So i finally gave in and got a van for my hobbies of motorbikes and mountain biking - turned out to be a nightmare buy, so it looks like i have a small project on my hands now doh!
2003 mk6 swb 280 in need of tlc shall we say!
Its just had a new dual mass C&F fitted, and then i discovered one of the syncro's is well... gone mostly.
From what i can tell its had a light bar fitted at somepoint and the holes in the roof then taped from the inside
The first job was to seal the roof,
i've been browsing the forum intently and the foil tape stuff seems to be the weapon of choice for leaks, 5 holes where the light bar was (and the seam along the rear for good measure more than anything) are now taped up so fingers crossed we dont get any more water in, the rust holes have dried up so its looking good on that front for now.
Next the cargo area was gutted of all the mouldy scummy ply, carpet and bucket full of swept up mould/soil/sand.. mostly mould from underneath! (facemask was needed!
) I re-discovered the rear lighting looms (which unsuprisingly didnt work) and with some help from forum members extablished that they are controlled by the rear cabin switch.. the one that had been chopped from the loom which explained why that didnt work either!. With a volt meter and the haynes manual, worked out which wire does what but with 1/4" of wire visible through the headlining the best i could do was to strip and twist the wires together to get power to the cargo looms, i later extended the wires with some inventive soldering and fitted G4 LED replacement bulbs in the back to the dangling looms so i could carry on working.
While working i was aware that the 10w bulb at the front was draining the battery slowly after a few late nights work, i looked around online and couldnt find any decent replacement LED bulbs in the right size so ordered on ebay (for £3) some generic LED automotive replacement lights in the hope that one of the fittings would work for me. It turns out they didnt, and during my investigations i broke the stock switch in the light housing. That was the final straw, the demel came out and i expanded the hole to fit a panel mount 3-way rocker switch and soldered in the new LED light which lights up the entire cabin area and floodlights a sizable area around the front of the van! turns out these LED's are 4W per panel and i've only fitted one!
Next to do is welding.. so the last lot of ply was screwed straight into the wheel arches, so they've got 2-4" rusty holes in both sides now, and where the flooring was screwed down has also caused a rust patch on one side and a small hole on the other. The cargo door sill has a foot long section missing which needs replacing too.. could do with some estimates of what you guys reckon this would cost so's im not ripped off..
Once the welding is sorted, i need to sort out the lower rear door catch which is intermittent and take care of anything else in the doors thats needed before heading off to re-ply and carpet.
I need to install a stereo of sorts too.. any ideas on 'OK' stereo's and speakers that bolt in? I already have an adaptor harness attached but not sure what it's for so best to assume its useless!
anyways.. the plan in my head i'm sure is far too ambitious so it should make a laughable progress thread for all to enjoy...
so i might skip it this time as i need it done fast! 
