Van projects

[JhnBssll]

I've been tinkering with the van when I've had some spare time and the passenger side speaker is now in. The later model centre console also arrived so I've hacked that about to fit, as well as fitting the reverse camera, DAB antenna and hands free microphone.

I'm now waiting on replacement heater controls, a stereo wiring loom adapter and a few other odds and sods before I can get it all up and running but the physical installation is basically done The steering wheel is next on my list!

 

[Fab Foodie]

I've been tinkering with the van when I've had some spare time and the passenger side speaker is now in. The later model centre console also arrived so I've hacked that about to fit, as well as fitting the reverse camera, DAB antenna and hands free microphone.

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I'm now waiting on replacement heater controls, a stereo wiring loom adapter and a few other odds and sods before I can get it all up and running but the physical installation is basically done The steering wheel is next on my list!

Blimey, it’ll be like triggers-broom when you’re done....

 

[Fab Foodie]

Project start....

Project finish....

🤣

 

[JhnBssll]

I best buy some sheet steel then

I've got the key components of my new bike racks on order - 4 heavy duty telescopic sliding rails and a couple of fork mounts I haven't worked out the finer details yet but it should all start to come together once the parts are in front of me 😊 I need to get the van to a state where it can be used for its intended purpose asap so I can concentrate on my other projects again There'll be plenty of time for camper conversions, awnings etc later

 

[JhnBssll]

The telescopic bearing rails arrived today and look great, as did the fork mounts. I've laid them in the back of the van and am currently think about mounting options for them. Tempted to use something like recessed L-Track so I can take them out when I want to use the van for anything else - I could also use it to mount other things for example furniture if turned in to a mini-camper van

Here they are laid in the back - note I will not be laying them flat like this when assembled I just couldnt balance them on their edge for the photo

And here it is partially extended - full extension on these is 1.32m so this is about halfway

Current thinking is to rip the ply out and line it again with some sound mat and insulation. A new ply floor will sit on that with inset L-Track mounting points fixed with rivnuts through the van floor. Best work out where the wiring and fuel tank is before I whip the drill out 😄

 

[JhnBssll]

A bit more progress and another buy I've got the stereo in and working, last job is to wire up the power to the reverse camera which I hope to get done over the weekend but its otherwise all up and running I also got the replacement steering wheel fitted today which is a big improvement over the scabby old one. I managed to re-use the original airbag too so no problems with compatibility Dash wise I'm just waiting for a replacement 12V socket as I broke the original trying to remove it, once that's arrived I can wind all the screws in and I shouldn't need to touch it again anytime soon. It does need a bit of a clean though

The buy was a bit of a spur of the moment thing... I spotted some Ford alloys by chance on facebook with 4 almost brand new Goodyear tyres going for less than the price of the tyres alone, so figured I had nothing to lose even if the alloys were scrap... On collection I had a pleasant surprise, they're all in pretty good nick and are the perfect fitment I figured they'd look nice in gloss black so I've dropped them off to be refurbished this afternoon and will collect and fit them next Friday 😊

I've got some 3mm self adhesive insulation for the van floor and some extruded aluminium cargo rails so will whip the ply out of the back at some point and look at re-lining it so I can start work on the slide out bike racks

 

[avsd]

2 pages and no mention of the colour scheme and hints of orange - your standards a slipping

Great thread - add it to my watch list.

 

[oldwheels]

You need insulation even tho' the van is plywood lined as condensation can be a problem on any exposed metal surface inside.
I had a Commer pop top camper which failed the mot in a big way so I bought a low mileage T2VW van and using the some of interior bits from the Commer converted it to a camper. Since we were just going off on holiday I had no time to fit windows but realised pretty soon that we did not need any back windows or indeed a rising roof. The rear window was also filled in with a business sign and I became used to driving with only two smallish side mirrors. To this day I hardly ever look at an interior mirror when driving but rely on wing mirrors most of the time.

 

[JhnBssll]

I collected the refurbished wheels this afternoon

I'm very pleased with them, couldn't wait to get them fitted and see what it looked like so went out in the rain and got to work

It's amazing the difference a set of wheels makes!

 

[Gunk]

Sorry John, I’m not keen on the black, I think I preferred the silver

 

[JhnBssll]

Sorry John, I’m not keen on the black, I think I preferred the silver

No need to apologise, we often take different views on matters of taste My next external project will be stripping down the spare headlights I got from a scrapyard and painting the internal chrome parts black - obviously not the reflectors And of course finally taking the rack off the roof I still haven't wired in the reverse camera though which is priority one for now

 

[bikingdad90]

Go faster stripes through the middle and sides and it would look the dogs 🐕 ⚽️

 

[Drago]

There are examples out there with Fucus RS engines.

Get some Concept Vista trim restorer on those bumpers.

 

[Gunk]

Armor All used to be my go to black to black product

 

[JhnBssll]

I've spent a good few hours in the van today and have been ticking things off the to-do list

I started by ripping out the ply floor, it had seen better days and needed to come out anyway. It wasn't exactly clean underneath

I decided the only thing for it was to rip the remaining ply out and give it wash - I've never washed the inside of a vehicle with soapy water before, I think my neighbours thought I'd lost the plot

It took a while and several fresh buckets of clean water to get it respectable inside, but I got there in the end...

Next job was the bit I had been worrying about - drilling new holes to fix the cargo rails which will hold the bike racks amongst other things. The fuel tank, fuel lines and brake lines are all underneath so I spent as much time under the van as in it checking I wasn't about to make any expensive errors... I laid the rails out in position then drilled pilot holes through the rail and floor before opening them out to the desired size. I then fitted M6 rivnuts in the floor to bolt it all down

Here are the rails all loosely fitted, I'll need to take them out again to insulate it then lay the new ply and flooring before bolting the rails through to sandwich it all together

With the ply out of the way I was also able to trace the wiring loom and hook in to the reverse light to get the rear view camera working

Now I just need to spend a few minutes in a car park fiddling with the onscreen guide lines to get it calibrated properly, I've turned them off for now as they're miles out