[narendra.vw]

A short story , about how I got in touch with this van.

Once in two days, I get hooked to Team BHP so that, I stay in touch with latest info. You all are very good at giving it. Thanks BHP.

One night, I ran out of threads, So I scrolled down to the old ones. One was about rust in peace thread. After going through some pages one page caught my attention. A photo mainly of a convertible and behind it was a glimpse of van wind shield. The van I have been looking out for since 12 yrs. Small info given, near leela. Post was from Bangalore . Having read that info, suddenly my brain got thinking. leela is located near indra nagar. It had to be around leela at some work shop . One Sunday morning my friend and I went for a wild goose chase. For about two-three cross roads, there it was parked outside a work shop wall. The work shop was open and I enquired about the van, and yes it was for sale . Docs were with a parse.

Two days later my friend and I met him. He is a personal mechanic for BPL giants collection. The collections were of Italian & Germen make cars & bikes. First few minutes I spent admiring the jewels of the road. Security denied taking photos. A call from my friend brought me back to the real matter. The van was brought to Bangalore in 2008 for his friend but the deal did not go through. Since then it was lying next to the work shop for sun & rain to take control of it. I picked it up on 2011. Deal: part payment, take the van , doc with up to date tax & NOC, rest of the payment.

Push started it & drove it my work place. Project started. We were deliberately slow on work. Two months later, I went to check on doc, the guy started acting strange, giving strange reasons for delay , when ever I called he would put me on busy mode or cut the call. All this went on for another two months. This time I was very firm with him to that he coolly said ‘give back the van & take away your money’ . At that point Lot of work had gone to the van, now my mind was in fix. My local senses bought me back, so I used my other source (I can’t tell this openly) got my doc a week later. All paper work in Chennai was given to one of my trusted person. Parse guys are supposed to be trust worthy? I wrongly followed it.

OK, lets all forget what happened & move forward.

Detail of the van: 1990 Model 1.6 TD 5 speed.( In doc it says 1.9 TD engine), 8 seater. Model name CaravelleC, 14” wheel. It still had Dunlop tyre with good thread life.

Body dimension : app length 15’ breath 6’

Plan to do: 1.9 TDI 90 bhp ALH engine ,Paint the body,7 seater (All push back) , 15” wheel, sun roof, 80L fridge .many more.

Before going forward I sincerely ask all VW OE enthusiastic forgive me for going beyond OE. I did this for my requirement.

My experience,

First rule : Never throw away any parts from the donor or from the project until it is finished
Second rule: Always have two or three options before doing any alteration. Pick the best.
Third rule: Complete plan should be in paper or in mind before implementing it.
Fourth rule: Finish one work at a time. Time consuming but worth it.

Lastly , if anyone needs to know about TDI conversion l can share my experience.

Project is all most 90% finished, I will upload part by part.

HERE WE GO,

My Dream came true.


Van at my work place


Just for the knowledge.


Body washed & external body checked(Small area of rust)




Front left small dent


Back left corner.


Inside view Seats removed.


dirty dash


Instrument cluster. Never mind odo reading.


Front floor no rust.


Complete floor no rust.Brown color is sticking gum


Sliding door


Back right floor


The engine was alive till it reached my work shop.


5 Speed gear box. zero oil leakage

[narendra.vw]

Work started on the van. I like to finish all the alteration work before paint job.

Fixing of sunroof started. Donor Rover Montego ( Sun roof along with Roof cut right round 3". This helps in fixing. )


Sun roof fixed for testing. I have to find water drainage route on all four side.


Tail lamp area is being altered. Using Mk1 golf.


close up


Extra Battery box behind driver seat. OE


Behind passenger seat front








Front cosmetics


Rising of hand Brake level. Arrow shows its OE position.( OE is too low to reach)





Bellow driver seat sliding tray. Good enough to carry tools, jack rod.


Complete body alteration work comes to an end, I hope.

[ajmat]

Moving to the main forum. Thanks for sharing. We look forward to the story continuing!

[manishalive]

Wow, so you are the one who picked up this Bus. I think Pawan Kadam had enquired of the same the time I posted her. But maybe the price quoted was high.

Glad that you are restoring her and modding to suit your taste. It is upon the individual to make the car his way. But there many guys who want to be purist including me. Thanks for sharing the updates.

[naveenroy]

Wonderful thread. Good to see the vehicle in such good shape actually. Can't wait to see how the story unfolds...

[coloneljasi]

Interesting thread. Most t-bhpians would cringe at the thought of modifying rare imports like your van. But hey, vehicle customisation has countless possibilites and if done properly, can turn out to be much better than the original.

The fact that you followed a lead from a photograph is commendable. Please do keep updating this thread!!

[Diamond_dawg]

Thats a nice van which can be modified in so many ways for the interior. Any special plans on the inside or just restoring it nicely?

[narendra.vw]

Thanks,from all of you , I needed such a boost to go forward. When I din't get a single reply for some time, I really felt let down.

Moving ahead, All tinkering & dent removing finished. Panting work started.

Dent removed & putty work started.


Painting formalities




Dupond base & paint,I made a costly choice of color. It's pearl white very costly & my van needs a lot.


Finial paint done . Sorry I could not give intermediate development. I kept forgetting my cam, I hate to take photos from cell.


Retained oe sticker


Repeat to compare


New tail lamp fixed.Imported from UK. It's from MK1 golf.



next I will be back with suspension work

[getsurya]

I needed such a boost to go forward

Hi Narendra,

Good to see the van in its new avatar! The color seems to gel well with the van. Keep up the passion!

[ortopilot]

Great work Narendra

Looking forward to the finished product, a teaser maybe about the final plan

[dinu2506]

Good to see this coming up well. Congrats. Since you are not going fully OE, suggest going for some good alloys and fatter rubber. Will make it look sitting squatter.

[Catalyst_delhi]

This van is coming out nicely! Good thing there was very little rust , really shows the build quality. Is this the same size as a mahindra voyager?

[coloneljasi]

Ministry of Dubs indeed! There is a huge veedub fan base on t-bhp, yours truly included.

Can't wait to see how the van (or bus, as some fans call it) turns out!

[W.A.G.7]

Nice restoration! I always like it when the old cars are given a new lease of life in this way! One thing amazes me is that inspite of being neglected for long, the van has so little rusting !! Was it in a covered shed or something? Can you post more pictures of the van interiors? It would nice to see it from the inside.

[nidhin0816]

This is absolutely fantastic stuff.

Transformation of rear end with the new tail assembly is gorgeous.

Glued to this thread now for future updates.