35 replies to this topic

[adamjohnson1990]

Hello tmf

I thought it was about time to start my project thread. I've had my mini van for just over 2 years now bought it off eBay, had been attacked but the rust plus previouse owners.

Now I would love to but unfortunately don't have the skills or knowledge to do a lot of the work myself. Though saying this I do have a crack but always with the supervision on my mechanic at Track road race ( http://trackroadandr...om/default.aspx ). So this is how he looked once I got him and after a bit of mechanical work



As you can see windows were cut into the back at some point in its life plus the back seat conversion

Unfortunately I then crashed it so had the front re built at the mini hospital




Then apart from some mechanical work that was all for a while whilst I did a bit of saving.

Then November 2011 he went to the body shop to have all the rust cut out and repaired then full respray and this is where he is now.

The fist thing that was done was the engine bay



This was the soda blasted to clean it all up

A few bits of repairs





Then I was really lucky to find someone who had cut the rear windows out of a scrap mini van so they were the next thing to go in





Luckily my mechanic is next door to the body shop so it had a few trips next door



I with supervision of my mechanic and help from my mate replaced all the suspension to springs and hi lo's and a new rear subframe with new radios arms





Then back next door for more body work









And this how It looked last time saw it



All smooth ready for the first of 2 coats of primer

Thanks for looking love to hear people's feed back

[stretch tech]

looks like a good project mate, i think vans look cool...better than estates, are you keeping the rear seat conversion in ?

Cheers

Rhys

[adamjohnson1990]

Thanks

When I bought the van the back seats were sold separately so have spent a long time trying to decide wether to buy a new one or not duno what the rules are when it comes to seat belts and things like that plus I like the space to hide things ash have a board which gone over the hole to hide it.

So undecided really

[Remylebleu]

for a reason i havent yet worked out........i always find myself smiling at new subframes, dont really know why, i just like the look of them

[adamjohnson1990]

for a reason i havent yet worked out........i always find myself smiling at new subframes, dont really know why, i just like the look of them

They are just so shinny I completely agree

[adamjohnson1990]

My little project at home is re-covering the seats I've bought some great covers from optimise automotive I have also bought a retro fit heated seat set which I know isnt true classic hence the name retro mini van.

Here are some pics of the seat stripped



Pulling the back off wasn't too hard





All the foam off ready to be rubbed down and painted (will all be hidden again but a bit of protection)

Just rested the foam back on and trial fitted the heat pads I think they look good and will fit well :)



What you guys think? Will keep you posted.

[frasermini]

Heated pads are a great idea, how are you gonna wire them up??

[adamjohnson1990]

The kit came with a loom with switch, fuse and relay, so the plan is to just connect to the the switch live.

Will been a much warmer winter

[frasermini]

Liking it, keep up the good work

[adamjohnson1990]

Been working on the seats the last few days not really many pics il try and get some more when I do the next one the frame came up well used 2 coats of Hamarite black satin.

Spent tonight doing the covers it looks good just needs a bit of tidying up I'm hoping it will settle itself as well



The van is supposedly going into primer on Saturday fingers crossed.



Would love to hear about what people think

[scotty_1987]

Looks like an awesome project there and not as rotten as most van projects seem to be!
Good luck with it man and keep up the good work,liking the seats there look really well!
Cheers.
Nathan

[SAL 821X]

Seats look really well adam :) did you make the covers yourself?

Looking back through the thread I'm sure there's some posts missing that I made about the filler work if you remember sure it was this thread?

What was the filler they used on the sides called again?

[adamjohnson1990]

Thanks for the feed back nice to see what others think

I think the last hack lost a load of threads which is a pain. The skim there putting over the top was some Dolphin Glaze stuff


The seat covers came from optamise automotive there very good I'm using the original fora and sping just because everyone comment about how comfy the seats are.

[SAL 821X]

Are yes I read about the site being hacked such losers in this world.

Dolphin Glaze that's the badger cheers dude.

Still cannot decide on seats but they do look great, how do you feel they would cope with having harnesses.

[adamjohnson1990]

Don't really have much experience with harnesses but I gues they would be fine