1988 Frontier Spares

[Bridgebuster]

I have just become the proud owner of a 1988 Frontier and was wondering if anyone had advice on where to go for spares and bits n pieces I need to smarten her up a wee bit, the most major part I need is a tailgate as mine is badly rusted along the bottom, also looking for curtains and seat covers so if anybody can point me in the right direction it would be greatly appreciated..... Brian

[Kedishen]

Congrats ont he purchase. They are smart little vans.. Saw maybe 10 of them when I was looking for a new camper a few years ago... you got the shower in the floor? Brilliant design

Tailgate would be from either local scrappies, or you could put an advert in the wanted section on here.. maybe ebay.

Seatcovers... best to get the yellow pages out and look for an upholsterer
Curtains... same maybe? Carboot perhaps and get the sewing machine out to adjust them.

[Bridgebuster]

Hi, yep they are great wee vans, though age has caught up with mine and its looking a tad tired but lots of tlc and a few bob spent will have her looking good again
I hope . It has everything in it, toilet, pop up shower hot water boiler etc etc and it all works ok just the fridge wont go on gas..... any ideas ????? Will try the scrappers for the tailgate will a gate off any transit fit or will it need to be a 88 model ?, the better half says she will sort out curtains n covers so thats out of my hands now

[Kedishen]

Fridge is an easy fix, there is rust inside the gas burner box at back and needs cleaning. Rarely is rusted out because not exposed to big flame.

Heres how to fix. Photos I used are from google images. Your fridge won't be identical, but will have same pieces.

Take out fridge

Take note of electrical connections on top.

Remove the panel on right. Is held in with 1 or two rusty screws.



Remove the burner box. Take note of the position of the ignition thingy (also can give this a light buff with some VERY FINE sandpaper. Just a little bit) and don't bend anything.



Blow out and clean up the box out. Should have some nice flaky rust in it.

Cleanup dust and any muck where fridge was, + fridge itself. Refit fridge.

My fridge stopped working and I did this, blew the box out with my own breathe (thoroughly mind u), cleaned it up some and .. jobs a goodun. Went from rarely if hardly starting with yellow sooty flame to nice strong blue reliable flame, on the first attempt.


Whilst you have fridge out, leave it upside down for 24 hours. Presuming all the gas hasn't leaked out over the years, doing this will unsettle all the gas and (hopefully) let it get cold again.

Good luck.

[Bridgebuster]

Thanks, will try that over the weekend, let you know how i get on

[Bridgebuster]

Also could someone tell me where the waste water tank is, the handbook says its underneath at the back by the step, I have no rear step and all I can see underneath is the towbar and the spare wheel no sign of the tank

[Kedishen]

Should be pretty obvious if there is one. Its a big tank. Look to rear of footwells on both sides... however Wouldn't be surprised if it hss been removed to fit spare wheel... is more useful. try emptying water down the sink and see where it drains from.

[Bridgebuster]

Hey found the waist tank it is on the underside directly underneath the fresh water tank so all good, thanks for all your help, havn't had time to take the fridge out yet but that's my next project

[ake]

Tailgate from any Mk 3 4 or 5 tTransit will fit ( 1986 to 2000)
Yours is a Mk 3

[Bridgebuster]

Thats good to know, will have to start searching now crimbo is all dun n dusted, thanks for that

[Bridgebuster]

Hi back again, this time looking for a prop shaft, can anyone help with any info as to where I might be able to get one from ??????????

[Kedishen]

Few things to take into account...

Petrol or diesel? (not sure if this makes a difference tbh)
What gearbox? (MT75, Type G, Type N?)

[nick.h]

I had no luck at all with the tailgate in scrap yards. I ended up getting one off of eBay for £20, but be prepared if yours and mine are rusted out, your unlikely to get one in perfect condition. Factor in welding, mine needed it around the window, but remember you've got your old one to use as a repair panel.

For curtains we used surplus blackouts from our spare room and cut them down, seats recovered by a friends mum who dabbles in sewing at that. In retrospect done bother making seat covers for knackered, bent seats. We've got a couple of seats out of a vw van, fabricate up a few brackets and you have nice 'new' comfy seats.

Good luck,

Cheers,

Nick

[Kedishen]

Thing is with Frontier the seats are integral to the bed layout and are designed to be part of the bed first lol

[nick.h]

The lower bed yes, badly designed too. Over the life of my van the seats that's are lowered to vertical are only supported by the lift up middle section of the floor on one side of the seat. This meant both were bent on the unsupported side.

In our frontier we have ditched the lower bed and just sleep up top. Reinforced with some timer on each side, on the original sliding out base it easily takes the weight of my wife and I (total ~22 stone).