Bog standard Transit connect - NOT FOR LONG.

[connect_4]

I've bought a 2004 SWB 75ps connect to transport my 2 dogs around with me so they can pull me around the countryside on the sled.

Here are my dogs....

The 2 year old boy......





The baby girl - 4 months old...






Anyway back to the van - It's bog standard and limited to 70mph.

Obviously it won't stay like that for long, it's going to the bodyshop this Friday (11th November) to get fully colour coded and resprayed in Performance Blue Pearl, here is is at present.









Plans are :

# Respray ( booked in this week) inc colour coding of bumpers, arch mouldings, door handles & wing mirrors, also side mouldings removed.

# Wheels - RS 18's

# Lowered (got RS front springs already as well as cups and bearings) - Rear axle will get flipped when van comes from paint shop - rear is currently 30" lift, front is 27.5" !!!!!

# Leather front seats - probably ST200 or similar

# Solid bulkhead and sound proofing, also cover in acoustic black carpet and spray headlining black.

# Dash out and get it flocked (big job but i've done this sort of thing before), also flock A pillar mouldings.

# Re-trim cabin floor with carpet and sound proofing..

# Split headlights and spray inside black

# Later model rear tail lights

# Windows tinted / rear limo black

# EGR blank / decat / remap and custom exhaust / air box (focus) etc.

# DVD player / multimedia and camera's in the back to keep eye on the dogs

# Custom dog cages.

# and more.....

I will add to this thread as i do the work over this winter, i will include "how to's" as i do them if it helps.

cheers

Andy.

[g-man]

you going to be busy then m8y

[Beegly]

Cool plans and you have the same sofa as me

[dirtydog]

Thats a nice list of plans you got there should be when its done.

Lovely looking dogs there as well. Friend of mine does the dog/sled thing but they have a couple of Malamuts

[connect_4]

Thats a nice list of plans you got there should be when its done.

Lovely looking dogs there as well. Friend of mine does the dog/sled thing but they have a couple of Malamuts

My dogs are Malamutes aswell, not huskies.

The van is a winter project, i've done a few projects over the years, i love messing about in the garage.

you going to be busy then m8y

Good, keeps me out of the house......

Looking forward to seeing it all painted, once it comes back from the bodyshop the 1st job is the suspension, i'll get that done the weekend i get the van back.

Then the headlights to be painted and the bulkhead sorted out, will get all that done in around 2 weeks - it's not my main car, it's just for the dogs so i can afford to have it off the road for a while whilst the puppy is still small, the dogs go in the car at the moment.

Then the dashboard out, its not too bad removing a dashboard, just a lot of nuts and bolts..... I had my dash flocked in my Evo.... 2 hours to get it all out.

[dirtydog]

Looking at the pics again I can see they're malamuts not huskies doh!

[Herts]

Any more pictures of the wife?



Sorry dude, it made me laugh!

Andy

[transitandy]

Be when its sorted
gorgeous dogs m8y

[connect_4]

I've had the van sprayed in Performance Blue, it has to be wet sanded and windows tinted, which is being done next week, because it has some "orange peel" in the paint which is easily corrected.

I had all the plastics painted and the side rub strips removed and the van debagded apart from the front badge.

I also lowered the rear using the "axle flip" method, the RS front springs are ready to go on which will be done this weekend, the rear has been lowered by nearly 4 ".

FROM THIS :



TO THIS :







I'm happy with it, i'm thinking of getting these wheels for it :



I also ditched the standard ignition key and the remote key fob, i changed it to a Mondeo 3 button flip key, i bought it from ebay and reprogrammed it to my van and fitted a Transit key blade and got it cut to my van.

The immobiliser transponder needed fitting to the key so i drilled the plastic casing of the key and silicon sealed the transponder into the casing so that it turns off the immobiliser.

Works a treat, i have a spare set of keys anyhow.







Once i get it back from the paint correction fella then it will be off the road for a little while so i can build a couple of big cages in the back for my dogs, i'll be welding in / designing a custom built cage for them and some extra storage.

that's it for now, updates as and when i do them.

cheers

Andy

[AndyJ2506]

That looks lovely fella. Looking forward to seeing it finished. Any more pics of the evo. I had 4 a couple of years ago and keep hankering after a 5

[TIMO]

nice!!!

[tiny-tom]

Hi

Van looks very good so far.

How much will the performance mod cost? And what bhp will you be getting after?

Regards

T.

[connect_4]

That looks lovely fella. Looking forward to seeing it finished. Any more pics of the evo. I had 4 a couple of years ago and keep hankering after a 5

Here's my Evo, stripped it earlier this year - got more money for it than i would have done if i sold it complete, made £10,250 in parts for it !!!

It had nearly 400hp and was very quick !!!!











I spent 12 months restoring it, here are some pics (i have 1000's) of some of the work i did....

REAR SUSPENSION / DIFF..









FLOORPAN SORTED....



ENGINE OUT AND ENGINE BAY SORTED....



FRONT HUBS....



I basically styripped the car to its shell and refurbed every nut / bolt, i completely restored the floorpan, sealed evetywhere and waxoiled every nook and cranny....

I had a couple of project threads running on it in lots of forums but someone hacked my photobucket account and deleted every one of my 1000's of photos so all the links were broken on each forum !!!!

I still have the pics on my pc.

on to new things now though....

cheers

Andy

[connect_4]

Hi

Van looks very good so far.

How much will the performance mod cost? And what bhp will you be getting after?

Regards

T.

I will neec a focus airbox, an egr blank plate and a decat and bigger exhaust diameter, also a remap.

will cost around £500 and that should see me around 100-110bhp.

cheers

Andy

[MinorMatt]

I have done the same thing with my focus key

I would be worried about the transponder breaking like that though... the glass is very fragile. With a lot of careful cutting and a bit of araldite my transponder is now totally enclosed