Sold

Time has come to move the Caddy on. There's absolutely nothing wrong with it - but I have urges to move on to something else, something a little larger, with a few more seats. I've also reached the point where if I was to start upgrading more bits (stereo etc.) it would start costing me more and more, and I'd rather put that in to the next project.

Simply scroll back thru the blog for history and more pics

So here goes, a quick 'for sale' ad:

2009 59-plate Caddy 1.9 TDI.
35,500 miles (rising by roughly 250 per week)
MOT until Sept 2013
Taxed until end of Feb 2013
Raven Blue
Regularly serviced by Aire Valley Workshop in Skipton.

Exterior:
Colour coded bumpers
Sliding door rail, supplied, painted and fitted by Reflex Auto Design
Rear spoiler (not VAG), prep'd, painted and fitted by Reflex Auto Design
Sump guard supplied and fitted by Reflex Auto Design
Yellow/gold tint headlights (I'm not a fan of these and never got around to changing them - they did go thru the MOT okay tho')
Clear side repeaters
Heko wind deflectors
Seat Leon Cupra front splitter
Genuine VAG mudflaps
UK Legal pressed metal plates

Interior:
Sound proofed and insulated
Fully carpet lined inside by Mark at MegaVanMats
New Caddy Life rear roof section
Ply rear floor
Audi TT half leather seats - super-comfy
Dashboard cubby-hole upgrade
MegaVanMats carpet mats
Genuine VAG rubber mats
Light smoke tint to side windows
Standard VW Radio/CD/MP3 head unit and speakers.

Chassis:
Lowered using V-Maxx coilovers and rear hangers
Bilstein rear shocks
Reflex Auto Design centralising plates fitted
I'll also supply the standard front struts, rear hangers and shackles should you want to return to stock.

Engine:
Stock with the addition of an Audi engine cover.
The sump guard helps to keep the engine clean and tidy. The engine is spotless.

Wheels:
Choice of either genuine VW Phaeton Helios wheels (refurb'd to high spec 12 months ago, almost spotless) running on Falken FK452 235/35/19 or stock VW steels.

Asking price:
£9,250 on Helios wheels (with steels supplied)
£7,750 on steel wheels only
Privately owned, no VAT to add.

Now sold. Thanks for looking.

No part ex's or swaps unless you've got a totally sorted Passat estate TDI of a similar age.

The Caddy has wanted for nothing and has been totally reliable. It sailed through first MOT.
Good points: Raven Blue - a much sought-after colour, it's already lowered and the suspension has been tweaked and refined to get it 'just right'. There's still scope for you to make your own mark on the inside. Everything works; every switch, button and dial. I also have contact details of the two previous owners should you wish to trace the van's history. It's a low-mileage Caddy that hasn't worked hard for a living, spending most of it's life empty!
Bad points: the front bumper and bonnet could benefit from a tidy up due to stone-chips. It's not a perfect show-pony, just a good, clean, honest daily-driver. And that's it.

Want to turn heads in 2013? Do it in this Caddy! Thanks for looking.

To express an interest, make an offer, arrange a viewing or ask further questions, please drop me an email: rpcreative@hotmail.com

I'm based in Leeds during office hours or Skipton at evenings and weekends.

Raising the roof

After what seemed like a long wait, the roof panel from Germany is finally in. Ordered through Mark at MegaVanMats, I left the van with him for a series of lining sessions that he fit in 'as-and-when' around his busy business.

Here's the results of the hard work and waiting:

The material is almost a perfect match for the standard cab headlining and joins pretty seamlessly. The four recessed panels mirror the panels of the van's walls perfectly keeping everything looking nice and symmetrical.

A slight adjustment was made by trimming the rear of the roof so it didn't wrap around all the way to the rear door rubber - I preferred the look of having the rear aperture carpeted all the way around.

Whilst the van was in at MVM, Mark also made up a set of footwell mats:

I'm fairly sure he does a range of colours and alternate edging colours. These have proven to be pretty good; well-shaped, hard-wearing, and fit directly to the standard VW mounts.

Just the floor to sort now. Or might that be a second row of seats...?

Lowering tweaks

Finally, a free morning to get the rear shocks changed for something a little stiffer, drop the rear a couple of notches on the hangers, and then adjust the front coils to suit.

There's just a small matter of re-centering the rear wheels and we're done. Here's the results:

Much better I'm sure you'll agree.

Big thanks must go to the talented JC at JC Motors for taking his time to get that 'just right' stance.

Rear lining - a sneak peek

Just a quick post to show the progress to-date on the rear lining that's been taking place this week.

As much as I'd love to take credit for this part of the van's transformation, the applause must go to Mark at MegaVanMats.

More pics to follow this weekend.

Ultimate Dubs Caddys

Ultimate Dubs was a first for me. Not only my first time in Telford but my first visit to a proper water-cooled v-dub show. My heart still lies firmly with the older Volkswagens and I find you have to look much harder at the show cars to truly understand the difference between a car covered in polish and one that has had hours of work in planning, fabrication and craftsmanship poured into it.

As mentioned in the last post, here's the one Caddy that blew things out of the water:

It's a reincarnation of a previous show-winner; back this year with new paint, a new front end, no sliding door and a host of other little touches. Seeing a Caddy like this in the flesh makes my van feel a million miles away from this standard. No corner of the vehicle is left untouched; a total work of rolling art.

Here's a few more Caddys (although not many in attendance) from around the show:

Maybe a few more next year?

UPDATE: Check out Reflex's build thread on the E38 forums. A great example of the work that goes into Best Paint, Best Other and Best of Show.

The RAD Roadtrip

370 miles, several UK towns, cities and motorways later, and we're back from a mini-weekend break that involved bolting-up a few new parts to the Caddy.

First up was a Friday morning blast down to RAD: Reflex Auto Design in Brixworth, just north of Northampton. Job one was to fit a sliding-door rail cover, painted in Raven Blue this more than finishes off the side of the van:

Next up (while the paint is in the gun), a rear spoiler to finish off the rear end:

And finally, a sump-guard is bolted up to replace the original plastic unit and allow us to run the ride-height a little nearer the tarmac without the worry of speedbumps.

All excellent products and RAD have been a pleasure to deal with from initial emails to driving away. Quality is high and they take pride in what they do.

Just before driving away we caught a glimpse (well, had a good nosey around) another Caddy that was in for some last-minute tweaks before Ultimate Dubs. I'd seen this van before in Magazines and on the forums, but to see it in it's new guise, show-fresh and ready to roll left me absolutely awe-struck. More info on this in the next post...

Bike mount - part two

The trial fit.

Here's the RockyMounts DriveShaft temporarily in place.

There's loads of room around the bike (you could easily have the driver's seat right back in the rails and still have enough room) and putting the bike in the van before carpeting has given me an idea for storing the front wheel and other associated bike bits - more on this later!

All I need now is a way of attaching the lateral bar, that the DriveShaft will be bolted to, to the two tie-down loops at the back of the van.

Bike mount - part one

As readers of this blog and my T5 blog will know, I'm a fairly keen mountain-biker. And whilst it's easy to carry the bike around the back of the T5, the Caddy seems less accommodating for the bike and other gear that goes along with it.

Bike and Transporter in perfect harmony

I've seen a few homemade bike carriers for the Caddy; some better than others, but in my quest to keep things looking as 'factory' as possible I didn't want anything too obvious-looking (if that makes sense?).

My other predicament was that I run a front fork with a 15mm bolt-thru axle (a bit like a motorbike) and all I keep finding are bike mounts suitable for quick release wheels...

So after a few months trawling the internet I found RockyMounts, based in Boulder, Colorado. They've been making ski and bike racks for years and I was particularly interested when I saw their DriveShaft mount that was specifically designed for universal mounting on any truck bed. The DriveShaft model is designed purely for bolt-thru axles (or a bolt-thru adaptor) in standard form for 15mm axles or 20mm with a set of nylon shims. I'll let the pictures explain:

The DriveShaft in open position...

...drop the front fork in...

...close the clamp, pull the handle and lock in place.

Being lockable is another bonus as I plan to leave the bike in the van whilst at work - the lock is an added deterrent for any would-be bike thief.

I'm still quite a way off this being fitted; carpeting has ground to a halt while the weather is too cold, and the floor will need to go in after carpeting.

Right, now to find a solution to storing the front wheel...

Merry Christmas...

...and a happy 2012!

Sound proofing and insulation

With the floor up and the bulkhead out, it's time to look at the interior panels, sound-proofing and insulation. To reduce the echo of an empty van you simply have to add some weight the bare panels. Road noise and vibration travels through the panels and becomes amplified, to reduce this resonance effectively and efficiently I like to apply self adhesive flash banding as used by roofers.

The first step is to remove all the interior panels:

If you're familiar with VW interior trim, you'll be friendy with those little clips that can be such a hindrance to progress. I've found the perfect tool for coaxing them out without wrecking them:

Next we add the flash banding in strategic positions on bare, open areas of panel:

Followed by a high-grade, flame retardant insulation material:

Then a final layer of polythene to seal it in:

Finally it's just a matter of replacing the interior panel.

I've not shown the panel back in as it's just raw ply. Watch this space for more details on interior fabrics soon...

To end the day's work I thought I'd have a trial-run of the type of load the rear will be carrying. Again, more details on bike mounts are to follow...

Floor and bulkhead out

In a quest for a bit more legroom it's time to take the bulkhead out. But first, the floor in the back has to come up. So fueled-up on coffee and cake, it's straight on to lifting the floor:

A relatively straightforward job; just a case of go easy on the cheap screws taking care not to round any of the heads off. Up comes the floor to reveal a couple of years' worth of sawdust and rubbish:

With a little elbow-grease the floor comes up looking factory-fresh (a shame to cover it over!):

Then, with the floor out I can turn my attentions to the bulkhead. Another simple job; just work your way around the bulkhead taking out the torx-headed bolts.

Splitting the bulkhead into two halves by undoing the bolts down the spine certainly makes it easier to remove. 10 minutes later and it's out:

Finally I can get the seat back that extra couple of inches. Removing the bulkhead immediately makes the cab feel more spacious, rear visibility is miles better without it obscuring the view. Now to start hunting some B-pillar trims from a Caddy Maxi to finish the interior trim.

Wheels & Tyres for sale - now sold

Having had the van for less than a week, you may think I'm slightly mad for wanting to sell the Bentley alloys so soon. With Winter approaching and the van being used daily, I'll be swapping back to the steel wheels and starting the hunt for an 18" or 19" replacement for next year.

So here's what is on offer:
A set of four Bentley 20" wheels (part number RT253) as fitted to the GT and Flying Spur manufactured as a one-piece aluminium wheel by Ronal.
Centre caps are included in the sale.
Stud pattern is 5x112 and ET (offset) is 41. Rim width is 9J.
This makes them suitable for many VW, Audi, Mercedes (and Bentley!) applications.
Tyres are Falken 225/30ZR20 and have been fitted in the fashionable 'stretched' style.

Update: One of the tyres is badly worn around it's inner edge and will definitely need replacing. The other three have loads of life on them.

The cost to replace one of these wheels from Bentley is £475 (without centre cap).

Some pics with the asking price below (click for bigger pics):

Given the 'just less than perfect' condition of the wheels I'd like £1600 for the wheels and tyres.

These have now sold - thanks for looking.