My 1990 MK3 100L Campervan

[Keef]

Just a thought. Don't you just need to know the original wheelbase of your van and work to that?

[Bryan]

Just measured the wheelbase.... it's exactly 3.02m which is exactly what the Haynes manual says it should be.

[Keef]

Fire up the mig then and stop buggering around

[Bryan]

The Mig has been well and truely fired up




This is probably the last I'll get done for a while now since it's due to start raining tomorrow.

[Bryan]

The weather's held ok today so I took the opportunity to weld the front crossmember in position. I will have to make up a new cover for the chassis on the driver's side.



Running low on welding gas already.... the size Y bottle is nearly empty already and I only got a few months ago.

I've also made a start on the rear axle. The mounts will have to be cut off and moved inboard slightly and then welded back on again.

[Mr RVM]

The weather's held ok today so I took the opportunity to weld the front crossmember in position. I will have to make up a new cover for the chassis on the driver's side.



Running low on welding gas already.... the size Y bottle is nearly empty already and I only got a few months ago.

I've also made a start on the rear axle. The mounts will have to be cut off and moved inboard slightly and then welded back on again.

Wonderful stuff all seems to be coming together quite nicely

[Bryan]

It is indeed... I'm hoping to get some use out of it before the end of the summer so I'm trying to get something done every time I get a chance. Plus it's payday again so whether the wife likes it or not I'll be ordering more parts

It'll be nowhere near as good as your MK3 though!

[Mr RVM]

It is indeed... I'm hoping to get some use out of it before the end of the summer so I'm trying to get something done every time I get a chance. Plus it's payday again so whether the wife likes it or not I'll be ordering more parts

It'll be nowhere near as good as your MK3 though!

I'm sure it'll look more than good enough when its done (and at least yours is progressing....not touched mine for nearly a year )

[Bryan]

Between the weather and work I didn't manage to get much done this week.

I've modified the mk5 engines mounts to fit the mk3 chassis by welding in a bar at the end so that I could redrill the mounting holes slightly inboard of where they are on the mk5. Interestingly, on the mk3 all three sets of bolts in the engine mount have the same centre to centre spacing.



And then I sprayed the chassis legs with some body schutz. I'm not going for a concourse restoration - I'd rather it will last than care what it looks like! I haven't welded the crossmember cover on yet either because I want to wait until I've done all the welding to it so that I can coat the inside with some more body schutz before welding it up for good.



I've had to take out the front axle again to get the chassis legs properly coated. Hopefully if the weather's decent on Sunday I'll get the axle back in again.

[Mr RVM]

Absolutely cracking work there Bryan your patience, ability and vision have all combined to bring a well deserved result

[Bryan]

Cheers Gaz.

I got the front axle bolted properly back in yesterday despite the rain. It wasn't too bad the bonnet was like a little roof in there.

I started into the rear axle today but I ended up with a breaker bar that looked like this so I had to give up on that for now...



Not to be defeated I decided to tackle the engine instead and get it set in place. I firstly installed a brand new clutch kit that I got extremely cheaply off Ebay for £26.95 including postage but it looks to be very good quality.



Then I fired the gearbox (original mk3 box) onto the mk5 engine because the mk5 had an electronic speedo drive. And then with the help of my wife pushing and shoving while I was under the back of the gearbox we eventually got the engine to sit in the engine bay. It's not plumbed in at all but it looks good back in the place it belongs. Any work I have left to do in the engine bay can see be done with the engine in situ.



With the weight of the engine it has fairly lowered the front of the van - it no longer looks like a County Transit



I have a problem with the mk5 engine in terms of the fuel lines though. Because the mk5 uses a lift pump the fuel lines from the tank are obviously different from the mk3 lines. I could do away with the lift pump altogether and use the mk3 fuel filter housing but I'm guessing it's there for a reason. Should I just keep the lift pump and modify the fuel lines to suit?

[Bryan]

I spent today putting the dashboard back in. That's a lot harder than it sounds! Those air hoses are a right pain in the back side particularly the driver's side ones!

I also installed the clutch pedal and cable out of the MK5 so I now have a manual adjustable clutch instead of that pesky ratchet thing that was originally there.



It's finally starting to look like something again. I'll be able to put the seats back in again properly as well.



I wired the engine in (temporarily to figure out what wires are what) and it now turns over from the key. With a bit of fuel it should now fire up. Hopefully I'll get that sorted in the next few days when the connectors I've ordered arrive.

[Van Winkle]

Followed this from the start and must say well done, I would have been well p*****D off if I had found it as bad as that. I hope the original owner is following your progress and he should hang his head in shame !!! Again very well done and looking forward to the end result

[MinorMatt]

In your situation I wouldn't mod the pipes to suit the lift pump... I would fit an electric pump under the floor somewhere and blank the lift pump. No need to prime fuel filters and no issues with fuel leaking back if there is a small air leak!

[Bryan]

I started off today by modifying the exhaust downpipe. It's half MK5 and half MK3. I wanted to use the MK3 one that I had but it was a two bolt affair and the MK5 manifold is a 3 bolt one. So out with the sawzall and whack them in half and weld them up again



Then I turned my attention to the headlight panel. I had to repair the inner wing area before I could weld this in place so this area is now sorted.



I've also welded the crossmember cover on but I ran out of welding wire so it's not totally welded on yet. I had to paint it though to stop it from rusting.



On the plus side the engine fired up today after modifying the fuel lines. I need a new starter relay though.