Ronnie's new runaround - Project VAN!

[tomZ20LET]

a message i got back off the bloke with ur old van was bored so i thought i would amuse myself by sending a message enjoy...

hello mate tanks for that but im the third onwer of the van n thats how i got it was gunna take the vinyl of the sides but the last lad has painted in side of doors.tel ronnie very well done n loved watching it at santa pod n has he got any gsi front bumpers n ph1 skirts that i could buy as im gunna keep van n try n get it sorted for pv this june thanks andy.

[spe]

hi im the latest owner of the van, i bought it because i thought it was realy quite funny because it was a well chavved up dog when i got it. but since owning it if grown emotianly attached to it it so i have decided im going to try and restore it to its former glory ( like it was in rc's pictures ), i have started by taking it to m local dyno center to see if it is worth spending a bit of time and money on it. it pulled at 200lbs pft and has 180 hosses still in ther so if anyone has any good tips for getting more from a v6 i would appreciate it.

[Drizz]

Nice one spe!

[spe]

i cant stress though she is a real dog at the moment

[Drizz]

Thats my old engine in there so do her proud!

[spe]

problem iv got is i can see every thing rc has done but i dnt know what the other owners have ****ed with. oh and is ita gsi engine or standard 2.5, thanks

[Drizz]

GSi engine

[spe]

ahrite so she has lost about 15 bhp which i think is pretty good is it?

[Drizz]

Well my GSi was a 98 so yeah 12 yrs on 15 aint that bad....

[rc]

spec from when i had it it was the x25xe msd spec engine, egr and sai removed, de cat and straight through exhaust, upped fuel pressure, induction kit in its old cold air enclosure, i know one of the next owners fitted a chip that removed the rev limit so dont know if thats still there or not. and they took off my cold air induuction system and just wacked a induction kit in the bay, the v6s dont like sucking in hot air.

heres when i had it








and a few owners later





any pics of it now?

[Drizz]

Why oh why do they fit those morettes!

[spe]

i will take some pics tomoro and stick them on, it is still half black but its got standard lights and front bumper is now painted black (poorly) and it now has an f16 box in it so now the engine bay looks like a big wirey **** coz i dont think they know about tie raps. i am up against the problem that to turn it back white it is going to cost me a complete respray an i am goin to have to get the wheels refurbed. so iv read that it cost you about £2.50 to put together but as im not in the trade im goin to be payin a fortune for it all to be put right

[spe]

oh and sorry but i have had to stick standard springs on it because where i livethe speed bumps ar like f uckin g mountains and i have a **** load of gear in the back so i had to do it

[brad35]

That would break my heart to see one of my old cars in such a state.

It was in mint condition when it left you Ronnie.

[rc]

Would be good to see it now. When i saw it a pv this year the body was terrible, dents all over the quarters, scratches and scuffs everywhere, the engine bay was a mess with wires hanging everywhere where people had just been bridging things and leaving them, the plenums where all scuffed and covered in oil too, wheels looked awfull. Was pretty sad to see

but yea i did every single thing myself so saved thousands, if i were asked to do exactly what i did here for someone else i'd prob charge about 3k.

[spe]

well im goin to do my best with her and maybe i will check out pv, im new to all this and someof the **** ivread on this forum you are all f uckin g mental geniuses

[spe]

just a little update on the van,
i arnt able to do minute by minute pictures and write ups like ronnie because if i do any work on her im as slow as a go slow machine in really slow mode so sorry bout that.

any way i bought the van like i said for a laugh a few months ago and me and a mate tryed our best to blow her up but to my suprise we didnt succeed, since then i have had some life issues and lost all my money, and the only thing i was left with was the van, I lived in her for a couple of weeks, with every thing that was happening and all the time iv spent with her i got quite attached to her and started doing some research on these vans (as i said im an electrician and until recently couldnt change a wheel lol), i came across this post and i am real impressed with you ronnie it looked great and i thought it would be a real shame to wreck her so i have decided to give her some love and affection.
I started by trying to make it look a little less tatty so i removed the side skirts and prepped and painted the sills, and cleaned up the skirts and refitted them (this is only a temp thing untill i can afford a respray) it has made a big difference.

through the week i have removed the wheels and had new tyres fitted, (lucky- the manager of my local kwick fit was so impressed with the van and simpathetic to my limited funds at the mo, he gave me 4 tyres at cost £140 fitted BARGAIN).
I removed both front legs and fitted new bearings and outer cv's and again cleaned every thing up.
i have changed oil an filter and repaired a leak from the sump.
fitted standard springs on the back, i have had to, you will understand wen you see pics.

sorry for droning on but im new to these forums so bare with me please
i just found my camera leads tonight so will post some pics tomoro

[spe]

oh and i have been teaching myself and i have done it all myself so far, i have only spent about 40 hours on it LOL

[Jack]

Good to hear it's with someone that will look after it. Props for living in the old girl too, can't be nice in this ****ty weather.

[rc]

sounds like its being a good learning curve for you. i camped in the van at verious shows to save putting tents up lmao its preety toast in there as its all ply lined and full of insulation too although that was in summer lmao

looking forward to seeing pics, even if its just to see the old girl again

has it still got the rear seats in?

[spe]

im having trouble uploading pic's, how do i do it?

[spe]

yeh she still got seats in the back, along with calibra leather in the front.
im after a black dash for it tho, this grey one is ****in horrible

[Melv]

upload the pics to either photobucket or imageshack then copy and paste the [IMG] link to here.

That will work.

[2.2DTIdarryl]

i havent been on here for over a year and cant beleve whats happened the the van. i guess people have different tastes but my goodness, its ruined.

[spe]