Putting it all back

Finally!

The finished product;
It took about a month longer than I thought, but it looks like a different van now.
At the primer stage things with my spray gun didn't go too well so once this was flatted off a pro sprayer I know primed it up and finished with a guide coat for me;After flatting the guide coat;

The sprayer at work on the final colour (VW Reef Blue L57H). A colour from the year I was born.

Still more sanding

3 days of sanding and still going. At the same time I'm MIG welding in metal to fix any rusty spots. I've also welded up the old aerial hole as the new digital one is on the roof. I'm filling and blocking the whole body to try and get it nice and flat. I may be using a pro sprayer for the top coat as I'm getting married a week today and I'm running out of time, that and he'll do a much better job of it!
Monday I'll finish the back and hopefully block the whole body.
Tuesday etch prime and HS prime
Weds more blocking
Thurs, if I can, hand it over to the sprayer.

LED bulbs

I've replaced all the bulbs except for main beam with LED's.
The dash ones are especially good compared to the original, at night you could hardly see the dials.

One side ready for paint

One side of the van is stripped and ready for primer filler. The other side still to do, takes about 5 hours!!!
Found a hole around the windscreen which needs welding up.

Rust

I've cleaned of all the crap from under the van and wheel arches. It had been undersealed in the past which has kept most metalwork looking good. The only bad areas are a rear wheel arch and rear bottom corner panel which fell apart when I put the power washer on it. The wheel arch can be saved by cutting and welding on a new lip and I've managed to find a new replacement corner panel for £35.
I'm using Dinitrol products to convert the rust and reseal the underbody.
First a rust converter, then soft a sealing wax, then a slightly harder underbody sealer then finishing with stone chip protection in the arches.

After that I'm moving on to the rest of the bodywork. I'm stripping back anywhere rust has bubbled through and treating with the rust converter, also in the panel joins. At the same time I'm going to deal with some of the dents by sanding back to bare metal and filling then blocking. The whole body will be sanded to original paint or bare metal as the respray that is under mine was not keyed properly so chips off.
A good blocking over the whole van and a respray should have it looking pretty darn good and hopefully no rust!

Oktoberfest

Not a bad weekend down in near Cheddar.
Everything working well and nice to have power hook up as it means we can save running the fridge on gas.
Noticed a bit of rust on one of the wheel arches so I'm about to deal with that and a few other areas before it spreads.

Jobs

Been taking care of little jobs that I keep forgetting to do.
Wired the rear with an ipod connector for the stereo and USB for charging other items.
Extended the awning rail.
Added somewhere to store the chopping board.
Sorted a bubble in the kitchen flooring.
Added a safe.
And to top it off added a cold air intake as an undersized air filter straight on to the turbo was far from ideal.
The new engine is running well and she'll do 80mph, on a track of course :-)

Tomorrow I should be starting to sew the thermal window blinds using a kit I ordered from just Kampers. Hopefully I'll have them ready for Oktoberfest this weekend in Cheddar.

Cuckoo Beer festival

We made it again this year. An improvement over last year as we have heat and a toilet!!


We also managed another weekend in the New Forest.

Solar Smurf

I've finally installed the 2 solar panels I had kicking around.
They were unframed, but I found white hollow soffit edging did the trick. They are connected to the main battery via a charge controller, when the main battery is fully charged the split charge relay should allow the leisure battery to charge, well that's the theory anyway.

The volvo is gone.

The Volvo went to the scrap yard today. I didn't bother taking any bits off to fleabay. I got £112 so it only cost me £140.46 for a recon engine, pump and turbo, if you include the change I found in the car!

Recon engine

I called the company who re-manufactured the engine today and they confirmed it was a completely re-manufactured engine with reground crank and cam, new pistons and rings, reworked valve and a new pump etc etc. Nice to know it wasn't a half arse job but a complete one. Basically as good as having a brand new engine in 2002. Since then the car it came from has been off the road for a year and a half so having talked to the previous owner I would guestimate the mileage to be an absolute maximum of 50,000 if not more like 30,000.
He used it to drive 8 miles to work and back, so even 365 a year would only be 5840 and for 6 years is 35,000.

Glow plug relay

Ever since driving the van home from installing the new engine the glow plug light has stayed on. I thought this would be another bad earth problem but couldn't find it. I put in a new glow plug relay today and problem solved. Shame all fixes aren't this easy.

Ventilation

Whilst the battery was out due to my split charge relay draining it I found a bit hole in the metalwork. Good news that it was just the rely causing my electrical problem but not such good news in the rust department. I've cut out the entire area to stop it spreading and tomorrow I'll weld in new, Shame as I though the van was rot free.

IT'S IN, AND IT ACTUALLY WORKS

So after 3 days and about 35 hours work the engine is in.
I found a serial number from the engine reconditioning company on the block so I can find out a bit more about it, but as far as I know it was installed in 2002. Even the pump and turbo look new.
It runs beautifully and starts first time with no smoke. The other engine must have been completely buggered because this new one is fast, really fast, well for an LT anyway. A friend of mine has a Transit connect and can't keep up!!! Makes it all worth while.
The glow plug light came on and wouldn't go out on the way home but seems to be coincidence as I replaced the glow plug relay with a spare and all is well.
Before I installed the engine I swapped over all the new parts form the other one as they were spanking new so it has new; cambelt, clutch, serviced injectors, glow plugs, thermostat, water pump, fuel filter, oil filter, aux belt, leak off pipes and fuel pipes.
I also had to swap the fly wheel as the donor was an automatic along with the front pulley/ vibration dampener and spigot bearing.The engine in the Volvo.




Claire helping to disconnect everything.





Ditto.




Finally it's out!



The smurf engine comes out a bit easier.





Almost ready to go in...




Core plug added to rear of engine where Volvo only water pipe was removed.




Test fit of gearbox to make sure clutch is aligned to save misery under the van later. Everything is ready to go in.



The finish product;





At last.


I do seem to have a little bit of vibration, but I think it's to do with the ghetto engine mount.
Also the thermostat seems to be a bit shitty as the engine won't warm up at idle, only when you drive, I'm guessing it's staying open a touch, still, a cheap fix.

Time for a new engine

So, we're almost ready for the engine swap. Not with the spare, but with this;
I seem to be the owner of yet another vehicle!
I couldn't face putting in the spare engine as compression was a bit low on a couple of cylinders and the last thing I wanted to do was end up changing it again.
I bought this whole car for £255 on ebay and it's got 128,000 miles on it but an engine that was reconditioned in 2002.
I'm picking it up on Saturday and starting the swap on Sunday. I'm taking Monday off work and hopefully it should all be finished by mid week. The rest of the car will be ebayed as spares and the shell scrapped to cover the cost of the engine.
Wish me luck

Camperjam

So, we made it to camperjam, excellent weekend in Weston Park near Telford. Good music and we got a nice little porch like awning for £35. The van's not so hot though. It used almost 5l of oil over the 300 mile trip, eeek.
I secured the yard next to mine to work on the van. This time I'm going to do the swap! I've a compression tester on it's way and I'm getting an engine crane. I'm going to test the spare engine I have and if it's any good I'll put it in. If not I'll take out the one that's in there and open it up for a DIY recon. Rings, bearing shells etc. I've had a look at the spare and the oil looks good. I took off the rocker cover and everything looks good there too. Only slight worry is the ends of 2 glow plugs were missing. If I'm lucky they burnt off due to bad injectors or if I'm unlucky they snapped and are in the combustion camber. If they are in the combustion chamber they need getting out, time to get a borescope.
Almost forgot, it made it to the New Forest last weekend and the New Forest Ponies gave their approval.

Exhaust

Whilst the van was off the road I took the oppertunity to modify the exhaust. Before it exited on the near side, so into the awning if you started up whilst still attached to it. Now it exits offside due to me rotating the silencer 180 and cutting off and welding back on the brackets. I also cut down the tailpipe and left it with a slash cut.
The brackets re-welded.Drivers side view.

Underneath.

Sorted, again

Got the radiator fixed as I couldn't find a replacement. £30 cash and it's all back up and running.

It gets better!

The radiator was damaged by the installer and there is a small hole. Excellent, now I need a new rad! BASTARD

It's official

A shot of the Smurf TD badge and the new towbar step, to make getting in and out the back a bit easier.

It's in!

Well the TD lump is in. It's been a bit of a nightmare.
I picked up the van and then broke down 3 times on the way home due to coolant leaks. The fitter and used pipes that were too big and squashed them down with jubilee clips so when they got hot the pipes split. By the 3rd break down what water was left in the tank for the sink was gone so I had to make some water ;-)
Once I eventually got home I replace most of the dodgy hoses with samco ones and in the process found the engine was only attached on one side!!!!!
I then had to fabricate and engine mount, joy! Then I had to adjust the clutch which was biting way too high.
When I started the engine cold it smoked like a BAS***D, funny how it was warm when I picked it up, mmmm.
So it's been to an injection specialist as after changing the glow plugs I figured it was pump timing. The timing wasn't far wrong but they advanced it a touch. They then compression tested the engine (I had asked the fitter to do this) and the compression was on the low side and cylinder 6 was very low. Off came the rocker cover to check the valve clearances and sure enough there weren't any (another thing I asked the fitter to do). Now the engine is a bit smokey when it's cold but is sweet as a nut once it's warm. When all this was done they pointed out the fact that the injection pump was completely missing a bracket that supported one end of, it was there when I dropped the engine off to be fitted. The injection guys said the injector pipes would have split if I hadn't supplied them with a bracket from the spare engine I have. At the same time They and I installed the automatic cold start device as the fitter had completely removed it and not even bothered to connect the manual one. All in all I guess you get what you pay for. £400 was pretty cheap for the swap but it's probably cost another £300 since then and about a week of my time. I can't say I'd recommend the fitter to anyone, I just hope I've found all the horrors.................
The turbo ensures it keeps 60-70 on the motorway and helps up the hills. I've added a boost controller to keep the boost at the upper specified limit for now but will increase it once I've added an intercooler.
I've also added some inspection hatches as removing the bonnet to check the oil and water levels was way too much effort, it's bloody heavy!!
Anyway here are some pics.
Almost forgot the cold air beer intake. Helps prevent the K&N airfilter sucking in warm engine air!

Hopefully all is well

I got the fitter to ground a wire that was connected to an oil pressure sensor on the original engine that isn't there on the turbo engine. This solved the problem with the oil buzzer going off. He's going to check with a manual gauge that the pressure is within limits and if all is well I'll collect the van Weds or Thurs. I've fleebayed a couple of bits to allow me to mount the sensor from the original engine and a sensor for an oil pressure gauge into the oil filter housing. At the same time I've ordered a turbo boost gauge so I can keep an eye on things. Didn't need the spare engine I got hold of, except for some breather hoses, but at least I have a complete spare for parts. Pretty cheap source of spares at £30, I still can't believe it.

BAD NEWS

The camper isn't finished in time for Volksfest which started yesterday.
The guy finished installing the engine Wednesday morning and I got a call when I was on the train to go pick it up, no oil pressure! It has pressure at low revs but when you accelerate the oil warning buzzer comes on.
He tried swapping the oil pump from the old engine and had the engine back in yesterday, but the problem remains. Bugger
He's still trying to trace the problem but if it comes to it I got hold of another engine for £30 which I dropped to him yesterday morning.
Still, a shame as we've already bought our tickets for Volksfest. We're going to pop along for the day as there's no point in wasting £40.
I have a new drivers seat sitting in my dining room waiting to go in. Hopefully it will fit with not too much work as it's from a transporter, has arm rests too. Also the new table is sitting there, so the sooner we get the van back the sooner we can have out dining room back. I've got a feeling it won't be till the end of next week now :-(

Table complete

Out with the old, in with the new. Transferred over the leg and hinges today after a second coat of Danish oil. All ready to be put in when I get the van back. Much better than the horrible piece of ply we had before.

I've also been at the sewing machine again to alter a duvet and duvet cover to fit the rather small bed (the old one kept slipping off as it was to wide).

The TD transplant starts

LT35-Craig from the brick-yard has taken the van off my hands today to start installing the Volvo Turbo diesel I picked up from near Telford this morning. Early start, 6am, quick stop to cut off the ends of the leak off pipes as they were living up to their name!, lost about 30lts I think. Dropped the van off at 10:30 and got home on the train about 15:30
I can't pick the van up again till 1st June as I'm going on holiday, but it should all be done by then. Small problem with the engine missing it's oil cooler and turbo breather, but the guy I bought it from is gonna try and find them.

Table

I've finished gluing the table and have cut it to size. It's got about 50 biscuit joints in it so should be strong enough.
I decided to use a liming wax to make the overall colour a bit lighter and then finished in danish oil so it can handle the missus pouring wine over it :-(
The lime brings out the grain nicely. You use a wire brush to remove some of the softer growth and then push the wax into the voids you've created. A good wipe off and seal with danish. Lovely!
Just need to fit it. The van it off to Kidderminster tomorrow to have the Turbo Diesel fitted, can't wait!
The rain stopped for a while this afternoon so I've also done the machine glaze and waxed it. Doesn't look half bad now. Obviously no where near as good as a proper sprayer could do, but not at all bad for a DIY.

Table in clamps

Some more work

Finally got around to flatting the spray job with 2000 Grit wet & dry. Then mopped the whole van with 2 different grades of compound. Just need to finish with a machine glaze, but I'll have to wait for the rain to stop. Already had to resort to a pair of marigolds to stop the tingle from water getting into my polisher!
A new table top is on it's way too. This time in solid oak, will probably lime it and finish in danish oil. Had to make it strong enough to take my fat arse when it's a bed and light enough to make it easy to move. It's only 13mm thick so had to make it in sections with cross members for strength. Photo soon

TURBO!!!!!

I've managed to get my hands on a TURBO engine from flee bay for £165. It's from a volvo 740, but the engine is basically the same, a few bits need swapping over though. Same size 2.4l, but turbo means it creates 105BHP not the shameful 55BHP of the current engine. Looking forward to this after spending most of the time going up hills at 15mph in cornwall. A guy from the brickyard forum in kidderminster has offered to fit the engine, not the easiest job in the world as the engine mounts are different and a new one needs welding on. At the same time, a new clutch, water pump, cambelt and drive belt will be fitted along with oil and filter. I'm also having the injectors serviced. If everything is ok a trip around France (or maybe europe) seems in order due to improved speed and fuel economy!

Almost forgot

Seat belts in the rear and proper VW curtain tracks, along with a bit more sewing to fit them.

Various Tasks

After the trip to cornwall I was inspired to do a bit more work on the van for the summer.
I had to change the spring that was broken and did the shocks as well. Then it turned out the other spring didn't match the new one, or the broken one! I'm guessing it was from an LT28, so that was replaced as well.
Then I went on to complete loads of jobs I've been meaning to do for ages;
Changed gearbox oil
Changed diff oil
Changed engine oil
Replaced thermostat and coolant (evidence of oil in the water, not sure if new or old)
Front offside bearing adjusted
Oven thermocouple replaced
New sliding door internal handle
New gear lever ball joint
New gearbox ball joint
All gear and steering linkages greased.

Changing gear is now much more positive, the engine actually comes up to temperature and it doesn't creak going over bumps anymore. Lovely

Devon and Cornwall

The camper too a trip to the eden project via north coast of devon. No problems except for a creak from the suspension when going over bumps. Turned out it wasn't the shocks as I suspected but a broken spring!
Photo is of Bay View camp site on the south coast, found it in the cool camping book.

Roof respray

The wind finally dropped enough so I could prime and respray the roof. At the same time I fibre Glassed a section to allow a 400x400 skylight to be fitted. Got a few runs in just the front that need to be rubbed out, but on the whole it came out alright. It's starting to look pretty good and less of a Jadder mobile.