# The RGK Detailing Berlingo van



## Rgk Detailing (Dec 6, 2006)

*The RGK Detailing Berlingo van - now no more *

Ok folks

Been meaning to post this up for a while,

I bought this van back in April last year, it is a 2000 X reg Berlingo HDI 800 with the rare twin sliding door's, and has now just ticked over 191,000 miles and still returning a healthy 45 - 50mpg!

Unfortunately the Berlingo was looking a bit sorry for itself when I first picked it up, the white paint was very flat and heavily oxidized, but I always like a challenge, so couldn't wait to get stuck in to the big clean up!

I'll let the pictures do the talking...

*As it looked the day I picked it up.*














































*few oil stains on the panels.*




























*So the full van was soaked in G101 and left to dwell whilst I tackled the door shuts, trim, and badging.*
































































*Then spent a fair while power washing off, as you can see a fair amount of muck running out from underneath all the exterior trim!.*





































*Wheels were also power washed then all ground in brake dust was agitated with a stiff brush and AS Smart wheels.*



















*The full van was then washed down, de-tarred and clayed (few pic's were taken at this point).*




























*So now onto the machine polishing to bring that white paint back to life! this was done in between job's, so was split over two weeks.

All vunerable trim and raised edges of panels were masked off, and Megs 105 and 3M green compounding pad on the rotary was chosen to cut through the oxidization.*



















*50/50*



















*Side mouldings were removed to make polishing a lot easier*.



















*After compounding, the paintwork was refined using Megs 205, 3M yellow, then two coats of collinite 476 were applied for durable protection, all the trim was dressed with Dodo Juice Supernatural trim sealant.*





































*And how the van looks today, with sign writing applied*.













































































































The interior was also stripped out and deep cleaned, I have no finished pictures, but will add them to this thread once I get a chance, a few wee dents are also needing attention, 
but otherwise the Berlingo has been a joy to run over the past 8 months.

Thanks for reading.

Richard

www.rgkdetailing.com


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## Prism Detailing (Jun 8, 2006)

Nice work Richard, massive improvement from when you got it


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## nicp2007 (Apr 25, 2007)

looking very fresh mate :thumb:


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## TelTel (Aug 21, 2010)

:thumb: Lovely progressive work there Richard and great to see a van thats been slightly neglected should i say and then transformed to new looking and of course a smart & clean looking little van. the transformations like a women putting on makeup.....lol. Well done fella


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## Refined Detail (Nov 27, 2006)

Great turn around and a good way to showcase your skills if you carry around a folder of "before" photos of it :lol:

Nutter buying something French with 190k+ on the clocks though imo (I will probably get flamed for that!)


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## dooka (Aug 1, 2006)

Refined Detail said:


> G
> Nutter buying something French with 190k+ on the clocks though imo (I will probably get flamed for that!)


No you wont ..

Yes, nice turn around, couldn't really see the 50/50s, but the before and afters are :thumb:..


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## nath69uk (Dec 29, 2008)

Looks smart, cant wait to get my van sorted. Well done!


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## The Cueball (Feb 8, 2007)

Looks good mate...see you flying about from time to time!

:thumb:


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## rgDetail (Jul 16, 2009)

Nice turn around  nothing like a good project - mine is in need of some TLC, I removed some year - old sign writing and the difference in paint colour was shocking :lol:


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## beanheadblue (Oct 26, 2010)

Looks great. I have spent last 2 days sorting out inside of my new van. Have got another day or so to spend on outside.


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## RandomlySet (Jul 10, 2007)

very nice


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## Rgk Detailing (Dec 6, 2006)

Thanks for the comments everyone. :thumb:



Refined Detail said:


> Great turn around and a good way to showcase your skills if you carry around a folder of "before" photos of it :lol:
> 
> Nutter buying something French with 190k+ on the clocks though imo (I will probably get flamed for that!)


Cheers 

All seems good so far, done over 9k miles since April and not a thing has gone wrong (touch wood lol).

Richard


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## Hazbobsnr (May 31, 2010)

Hi Richard.:wave:

Great turnaround, i have a berlingo my self that i will be doing the same to shortly.

You probably checked that the cam belt has been done and tensioners etc, so apologies if you have, im only saying this because my cambelt tensioner failed at about 57000 miles, and it was not a pretty sight i must say.

But i got it all repaired because i think they are great little vans, in my opinion.

Get yourself some original citroen wheel trims they will (wheel):lol: finish the van of lovely fella. :car:

Cheers
Dave.


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## horned yo (Feb 10, 2009)

very nice work


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## Kev_mk3 (Sep 10, 2007)

cracking work - new number plates and its sorted


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## Indetailad (Nov 14, 2010)

Looks like a good job. Have been toying with the idea of one of these or a Caddy van. Could buy a much newer one of these though,
I see you say you've done 9k in it. Overall you're quite pleased with it?


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## Rgk Detailing (Dec 6, 2006)

Hazbobsnr said:


> Hi Richard.:wave:
> 
> Great turnaround, i have a berlingo my self that i will be doing the same to shortly.
> 
> ...


Cheers Dave

The cambelt and tensioner was replaced just before I bought the van, so no worries there, could do with a new lower engine mount though, so that will be getting done pretty soon,

been thinking about getting a set of wheel trims, the rusty look ain't great once the road salt gets to the wheels lol.

Richard


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## Rgk Detailing (Dec 6, 2006)

Kev_mk3 said:


> cracking work - new number plates and its sorted


lol well spotted, plates will be getting changed after winter. :thumb:


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## Rgk Detailing (Dec 6, 2006)

Indetailad said:


> Looks like a good job. Have been toying with the idea of one of these or a Caddy van. Could buy a much newer one of these though,
> I see you say you've done 9k in it. Overall you're quite pleased with it?


Love the van to bits tbh, great fun to drive and swallows everything I need, the HDI engine is gem also.

Richard


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## Beau Technique (Jun 21, 2010)

Had one a while back and they are a cracking bit of kit. Always amazes me how grey white can go and the difference is so visible. Nice tidy work horse youve got there.


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## mick2010 (Dec 18, 2010)

Nice transformation, looks top notch mate, well done - nice showcase for what you can do :thumb:


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## WHIZZER (Oct 25, 2005)

Great turnaround


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## iowa (Dec 12, 2010)

Nice work. Excelent finish


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## Eddy (Apr 13, 2008)

Very nice indeed, really brought the gloss back


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

Looks well mate. Almost as good as my Caddy!


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## David (Apr 6, 2006)

buy silver rattle paint off the autosmart rep mate (think yours is dougie borland?)

i do some commercial re-sale valets and the one BIG difference is spray painting the steel wheels - or get some laguna alloys or something if they fit


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## Ronnie (Nov 15, 2006)

looking the business now Richard!! very smart van indeed!


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## Rgk Detailing (Dec 6, 2006)

Thanks for the comments everyone 



David said:


> buy silver rattle paint off the autosmart rep mate (think yours is dougie borland?)
> 
> i do some commercial re-sale valets and the one BIG difference is spray painting the steel wheels - or get some laguna alloys or something if they fit


Aye Dougie is my rep, sprayed the wheels silver last May, did'nt spend a great deal of time prepping them first so the rust came back through again, tempted by a set of cheap alloys though.

Richard


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## Christian6984 (Dec 20, 2007)

nice work, a huge improvement


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## Tiptronic (May 9, 2006)

Cracking transformation there mate. :doublesho :thumb:

As has been said, looked rather neglected in the befores. I reckon if you got a personalised plate, people would not know it was ten years old with 200k on the clock.

Nice work :thumb:

All the Best
Chris


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## Rgk Detailing (Dec 6, 2006)

Cheers guy's

I have an RGK plate on my Zafira, which I will possibly be swapping over to the van soon. 

Richard


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## Rgk Detailing (Dec 6, 2006)

Well looks like the Berlingo will be going to van heaven!, last night my better half (supposedly) went and put 20 litres petrol in the tank and drove one mile home , now this morning after turning the engine on the fuel pump seized up spraying fuel everywhere, look's like the entire fuel system will need to be replaced!, not worth the expense on a ten year old van, so the hunt is now on for a new van! :wall:.


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## Paulo (Aug 11, 2007)

_OOOpppsss...

That's her birthday and Christmas presents cancelled for the next 5 years...:lol:_


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## cotter (Aug 31, 2008)

oooooooopppppppppssssss


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## Rgk Detailing (Dec 6, 2006)

lol! my thoughts exactly, gets better though, appears the van overheated last night also, mayo in the coolant, and a nice puddle of mayo under the overflow out the header, which i didn't notice earlier.


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## Karl88 (Jan 30, 2011)

gutted mate


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## Rgk Detailing (Dec 6, 2006)

All fixed!, managed to drain the petrol out the tank, replace fuel filter, top up with diesel and it started!, tempted by a Renault Traffic/ Vivaro nearly new, so the Berlingo may be getting replaced very soon. 

Richard


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## Paulo (Aug 11, 2007)

_Great news, well done...:thumb:_


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## ocdetailer (Apr 9, 2014)

Very nice transformation


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## B17BLG (Jun 26, 2012)

nice work that!


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## BREMBO (Sep 11, 2008)

Looks gret. Think I have seen you in Edinburgh a few times


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## Rgk Detailing (Dec 6, 2006)

BREMBO said:


> Looks great. Think I have seen you in Edinburgh a few times


You most likely have, I work in Edinburgh often, this is the van I'm driving now.


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