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...?

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.

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...

Sound-deadening pt2

Just a quick update. The cheaper sound-deadening material went down on the floor and had much the same effect as Dynamat; the van now feels much more 'solid' and quieter.

The last of the Dynamat went on the roof in the spots that VW didn't seem to bother with! This weekend's work has made a massive difference and well worth the outlay.

As a side-job I even managed to unpick the wiring harness for the towing electrics and tuck it out of the way ready for carpeting.

Sound-deadening

The flash-banding used in a previous post was only ever going to do so much when it comes to sound-deadening. This, combined with a change of approach when it comes to carpet-lining, has left me with a need to do a little more to dampen the echoes of an empty van.

Dynamat in it's various forms has been around for a number years and seems to be de rigueur when it comes to lining the inside of a vehicle. I started reading up on sound-deadening on both the Caddy2k forum and the Edition38 forums to see what products others have used and how they applied it. The only downside of Dynamat - the cost.

My next port of call was eBay to see what sort of prices could be found on there. Pretty good, but after a little more searching and calculating price per square-foot, a car audio company selling on Amazon worked out the best.

I ordered five sheets of 18" x 32" Dynamat Xtreme - which is mainly used for car boots, doors and floors. This is to be used for the rear wheel arches and side panels. I also ordered several metres of an un-branded (and slightly thinner) version for the rear floor.
Easy to cut and apply, with a bit of pre-planning the Dynamat goes on in minutes:

A quick tap of the panels and the difference is instant; from tink-tink to thonk-thonk. Getting in and closing the doors no longer feels like getting in an empty van. More on the sound-deadening on the floor coming soon...

Carpet lining begins...

Just a couple of hours today to carpet a few panels so I've started with the easy ones - these didn't require any trimming, just a quick tidy-up.

The panel as I left it last week after sound-proofing and insulating:

Rather than line the panel and have the Volkswagen clips showing, I'll be changing over to these 'blind' clips:

And here's the finished panel in place, the first of quite a few:

Clips and lining carpet supplied by the very knowledgeable Mark at MegaVanMats. If you've any interior questions, he's your man.

B-pillar trims

Having had the bulkhead out for a week now, I've been mulling-over what to do about the unsightly 'half-trim' left behind by it's removal - as shown in the picture below:

One option would be to cost up and order a set of B-pillar trims from a Caddy Maxi Life. Another, slightly cheaper option, would be to trim down the existing bulkhead into long thin strips that would then fill the void.

Being a cost-conscious Yorkshireman I went for the latter. Here's an indication of the cut line:

So it was out with a tape measure, marker pen and Dremel. Then straight onto the first of the carpet trimming jobs - it's been a while since I've done any trimming so I thought I'd plough straight into quite a complex shape.

Here's the end result, bolted back in where the bulkhead was originally bolted:

I'm fairly happy with it. I can see it coming out again for a tidy-up but it's certainly neater than before.

Covered dash tray

If you're a fellow Caddy owner, you'll know there's not many spots to keep things out of view. There's the overhead cubby-hole but other than that, everything else is on display.

I first saw this mod on the Caddy2k forums and have been looking around for a while for the part (not wanting to pay Volkswagen the £90 for a new one) when one appeared on eBay.

Here's the old dash tray:

And here's the covered replacement:

Nothing more than a simple case of carefully unclipping and lifting the old one out and snapping the new one into place. If you're keen to do a similar modification, the part you need to look out for is: 2K0858329E75R

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.

Seats for sale

Not only did the van come with original wheels and suspension parts to put the van back to standard. The seller also included the original seats - not something I was expecting. I can't see me ever needing to swap back to these so they're up for grabs.

Almost perfect in condition with only minor scuffs to the plastic trim, this is a driver's and passenger's seat in the Inca pattern. Cloth is unmarked and as-new, everything works as it should:

To my knowledge they have come from the van I've just bought which is only two years old. Going rate on eBay is around £50-£80 for seats in this condition. So I'd like somewhere in the region of £120 for the pair, but would be open to sensible offers as these are taking up space.

Based in Skipton, North Yorkshire. Or available for buyer to collect from Leeds, Mon-Fri.

If you're interested, either comment below of email: rpcreative@hotmail.com

Job one

A big empty van makes a lot of noise. One of the very first jobs will be to reduce some of the echo in the back of the van - this will be achieved in a number of ways.
Firstly, road noise is transmitted from the tyres up through the wheel arches. These will be treated to some Dynamat before being carpeted.
Then, the large open panels of the sides and roof of the van will be given some weight in the form of self-adhesive flash-banding. This helps to dampen resonance in the panel and stops the booming echo of an empty van.
The gaps between metal panel and plywood panel will then be insulated and finally, the plywood will be treated to a layer of automotive carpet.

There's just two-steps to today's efforts:

Factory ply-lining from Volkswagen

The standard VW lining is okay. The boxes over the wheel arches are a bit crude; held in by screws and batons, then silicone-sealed in position. Time to take these out:

...to reveal a nice pair of shiny wheel arches - almost seems a shame to cover them over!

Over the next few weekends we'll be making the decision on whether the bulkhead stays in or not, choosing the carpet, adding some sound-proofing, and coming up with some ideas for a very special floor.

Day one

So, where to start? This is day one of Caddy ownership and it's still the honeymoon period. Driven home, washed, cleaned, tidied, cleaned again, found all the stonechips and scratches you never manage to see when on a test-drive. Found a few little faults to put right...

But most of all, I've enjoyed turning-heads. A few pics before we go any further I think:

So what have we bought? At first glance it appears to be a clean, honest, low mileage, two year old Caddy. I was keen to find a TDI having heard less than complementary things about the SDI. I didn't want white and didn't want a high-miler. Searching seemed to take forever for a van to fit the requirements. This one was bang-on budget so I shook hands at some speed.

'But it's already modified' I hear you saying. When you cost up the sourcing of a Touran bumper, colour-coding, lowering, alloys, seats etc. you realise the sum of all these elements goes beyond your total budget. So this is my starting point. It may be somebody else's creation but I plan to take it to another level.

So what are the plans? Without giving the game away too soon; one of the first jobs will be to remove the 20" Bentley Flying Spur alloys. On will go the original 15" steel wheels that also came with the van. The ride height will be adjusted to a more commuting-friendly drop, probably around 40 or 50mm from standard. New alloys at 18" or 19" will then be sourced for a little more comfort and a little less 'on-edge' pothole-dodging.

The tinted headlights will be swapped for originals (or maybe a little upgrade here). The front bumper may eventually be swapped for a smooth Touran version and the interior (currently ply-lined) will be receiving some attention.

Right then, off we go, this is going to be quite a challenge!