Putting on a show

With the T5 camper in for some bodywork, we have a free weekend and a local show, Dubs In't Dales, pretty much on our doorstep.

Time to give the Caddy a quick clean and venture onto the show'n'shine field:

The show scene can be a fickle place; we sat and listened to comments, positive and negative, that ranged from 'awesome bit of kit' to 'it's just a new van with some wheels on it'. Well, as the saying goes; 'haters gonna hate', I know how much blood, sweat and tears have gone into getting 'my' van the way 'I' want it.

And hey-presto:

Same again next year? Hopefully the show will be bigger, better and busier. Maybe with a few more Caddys there?

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.

Winter steels

I've always been one for swapping my alloys for the original steel wheels at the end of a season; salty UK roads don't do any favours for pricey alloys.
So I was really happy that when buying the Caddy that it came with the original wheels. One down-side was a mis-match of tyre profiles - 2x 195/65/15 and 2x 195/70/15. Not ideal.

Knowing that I can move the wrong tyres on, an order was placed with Camskill (probably the prices for tyres anywhere on the internet) for two replacements of the correct 195/65/15.

So now we're on to prep; hours of sanding, smoothing and masking. I would ideally have done this with tyres removed but I'm up against a deadline to get the wheels swapped.

More time taken at prep should result in a better result further down the line. Then, after one last clean, on with the primer.

With barely a dribble or run in sight. I've laid it on fairly thick; first a white etch primer, then a good couple of layers of matt grey primer. Images of the final colour and lacquer coats will be posted tomorrow.