Some up-to-date photos

Meets & Shows

Van ownership also means you get to meet loads of other owners - great for getting tips & ideas and just having a laugh...

VWT4forum Coventry & Warwickshire local meets













Vanfest, Deva Dubs & Rods, Camperjam etc

Quick Update

Quite a bit has happened since the last entry, so here's a bit of a catch up.

Around Christmas time I had a load of problems with my vibrations coming from my wheels - the wheel bolts kept coming loose and in my desperation to keep them tight I ended up cracking two of the alloys whilst on the hard shoulder of the M40 at about 2am. In the end it transpired that a worn CV joint was causing the vibration which was loosening the bolts. After a fair amount of time spent on the hard shoulder, a new CV joint and set of Stilauto SR500 (van load-rated) 16" alloys, the van's been behaving itself for a while now.













I keep tweaking the interior - still not totally satisfied, but it's now perfectly usable. Here you can see the fold away table in place (the table top then drops down to bridge the gap between the folded down seat back and rear bed platform to form a full length bed platform approx 4' wide)










Took the van down to the Ace Cafe in London for the first ever VWT4forum Ace Cafe meet and cruise on Easter Saturday - some really nice looking vans there, and spured me on to buy a side step and rear threshold trims and de-badged grill. Next on the list is a set of stainless steel side bars :)

Just using it...

Not done too much more to the van except fit clear front indicator lenses and put it through its MOT & service - Just been getting on with using it. My band, One Nation played at Soul Survivor and Greenbelt Festival and the van was great for carrying and storing all the gear while we were away. Also did a surf/kite trip to Llangennith (South Wales).

Some photos

I've come to the realisation that this is an on-going project - even these photos taken at the weekend are now out of date because they don't show the clear front indicator lenses I've just bought, or the One Nation stickers I fitted on Sat...

Rear Speakers Fitted

The DLS 226 6.5" speakers for the rear of the van arrived so I fitted them on Friday evening. The 12mm MDF spacer rings were already cut and sprayed mat black. I'm really pleased with the sound of these DLS speakers and they look pretty nice too. You can also see one of the finished soundproofed wheelarch storage boxes in the second photo. These not only provide a handy space for storing tools, footpump etc, but also reduce the road noise considerably.


























The rear speakers are a perfect match for the DLS 224 4" speakers I have put in the standard dashboard positions in the front. With the inside nearly complete now, I figured the exterior could do with a bit of a clean!

Almost done?

I've now nearly finished the soundproofed (the same soundproof underlay I've used for the sides of the van) wheel arch storage boxes. Here's the driver's side one, carpeted, soundproofed and hinged lid fitted. Just need to fix them into the van now.

More progress + Electrickery

Some brief dry spells this week allowed me to get a bit more carpeting done. The final two side panels are now completed - with batons for the wheel arch boxes to screw into and MDF reinforcing rings where the speakers are to be mounted. I'm really pleased with the result - it's starting to look pretty smart (although I'd quite like it to be all finished now!)


























More rain was forecast this weekend so I decided to have a go at the electrics as this could be done inside the van in the dry. I removed the head-lining and roof panels to reveal the spider's web of wiring left over from the van's AA days (when it used to have flashing beacons etc on the roof)










Spent a few hours with a multimeter working out what did what, what could be removed, what should stay etc. I re-wired the original interior lights so they worked off the side and rear doors then re-wired the 8W florescent tube lights so they could be used regardless of whether the doors were open or closed. While the head-lining and roof was down I ran new speaker cables from the head unit in the dash, up the front windscreen pillar and along the roof to the holes where the rear speakers are going to be fitted. I also fitted the new Blaupunkt AM/FM aerial I'd bought from Germany off eBay which mounts to the inside of the windscreen glass (the original VW aerial is broken and replacing it involves removing the front wing, glove box and wheel arch) The new one looks a bit strange with little wires along the top and down the side of the windscreen but I'm sure I'll get used to that, plus the reception seems pretty good (it has a built in signal amplifier).

In the end it stayed dry today so I also managed to also carpet the two roof panels and re-fit them - so that's all the carpeting done except the wheel arch boxes (this coming week's job!)

After a full day on my knees and bent over double in the back of the van it's time for bed...

Carpet

So far I have managed to carpet the 3 door panels and the floor. I'm getting better at cutting and folding the carpet over the edges of the panels to get a neat finish - it's especially difficult round the corners. I found that the easiest way of making holes for the carpet for the panel fixings is to use an old soldering iron (being careful not to breath in the fumes) I've done the same on the floor where I've made holes where some of the tie-down threaded holes are. By melting the hole with the soldering iron, you get a neat edge with minimum risk of fraying. I've bought some lower profile M10 roofing bolts to replace the large socket head ones that used to hold the floor down.













I've also re-fitted the aluminium edging strips along the rear edge and around the side step to protect the edges of the carpet. So, just the side panels and headlining to do now. I've cut the speaker holes and MDF reinforcement and spacer rings for the rear side panels, so need to fix these and the battens for the wheel arch boxes to screw into and then these will be ready for carpeting too.

Floor

Carpet arrives tomorrow so I finished off the rest of the sound proofing today, including taking up the floor, cleaning underneath then putting the sound proof underlay down under the ply.

I'm getting there!

Plywood and more Sound Proofing

Stripped out the remainder of the wall panels and used the old panels as templates to cut out new ones out of 4mm thick plywood. Still waiting for the carpet to arrive so just a quick check to make sure everything's going to fit then continuing with the roof flashing sound deadening (also using Dynamat Xtreme behind where the rear speakers are going to be situated) and the sound proof underlay over all that.

Wheel Arch Boxes

Also making the wheel arch boxes at the moment which are not only going to hopefully reduce road noise in the back (once the trusty sound-deadening and sound proof underlay is in place) but also provide useful storage compartments for things like jump leads, jack, tools etc.

Here's the first sections being glued (having to work in-between rain showers which is really frustrating)










Have had to cut some pretty interesting shapes to fit round the seatbelt anchor points, and I've now found that the back of the van is no-where near square so everthing has had to be cut at funny angles to fit. But I reckon once they're covered in carpet they're going to look pretty nice :)

Soundproofing

I've started work in the back of the van now. First job was to take the panels off and apply sound-deadening (mixture of Dynamat Xtreme and roof flashing) to the metal panels to stop them ringing.















I then bought 10 sq metres of sound absorbing laminate floor underlay which claims a 23dB reduction in sound so this is also going in before the panels are put back in place.












The final step will be to trace round the old plastic panels onto ply wood and cut out new ones. I ordered a load of light grey carpet to cover the new ply wood panels in before they are fixed back in place. There should be enough carpet to also cover the headlining and floor so should look pretty smart once finished but I'm starting to realise what a massive job I've undertaken!

Sounds like...

With the van back on the road it was time to sort out the sound system. I'd fitted my Pioneer CD/MP3 player head unit but the speakers needed a little attention. I wanted to keep the system as stealth as possible so this meant upgrading the speakers in the existing dashboard positions and an ultra-compact sub tucked away somewhere so as not to infringe on the load capacity of the van at all.


In the end I went for a pair of DLS B224 (4"coaxial speakers) in the dash, a RE Audio RE8 (8" sub) fitted in a box under the driver's seat and an Alpine MRP-M350 (350 Watt mono amp) under the passenger's seat. Having now heard how amazing the DLS speakers sound, the plan is to get second pair in the back when I re-do the panelling there.


I'll post some pics of the installation including the under-seat sub box I've made when I get the chance.

That didn't go quite to plan

Returned from holiday eager to get cracking on van jobs, but I've had a little miss-hap. Was reversing the van out the drive when I heard a clunk accompanied by a trickling sound as oil poured all over the drive. After scary thoughts of new gearboxes it turns out that my off-side CV joint came undone and knocked a hole in my sump. New sump on order but van is stranded on the drive until that gets fixed.

However whilst I had the time off work I managed to get cracking on a few other jobs:

- finished removing all vinyl stickers
- fitted new (legal) number plates
- replaced blown brake light bulb
- fitted Philips Blue Vision headlamp & side light bulbs
- fitted new tax disc holder that stays stuck to windscreen longer than 30 mins
- replaced weedy sounding horn for 2-tone I had on my Escort
- stripped out all the ex-AA sat-nav and GPS tracking stuff and rediculous amount of wiring for it all
- removed Blaupunkt stereo and fitted Pioneer DEH-P7400MP CD player out of my Escort
- fitted power and RCA cables under floor ready for amp and sub

Sticker Removal

First job - remove the vinyl decals left over from the previous owner...

Equipment needed:
- kettle
- old credit/store card
- broken fingernails (optional)

Nearly done...



















That will do for for now (I'll T-cut it once I get back from holiday to remove any sticker residue)