Loaf's MK6 conversion (with pics).

[Loafman]

Hi folks, well it seems the weather is starting to warm up (finally), so I'm at least a month behind where I wanted to be by now... time to pull my finger out as it's my 40th in early May and I want to get away in it for then, even if it's only partially completed.

I have been using my trusty LDV Cub (Re-badged Nissan Vanette Cargo) since 2009, and it has been great. I converted it myself, and have been all over the place in it at all times of the year. My Mrs also enjoys getting out and about, and as the LDV is very small, it is not greatly suited to 2 people.

So, I decided in November 2012 that I should invest in something a little bigger, and decided on a medium wheelbase, medium roof, front wheel drive Transit. It took a while but a found one that was up to the job and bought it at the start of February. A 2004 2 litre TDCi 125, that had a number of small (easily rectified) issues but only 70,000 miles, and ran like a dream.

The reason for choosing a medium wheelbase was for parking purposes, otherwise I would have gone long wheelbase. Front wheel drive as I wont be towing (certainly nothing heavy) and it means the floor in the rear is 100mm lower than the RWD equivalent. This give a load height of 1745mm and meant I could (nearly) stand up in the back, and the Mrs can probably do star jumps with clearance.

I wasn't specifically looking for a TDCi 125, but I'm kinda glad I found it... lots of power and still nudging 40mpg (driving with a very light right foot most of the time).

I doubt it will be a real fancy conversion, I'm more interested in practicality than bling, but it may have the odd fancy gadget or two.

I intend to take plenty of pics and update this thread on a regular basis, just in case anyone is interested in how it's done.

Things done so far:-

Loads of little issues sorted, ranging from broken fuel cap to central locking issues etc.
All ply lining removed, showing a good solid floor with no real rust to mention.
Rear doors replaced with MK7 minibus doors, with windows.
Sliding side door replaced with MK7 minibus door, with window.
MPK roof vent just fitted at the weekend.

I'll get some pics up soon...

[MadMoo]

Look forward to reading/seeing more!

[Loafman]

Ok, I guess I should start with some pics of the van before I started any work on it.

The first 3 were taken by the seller for his advert.







They don't show the fact that the bodywork is not great, and the paint job was a real slap dash affair....

Oh, and this pic is of the side door... whoops! my fault! Well, I say my fault, it wasn't really. The van had an argument with a large metal gate. Bloke was holding it for me, but let go before I was clear and it clattered into the side of the van.



Anyone wanna buy a sliding door? Still works, just a bit ugly!

[Loafman]

Next was to remove the bulkhead and remove all the ply lining.

Bulkhead unbolted...




Ply lining removed... and the Mrs trying to stay out the way!



You can see a little surface rust around the lower part of the wheel arches, but this brushed off quite easy with a wire brush... then painted with Red Oxide.

[Loafman]

Obviously, one of the first things to do when converting a van is to install adequate ventilation. I'm thinking one roof vent (280mm square) should hopefully be enough. It is an MPK 290 (called a 290 even though it's 280mm square!?). It is a six position vent so can be angled to prevent driving rain etc from entering the van. It was only about £30, which I thought was a good price.

First thing to decide was where in the roof to put it. As the roof has ribs running along it's length I figured it could be an issue to fit it nicely, but noticed that toward the sides of the van it doesn't seem to have the ribs. I also wanted the vent to be above the cooking area, which is going to be at the back corner of the van, so that settled it.

First pic shows the position marked out. You can see there is a small step in roof near the side, but it is very slight so didn't prove to be a problem.




Next step was to decide on a tool to cut out the piece of roof... hmmm, jigsaw or angle grinder ....angle grinder all the way, but only a little 4" one for this job. But first I had to drill the corners with a 10mm bit (after a 4mm pilot hole). After 3 sides were cut I put plenty of masking tape up so it didn't fall and chop my toes off after cutting the final side! Took about 10 mins to do.




A quick test fit to make sure the aperture is correct... looks good.




Then it was out with the metal file to remove all the burrs and sharp edges. Something really satisfying about doing that. Then paint the bare metal edges with some red oxide paint to protect it from the damp.



And from the outside...




Then it was time to stick some wood batons in place to support the base of the roof vent once in place. I used Sikaflex 221 to stick it in place, but it was taking forever to go off (due to low temperature air containing less moisture) and I only had 3 clamps, so could only do 1 side at a time.




So a rethink was needed. I decided to put it all together and let the roof vent itself be the clamps, or I'd have had a hole in the roof all night waiting for each side to stick one by one.



And from above...




I forgot to take any pics with the vent open, but you get the idea.

[t2myd]

Did you get the side door on

[Loafman]

Did you get the side door on

I sure did fella, fits a treat, although stands out like a sore thumb as I haven't painted it yet

I'll post up some pics soon. Cheers

[donjo tranvan]

Looking forward to seeing what you do with your van man. Shame about the door but keep the pics coming.

[Loafman]

Looking forward to seeing what you do with your van man. Shame about the door but keep the pics coming.

I've since replaced the door with a minibus door with nice tinted window, so no worries!

Started the insulation today as I had a few hours spare, pics to follow soon.

[Loafman]

Had a slight issue yesterday when I got in the van. I noticed that the roof is in 2 parts, the bit above the cab and the rest of it. It has a seam between the two sections, and it was only letting in the rain! Quite a bit too, dripping from 2 locations along the seam at a drip every 10 seconds or so.

So the first job this morning as the sun was blazing was to try and seal the seam up... well, after the F1 race, gotta get my priorities right!

As I have a few tubes of white Sikaflex 221 that I'm using for the conversion, I figured it was worth a try with that. So out with the steps and a damp cloth to clean along the length of the seam (on the outside of the van of course)... gave it several minutes to dry, then put a nice bead of Sikaflex along the seam and then smeared it down so it made a good seal. Hopefully that will have sorted that issue!

I then spent a little time putting some insulation in place. 25mm Celotex from Wickes (same as Kingspan), £19.49 for a 2.4m x 1.2m sheet... so I bought 3 of them as I may be doubling up in some areas where space allows for it.

I also purchased a ply line kit the other day and a few extra sheets of ply for the roof and infills. The kit came with alloy door strips which look rather nice. I'll be taking pics and posting them up shortly.

[Loafman]

Ok, so it's been about 4 months since I posted any updates. A lot of this was due to the missus breaking her ankle back in early May, and me having very little time to do a great deal to the van.

But I'm now back on track, and the last few weeks have seen slow but steady progress.

I did actually fit the timber batons (stuck on with Sikaflex 221), insulate the inside and ply the van back in April (although didn't ply the ceiling until the last few weeks), but haven't added any pictures of that stage yet, so here are some. I used 25mm thick Celotex as the insulation and stuck it to the walls with expanding foam... god that stuff sticks to anything and everything!

[Loafman]

Once all the small gaps were filled with Celotex it was time to put up the ceiling... this was a royal pain for some reason, but it's done now. Please excuse all the crap floating around in the rear!

[t2myd]

Have you had door painted yet .

[Loafman]

The next thing was the bit I was really dreading. Even though I come from an engineering background I wasn't looking forward to building a single swivel seat for the front passenger side. I used a single seat base from the driver side of a MK7 transit, which bolted directly into the existing holes in the floor.

It was a brain blending process because I wanted to leave enough room for a 125ah leisure battery under the passenger seat, so needed at least 250mm of clearance... but at the same time didn't want the seat to be too high.

Got there in the end though. And the finished article is a masterpiece even if I do say so myself.

The seat is from a Ford Scorpio. I also have the driver seat from the same car, but it is fully electric and not sure if I fancy that.

[Loafman]

Have you had door painted yet .

No not yet, dunno whether to paint the van to match the door or vice versa! Haha.