# VW Transporter - Build Pt 1.



## CleanYourCar (Jan 23, 2006)

Ok, so this post isn't strictly detailing, but hopefully you'll find my VW transporter conversion of inetest.

I wasn't on the look out for a new van, but since originally buying the Caddy quite a bit has changed most importantly due to a new family member the need for an extra set of seats, so when this one was offered to us at a good price it was hard to turn it down.

So out with the Caddy after 4 years of faithful service:










and in with:




























It's an early facelift VW Transporter T5 Kombi van with 65000, that had been well used considering it's only 2 years old. Owned by company that services and maintains farming equipment. So the paint looks nice from a far but far from nice. As it result price wise it was bit of a steal although admittedly stil flipping expensive for a van.

However for me it was the perfect colour for detailing and it has the 180bhp BiTdi engine (which sounds better on paper than it is ) and a couple of other little extras like twin sliding doors, electric mirrors and upgraded steering wheel and dash.










On getting the van, it certainly for a better word smelt 'agricultural'. and the interior, especially the back was quite a state. Although the previous owner had kindly bought new panels and steps which would come in handy.

So what started as a bit of a clean of the interior turned into a bit of a obsession which spiraled into a bit of a money pit  whilst at the same time taking over my life at Christmas.

First thing was stripping out the floor liner, and I think we were all quite shocked at the source of the smell, one wet damp dirty floor!




























I wish I'd taken more and better pictures but as per normal everything was a bit rushed. The bit in my hands was the stuff loosely scraped up from around the edges. You can also see just how badly damaged the rear arches were as they weren't protected and it was being loaded with pallets.

The foam floor mat was damp also so I got a bit carried away pulling bits off to clean. To at one point the only thing still in back from the dash was the drivers chair. Every panel was seriously dirty e.g.



















So once everything was stripped and cleaned we thought we might as well try and sound proof the back as I wanted to use the van as a family car as well as work. So whilst everything was off being cleaned after a bit of research bought a load of 'silent coat' sound deadening, two rolls of loft insulation and bubble backed foil.

I've never done anything like it before but was staggered the difference just the deadening made to the acoustics of the van. The large voids were filled with insulation before being sealed with silver bubble foil.














































It also took ages, quite a few late nights after work!

Whilst we were doing then the next 'whilst we are doing that we may as well...' moment was the speakers and the head unit.

So out with the old standard VW unit and in with a Pioneer Avic-F9310BT, which is designed to fit VW's and gives a factory finish as well as working with the steering controls and an Ipod.










We also swapped the speakers for some Focal 165A speakers which required removing the OEM speaker rings and 5" drivers for some DIY specials.




























And all installed (for about the 4th time as the window seal is terrible so water kept dropping onto the back of the speaker)










We also put a pair in the rear where there previously wasn't any.

The huge space beneath the drivers and passenger seats then suddenly became a bit of a temptation. So in with a amplifier and a under seat sub!



















We also took the opportunity to put in a cheapy rear view camera whilst all the panels were of as the van has no rear windows.










After that it was pretty much a case of bolting and clipping everything back together again which again seemed to take forever, and why is there always a couple of screws left over at the end?

After putting the new replacement panels back on all snug with the insulation it was time to try out carpeting. Again something I'd never done before so was a tad scary but went well using some stretchy carpet.





































A a kind of 50:50 here it is before:










and after:










It did take many hours but the difference in road and exterior noise and rattles is huge. Before it sounded like a rattlely tin box but now it does sound really tight and much more car like.

So now the interior is done we moved onto the exterior where a few bits were added and changed. The hardest part was finding load rated alloys that would clear the bigger calipers. It's only the 180bhp T32 that comes with brakes so need a bigger offset without sticking out a mile.

We also added a vw sportline front bumper, vw sportline rear spoiler, side bars, black VW badge, wind deflectors, led day running lights and a lowered it 30mm on vw sportline springs.

So here it is before:










and after:










I'm not sure on the red stripe 





































So it's starting to look good from a distance, but in reality in sun light or under a set of halogens it's really really bad with quite a few deep and possibly un-removable defects.























































It's pretty much totally covered in really nasty swirls and that is going to have to wait a bit until I can find a bit more time, but I couldn't resist a quick go 



















So that's it for now, with a big thanks to Dave and Lee for helping out and putting up with me. Next write up the big polish :buffer:

Tim


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## steview (Sep 23, 2010)

Looks great mate can't wait for the next instalment


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## -Kev- (Oct 30, 2007)

thats one sweet looking van Tim :thumb:


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## Martyboy84 (Mar 9, 2012)

Looks quality from afar! Good luck sorting it all.


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## 911fanatic (Sep 10, 2007)

Looks awesome. So wish we had them over here.


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## Rodriguez (Apr 5, 2011)

Nice van! I personally like the red stripe. :thumb:


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## perks (Aug 13, 2008)

That's really cool! I look forward to seeing more.


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## rob_vrs (Jan 4, 2012)

Great improvements


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## Nicholas (Jan 9, 2012)

Very nice job, these are practical vans love them, looks like the "A team" withered stripe  looking forward to some nice paint correction shots.


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## johnnyguitar (Mar 24, 2010)

Nice van and good work Tim. The red stripe on the front is a bit 'KITT' for me!


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## ottostein (Sep 11, 2012)

Top work  

Shame most vans dont come out of the factory like this.


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## gav1513 (Apr 16, 2009)

looks good tim, the red stripe looks ok but doesnt realy go with anything else, id say either chrome or black would be best


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## Daffyplum (Mar 29, 2010)

Wish I could afford one of these !! You've transformed it, fantastic job.


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## wookey (Jul 13, 2007)

Looks great Tim, the red stripe looks good!

The new Caravelle rear lights are worth getting as they finish the van, and really suit the new T5.


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## Edward101 (Jun 5, 2009)

Looking great so far Tim! Now awaiting the next instalment


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## Z4-35i (Jun 12, 2012)

Looks great, nice interior build, looking forward to seeing the next steps.

You can fit these Rain Stop moisture guard's behind your front speakers if you have issues with water ingress through the window seals.

Here's a thread on Talk Audio that shows them being fitted.


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## JMorty (Apr 25, 2011)

wookey said:


> Looks great Tim, the red stripe looks good!
> 
> The new Caravelle rear lights are worth getting as they finish the van, and really suit the new T5.


All of the above. Red striped for the VW GTi look and the Caravelle light just make the back look so good. See if you can fimd some pics.


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## CleanYourCar (Jan 23, 2006)

Thanks for the feedback guys!

I'll have a look at Caravelle rear light, in truth I didn't even know there were any different ones.


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## CleanYourCar (Jan 23, 2006)

Z4-35i said:


> Looks great, nice interior build, looking forward to seeing the next steps.
> 
> You can fit these Rain Stop moisture guard's behind your front speakers if you have issues with water ingress through the window seals.
> 
> Here's a thread on Talk Audio that shows them being fitted.


In the end we just went with a bag around the back. Not perfect for acoustics but stopped the water.


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## stangalang (Nov 27, 2009)

Thats sweet tim. And a very sexy looking van now:thumb:


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## ffrs1444 (Jun 7, 2008)

Sweet van ATeam style


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## CleanYourCar (Jan 23, 2006)

stangalang said:


> Thats sweet tim. And a very sexy looking van now:thumb:


Thanks Matt, hope you are well. Not heard from you in a while!


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## jon-sri (Dec 22, 2012)

looks great tim, red stripe looks very good indeed :thumb:


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## dooka (Aug 1, 2006)

Well, someone has had and still has their work cut out for them..
Nice transformation, look forward to seeing it finished. The sound deadening and insulation should do the trick, I am surprised you didn't fit the Caddy out. I needed to map mine after the extra weight..

Keep up the updates ..


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## Buck (Jan 16, 2008)

Nice work Tim

The guys down at Aspley carpets nr Sainsbury's like to customise their VW vans too. Looks like they've got competition!!


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## streaky (Dec 2, 2006)

Welcome to the T5 twin sliding door club lol. Mines a pre facelift 08 and was also previously owned by a farm machinary servicing firm,what the chances of that?.


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## Rowan83 (Aug 21, 2007)

That looks fantastic Tim, I would love a Transporter like that!


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## shaunwistow (May 13, 2011)

Me likey


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## Soul Hudson (Jul 5, 2011)

Fantastic work on the interior, very impressive.

Looks so much smarter and a no doubt hell of a lot cleaner.

Looking forward to more....


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## TopSport+ (Jul 22, 2012)

top work:thumb:


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## Jdm boy (May 13, 2011)

That looks class now 

may I ask did you do the rear carpet yourself? And was it hard to do?

If so where did you get it?

Did the insulation make much difference? What do you think of the focals?


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## skipsey1990 (May 14, 2011)

Chrome the red stripe should match in with the side steps. 

Van looks awesome! Sound deadening is a nice touch. 

Would love to get stuck into polishing that!!


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## samm (May 19, 2006)

I'm liking that, looks great.


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## CleanYourCar (Jan 23, 2006)

Thanks guys, appreciate the feedback.



Jdm boy said:


> That looks class now
> 
> may I ask did you do the rear carpet yourself? And was it hard to do?
> 
> ...


Yes I did the carpeting myself using stretch carpet. The company was megavanmats. I went for this kit and it was more than enough with plenty spare http://www.megavanmats.com/apps/webstore/products/show/2026379

I also bought roof lining from them and a load of blind clips both for side trims and the roof.

Some people wrap the panels first, but I clipped the panels all back on then carpeted it in one go. It was fairly easy, just quite time consuming. I just started at the top and worked my way down, the inly split was at the pillars just behind the front seats.I'll try to take some better pictures of the carpet.

I'm not sure how much difference the insulation made over sound deadening but there's two rolls in there which adds to the density. The panels and doors don't even sound metallic anymore when you tap of them more like plastic. Inside now it's certainly very quiet with little road noise.

The focals are good, they can certainly handle the power. I didn't see any point in spending more as their positioning is still a bit poor and there's a lot of door for them to rattle around in but it does sound good, million miles better than standard.

Tim


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## willwander (Nov 30, 2012)

Lots of work there, looks really good.

Great to see more T5 converts on DW, such good vans, once you get the bug they are addictive. They do take a long time to polish tho 

Bilstein B14's going on mine next.


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## SwordfishCoupe (Oct 18, 2010)

You have totally transformed that van. Great work there and nice to see you try some good old soundproofing (Silent Coats is great stuff).


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## Alan H (Jun 28, 2009)

Looks great. Interior looks superb.


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## recarouk (May 5, 2006)

Sexual chocolate!!!!

leave the red stripe, it looks great!


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## JamesR1 (Apr 24, 2008)

Good work mate really looks the part...


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## shaziman (Feb 11, 2010)

Nice Van, good effort to try and brin git back to its former glory and beyond! The red stripe is nice as its a nod to the GTi!


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## DarrylB (Feb 17, 2006)

Vantastic! 

What's next on the list of jobs to do to it?


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## cossienuts (Oct 14, 2008)

very nice


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## danga200 (Feb 22, 2010)

Where's part 2 already? lol


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## magpieV6 (Jul 29, 2008)

I'm not a vw fan, but that van is lush! Love what you've done with it Tim. The red stripe is a bit A team though!? Lovely all the same!


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## CleanYourCar (Jan 23, 2006)

thanks guys!



DarrylB said:


> Vantastic!
> 
> What's next on the list of jobs to do to it?


I've got an ebay special flip down dvd player to go in the back, but then other than that the interior is pretty much finished. I'm really tempted to get some replacement covers or seat re-trims but I've already skint myself on the bits we've already done.

So other than that just a damn good detail. Though it's currently stuck on the drive and that is one disadvantage of living at the top of a big hill


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