Gareth's 2004 SWB Med Roof 85PS Transit

[Kidman]

Last bit that wasnt working on the van is now fixed, and that was the air con. Had it all done properly, all the old crap pulled out, leak tested and refilled. Works a treat, its strange hearing the compressor kicking in now!

[MinorMatt]

Saw you on the M25 this eve

Nice looking van

[Kidman]

Saw you on the M25 this eve

Nice looking van

How's that for advertising! What was you in, Transit i assume?

[Kidman]

As can be seen from the post above, i do get around alot! When i first got the van i bought some Millers Diesel Power Sport 4 to get the fuel system clean. Then i ran out and for a month of so, have been on normal pump diesel. A few days ago i got some more and i am amazed at the difference it has made to performance, its so much more willing overall and power keeps going for longer, it feels like its winter again! Thats the best way i can describe it. Mine has obviously been mapped so the difference may be more stark than standard but its great stuff!

[Kidman]

Done a bit of essential derusting today. The NS sill had been painted over before i bought it to cover the rust up, and the wheelarch was getting a bit scabby along the edge.

So i set to it with a wire cup brush in the angle grinder and stripped the sill back to bare metal. The metal was quite deeply pitted but was not holed, left another 6-12 months it may have been different. It gets chipped alot, so after using Jenolite and 2 coats of etch primer i applied some stonechip and fizzled it to the back of the arch, a prime chipping area. This bit wasnt too bad, but the inner edge/flange was flaky, again once stripped back the metal was pitted but was still in good shape otherwise.

I took the door off to make life easier, the missus helped with that. Its quite bulky but came out the runners ok and no damage. There is a join at the back of the arch to sill that always gets covered in dirt and neglected, this received treatment also.

I used UPOL 2k Diamond White, was a pretty good match and blended excellently, a bit brighter but to be expected as the van is 5 years old, it will tone down when the sun hits it after a week.






The sill and arch in etch primer before stonechip.



And the end result, white shows up a bit bright on my camera so doesn't really show the full story but it is a massive improvement visually to me, and i will now speed up the other bits that need doing!






And following the trend, a pair of Mk7 rear lights -


I know it seems every MK6 has them, but i like them, makes it look cleaner and more modern.

[Scotty86]

looking good mate, will need to do my sills and arches soon as there looking poorly

[Luke]

nice work keep on top of it - best way

who cares everyones fitting mk7 lights we did too they look better - end off

[Kidman]

Thanks guys. I have another pair of lights that i bought that will be up for sale shortly, i managed to get an excellent deal on OE spec ones so these are surplus.

I will be fitting the newer spec seam trim that goes over the exposed body join once mine have been taken back to bare metal and treated. In principle an easy job except i will have to use a ladder to paint it!

The O/S arch is getting a little scabby, so are the fronts, need to catch these before the winter as i suspect they are more than surface rust, its starting from the inside out.

As my business is cosmetic repair i thought it only fair i treated my workhorse to a bit of attention. Since the turbo has been replaced i feel it will go on for another 50k easily, its up to 97k now, had 83k back in Jan when i first got it.

[Kidman]

A month on nearly and another 3000 miles! Up to the magic 100,000 now -



Last week i had the brake discs and pads replaced with genuine Ford. The old discs were very thin aswell as having a big wear ridge. The old pads were also binding on the OSF, which had worn it out prematurely and got very hot! I only knew recently because it started squeaking at low speeds and wouldnt shut up no matter what i did! Think it had started to warp the disc.

Unfortunatly, when one of the techs at work replaced the discs, he managed to crack my NSF ABS sensor, so now my light is on permanantly, hence the black tape in the picture so it doesnt annoy me!

Genuine part is expensive, so on the look out for a 2nd hand replacement before the MOT.

Now the brakes have been sorted i've gained a bit more miles to the tank, the biggest difference was the turbo replacement, i am now seeing typically 150 miles more to a tank. Its going very well at the moment, last night drive back in the torrential rain was fun, 3rd gear wheelspin at 60mph

The underside is getting a bit tatty, especially under the front arches. When the weather dries out again it will have any flaky bits of underseal removed, treated with liquid jenolite and then loaded up with Waxoyl underseal, which stays soft once applied but doesnt wear off. Been using it years and its excellent at holding back the tinworm.

[Kidman]

Is there anyone out there?

[ake]

Is there anyone out there?

Yes

Vans lookin well by the way

[Kidman]

Is there anyone out there?

Yes

Vans lookin well by the way

I did wonder, do these updates and no-one ever replies! Maybe i should put some lights on my roof next...

[HughieVanMan]

Keep up the steady flow of improvements. When you do start in to re sealing the underside make sure to keep us up to speed.

[Kidman]

Keep up the steady flow of improvements. When you do start in to re sealing the underside make sure to keep us up to speed.

I may do, in fact i may do a step by step guide with photos but then i may not.

[Hitch]

Progress looks realy good,

i have got to do what you have just done on your sills,

i got some primer, then stone chip to go on, then was going to put prmer ontop of stonechip and then diamond white ford paint??

Good idea?? or dont i need the primer ontop of the stonechip??

can i just put the diamond white ontop??

Thanks Hitch

(love the mk7 lights, just ordered mine)