MK4 van tidy up/project

[GaryVaux]

Ive always fancied a mk4 van, but didnt want to sell my astra.

I had clocked up 8K miles in under 5 months.
Then my sisters b/f said his mate was selling an 05 plate cdti mk4 van with 50k on the clock.

Cdti was ideal. Its a newer engine, more powerfull, more fuel efficient than the older engines, and £120 a year road tax

I got it for what i concider a good price, as its needing bits an pieces done;
New starter motor, ARB drop links, ball joint, tyre, passenger mirror cover, a service and some bits on the body needing sorted.

So the plan is:
-To keep this as a cheap project (very hard for me, as i get carried away lmao)
- Tidy up the van to my standards (yes, lots of cleaning and painting)
- A few choice upgrades (try to get second hand/used parts)

[Melv]

no pics?

[GaryVaux]

29th Dec 09 - After a quick wash, it was put on the ramp, and given a service (oil, oil filter, air filter, fuel filter, pollen filter)
Then i removed the starter, stripped it, cleaned it, but still no joy. So bought one from ebay. I also fitted the wiring kit for an amp.




Interior isnt mint, but not bad concidering it was a work van, nice jvc usb headunit too:


4th jan - Still no starter, so with the van condemed to the ramp, i decided to seperate my headlights, and paint the inners black (like the late spec lights on my sri)

This was done by removing all bulbs and motors from the lights then heating them in the oven to soften the sealant (trial an error, but 90deg for 5-10 mins seemed to work well)
The sealant was a NIGHTMARE to remove, like really sticky black chewing gum!!

Eventually got it all off, and flatted the inners back ready for plastic primer:


plastic primer, satin black then 2 good coats of gloss black:


And lacquered:


Will get them put back together tomorrow

[Dell Balallan]

At last a project thread!!lmao
I will have to watch this

[Daz H]

watching this have a slight soft spot for vans lol! did u sort the amp for the sub and bits ?

[GaryVaux]

watching this have a slight soft spot for vans lol! did u sort the amp for the sub and bits ?

Just gonna keep an eye out for an amp (im not buying new) Im going to try REALLY hard and keep this a cheap project

[Melv]

Just gonna keep an eye out for an amp (im not buying new) Im going to try REALLY hard and keep this a cheap project

How soon do you need an amp? I've a mac audio one in the loft that I bought about 7 years ago that I can donate if you want it.

No idea of the specs as audio aint really my thing

[GaryVaux]

How soon do you need an amp? I've a mac audio one in the loft that I bought about 7 years ago that I can donate if you want it.

No idea of the specs as audio aint really my thing

No rush what so ever. As long as it can power a 12" sub and maybe some rear speakers it will do nicely. (pm me any model numbers on it when you get a chance to dig it out )

[Melv]

Will do Gary. I will have the Christmas decorations to put away soon so will dig it out then.

[Daz H]

Just gonna keep an eye out for an amp (im not buying new) Im going to try REALLY hard and keep this a cheap project

Sounds good! and looks like you might have that amp

Daz.

[Fow16v]

gonna be watching this one, will be interesting to see what you do with it. did the lights come apart fairly easy after going in the oven, i tried mine with a heat gun the other day but i just seemed to melt them so im gonna try the oven trick instead

[Dave Broomfield]

Just gonna keep an eye out for an amp (im not buying new) Im going to try REALLY hard and keep this a cheap project

Thats just how mine started and look what happened their lmao looks like a nice van

[GaryVaux]

gonna be watching this one, will be interesting to see what you do with it. did the lights come apart fairly easy after going in the oven, i tried mine with a heat gun the other day but i just seemed to melt them so im gonna try the oven trick instead

yeah, not too bad. If you try 90-100 deg u should be able to pull the lenses off without having to cut the sealant (easier if you get sombody to help prise the lense clips off in turn while you are pulling it apart)

Thats just how mine started and look what happened their lmao looks like a nice van

lmao I wont be buying a mint coupe to swap parts, and its staying diesel!! (tho a wee remap and bigger FMIC may creep onto itlmao

The bodywork isnt great, (no dents right enough) but ill sort all that in time

[GaryVaux]

Got my lights put back together and fitted, makes such a difference (no pics yet)

re-sprayed the bumper carriage bar, Dug out the front vauxhall mudflaps i replaced on the astra (They were low on the car, so scraped on speedbumps, meaning the badges were loose) So i bonded them back on. And another pair of mk4 rears i had on the nova.

Then went on ebay and bought some new numberplates for £9, a mini toggle switch for the amp remote wire, and a new battery for the key.

[Daz H]

sounds good! get some piccys up of the lights do they look alot different to the original ones?

[GaryVaux]

I HAVE a starter motor Arrived today at 5pm, so i went out in the dark and fitted it, working fine And have taken the van to work.

Tomorrow im going to collect my alloys, and hopefully get a few bits from the scrappies
Then ill hopefully start getting more things done.

[GaryVaux]

Got my headlights put back together, Fitted my cross hatch grill.

The bonnet fitted was a pattern one, and the seams had no sealer so had rusty streaks comming out. Rather than spent time on cleaning it up then painting i picked up a mint genuine bonnet in glacier white


I soaked the inner arches with G101 (a cleaner/degreaser) gave the van a proper wash, jet washed the inner arches and left to dry.
Mis matched wheels are because one had a puncture, one was on the limit, and the spare was damaged (and my other 2 15" alloys have bald tyres lmao)


Inner arches then painted white, subframe/wishbones black, and calipers blue:


Rear arches painted white, and drums black:

[mac1976]

looking gd gary , ma mate might have a white astra coupe front bumper for sale , its on his van just now

[GaryVaux]

I fitted the new ARB drop links, and ball joint on the passenger side. What a nightmare it was to remove, grinding the heads off the rivets and punching them out wasnt to be..
Ended up like this:


Gave the interior a hoover, and some dash shine on plastics (also removed the blue chequer heel plat from the drivers mat)


The paint on the van was very flat, and there was a few scuffs and scratches. So it was in need of a right good polish.
Silicone spray on the plastics, removed the grill then out came the machine buff. G3, G10


I saw a set of alloys advertised and got gordon livsey to go look at them for me (just down the road from him) They were like new, and had very good tyres so he bought them, and i collected/paid for them the following week.

They needed different spigot rings to fit my van, so i trial fitted them with no rear springs (the seller wasnt 100% on the offset, so they were a bit of a gamble)


But there et38 (std van steels are et39) So spot on

[GaryVaux]

I washed all the cutting compound off the van, then ploished, and waxed with hi-def wax, it actually has a shine to it again lmao

[GaryVaux]

The previous owner had put a wooden floor in the van, but it was one piece, so access to the spare wheel well wasnt ideal:

I was simply going to cut it in half, but that was too easy and a bit rubbish, so out came the jigsaw....


And re-fitted:


As you can just see, i cut a wee hole to lift the board and get to the clip for the wheel well cover.

Ive given it a few coats of woodstain aswell.

[GaryVaux]

Got my front mud flaps fitted (put them high, so not to catch speed bumps when lowered)

Spigot rings arrived today, So the alloys went on






Won a set of new vauxhall locking nuts on ebay for a tenner So they will be fitted when they arrive.

[GaryVaux]

The van only had a drivers mirror cover in metalic black, so i got a passenger one from a breakers.


I flatted them back with 800 wet and dry, primed and painted (but i was trying to rush it and theres a run on each one,only tiny but i know its there. So ill most likely flat back and re-do them next week when im off again)

[GaryVaux]

Next on the cards is;
- Lower it, ASAP! As nice as it is over bumps etc, the monster truck look just isnt doing it for me.
- Fit the rear mudflaps
-Then finish the bodywork (some colourcoding etc)

[RobJenko]

cracking work so far gary, starting to miss my mk4 van now and its only been gone a month.