After the shocking discovery of the start of the rot and rust and after making the decision to just get on with a full restoration i remembered that the previous owner (i am making effort not to call him other things) had the original engine for the van for sale separately, i thought about going down a different route with Subaru or other VW engine conversions but decided rightly or wrongly (time will tell) to stick at least mechanically to the original specs of the van….that being a 2.1DJ engine…after a bit of negotiation i purchased the engine and got it delivered, engine looked amazing even in its very bare state, i did however have all or most of the ancillaries for the engine in a box that came with the van, however they were not as shiny looking as the new engine and another decision was made quickly to clean and salvage what i could but if it couldn’t be saved to just buy new, might as well start as i mean to go on, this van one day will be spectacular (thats my ultimate goal anyway) so out with the old and in with a lot of very new parts and tools…..

The journey starts here!!

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Well S##T I was half expecting some bad news but bloody hell…. Few scabs around the windows turned into a bigger and bigger hole. Investigated why the door wasn’t fitted and besides the horrendous repair to the lower section it’s turns out the door slider rail would not even support the door if it was fitted, totally rotted out, cab steps were shot (normal area for rust apparently) lower valance you could push your fingers straight through it and was pretty much filler and bizarrely news paper……this was all found in 30 minutes or so, there is a lot lot lot more that looks suspect, so decision time, cut my losses as it was a cheap van or take on what’s looking like the biggest project I have ever attempted

Decision made, after a lot of searching forums and Facebook groups, looking at supply companies for parts prices and not to mention all the new tools I would need I have decided to take on the challenge, I am looking at it this way, I can buy a finished van and by all accounts that doesn’t guarantee a good van or I can start with a shell and build the van I want (going to take a while) and know every single millimetre of it top to bottom…….Full restoration it is then!!!!!!

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Starting out slowly and trying to use the knowledge i already had for electrics (my happy place) i decided to firstly inspect and then quickly condemn the wiring in this van, twisted joints, connector blocks and quick clips…..the whole thing was dangerous, dashboard out and looking at a few blogs, one of the best things to do if the dash is out was the PWM blower mod….easy. even though the alarm bells were still ringing about the rest of the van i soldiered on regardless, in a couple of days i was having a friend over who knew mechanics and vehicle maintenance in general far more than me so ill await his opinion and just blindly crack on.

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