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Friday, 8 February 2013

Early progress...


Nothing like waking up to find an email sent late in the previous night:

Compressor mounts made and installed
Compressor wiring done and tested
ECU mounted
Valve block mounted
Power cables run
Wiring is into the dash area

Will be making tank mounts first thing and running the first air lines, Should be able to pressure up that side of it by lunch

Struts and bags will be going on Monday



The touchpad will be left loose for now, maybe mounted permanent at a later date. More updates soon...

Monday, 4 February 2013

And so it begins...

Parts arriving ready for dropping the van off on Wednesday.



Sunday, 13 January 2013

Micro Mods

A quick post to show that it's not all big-money modifications and that there is always scope for improving small elements of your van/camper without breaking the bank. These smaller 'micro-mods' are some of the best, often using items from the parts bin elsewhere in the Volkswagen range.

Take the interior light in the cab for example:


It's boring. One switch, one bulb. Yeah, you could stick an LED bulb in there, maybe a blue bulb if that's your thing.

Or you could search through the entire VW range looking for the same light unit shape in a different vehicle! (Yes I know, I should get out more!)

Hey presto! The Mk4 Golf has the same unit but with extra reading lights. Plugs in using exactly the same plug. No wiring mods, no soldering, no hacking away at plastic to make it fit.

Simple pop the light lens off, remove two screws, unplug, plug new unit in, screw in place, replace lens, sit back and admire your new and slightly less boring light unit:


I added a couple of wedge-base ultra-white LEDs into the reading lights. I might change the centre festoon bulb to LED too. Everything works as it should, the lights dim when the van locks etc.

One word of caution on the newer CANBUS T5's - many LED bulbs will throw up a bulb-failure warning light on the dash - make sure you fit fault-cancelling LED's to a newer van.

As a rough guide this micro-mod can be done for around £20 via eBay, cheaper if you're prepared to search the breaker's yards. Happy micro-modding!

Happy New Wheels!

And a Happy New Year to Stone174 readers! The Sportline wheels are on.


Initial reports are great; they are soooo much easier to clean than the BBS (great at this time of year), the Nexen tyres are good and quieter too. All-in-all a much more sensible wheel than previous.


Monday, 24 December 2012

Santa brings bags of joy

I don't get to play with them until February, but the struts are built and delivered to iKustoms ready for the big install.


So it's a Merry Christmas to all Stone174 readers! We're spending our first couple of nights under the pop-top roof during the break so will report back on how it goes...

Sunday, 23 December 2012

Santa brings wheels

Okay so he's a few days early! A big part of the new modifications in 2013 will be the wheels - my reasons for selling the BBS were several; I was getting fed up with the fiddly cleaning regime, I was concerned that the new suspension setup may have been compromised with a wide tyre and not-so-'tuck'-friendly offset, and most importantly, I was concerned that the load rating on the tyres wasn't enough in the eyes of the law.

Maybe that's me growing up (ten years ago I probably wouldn't have bothered) but it was starting to niggle that, god-forbid, we were in an accident; in the eyes of either police or insurance, one look at the load rating might have landed us in seriously deep water.

So to combat this situation, a full complement of brand new Sportline alloys have been ordered. Along with correctly rated tyres (fitted and balanced), VW bolt covers, and a set of locking bolts - all brilliantly arranged and shipped by Banwy Vans in South Wales.


There's a bit more profile to these tyres too so I'm hoping they'll be a bit comfier than the 19's. They should wear better too and give a little better fuel economy. the only thing left to decide is whether to add a 'hotrod' inspired thin red band to the tyres...