My little work van

[Chris86]

Hi all,

Took a few pics of the van today and have a couple of older ones to put up;


   
Have Put in a set of Animal seat covers, having been through 2 cheap sets in as many months, Im in and out of the van in my drysuit/wet kit so they are a necessity.
I carbon fibre effect Vinyl wrapped the parts of the centre console, It looks really good until you look closely, unfortunately it has recently started peeling around the Heater controls so when time allows I will be re-doing it.
The Gearknob was a scrapyard find off a 307 HDi

   
I got a bit fed up with stuff rattling about the back so made up these stowage nets, they arent the smartest looking solution but work really well, waterproofs hi viz 1st aid etc in one side and various other bits I like to hand in the other.
I made up the wooden panels in the bottom to mount my 6x9in speakers in, and decided that I would cut in pockets. One side houses basic tools, the other a small handwash facility as well as suncream etc.
Also in the back is a Berlingo car headlining, cut to fit. Makes a MASSIVE difference to the noice/drumming in the back. The floor is a rubber backed bathroom carpet laid on top of one of those interlocking matting systems (£10 from aldi!- One pack with a little cutting is an almost perfect fit!)
   
I have spent a lot of time sorting out the bodywork which was previously very dull and faded, it now looks fairly smart, I am undecided as to whether to go for a body coloured bumper or not?

   
Got the back window tinted, fitted a set of Sparco Mudflaps and the VTS wheels, have also tinkered with the brakes a little.

Looking at in the next few months if money/time allows;
- Sort out the side to side slack in the gear linkage
-Intercooler (off a 1.6Hdi)
-Re Map
-Upgrade rear beam to 405 MI-16- better beam and disks all round (Have it sat in the shed just need to work out a plan for the handbrake cables)
-Fit 206 GTi 180 front ARB and possibly Xsara VTS front springs.
-Look at some alternatives for seats, Tried a V70 T5 seat......too big!

Hope you like, know its just a van but Im quite enjoying making it mine!

ANy Comments Welcome


Chris

[PeteA]

Nice van, not often you see them with the single rear door! Liking speaker set-up and cargo nets in the back..could do with them myself.

[Chris86]

Will be taking the pocket/speaker set up out to acoustic carpet them at some point- will happily make up a set of templates if you want when I do- I am usually based in Barnsley so not a million miles from you? The speaker choice is the problem, you cant see very clearly in my pic but I have had to put in a 10mm spacer to get them to fit as well!

Think I saw your van in Hinckley a few months ago pete, at the big pub just off the M1?

Cargo nets are easy as well, its just a cheap bungee cord about a metre of accessory cord and a cut up old volvo load net (in fact I still have a load kicking about in the van funnily enough!)

Chris

[Coco]

Looking good Chris, lots of neat, useful touches there

[geoff]

Looking good there.... what did you do with the paint, T cut and polish or new paint ? Just curious as my van could do with a spruce up.
I need seat covers but am looking for the leather look type as dog hairs are easier to remove from these.

..... It's not just a van otherwise there would be no car versions .....

[Chris86]

I used farecla G3 (two applications) followed by T cut (two applications)- just to get rid of the oxidisation and get it white again! I followed that with a decent quality wax and then finally with Autoglym bodywork protect.

Took a long time to get it white again, I really wish i had taken some pictures when I first got it as it was off white/matt/cream coloured and looked a right state.
I have also resprayed the leading edge of one of the rear arches as it had a small amount of surface rust and a bit of flaky paint. rubbed back to bare metal, rust killered, zinc primed,3 coats of hi build primer to make up for the lost paint, rubbed back then 4 coats of topcoat (unipart is a really good match!) You wouldnt know it was there!

Chris

[evdama]

Im missing my Mk2 more than ever looking at this

[Chris86]

looking forward to improving mine further.. Hopefully have the intercooler and associated pipework on the way......

[Chris86]

1.6 HDi intercooler on its way ebay bargain! Just need to work out the mounting arrangementsand some pipework!

[Dane700]

very informative post, I really likes that topic,thanks to you for sharing that information.Beautiful van i like that van because it becomes the way to much convenient.Very big van have a lot of space in this van?All internally sides are totally stripped.