Woody's Woody

[morradi]

Where is the wood..? but looks nice so far!

[drw42]

Where is the wood..? but looks nice so far!

Thanks Matey. I have some vinyl to go on the sides but I want to get the van colour coded first. (And lowered etc etc) and I have been working everyday for the last month and evenings have been limited with the crappy weather and I have at least 4 other excuses, 3 children and various other time consuming projects. I know ...lame! I'll get on it soon as.

The vinyl was really cheap on fleabay (Like £3 a roll) so I don't know how good it will be, but I hope it will be good enough to give me a feel for what might or might not work before committing to real wood!

Cheers for the positive comments Woody

[drw42]

Had a big effort at the weekend. Was planning to fit the Touran dash but the wife had absconded with all my tools! Awesome. So instead spent loads of time working the trim in preparation for carpeting.

A couple of things were really bugging me. There is an unused cut out in the rear step cover (presumably for the barn door version) and I did not like the angular look of the side trim after the bulkhead had been cut out. I had thought about some fibre glassing and filler action but decided to try a little plastic welding with a soldering iron. Really happy with the results.

I cut a similar shaped piece from the bottom of a touran door card I have over from my interior purchase. This was then shaped and welded into place. Feels pretty solid and should be hidden once I cover the trim.




I then got stuck into the bulkhead trims. The problem with these is that they don't meet up either side. You'll see what I mean if you cut too close to the join and suddenly find a huge hole! You need to fill the gap at the back a bit first, or use the soldering iron to melt from the front and push the melted plastic to the back. It took ages! Finally a bit of dremmel action with a side cutter and sanding wheel soon had it to shape. looks a bit rough but again I am going to cover with carpet.



Finally I spent a while in the rear arch covers. Again these are from the Touran. They had to be cut a lot to fit and a lot of experimentation but I think I am getting there. I decided I needed to fill all the holes before carpeting. Again I had considered fibre glass and filler but given the success with the soldering iron decided to crack on with that. I decided to take out the centre panel so that I could get access to the areas behind (still need to do reversing sensors, tow bar etc) Had to stop after Sat and most of Sun as my daughter wanted to go swimming! So still a bit more to do.
Before

After


I think I need to cut a bit more off the bottom so as to make the height of the shelves the same as the seats when they are folded, so I can incorporate them into the bed.

More to come, and in for colour coding tomorrow. cheers Woody

[dubvan]

A lot of graft there, matey. Going to look pukka once carpeted.

Jonesy

[I.D.S.]

Strong work with the plastic's.

[drw42]

Had an epic day on Friday. Kids were off due to an Inset day (teachers boot them out and expect tax paying parents to take the day off to look after them...awesome!!) Still this meant I had 3 clear days to fit the Touran Dash as I was not sure how much work was involved. Having heard what a nightmare centre consoles were, and how easy I found it I decided to for it. The first obstacle was getting the air bag off. There are a few explanations about but none seem very clear. I don't suppose I am going to help much but here goes. Remove the positive on the battery. Leave for 10 minutes. I don't know if this is really necessary but didn't fancy finding out for sure by having the bag explode in my face! Turning the wheel 90 degrees left and right exposes a hole behind the wheel. A mirror really helps here along with a small short thin screwdriver. With the air bag fitted there is a metal spring over this clip in the picture.



This is the spring on the airbag so you can see what you are looking for.



Put the screwdriver above the spring and push it down, then push the screw driver through the spring and lever against the clip whilst pulling the airbag from above. It takes a lot of effort to get it to move. I spent at least 10 minutes wondering why it was not moving. Suddenly it just seemed to give a little and rotating the wheel and undoing the clip on the other side was easy with the bag out in seconds. I am happy that I could do it fairly quickly now. Just be aware that it takes more effort than you might think reasonable.

Removing the dash is straightforward. There are three T20 under the glove box and three or four by the fuse box. 1 Each side (remove the side trim first) and a couple under the centre storage box on top of the dash.
There are a few around the radio and you need to take the air control box apart using the 4 really long T20 screws.


Remove the clock (a couple of screws and one plug on the back) and remove the plugs from the light switch and push out the OBD socket and a plug at the top of the fuse box.


You also need to take of the steering wheel and control stalks. Next problem. This was a 12mm Spline. I had 2 that I had bought for previous work. I found one but it was too small at 10mm. I spent and hour searching for the other one, gave up and tried taking the dash out with the wheel in. Not a chance. I had to bite the bullet and went to Machine mart to buy a bit. Rather annoyingly I had to buy a set which cost £30. On the plus side I ended up using more than just the 12mm spline I set out to buy, so I wasn't too disappointed, and it was reasonable quality for the money. With the wheel and control stalks off it was an easy lift off and extraction. I also took out the window pillar trims.

So to sum up, a dozen or so screws and 5 plugs and we were away. I knew I then had to change the brackets at either end of the dash. These show the new ones in place so you know what you are looking for.



I had read that there was also a centre bracket but this was a bit vague. I was therefore concerned that I might not have it. The centre bracket in question is shown here with 36 11 stamped on it.


This unbolts and was removed but has a metal flat plate at the bottom into which the centre console fits. It was at this point I decided to loosen of the centre console. The new dash had the bracket attached and a plastic plate that the centre console fits into. Went in with a bit of pushing and adjusting, then just a case of replacing the crews and plugs. Others how to's hadn't shown pictures of the refit, probably because there is not much to see, and in any case I just wanted to get it back together and turn it on to see what I had ballsed up.

I thought taking out the window pillar trims would give me a bit more space. I also intended to fit the Touran ones I had. Low and behold they did not fit. Whats more a spent a while trying to get the caddy ones back in. Real knack to that. They come apart, the bit at the bottom can be removed. Push it as far forward in the van as poss then I stood outside and looked through the windscreen to ensure the clips lined up then wack it in.

So here it is. If you take out fag and tea breaks and trips to the shops for missing tools, it probably took less then 4 hours. I could probably do it quicker now, and I could understand why it would take longer if doing a ICE instal t the same time.


Needs a clean and some extra parts. I have a top box coming from Fleabay but need a surround trim if anyone has one knocking around.

[drw42]

For Moraddi, here's the wood.



Its only cheapy vinyl and I made a bit of a pigs ear fitting it, but its good enough to give me an idea about size shape and look. I tried fitting carbon vinyl on the roof and managed to tear it right up the middle. So that was a nice waste of £30, I didn't swear much!!

Had a bit more welding on Sunday fitting a new step to the Touran rear seat trim. Seams to have been quite successful, but takes and inordinate amount of time. I will probably cover the grey stuff with carpet.

[ants_caddy]

Good work fella, I am loving that interior.

[dubvan]

Mate, that's some serious graft, skills and patience. Top work, bud. I'm loving what you've done so far, keep it up!

Jonesy

[Spotlessdetailing]

very nice

[buachaill]

Hi Woody new to the site

Love the interior it really is something different.
Can I ask how it effects your insurance in the UK adding seats to a commercial ?

Sorry I know its slightly off topic, but in Ireland we pay commercial tax, once we put seats in a commercial it becomes a passenger vehicle and should be taxed accordingly. Higher rate of tax.

Seeing this conversion a lot and just wondered as I would consider it for my own Caddy.

Thanks for your time and great work

[T.ttfresh]

Very nice, it's coming along very well. I do like the interior.

[chezzy71]

very nice where about are you drw42....?

[Adam@PureDents]

Love the interior, really smart. The wood effect badge looks awesome too!

[Cookie_123]

Tan interior suits it man. Coming along nicely!