finished 18.30. 12 hour shift with just mugs of tea keeping me going.
At least we know we are mad.

 

[BitterandTwisted]

I don't miss meals makes me hangry then I'll end up breaking something ?.

 

[Supernube]

Top class job going on there Supernube. keep it up mate.
Great thread starter - how many meals have you missed working on these vans of ours.
last Saturday working on the Crafter started 08.30 finished 18.30. 12 hour shift with just mugs of tea keeping me going.
At least we know we are mad.

Well I dont know about top class but I got it done...with a bit of help from a friend on the other end of the phone.....
I think now is a good time to mention him actually ...He IS a top class mechanic...and has helped me out on many occasions...I owe him a big thank you..and many beers....he's the knowledge on the other end of a text message...or whatsapp photo...like a Haynes manual with tattoo's ...thanks Rich.
I know what you mean about the going hungry...and the getting Hangry BitterandTwisted .. after a few days of being hungry and cold a packed lunch was taken...flask of tea... and the occasional trip in to town for a snack ...or full on carvery...hungry work init

 

[Supernube]

I appreciate Im not really using this as a guide for other people...but I used all the advice already to be found on the forum ...pretty much anyway.
If I remember something that I did that might help others in some way I will obviously mention it.
Anyway...after a late start the next day....we finished up the rear brakes...fitted new handbrake cables ...still need to sort that out a bit better...not quite adjusted up properly but its fine for now...went round and finished up little things here and there and then started reading the guide by mega miles t4 on how to do remove the heater matrix...I was a little worried about this as I thought it might get to the point where I had it all out and couldnt get it back properly again or something ...but as I said ..the guide is spot on..and the job..although a bit awkward and uncomfortable to do...is not as bad as it sounds....the hardest part was getting to top metal clips back on...one in particular...top most one I believe...was an absolute txxt.

It opens up a lot once you remove the lower dash panels and the glove box ...I'd probably suggest removing the passenger seat though...it was a bit tight moving about....lots of calling things names...and I had a magic screwdriver that kept hiding behind me...he had a special name too.
After struggling for a while...it was all out...I fitted new seal around the housing as it was knackered...I just used draft excluder from BNQ ..£1.99 I think it was...lovely Jubbly.

A bit dusty init ...90 percent human skin is it not ?

Like new Unlike the heater matrix.... thats fooked

I didnt want to waste any time putting in the new matrix cos I was worried I was going to forget how It all came apart lol...so I just cracked on at this point so no more pictures....but it wasnt very exciting ...all went back fine.."twist and wiggle up it like this" ...thats what I said in the video I made for myself when I pulled the main heater box part out...it came out that way...so I wanted to rember to reverse that motion when It went back in lol...worked for me
Anyway the job I thought was going to take all day only took a couple of hours... so I pushed the van back under cover and got started under the bonnet.

I couldnt put the van under cover when I was doing the other work because the ground was rocky as fxxk and no matter where I needed the jack to go there was never lvel ground..tried it for a day...but soon pulled it out on to the grass....but for the engine work it was nice to be out of the rain.
Ive had the front of this van off so many times Im suprised it doesnt just fall off when I look at it....

But Ive never done any of the stuff I was about to do over the next couple of days...all this was going to be new to me...and I was a little bit nervous...didnt know what I was going to come across that would need sorting out...but the van had so many things bodged on it by the previous owner that there was bound to be something.

I was determined to not fxxk anything up under here...if I could help it anyway lol...so I didnt take many pics...and I cant honestly remember what I did first..but I had a list of things to do....cam belt... and every other belt...change oil...filters...fluids...oil seals...new oil pressure switches...thermostat...new water pump...and that was about it I think.
Ended up needing a new starter motor...the old one had its cable held on with a jubilee clip as the bolt was snapped or melted off...couldnt have that obviously.
Thought I needed a new Alternator as there were some issues with that also ...but it turned out the wires had snapped and were just wedged in to the plug

So I cut the plug off and fitted a plug that I stole off my mk4 Golf donor car at home....that I got for £150 ...for the TDi conversion I plan on doing at some point
As I said before.. I sort of appolgise for this not being a more helpful thread...but its not meant to be a guide... although Im happy to try and answer any questions about anything Ive mentioned on here....
This is just supposed to be an encouraging story showing that you can get all these jobs done yourself...if you dont mind giving up some time to do so.
The real guides for all this stuff have already been done on the forum by people much more knowledgable than me...and THEY are the guides I used to do this....so ...a big thank you to all the people that put in the time to make those guides to help people like me...I honestly do appreciate it ...so thank you.
Also...many of the things on the list above I would have never even thought about if it wasnt for my mate Rich...just in conversation he mentioned loads of things I should do If I was going to do it properly ...my original list was much shorter lol.
Anyway...lack of pictures aside...all the work was eventually done...took much longer than I wanted it to...but there were so many little things to do...and parts I had to keep going off for that I wasnt expecting to need
Stuff like the cambelt and timing were fine...all the things I was worried about went ok...it was the little things..like snaped wires...bodged electrics...rounded bolts...or no bolts in some cases...they changed a straight forward ish job in to a stressful annoying job...but hey ho....eventually under the bonnet looked much better for all the struggles....
From this kind of thing...

to this kind of thing...

It was nice to close the bonnet....even though I had a feeling it wouldn't be staying closed