Mods to My van.

[Terry]

Thunderider has asked for photos of mods I have done to my van.
As I have done quite a few (small) mods I thought a thread here may be useful
to others too.
I am NOT an electrician or a computer boffin, some of the things you will see here will make a grown man cry !

Laptop.
I have Dell laptop that was my home machine till it blew the hard disc (in rush hour in Turin ). So I bought a new home machine and had a new 20 meg disc installed in the Dell & now use that exclusively for Sat-nav.
The thing that ruined the Dell in the first palce was an intermittant connection where I plugged it into the fag lighter socket. So I fitted a 'speakon' plug & socket (in the dash). This is a connector that can't come apart accidently.

The socket is wired from an additional fuse box under the dash (theres also an ignition controlled fusebox the same)

I got a GPS from http://www.globalpositioningsystems, (I think it was £60, and a wireless mouse completes the ensemble.

This is the back of the laptop. The lead on the left is power, the right hand lead is the GPS, and the dongle-y thing is the receiver for the wireless mouse.

Notes.
The 'speakon' plug & sockets are about £2.50 each (mine were from Maplin) there are 2 types 2 pole & 4 pole. The 2 pole plug will fit either socket but the 4 pole plug will ONLY fit the 4 pole socket.
I have Autoroute '06 on mine because '07 is sh*t for postcodes.
I also have Autoroute 99 on a CD as if covers Poland ,Czechoslovakia e.t.c. which the later ones don't.
The Dell runs on 18.something volts, and if you leave it running with the engine off, the PS starts 'wavering' and this runs down the laptops battery very quickly.
Anything I have forgotten ....yell

[Terry]

I thought I would add this one as I already have the photos in photobucket.
I ordered a LHD drivers door panel (had to pay up front with the threat of no refund), seem to remember it was £80 ish and a LHD passengers door lower pocket.(may even have ordered them together can't remember)
I had to slightly modify one of the items (on each door) to use the same fixing on the upper front of the lower pocket and the larger panel.

The nearside obviously.

And offside door.

[Terry]

As I carry so much crap about I thought I would add another 'glove' box.
The box itself is from a Honda Integra & the catch from a Fiesta.

The hinge/support on the left is a bolt through from the wheelarch and in the centre an eyebolt through the bulkhead (careful where you drill the main battery
cable runs behind that area).

The white 'thing' upper left is the light with a cover from a deoderant spray can.
While I was at it I put a light into the normal glove box too.

It is the switch assembly from a Scorpio glovebox, the switch & bulbholder are all in one piece so it was just a matter of 2 holes an earth & a feed from the electric window switch above.
Doesn't show up very well with the flash.

[Terry]

Added a little odds & sods tray in front of the gearlever.
Its a 'desk draw tidy' from Ikea, just trimmed a little to fit and wedged in by the gearlever boot.

Its held down with a couple of strips of double sided tape.

[Luke]

some smart ideas there terry

i should really take a leaf out of your book - i just chuck all my crap over the dash top and floor

[Terry]

I suggest you do take a leaf out of the 'tidy' book Luke. I had a heartstopper with a bottle under the brake pedal & I became a tidy person.
But meantime heres some more of my 'little mods'.

The grab handles are also from a Scorpio. Th upper one has a 'clothes hook' that was gonna be for a 'curtain' but I got some of those 'silver screens' instead. the one on the windscreen pillar was put on mainly because the screen had been changed several times & the clips were knackered, so I drilled the pillar & mounted the handle (from above the front door of a Scorpio). Both sides are the same.

A Scorpio interior light replaced the original, though I still hanker for a roof console.
The rear interior lights from the Scorpio fitted necely in the back......

This one on an aluminium plate to shine on the step.

This one on an aluminium plate over an existing access hole in the 'C' pillar. All they needed was a wire run down from the interior load compartment light, so they come on when you open the sliding door.

[mrbass]

well done these are good mods that are welcome to many vans i like what you have done there and can see that all the mods are working mods that are usefull. like the lights too you still need to hide the wire's thou.

[Terry]

Yes Mr B you are right, I do need to hide the wires ,but they are not for those lights. I can't remember what those 2 lights came from , but the Scorpio interior rear lights are in the 'side panels' on the other side & 1 wire pair go them & the other wire pair go to the solar panels on the roof.


Which in theory keep the battery charged.
N.B. This was charged by an electrician friend with one of those super/duper chargers, which he claims makes or breaks a battery.
I also added one of those 'mini' in the middle sun shields from a Mondeo ,I believe.

Theres also a First Aid Kit held onto the nearside door lower pocket with a couple of velcro strips.

[thunderider]

nice one terry,im really liking the scorpio interior lites in the cab i take it there better than the poor originals,im off at the week end to find me sum,...more questions later...

[Terry]

They are sometimes referred to as 'frog-eye' or 'eyeball' interior lamps, they have one central interior light same as any interior light & a swivel 'eyeball' map light one each side.
I THINK some Mondeo's had them too.
If you can't find any p.m. me, I have a couple here.

[mrbass]

looking good i like the panels on the roof are they the ones from maplins? is so how much did it cost please?

[Terry]

Yes Mr B they are from Maplins but I have had them a couple of years now and if I remember correctly they were on offer at half price so came out at £40 apiece.

[mrbass]

cool i may get some for me transit trailer next year will come in handy thanks

[Terry]

When you say 'Transit trailer' can I assume you are making a trailer from a Transit. ?

[mrbass]

it has been done already it was a transit its now a trailer built by someone els and im buying it for next season's shows. its cool