Posts

Showing posts from October, 2016

Pipes

Image
Whilst fitting my floor rails I had to remove my exhaust which I noticed was pure grot. So I thought "whilst I'm here" and got shopping for a replacement. Well the exhaust isn't really that bad but whilst I was struggling with a ropy fastener on the mid section pipe coupling I  thought it might be a good idea to get a replacement exhaust for when I came to the refit. The current exhaust might be good for another 80,000 miles for all I knew but the thought of refitting the stock when I could fit something new didn't sit well. Also I wanted the new shiny thing. A new exhaust was only abut £325 and some posh looking 4 port stainless jobbers would improve the look of the car whilst being freer flowing. I opted for the Cybox DPF back system for it's mandrill bent corners and nice looking slash cut pipes. They arrived a bit after a couple of weeks after buying them (good job I wasn't in a rush) so tey were ready for fitting once the rails were

Getting a handle on the handling.

Image
Intro I bought this van with a rather pimp set of Rangerover Stormer wheels and a set of V-maxx coil overs helping the van drag its belly everywhere. This all looked very bloody cool but the van handled like crap with a tendency to bottom out over sharp bumps then proceed to bounce its way down the road as the dampening failed to keep the springs under control. This would result in various items removing themselves from compartments and in extreme cases bits of trim jumping off of the van to join the party sliding about my van floor. This was more noticeable from the front end. The back, with less weight on it, seemed better behaved. Work with what you got The first way I went about remedying this problem was to try hardening up the dampening to stop it wallowing as much. Unfortunately this was already wound right in (the previous owner had claimed he found the ride harsh so had set it to fully soft, turns out he did the opposite) so I wound it out a bit to see if it made an

button podging

Image
A few months ago I fitted this rather lovely multifunction steering wheel from a mk6 Golf GTi. Most would be content with this much higher end piece of kit being used for the simple but important purpose of steering but not me. This thing has bling buttons and I want to use them as reaching half a meter across to the head unit is clearly far too hard for me so I started the job of achieving the "impossible" and tried to convince my T5 it should chat to a golf steering wheel. Before we get started though I'd like to point out that I have written down my whole process to achieve this job. As such there are some false turns and dead ends so make sure you read the whole thing before going shopping yourself. Alternatively just skip to the end and use the shopping list there. I have done this so others can carry on from where I left off should they wish to try an alternative root. Right research head is on! First off I picked up a multi function steering wheel conv

On The Rails

Image
On The Rails This was a big job, where a lot has happened, be it good or bad. I haven't kept this to a simple check list but have presented it as more of a story. You will find plenty of other people who have carried out similar modifications, to different platforms, in mildly different ways so please excuse the slightly rambling narrative as I try to build on this and hopefully entertain along the way. I have tried to put headers at pertinent points to help you get to where you want to be if you are looking for a particular piece of information. Otherwise I hope you enjoy the ride. From the top I bought the van with a fairly nice day van interior that you can see over on the right. It comprised of an OEM leather tripple folding bench seat from a Executive Shuttle, properly mounted and a table shaped like a surfboard. The chequer pattern floor was made of vinyl tiles and the walls were fully insulated and carpeted as individual panels which made for a pretty good quali