My 1990 MK3 100L Campervan

[Mr RVM]

In the words of the Great George Formby "Turned out nice again"

When I read your first post on this thread I was gutted for you (seeing and reading about the state this camper was in) but now its transforming into something that many would be more than happy to own

And all this work done outside on the "driveway"

I'm helping a few other members (as much as I can) with their resto/rebuilds and often refer to this thread as a source of encouragement when they get a bit down, telling them that no matter how bad it looks.....it CAN be done

Keep up the great work Bryan, we're all lovin it

[Bryan]

Cheers Gaz. The weather really has been a major influence on how fast I can get things done since it is outside. I can't believe how far I've come myself sometimes when I look back at the old photos. This is by far the most work I've done to a camper van.

The next dilemma I have is regarding the front doors. The passenger one in particular is quite bad and blistering under the vinyl. I have a set of decent condition MK5 doors but I know the interior handle etc is in a different position. I want to keep the stock MK3 look inside and I don't want the plasticy MK5 door cards. Have you ever modified the MK5 doors to accept the MK3 handle mechanism? I've made everything else fit so I may as well give it a go lol

I stuck the front bumper on this morning just to confirm everything lines up and it's all looking good. I've a bit of fabrication to do on the lower front of the inner wing before fitting the actual wing but the inner wing itself isn't actually too bad - well the part where the wing is anyway!

[Mr RVM]

Cheers Gaz. The weather really has been a major influence on how fast I can get things done since it is outside. I can't believe how far I've come myself sometimes when I look back at the old photos. This is by far the most work I've done to a camper van.

The next dilemma I have is regarding the front doors. The passenger one in particular is quite bad and blistering under the vinyl. I have a set of decent condition MK5 doors but I know the interior handle etc is in a different position. I want to keep the stock MK3 look inside and I don't want the plasticy MK5 door cards. Have you ever modified the MK5 doors to accept the MK3 handle mechanism? I've made everything else fit so I may as well give it a go lol

I stuck the front bumper on this morning just to confirm everything lines up and it's all looking good. I've a bit of fabrication to do on the lower front of the inner wing before fitting the actual wing but the inner wing itself isn't actually too bad - well the part where the wing is anyway!

Yes that "modification" can be done (quite easy) rather than try to explain it tho if you just look at both doors you will see which bit you need to "Transfer" from the Mk3 door to the Mk5 one to carry the internal handle

don't forget the "lock hole" is a different size/shape (just leave the Mk5 locks in the doors and take the ignition barrel from the Mk5 and put it in your steering column if you still have it or just buy a new Mk5 lockset for £17 and replace the lot)

the Mk3 door panel clip "holes" are in the same position as the Mk5 (just remove the plastic plugs for the screws that hold the Mk5 door cards)

If you want to keep the original mirrors they swap straight over (Mk3 mirrors onto Mk5 doors) an extra fitting hole is required when going the other way (Mk5 mirrors onto Mk3 doors)

[bignorm]

Doing a great job there mate,miles more progress than me an mines is in side

[Bryan]

I tackled the rear axle today. Had to use the blowtorch on the wheel nuts to get them cracked off.

Before removing the original rear axle I measured the angle of the pinion flange so that the new axle can be installed in the same position. I had this handy little magnetic measuring device from a previous camper I did this job on before.



I had to cut the spring mounting pads and the shock absorber mounts off the new axle because neither lined up with where they are on the mk3. I recycled the shock absorber mounts by welding in a triangle of steel to get them in the correct position as below.




And here's the axle sitting in place under the van. You can see the shock mounts in this photo. The spring mounts are just tacked in place because I'll be taking the axle to my local friendly engineering place to get welded up properly. My wee welder just isn't powerful enough.



Luckily the prop shaft simply bolts up to the axle so that was a result so no modification there!

[Bryan]

I picked up the axle from the engineering firm today after being welded with a REAL welder



Those aren't going to move any time soon!

And then this is the axle fitted under the van:



I hooked up the handbrake cable and bolted in the shocks but I'm going to install a pair of new wheel cylinders and all new copper brake pipes. I actually can't believe how easy this was overall - probably helped by the fact that I've done this before on a previous camper van. This was a bit easier though since it's a Transit axle going into a Transit. In my last camper I put a twin wheel LDV axle into a VW LT.

[Bryan]

I took a break from the rear axle today (I'm waiting for new brake components in the post) and started into the front Passenger wing and wheel arch.




Whoever bodged it up deserves the honourary "bodger of the year trophy" for that effort! Brillo pads, some kind of metal shelving, fibreglass and isopon. Probably took them longer to do that than it did for me to fix it properly.

New wheel arch section welded in:



Wheel arch and wing fitted and painted in primer to protect it until I get round to painting the whole thing:



I also fitted the mk5 white door and it's not a bad fit but needs a good bit more adjustment to get it in the right place

[bignorm]

Maybe the same man that used wire wool on mine , I see you patched up the inner arch had you much trouble getting it to mate up with the wing?

[Bryan]

No - the inner arch was actually in good enough condition with just surface rust. I rubbed it down and painted it before welding on the outer arch. I had to make the section at the front though where the bumper bolts onto. That wasn't too hard though. I'll drill a hole in it when I figure out where it needs to be with the bumper in position.

Today I finished off the rear axle and installed new wheel cylinders, brake pipes and brake flexi. I also had to modify the bracket for the brake compensator valve spring to suit the new axle as well. Once I'd done all that we bled the brakes and it was time for a test drive.

So after a good few long months it moved under its own power today up and down the street. Feels like a bit of a milestone

[Mr RVM]

No - the inner arch was actually in good enough condition with just surface rust. I rubbed it down and painted it before welding on the outer arch. I had to make the section at the front though where the bumper bolts onto. That wasn't too hard though. I'll drill a hole in it when I figure out where it needs to be with the bumper in position.

Today I finished off the rear axle and installed new wheel cylinders, brake pipes and brake flexi. I also had to modify the bracket for the brake compensator valve spring to suit the new axle as well. Once I'd done all that we bled the brakes and it was time for a test drive.

So after a good few long months it moved under its own power today up and down the street. Feels like a bit of a milestone

[Van Winkle]

Milestone ?..........more like a round the world trip after all you have had to do , cracking job Bryan !

[bignorm]

hi bryan doing a great job there mate, a wee question did when fitting the wheel arch did you cut it off the full size of the panel or did you leave a quarter or so an fill out the seam, just got mine there an not sure about fitting them

[Bryan]

Not sure which area you mean... but I didn't use the full panel - chopped it below the curved areas of the A pillar and welded it along there. The rest of it was the full panel though. I have a spot welder so I just spot welded it along the seam.

I haven't done much more to the camper... feeling a bit fed up with it. I wanted to get stuck into the rear wheelarches over the weekend but when I hit them with the hammer there wasn't much left of the inner or outer wheel arch!



I need a pair of inner wheel arch panels now as well but I can't find any listed anywhere for a MK3 LWB.

I did, however, succeed in fitting the towbar!

[Bryan]

Having taken a bit of a break from the van I got stuck back into it again tonight. I decided to just make up my own inner wheel arch since the panel isn't available. It's not perfect but it'll do the job. Loads of repairs to do to the inner sill area as you can see from the photos.

[Bryan]

Did a bit more tonight... decided to remove all of the interior including the floor to address any repairs that may be necessary. I was actually quite surprised at the general condition of the floor despite the areas that need work. I expected worse but the previous bodges really are a sight to behold without the floor. I'll let the pictures do the talking:










I also did a bit of painting around the windscreen frame so that I can get a screen fitted soon. I think the final colour is going to be orange since I have 4 litres of this stuff that I never used from another project. It's a nice shade of orange.