Wanted: Standard front bumper

Have you got one lying around from a recent conversion?

I only need the lower middle fins as shown below:

Leave a comment below or email rpcreative@hotmail.com

UPDATE: One bumper collected from a fellow Caddy2k forum member. I've another one waiting in the wings too (in case I make a mess of this first one!).

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...

Engine Covered

Now there's not many jobs under the bonnet that I'll tackle myself, but this one is probably the easiest of all!

Let's face it, the 1.9TDI engine in the Caddy isn't the most aesthetically wonderful piece of engineering, and the lack of an engine cover only adds to the basic-van-austerity-look... time to cover it over.

The 1.9TDI is a familiar engine across the whole VAG range; appearing in VWs, Audis and Skodas. For this particular model I needed to look for one that would fit the 'BLS' coded engine - picked out by the oil-filler being on the left. After scouring eBay for a week or two (finding nothing but broken or over-priced offerings from dismantlers), this Audi version came up on the Caddy2k forums.

The mounting points are already on the Caddy's engine, all I have to do is pop the inner section on first, then press the outer section into place. The under-side of the covers have a rubber surface to them which is supposed to 'dampen' engine-noise. So far I can't say I've noticed any difference (although I am missing the under-bonnet lining of higher-spec'd models).

Here's the cover in place:

Looks like it was always meant to be there. And fills out the engine bay too, making the engine look bigger - so that must give me another 15bhp, right?

Exterior: to-do list

Having had a fairly miserable day wrestling with the two large ply panels from the back of the van (unscrew, lift them out, trim a bit, screw them in, out again, trim a bit, repeat, repeat, repeat...) I thought I'd cheer myself with a spot of Photoshop-modding.

With the Bentley wheels now sold I'm currently in discussions with a chap from the Caddy2k forum who has several sets of VW Helios wheels being refurbished. One of these sets now has my name on them!

The Helios was an optional-extra on Volkswagen's luxury Phaeton range. So as you can imagine, they're pretty hard to come by. You could walk into your local dealership and order a set. Better still you could go to your local TPS and price a set up. This would currently cost you over two and a half grand!!!

Anyway, back to the Photoshopping:

Click for bigger version

The 19's immediately look more at home (and less like an exaggerated Hot-Wheels toy) than the 20" Bentleys. Being from the Volkswagen family sits well with me; I'm a big fan of the OEM+ look or in other words 'what VW would have done if they could dip into the parts bin regardless of cost'.

Black headlights from a Touran R-line help set the Caddy off from being just another van - these are a straight swap too; no messing, trimming or fudging required.

Wind deflectors - just because I like them - will probably look for a slimline set from Heko.

Sliding door rail cover - I'll be looking to get one of the excellent kits from Reflex Auto Design - as these come painted I might also treat myself to the Sportline rear spoiler at the same time.

Finally, I'll be looking into reinstating the fins that have been cut away from the lower part of the front bumper. Initially I'll be looking to source a secondhand bumper off eBay and chopping it up. If that doesn't work I might push the boat out and fit a Touran front end.

Oh, and there's another part in the post - a little something for under the bonnet - will keep you posted when fitted...

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.