# B&B Autostyle. Our New VW Caddy Van.



## B&B Autostyle (Apr 4, 2010)

Afternoon all.

First off we hope everybody involved with Detailing World had a peacefull and relaxing Christmas. Regards to all from B&B Autostyle.

With a touch of deja-vu I find that as I did this time last year I am putting together a write up documenting work carried out on our van. Here is the write up from last year.....

http://www.detailingworld.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=195345

Once again I don't plan for this to be a serious write-up,more a spot of general chat and yuletide fun!

Again it's a Volkswegen Caddy but a little more modern than the first one. While the original van lent it's hand to our business with utter reliability and loyalty the time had come to move along to something a bit more respectable and a tad less noisy!

We needed more space too and after having a nosey around a Caddy C20 that belonged to a friend I decided I had to have one. The hunt began in July and Auto Trader turned up a rather decent looking red example sporting Audi A6 alloys,the only problem being that it was for sale in Edinbourgh. 
So,with flight and boat booked Chris and I headed off for a day trip to Scotland with reassurance from the dealer that all was well with our new business transport. A reassurance that turned out to be slightly optomistic!
Once the deal was done we drove to Stranrear in a van with broken electric windows,noisy,clunky suspension,a rear door that refused to open and a horrendous smell inside. All this on a day where the tempurature never dropped below 25C and by the time we reached the ferry terminal we had both lost about a stone in weight!

Anyway. Here she is. Caddy number two....



















....some flaking paintwork.....










...a slightly used interior....










And perhaps the source of our smell!










All in all though,a reasonably decent van by most standards but this is to be our moving billboard and an advertisement for the business so there is plenty to be done.
Before I begin with the cosmetic overhaul I'll just add at this point a few details about the Caddy's oily and wirey bits. Starting with the dodgy windows,two new switches were added and that problem was cured.
Locks and catches are a nightmare for me so Chris stepped in to tackle this impossible looking collection of parts inside the back door!










Our rowdy suspension was down to two anti roll bar link arms. Once these were fitted the anti roll bar itself snapped in two,an event which our VAG mechanic had never witnessed before. New anti roll bar then.

Having bought the Caddy in early July it was the end of September before I had time to start the exterior. This was a tad embarresing as the caddy came with some of the most chronic machine trails I have seen!




























Other defects included seriously heavy washmarks and swirling and some deep scores to the edge of the bonnet and the wings.



















This probably started life as a stonechip but our friend with the rotary has managed to strike through the sorounding area also where the paint has been damaged by the chipping.










I already had a plan for the parts of the caddy that would need painting but at this stage of the game I hadn't planned on painting the bonnet. An experiment in polishing and filling was to follow to see if this could be avoided for the time being.

Before we begin the polishing a spot of dent pulling is required. Some rather nasty ones here and ther so out with the 3M Pin Puller.










...and back to more familiar territory.....



















I was happy enough with this finish for a daily driven van. Bearing in mind also that there will probably be a decal over the top of this lot so no further polishing required here.

Onto the rest of the Caddy then. I worked on the van over a period of two weeks,in between jobs when the time allowed so the images I took of the work may not run together the way they should.

Almost a year ago I made a complete departure from 3M products but for the van I decided to use up the remainder of the Fast Cut Plus,the Ultrafine and the Ultrfina with regular passes of Pro Spray Panel Wipe to keep the hydrocarbons from filling as much as possible. This is in contrast to the bonnet where no panel wipe was used between polishing sets.





































A spot of badge removal to tidy up the rear doors...










....and some correction....




























Another panel to panel,










...and for some fun,the biggest 50/50 I have ever done!



















Now,moving on. No Caddy is complete without the removal of the big ugly grey front bumper and the adding of a Touran item. This is an expensive change over when the origainal cost of the van is taken into account but I feel that the new bumper takes years of the Caddy and smoothes out the lines no end. The rear bumper and the sill would also be painted at this stage.

Our bodywork was to be carried out by Bonar Auto Refininshing in Islandmagee. Through a customer I was introduced to Gethin Evans whose passion is in automotive paintwork and is the proud owner of a Golf VR6 Turbo which hopefully we will be preparing for future shows. 
Gethin and the lads proceeded to pull off the best aftermarket paint finish I have seen and we were very pleased with the service and the work.

This left us with this.










While the Caddy was away for a few days the wheels were taken to be shotblasted and powdercoated in satin black. I'm still not convinced that black was just the way to go so give us your feedback folks.










Durable protection was the theme with our new wheels so Nanolex Pro was applied to the powdercoat.



















I took this image yesterday,three months after application and some snow and road salt thrown in to test the Nanolex. All seems to be okay.










Time for some decals then. We went for a nice graphite grey on the Caddy's Tornado red paintwork. Once applied I added one coat of Colonite 476s via Pure Finish Foam Applicators. Similar to the wheels,the Colonite is resisting the Northern Ireland winter well.

Finally,a set of mudflaps were added and some wind deflecters for the finishing touches. Hope you all enjoy.




































































































That's all for now folks. As always,thanks very much for looking,thoughts snd comments welcomed.

Happy New Year! John and Chris.








Nanolex Approved Detailers.


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## Scrim-1- (Oct 8, 2008)

Nice looking van mate, the nanolex wheel sealent looks good


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## -Kev- (Oct 30, 2007)

very smart van that John, makes a change from the usual white too.


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## CJ1985 (Feb 21, 2011)

thats one nice caddy 2k, cant wait to get mine hopefully next year, fingers crossed..


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## North east Car Care (Jan 14, 2008)

Loving caddys at the moment matey, was looking getting one before i bought the A3


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## DMH-01 (Mar 29, 2011)

Looks tidy mate.


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## bmwman (Jun 11, 2008)

Very nice. The touran bumper really adds that little bit extra.


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## AaronGTi (Nov 2, 2010)

Love a caddy. Well done


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## dann2707 (Mar 25, 2011)

Looks excellent that. Red on black is always a winning combination in my eyes.

Would you consider lowering it to finish the look off?


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## tim (May 2, 2006)

Looking well John! Can't wait to get my own sorted in the new year.

All the best


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## RandomlySet (Jul 10, 2007)

Looks sweet!


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## gargreen7 (Apr 12, 2009)

Great little read. Cheers


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## Beau Technique (Jun 21, 2010)

Welcome to club 2K buddy.:thumb: She needs dropping down to earth mate. One thing why I refrained from getting wheels is I want the suspension sorting together with the wheel upgrade. She sure looks shiny. As for the holograms prrior to polishing, think it was on a par with mine.


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## tommyzooom (Aug 15, 2009)

Lovely. Cant beat the new bumper and a hit with the colour coding stick


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## grant motox (Dec 30, 2010)

Done a good job with that, Lowered would look awesome


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## paulmc08 (Feb 3, 2009)

That's taking the easy way out compared to the last Caddy:lol:

Love the colour scheme Guy's and the subtle touches are very nice

oh,and the detail wasn't bad either:thumb:

Does that dent puller do a real good job,I've got 5-6 annoying small ding's around my own car if you need some practice lol


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## Derekh929 (Aug 28, 2011)

Look very good and great signage on it


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## james_death (Aug 9, 2010)

Looks well tidy, as for wheels i simply cant get my head round black or white wheels, only vehicle i like the look of them on are Motorbikes.

Think the silver still looks the best... just my opinion.

Sure she will give great reliability.


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## brycieboy (Sep 4, 2010)

Looks good buddy get yourself over to caddy2k.com plenty of ideas and we are a friendly bunch


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## Baker21 (Aug 7, 2007)

Lots of caddy's getting some well deserved 'air-play' on the net at the moment, nice investment and as suggested by Scott, although not entirely practical depending on your viewpoint, a drop would suit it..........:thumb:

That's a shocking condition of paintwork in the befores though, looks super slick after though...........

Thanks for sharing..........:wave:


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## Kelly @ KDS (Aug 4, 2008)

no no no no no no no no ,

i am really trying to leave my caddy alone , its an everyday vehicle park it where i want and dont worry about it .

i have 2 show cars (thats too amny) and have been fighting for the last year to keep it standard.

threads like this just dont help really :lol:

there's me thinking actually i need to colour code the plastics , even full repaint in different colour just from reading this.

then i go on ebay looking for wheel ideas .

nice work on nice caddy .

Guys stop posting all your caddys .

Marc(heavenly) i dont want to see you caddy when its finished please , that will put me over the edge :lol:

All the best kelly

www.kdsdetailing.co.uk


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## Puresilver (Dec 4, 2011)

It was looking good yesterday when you called over to look at the r8! Great transformation.


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## Ronnie (Nov 15, 2006)

looks great John....


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## AlexTsinos (Oct 10, 2010)

Great Work!


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## Nanolex (Jun 8, 2008)

Very nice work! :thumb:


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## markamo (Sep 26, 2010)

nice van, nice colour:thumb:


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## B&B Autostyle (Apr 4, 2010)

Phew! Thanks very much everybody for the kind comments. Some interesting points made along the way too. Compared to the last caddy this model is ten times better,much like driving a car and even though it was undoubtedly rough when we got it we had a clear-ish plan of how it would turn out.



-Kev- said:


> very smart van that John, makes a change from the usual white too.


Thanks Kev,white to me just wont cut it anymore!



dann2707 said:


> Looks excellent that. Red on black is always a winning combination in my eyes.
> 
> Would you consider lowering it to finish the look off?


Cheers. The wheels were all down to Chris. Lowering it is tempting,it is a tad high from some angles,watch this space!



tim said:


> Looking well John! Can't wait to get my own sorted in the new year.
> 
> All the best


Thanks Tim! Get stuck in,no doubt your own will turn out exceptional. You ding decals too?



Beau Technique said:


> Welcome to club 2K buddy.:thumb: She needs dropping down to earth mate. One thing why I refrained from getting wheels is I want the suspension sorting together with the wheel upgrade. She sure looks shiny. As for the holograms prrior to polishing, think it was on a par with mine.


Thanks Scott. Yeah,it wasn't the best bit of machining I have encountered.



paulmc08 said:


> That's taking the easy way out compared to the last Caddy:lol:
> 
> Love the colour scheme Guy's and the subtle touches are very nice
> 
> ...


Thanks Paul. Not just as much work as the old one! The 3M puller certainly does a good job in places where you cant get a bar in. There was metal webbing under the bonnet in that area so we pulled instead of pushing.



james_death said:


> Looks well tidy, as for wheels i simply cant get my head round black or white wheels, only vehicle i like the look of them on are Motorbikes.
> 
> Think the silver still looks the best... just my opinion.
> 
> Sure she will give great reliability.


Cheers mate. Think i'm with you on that one.....



brycieboy said:


> Looks good buddy get yourself over to caddy2k.com plenty of ideas and we are a friendly bunch


Thanks,i'll take a look tonight.



Baker21 said:


> Lots of caddy's getting some well deserved 'air-play' on the net at the moment, nice investment and as suggested by Scott, although not entirely practical depending on your viewpoint, a drop would suit it..........:thumb:
> 
> That's a shocking condition of paintwork in the befores though, looks super slick after though...........
> 
> Thanks for sharing..........:wave:


Ta very much mate.,30 mil should do the job I think.:thumb:



kdskeltec said:


> no no no no no no no no ,
> 
> i am really trying to leave my caddy alone , its an everyday vehicle park it where i want and dont worry about it .
> 
> ...


Lol! Thanks Kelly. I just spied yours today on your latest write up. Brave colour choice but works real well and no doubt get's you spotted. I should probably have got the door handles done too I guess.

Cheers!



Ronnie said:


> looks great John....


Thanks Ron.



Nanolex said:


> Very nice work! :thumb:


Cheers Florian. The Nano Pro works perfectly on the powdercoat. I was going to mail you to get your advice on it but the experiment worked!:thumb:


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## Ti22 (Mar 24, 2009)

Very nice! Keep meaning to do a writeup on mine.

Don't go on www.caddy2k.com whatever you do..


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## B&B Autostyle (Apr 4, 2010)

Thanks for the link,just waiting for the mods to accept my membership request!

Happy New Year folks,off to the party I go!:thumb:


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## anpictum (Feb 7, 2011)

Mine started out much the same as yours but in much better nick internally. Front end conversion and Sportline bits added by Ultimate Transporters in Birmingham. I think its been washed with a yard brush for most of its life so correction is a challenge on such tough paint.


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## tonyy (Jul 26, 2008)

Looks very nice..


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## anpictum (Feb 7, 2011)

Cheeper than buying a stock Sportline.


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## JBirchy (Oct 9, 2010)

Van looks fantastic, I love tornado red paintwork, my old mk5 golf GTI was TR and looked fab when detailed. 

Any plans for lowering?


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## anpictum (Feb 7, 2011)

JBirchy said:


> Van looks fantastic, I love tornado red paintwork, my old mk5 golf GTI was TR and looked fab when detailed.
> 
> Any plans for lowering?


For the looks of the van it would be ideal but with the weight I'll be carrying (water tank + genny etc) its a no no.


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## Hazbobsnr (May 31, 2010)

*3M Pin Puller*

Hi There chaps.:thumb:

Does anyone know where i can get hold of a 3m Pin Puller please.

Also how much are they approx.

Regards

Dave S.


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## tim (May 2, 2006)

B&B Autostyle said:


> Thanks Tim! Get stuck in,no doubt your own will turn out exceptional. You ding decals too?


Not sure on decals just yet John, but I can't stop buying stuff for mine.. 19's, MKV GTi Brakes and a few more bits bought so far and this is all before I sort out the paint! 

Look forward to the next writeup :thumb:

ps. I think my buffer trails could nearly top yours! :lol:


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## dooka (Aug 1, 2006)

Very nice, I do like a caddy build thread..
Peeps are right, you need to lower her. I have no problems with mine being lowered, in fact it rides better loaded up..

How did you find the paint, rock solid I bet ..

Nice one though, now change your seats, it will be one of the best mods you do..


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## anpictum (Feb 7, 2011)

How did you find the paint, rock solid I bet ..

Like rock


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## -Kev- (Oct 30, 2007)

spacings a bit out on the number plates isn't it? (looks it to me anyway )


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## B&B Autostyle (Apr 4, 2010)

anpictum said:


> Mine started out much the same as yours but in much better nick internally. Front end conversion and Sportline bits added by Ultimate Transporters in Birmingham. I think its been washed with a yard brush for most of its life so correction is a challenge on such tough paint.


Looks very smart! I take it that's a Caddy Max? Looks longer than mine unless it's the lense on your camera?



JBirchy said:


> Van looks fantastic, I love tornado red paintwork, my old mk5 golf GTI was TR and looked fab when detailed.
> 
> Any plans for lowering?


Thanks very much. possibly later this year,it is a tad high!



Hazbobsnr said:


> Hi There chaps.:thumb:
> 
> Does anyone know where i can get hold of a 3m Pin Puller please.
> 
> ...


Dave,i bought mine from Dentrix in Southampton after attending a course with them a while back. Expensive bit of kit but does a great job. The chap who owns the company and takes the courses is called John,real gent, Give him a bell.



dooka said:


> Very nice, I do like a caddy build thread..
> Peeps are right, you need to lower her. I have no problems with mine being lowered, in fact it rides better loaded up..
> 
> How did you find the paint, rock solid I bet ..
> ...


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## B&B Autostyle (Apr 4, 2010)

tim said:


> Not sure on decals just yet John, but I can't stop buying stuff for mine.. 19's, MKV GTi Brakes and a few more bits bought so far and this is all before I sort out the paint!
> 
> Look forward to the next writeup :thumb:
> 
> ps. I think my buffer trails could nearly top yours! :lol:


I have no doubt you will go to town on it Tim,youre not a man to do things by half! Cheers:thumb:



-Kev- said:


> spacings a bit out on the number plates isn't it? (looks it to me anyway )


Yes Kev,that was entirely my doing! The 54 should be to the left a tad. After years of making plates in Halfords in my previous life I go on line to order these and totally messed them up. Dooooh.:lol:


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