The journey of my MK6 (Day van conversion)

[binge]

Had my Mk6 about 6 months now, so just going to put together a little build thread of the things I've done to it, and plans I have in the pipe line.


So I picked it up last year, for a bargain price of £300, as the gearbox was stuck in 2nd, and the clutch had gone.
I managed to force it into gear, and drive it away, once back at my workshop, I replaced the Clutch and CSC, and I got to work on the selector drum as it was seized.
I also had to make a small mod to the end of the selector cable as it kept popping off the knuckle on the selector arm. I simply removed the knuckle, drilled through the arm, and used a nut/bolt, and a piece of steel tube to hold the cable in place. it's taken all play out of the cable, and made it more or less fail-proof.


So the day I bought it, as you can see, missing mirror back and the glass was smashed, sign writing on the back etc.




I put it through an MOT, and it came back with a list of failures and advisories. Ranging from a rough wheel bearing on the rear, to rust on the passenger side step.
So got it up in the shop, and got to work.




All sorted, 12 months MOT on it, and chucked a set of A/T tyres on it which were originally on my Sportrak's spare wheels.




First in the mods list was to de-badge the rear, and fit some Mk7 tail lights.
I also got my rear window tinted in Limo black, by my friend Matt, at Fusion Tinting.




Used it to take my old van to and from it's MOT too.




It also gets used as a part time recovery vehicle too




And then one evening, in the middle of nowhere, when I closed the sliding side door, it locked it's self, with the keys in the ignition. OOPS!




And my favorite mod to date, is the M5 BMW wheel conversion (re-drilled hubs)




I have also fitted the Mondeo steering wheel, and a Pioneer Double-Din GPS head unit, but no photos as of yet.

But this evening, I did start fitting my Renault Megane Scenic seats. Passenger one is all done, so just to do the drivers one now.
It gives a good bit of space to walk through into the rear without having to get out and access via the side or rear door.

I have the 3 matching rear seats, which will be fitted in the back of the van, and I will be putting in some day-van accessories, like crew-cab side windows, an island table, some decent sounds and lighting.




I already have a hand-wash station in the rear, which came out of an ex-british gas van. It's fantastic!



More updates to come.



Ben

[binge]

[Cal1990]

Looks good mate like the side bars .

What were the seas like to fit? Bit of a pain?

[binge]

Very easy to fit. We'll, I found them fairly easy anyway as there wasn't too much involved.

They are Renault Megane Scenic seats, these ones came out of the Monaco spec one, which is full leather.
The runners have little spacers on the bottom of them, I've chopped them off to get the seats lower in the cabin as they sit higher than Transit seats.

Passenger seat is mounted onto a single seat passenger base out of a Mk7.

To get these particular seats onto the Transit subframes, I had to drill 2 holes in each Transit seat base, and make up 2 flat ally plates (One for each seat, with 4 holes in each), as the Renault runners are about an inch further apart than the Ford runners.
The two inside runners (Left on drivers seat, right on passenger seat), are bolted directly to the Transit seat base units. Using the original threaded holes for the back, and drilled a single M8 hole, to nut/bolt the front of the runner down, as it falls about 2 inch short of the front threaded original hole.

Then for the outside runners, the two plates I made, bolted into the original holes, then had 2 holes drilled in them for the new seat runner to bolt to.

I stuck a couple of washers under the runners which bolt directly to the seat base units, to make up for the thickness of the two plates.

Dead easy, and they're SO much comfier!

[jay]

like the steering wheel

[Brains_transit]

That's a nice colour for a mk6 and are those wheels van rated and is that your mates nova gsi

[binge]

College blue. Quite nice. I'd of preferred ST blue, but this one will do.

Yeah, the Nova belongs to a lad I used to work with. It's running on ITBs, and has had a HELL of a lot done to it. Pretty sure it's got a Vaux Tigra engine in it. Lovely bit of kit!


As for the wheels. No, they're standard car wheels. Tyres are rated for more than the weight of the van though.
Mind you, it's a Class 4 MOT vehicle, so providing it's not loaded up, I can't see it being an issue. It currently weighs no more than a Mondeo. I know because I had it on our weighbridge a couple of days ago.

[Cal1990]

Very easy to fit. We'll, I found them fairly easy anyway as there wasn't too much involved.

They are Renault Megane Scenic seats, these ones came out of the Monaco spec one, which is full leather.
The runners have little spacers on the bottom of them, I've chopped them off to get the seats lower in the cabin as they sit higher than Transit seats.

Passenger seat is mounted onto a single seat passenger base out of a Mk7.

To get these particular seats onto the Transit subframes, I had to drill 2 holes in each Transit seat base, and make up 2 flat ally plates (One for each seat, with 4 holes in each), as the Renault runners are about an inch further apart than the Ford runners.
The two inside runners (Left on drivers seat, right on passenger seat), are bolted directly to the Transit seat base units. Using the original threaded holes for the back, and drilled a single M8 hole, to nut/bolt the front of the runner down, as it falls about 2 inch short of the front threaded original hole.

Then for the outside runners, the two plates I made, bolted into the original holes, then had 2 holes drilled in them for the new seat runner to bolt to.

I stuck a couple of washers under the runners which bolt directly to the seat base units, to make up for the thickness of the two plates.

Dead easy, and they're SO much comfier!

Good job mate ! Look the dogs!

Also is that steering wheel off a mk7? My mate has a mk7 stripped to rolling chassis it just has dash and steering wheel I was gonna take steering wheel off but not too sure how and can't find a guide on here

[binge]

Its from a Mondeo. I dont know if the Mk7 one fits a Mk6.
The Mondeo one needed modifying to fit, but it was easier than it looked.

The way I did it, was to chop the centre out of my Transit wheel, leaving a couple of inch around the splined hole. Then I cut the back of the Mondeo wheel off, to make a flat mounting surface to bolt the centre of the Transit wheel to.

I drilled 3 small holes (m8) and stuck 3 little nuts and bolts through, to locate the two parts together.

Then I fitted the wheel back in my van, and used a longer bolt to go back in the centre of the column, as the original Transit one is now too short.

I actually used a crank pulley bolt out of a 1.6 zetec engine, as it had the same thread. (Stick with the blue oval ya see )

[Cal1990]

Its from a Mondeo. I dont know if the Mk7 one fits a Mk6.
The Mondeo one needed modifying to fit, but it was easier than it looked.

The way I did it, was to chop the centre out of my Transit wheel, leaving a couple of inch around the splined hole. Then I cut the back of the Mondeo wheel off, to make a flat mounting surface to bolt the centre of the Transit wheel to.

I drilled 3 small holes (m8) and stuck 3 little nuts and bolts through, to locate the two parts together.

Then I fitted the wheel back in my van, and used a longer bolt to go back in the centre of the column, as the original Transit one is now too short.

I actually used a crank pulley bolt out of a 1.6 zetec engine, as it had the same thread. (Stick with the blue oval ya see )

Haha good shooting!!! Always believe in the blue oval eh!

[jay]

I did read that thread of the steering whell

[binge]

Trial fitted the rear seats today. Pretty snug fit between the rear arches.




They're bolted to to two lengths of flat bar, and then bolted to the original passenger seat/bench base.
Need to replace the flat bar with some 1x1" box to get rid of the flex.
The plan will be to build a sleeping platform behind the rear seats, at the same level as the backs of the seats once they're folded flat.
Then the sleeping platform will have a hinged base, which will lift up, and over, lay on the backs of the rear seats, and create a half decent sized bed to kip on.




Ben

[binge]

Gave the van a machine polish on Friday evening. It's really cleaned up well. The bodywork will always be rough without mega money thrown at it. But if it's kept clean, it should keep the rust at bay, and always look half decent.








I've got a set of black plastic arches for it, which will fit well, I just need to make up some metal brackets to hold them on securely. Will do that over the course of next week.

Sat night I did a hen do run for my OH's best friend. So had to get 7 girls in.

So she was seated right up




And then over the weekend, the front 3 seats came back out, and I started boarding the roof;

Batons first, to give a gap for insulation and down lighters.




And then a 4x8 sheet up the middle. I have some nice inserts for the sides later on in the build.

[RustWidow]

Good job binge

[binge]

I got a little bit busy last night, and tonight with the van.

First stages was to fit the roof panel with 6 LED downlighters, and a pair of small 4" speakers (Mounted from behind - stealth shelf style).




And then I started fitting up the upper side panels. Packed out the recesses behind with bubble wrap. Will see how affective it is. They will need to come back off anyway at some point for wiring and things like mounting units in the rear etc.
If it needs more sound proofing, I will add it at this stage




Mocking up where I want the seats. I will probably have them where they are in the picture, maybe a tiny bit further forward.
The way the bed will be, the further forward the seats are, the less 'bed' mechanism I need, as the bulk of the bed will be on a platform behind the seats, at a level the same as the backs of the seats, when they are in the folded down position.





And then finally did the lower side panels, and just chucked my shaggy rug back in to keep the noise down until I get some sort of flooring.








Ben