Summer sun

The van has had plently of use over the summer. West Beach at Littlehampton is a great place to pitch up for the day:

Went to T4/5 Fest at Beaulieu on our way to New Forest. It was a great event, a real mix of characters ranging from youngsters in battered, stickered and lowered T4s to fully loaded older Cali T5 owners. Everyones van was different and in some way personalised by owners. Good vibe and a good water fight.

Glen turned up with my old van, which he's done a lot of work to since I had it.

Then we went on to the New Forest for a few days and then to the Isle of Wight.

This cost £100!

Mobile beach hut at Ryde Promenade, watched the world go by for a good few hours here.

 



Keep it simple and have fun

Well we have been away a few times so far this year, we were rained off in Somerset in Jubilee week but we have had a couple of good (reasonably) dry weekends since then and a good number days out where we have had maximum use of the van as a base/tearoom/cafe and resting place.

One thing I am sure of is that keeping the spec simple gives maximum flexibility. Using crates and a portable 12v coolbox means you can load and unload the boxes in the kitchen at home. The van stays loaded in the summer minus clothes, food and water ready for a quick off whenever we want.

Here's a few pictures of recent camps and days out:

West Wet Somerset

West Wittering

Preston Park Brighton

Newhaven

Ashdown Forest

Double front seat swivel

This is a clever bit of kit from Kiravans, not cheap but well made. It allows my double front seat to turn round allowing for seating for five in the rear of the van, it really opens up the space. Importantly you also get to keep all that valuable storage under the seat.

Here's how I fitted it: The electric terminals under the seat have to be tucked under the floor, you have to take about 5mm off the top of the floor studs, I took the studs out of the floor and did this in a vice in the garage. The swivel plate goes over the modded studs and the seat bolts easily onto the swivel.

To turn the seat you have to unscrew the four substantial knurled bolts and lift and secure the bolts clear of the swivel. It is a bit hit and miss getting the bolts re-threaded, two were very stiff and I noticed some paint being pushed out the threads. I oiled each one and have used them half a dozen times now and it's getting much easier. 

The seat sits an inch higher and I have had to move my kitchen unit over a bit, it's all a tight squeeze with the bed down but means if my daughter wants to sleep we can sit in the van in the warm and read if the weather is bad.

Today we had a day out in the van, after we had walked the dog we had soup and played cards comfortably in the van while the May weather impersonated January.

Subtle steels

Yesterday I had a day off work and fitted the new steel wheels (using my new bargain Lidl £20 trolley jack which makes things a bit quicker). Hopefully they wont be putting any more salt on the roads. Still getting used to the look and stance, think it might need to go a bit lower but not sure.

My first attempt at carpeting and self tappers was on the sliding door using the ply lining base before I discovered the MVM fixings (see earlier posts), a few weeks ago I retrimmed the original hardboard panel so I fitted it with fixings to match the rest of the interior panels. The last picture is of the bonnet strut I fitted a while ago. This is great for me as I regularly need to get under the bonnet to access the 240v hookup. I also fettled the drivers door to fit perfectly flush. Gave it a good clean as well. All easy mods and a nice way to spend your day off.

Same colour van honest:

Retrimmed door panel:



Bonnet strut:

 

Praise to the lowered

Here's a few pictures, stock:

A year later, spot the difference, five external ones, answers below:

Bus stop, back end could do with a wipe:

A: coilovers, windows, repeaters, deflectors, wheels painted

Coilovers fitted - first impressions

CMC Coilovers are now fitted. I have only gone for a moderate drop and the dampers are on the softest setting. Impressions so far are that it feels much more controlled, no wallowing when cornering or under braking. My biggest fear was that it might be crashy and hard as has been my experience with lowering springs on other vehicles, gladly I can report that it feels firmer than standard but compliant with no bottoming out through potholes or over speed bumps so far.
The van also feels noticably lower when you are driving which makes it feel generally more planted engendering more confidence in its handling. Bear in mind this is all from someone who doesn't race around but was looking for a general improvement over stock.

Oh, and it looks heaps better, pictures to follow.

Suspension and wheels

Well I guess it was only a matter of time, I could no longer resist the urge to go lower. I have tried reasoning that it is more comfortable to ride high on the standard set up, speed bumps aren't an issue, I could use the money on another mod, err... what else? Reasons to go lower: better handling, better stance, get under lower barriers, less step up into van, ok the last few are a bit weak. Bottom line is I want it lower, I know its not really logical.

Over the past few months I have done plently of research. I am going to pay to have the work done so I only want to do it once. I have had lowering springs on several cars and my T4, the ride is generally quite hard, the height is not adjustable but they are an affordable option.
I have never had coilovers, they are height adjustable and most have adjustable shocks as well. I expect though that once you have it set up you leave it that way. Here are some of the coilover options:

• Prosport/JOM, aren't a great deal more expensive than springs, the ride height is adjustable but shocks aren't, that may be ok but it may not. 
• VMaxx/CMC, these seem reasonable value and are generally well reviewed.
• H&R/Eibach etc much more expensive but probably the best.

I have gone for CMC, mid range, fully adjustable, well reviewed. Here they are before fitment.

Next the wheels, I have refurbished my 16'' steels and they look ok but the tyres are skinny and they have a huge profile (16/205/65). Again I have tried to resist changing but if I am going lower I have to change the wheels right? Besides at the moment the 16'' have plently of tread so I should get something for them to offset the cost of new wheels.

I rather like 18'' alloys, don't want anything bigger and with budget tyres they are affordable new, there are second hand options occasionally but they tend to look used so you have to factor in a refurb. I also like the OEM T32 17'' steel wheels, these come up secondhand sometimes or nearly new occasionally when they are swapped out for big alloys. If they need a refurb I could do steels myself.

So the search began, over the past few months I have been scouring the web and have ended up with a set of 17'' steels sourced from a new van, they are fitted with 235/55/17 Dunlop Sports and have done 108 miles on the road. I have resisted putting these on until I have had the suspension sorted.