[9thsphinx]

Absolutely fantastic. I appreciate your dedication in bringing a fortunately not so rusty ol' van to life!

Love your attention to detail. Like those VW head boy & girl (whatever they are meant to be) and Ministry of Dubs stickers on the back - completes the look!

Please post pics of the interiors.

[Desmosedici]

Terrific Stuff Sir. I am truly drooling over the van. I always loved the old VW vans though this one too looks like a rare gem. If at all someday i get hold of the old VW van, then i shall make the purchase and do it up to my likings.

Please post interior pics. Looks like this can take care of the entire family

[narendra.vw]

To, all my energy boosters, thanks for the sticker comments. Girl & boy sticker copied. I will up load my work step by step. I promise I will not disappoint anyone. You will learn a lot in this thread about German innovative way of thinking.

Just for knowledge ,
Dimension compared.
VW van:-- L--4570 mm W---1845 mm H---1990 mm

Winger;--- L---4520 mm W---1905 mm H---2050 mm

Honda CRV:- L---4575 mm W---1820 mm H--

Innova:- L---4555 mm W---1770 mm H---1755 mm.

Van GC is almost 210 mm. It will increase once 14" wheel upgraded to 15" wheel.

[narendra.vw]

Back bumper. Side cover extended. I needed extra protection on the side where bumper ends.

OE looks


Mine




Time for suspension work.

Bit of details; All four are individual suspension. All carry coil spring & separate shocks. Plenty parts are available, on line for up grade. Fox has shocks for van bolt on. Lower arm bushes (F & B) were in good condition. No play or crack . Got the arm repainted & fitted it back as it was.
Old brake oil removed, new Dot 4 used in merc. all brake cylinders were fine including clutch cylinder. Clutch cylinder shares oil with brake cylinder.

Parts arrived from UK



steering box overhauled It has rack & pinion.


suspension removed & cleaned


All new parts (Ball joints,top bushes, new brake pads) got in & refitted.



Back suspension please note 3/4" spacer to take extra weight of the engine.


Front lower arm very strong. Made of cast iron.


Back lower arm. Need two to hold it.
[ATTACH]1116648[/ATTACH
I have South African heavy duty brake drums & brake lining. I will fit it later.

Next, will be the heart. Waiting for your comments.

[kash_pegasus]

Originally Posted by narendra.vw

Next, will be the heart. Waiting for your comments.

You are definitely putting a lot of time and effort into your ride and she simply looks amazing.! Just reminds me of how "pimp my ride" or "Kount customs" changed old,rusty cars to an art piece. Looking forward to see the final product and ownership reports from you.

[Grace]

Keep it up Narendra, where in Bangalore are you getting the works done?

Andy

[Joe M]

Good work, Narendra. The details with full photo story is amazing. It had always been my a dream to do a restoration like this. But lack of resources, knowledge etc made it a distant dream. Even today if I see a W123/W124 lying abandoned, my daydreams will be occupied for a few hours with the thoughts of procuring it and restoring it to a shining classic. Thanks for sharing all the details. Keep up the spirit.

[narendra.vw]

I took this project because I was sure I could match any modern vehicle. I get loads of space for passengers or things to carry. Same tax as any car pays. It’s considered as LMV in doc. This will not be a show piece It will be doing daily duties.
I got this done south Bangalore.(Kodan Kunta cross, Kanakapura road).

[madhav14]

Excellent work man. I always had a thought of having a chauffeur driven ultra luxurious van and your work is giving me full boost to customize/restore an old one.

Can't wait to see your final output. Thanks for sharing and keep posting the rest of the details.

[narendra.vw]

Cover for mud guard fixed.






The most important work on the van finished.

Engine Details:--- 1.9 TDI 90 BHP Code :-ALH ( In India: Skoda Laura)
Engine had done 38,000km on the donor car.

Gear box details: 5 speed, Code :3H Gear ratio:--1.Gear:-3•67 2.Gear:-4•11 3.Gear:-2•33 4.Gear:-1•48 5.Gear:-1•02 Rack:-0•82 4•83 .
Complete new Clutch kit used. Make: MEYLE Import UK. Clutch plate dia 215mm. Shaft spline : 24.
Flywheel used : 1.6 TD from the van. It’s bolt on.

My experience on buying the engine.

Engine along with many parts need to run the engine.

A) Engine should have alternator, ac compressor, PS pump, starter, flywheel, clutch kit & alternator belt fitted to the engine.

B) 1) ECU 2) Instrument cluster of the same. 3) acc pedal 4)Air mass sensor 5)Intercooler 6) vacuum valves :N18, N239, N75. 7) fuel float sensor 8) speed sensor . 9) complete wire set, hoses & vacuum pipes. 10) Air filter compatible to it. 11)Immobilizer unit with Key if it has one. These parts are very expensive to buy later.
Make sure ECU, Instrument cluster & Immobilizer unit is of the same donor.

Mating of Engine & gear box
I had a choice of tilting the engine to15 Degree to the vertical as it fitted in a car or 50 Degree .
I choose 50 same as TD engine in the van, reason I don’t have to rise the engine lid. Engine & gear box mated with out any fuss. Did some crank case alteration to makeup that angle.

Fixing of engine into the bay.
OE engine had three point fitting to the chassis One for gear box two for engine.
All the fitting points & bedding were retained. Most of the OE water hoses fit directly to the engine.
Following photos will give visual explanation .

TDI engine cleaned & ready.


Gear box washed & cleaned. I wan't it look raw, so no paint.


TDI Crank case cut , Part of TD case will be welded to it.


Engine mated with gear box


turbo detached from TDI manifold.


Flange cut from TD turbo.


flange welded to TDI turbo.



Turbo cleaned & assembled


TD manifold directly fit to TDI engine


Turbo fixed.


Turbo weight tranfered to engine block.


Now I can use TD engine left side bracket bolt on.


Engine mounted at two points gear box & left side of the engine


Right side OE engine bracket


I am using costum made bracket.


Right Bracket fixed Arrow shown


To make way to ac compressor pipes cosum bracket used


Gear box bedding OE.


fuel filter OE place


Wanted to have look at a glance. I may go back to OE.


look from the back


Ground clearance . Will go up when 15" wheel fixed.

[Tgo]

Major work going in there! I appreciate the go ahead nature in which the project is being carried out. Kudos! Just wondering if the air filter being under the floor of the vehicle will be vulnerable to water ingress?

[MaxTorque]

Great stuff. Appreciating your patience and efforts to restore this beauty. Its good to see that you are able to source components with some efforts.

[Chethan B G]

Unique work! I am glued to this thread.

Any specific reason for not using the gear box from the same Laura - Or am I missing something?

[Hulk]

Absolutely fantastic work, there! Who would have thought of doing such extreme restoration work on a Van? But really, brilliant stuff there. It takes a lot of patience and planning to be able to do something like this.

[narendra.vw]

Thanks to all the followers of this thread.

I really appreciate you could recognize my brain work & time spend..
Just imagine a child sitting near a window with bowl of currency, what does it do, keep throwing currency out one by one. That’s how I felt at this stage.

Few things to clarify for you .
1) Air filter is 27” above the ground. More or less a car air filter height.
Rain water splashing is absolute. 2’ water depth I dare to go.
2) Laura is front wheel drive. Engine & gearbox is front mounted .
Engine & gearbox are mounted transverse to the car.

Van is back wheel drive. Engine & gear box are rear mounted.
Engine & gearbox are mounted in line with van. Please see photo of gearbox bedding. You may get some idea. Since both had same blood group VW, I had no problem in mounting it.


Heart transplant is over. Now over to nerves system (WIRING).

My knowledge in TDI engine wiring is limited., If I could, I would have deleted 70% of the TDI wire.
I managed to remove 40% of the wire not used in my project. Here TDI wire, fuse box & relay are used only for TDI engine, ECU & instrument cluster . Rest of TD wiring are doing their designated duties .
I am planning to make small photo album of fuse box & relays location. This will help others to find location of fuse box & relays.

ECU placed right bellow back row seat. Nearest point to the engine. (no cutting of wires)


Now fixing of instrument cluster


What I plan to do



After the job done. (Now it can be directly fitted at OE position.)



just to compare.



parking lights on


5" monitor fixing


stand for the box


Please note the monitor is not for entertainment. It will be monitoring 4 camera mounted two for the door mounted mirrors, one in the front & one in the back. More information, please ask me. I have link for this.

Access to engine fuse box

some utility

Guide to fit firmly.No vibration.


Dash looks, after monitor fitted



OE fuse box inside glove box. All are doing their duties.

Relay behind H/L. Another two are in the right side.


Wires are neatly tucked and strapped.Most of the wire of TD. Please note it has a killer switch bellow glove box
.Just in case.



Skoda immobilizer unit happily sitting behind dash.( with out the key van does not start)


Next time I will be back with more of wiring.