2009 2.0 SDI

[BillyGilly]

Here’s a picture that the seller posted. Being a highway van it was caked up big time, inside and out. Rust patches on doors, sills, arches etc. It also ran terrible, struggled to start, over-fuelling, rough shaking idle, smoking, all the symptoms of injector problems. Classic.

First thing was to sort the engine troubles, slapped a new EGR valve on there then after finding the wrong injectors fitted, they were replaced with a re-conditioned full set. A good running clear out and happy days! Fully serviced too, including cam belt & kit.

Private registration printed on a gel plate was stuck on as well.

[BillyGilly]

Once running a treat, the first thing I did was remove the flashing beacon and fit matte black roof bars.

[BillyGilly]

I ply-lined the van and carpeted the lot, including door thresholds and steps. Fitted a rubber mat on the floor, cut to size and glued down. I fitted rear window steel guards, sprayed the outside face gloss black and carpeted the inside face. New LED interior light brightened the job up.

[BillyGilly]

Here’s the outside of the window guards. Also, de-badged the barn doors. Looking a lot cleaner.

[BillyGilly]

Body filler to dents and deep scratches, a lot of sanding, rust removal, prime/paint and plenty more sanding. I did it all with colour coded Candy White cans, wet sanding and machine polishing out the orange peel effect to give a nice glossy finish.

[BillyGilly]

I then turned to the cab interior where I got the carpet out again. Carpet-lined the headlining and also the storage shelf. Sourced a black sunglasses holder too.

[BillyGilly]

Seats were beyond any kind of cleaning, so ripped them out! Replaced them with a couple of Polo seats that I picked up for £20 for the pair. Threw some rubber floor mats in to match the back too.

[BillyGilly]

Couple more bits in the interior. Upgraded the heater controls. The gear gaiter was in a rough state so swapped that out for a new one with white stitching. Also, trimming cup holders etc. with carpet. Headlight switch needed replacing also, and again same as the back with the LED light above.

[BillyGilly]

Here’s the important bit! The wheels arrived. 18” Romac Radium - 225/40/R18. Along with 60mm Eibach lowering springs to sit the front end down a little. The freshly painted door shuts and sills were complimented with satin black side bars.

[BillyGilly]

Here’s the most current photo. Still a few little bits to do but on the whole it’s 100x better!

[Barfy]

Great thread and awe sum looking van especially from where you started. Like that you carpeted the shelf in the cab, never thought of doing that but looks so much neater.

What rattle cans did you use to get such a good finish?

Got a few spots myself and was thinking of using matched 2k rattle can paint. Never had much luck with the “Halford” (other brands are available) type rattle cans.

[BillyGilly]

@Barfy thanks man! I tried Halfords matched paint and in my experience it was terrible! It was a off white/grey kind of colour. I’ll have a look through see if I can find the brand for you, believe it was Amazon or eBay I bought it off...wasn’t expecting much but it was bang on! Bit of wet sanding, DA compound & polish and it looks sweet!

[Barfy]

@BillyGilly - If you could find the brand that would be great. So disappointing when you put in loads of effort flatting the surface and coats of paint for it to be a poor match.

[BillyGilly]

@Barfy Just had a look, the paint is from WLW Auto Paints supplied by XtremeAuto. I can’t say whether they’re the best paint around etc. but in my experience it was perfect for what I wanted...and I’m pretty finicky!

[James01]

Looks 100 times better, good effort at tidying it up