T6.1 PV to daily driven camper.

[benholmes21]

Finally managed to convince myself that the Transporter itch needed scratching and to ditch the EV for something more fun that I can tinker with and get away in!

Here’s the one that got sacrificed…



To make room for this…





Pure Grey Highline SWB DSG 150.

Anyway, took delivery of the van Friday lunch and by Saturday, the tinkering had began…



Bulkhead out, I know I need to cut the brackets out, but I’m going to wait until I lift the carpet and remove the seats to soundproof and I’ll do it all in one go.

Next on the agenda was the ride height! I’d forgotten how high these vans actually are standard… so by Sunday lunch time, I’d managed to collect some SoLow coilovers. Here’s Douglas looking very pleased with himself and his haul of goods!



Waiting on a few bits to be delivered and some free time to crack on and get everything fitted! But hopefully in the next week or two, I’ll have made a bit more progress.

 

[benholmes21]

Finally found some time to get a few jobs done!

First up, started the sound deadening.

I’ve done both sides in the rear but holding off behind the drivers seat and sliding door as I’m yet to decide on if I’ll put windows in.




Had a trip over to pick a few goodies up from THQ… more photos of said goodies coming soon!




Jumped on the lathe at work and turned my top mounts down to 106mm ready for when I put the Solow coilovers on.




Sound deadened the rear wheel arches. Haven’t gone mad as I’d planned to do the arches from the inside too, so hopefully this will help cancel out some road noise!
Another update tomorrow, ran out of time and forgot to take a few photos of other bits of managed today.

 

[benholmes21]

Busy weekend finishing up on the van.
ABS lines rerouted.
Bump stops cut down, under sealed and cutdown mk4 golf/bora bump stops glued in place.





Then finally got round to getting the shocks, springs and front struts in. I can honestly say that what everyone says about Solow coilovers being comfy is so true! Only done about 30 miles on them so far but it’s not far off standard suspension comfort and I’m very impressed! Paired with some 19” Navis Schmoov.

 

[benholmes21]

Got around to doing a few more bits this afternoon before another dreaded nightshift!





OEM drivers side swivel fitted! Managed to pick a base up with all of the trims. When the cab carpet comes up for sound deadening/insulation and I remove the bulkhead brackets I’ll look into lowering the handbrake bracket. I've seen a few people remove and re-weld it possibly moving it 20mm forward to compensate for the cable slack.

These are the only photos I managed to get whilst changing the base and rebuilding the seat. Not a bad job at all really, few bolts and trim clips and you’re away.

Hopefully a few more updates in the next week whilst I wait for a few little bits to be delivered!

 

[T12]

Looking very nice, good work!

 

[JumpShip]

Looking good already .

How much more fun is this than the tesla!

 

[benholmes21]

Looking good already .

How much more fun is this than the tesla!

Cheers pal!

Oh definitely more fun! Although costing me a lot more with tinkering but that’s all the fun isn’t it!

 

[JumpShip]

Where did you get the info on rerouting abs lines and bora bumpstops ?
Are these necessary on so lows ?

 

[z1ts]

Jumped on the lathe at work and turned my top mounts down to 106mm ready for when I put the Solow coilovers on.

Something I can only dream of a) having a lathe and b) knowing why I'd need to turn my top mounts for Solows and c) actually knowing how to!!!

Fair play dude, impressive work there

Following with interest!

 

[benholmes21]

Where did you get the info on rerouting abs lines and bora bumpstops ?
Are these necessary on so lows ?

I found out about the bora bumpstops on this forum after reading other people’s threads on what they’d done and used.

There is a TransporterHQ video that explains about trimming bumpstops, machined top mounts, ABS lines on their YouTube channel, it’s worth a watch.

My solows are all the way down on the rear but still have the adjusters in, and have about 15/20mm left to go down in the front (I also have machined top mounts). So I’d say if you want to fairly low then the bump stop cutting is necessary as otherwise you’d just be resting in the original rear bump stops permanently.

The ABS line re-routing is more good practice as a “just incase” to keep them out of the way. I believe if you’re running air ride, it has to be done to prevent it crushing the lines.

 

[benholmes21]

Something I can only dream of a) having a lathe and b) knowing why I'd need to turn my top mounts for Solows and c) actually knowing how to!!!

Fair play dude, impressive work there

Following with interest!

Ahh cheers buddy!
Well, technically I don’t own the lathe, it’s in the workshop we have at work, so it’s fair game to jump on for jobs at home! Not much we don’t have in there tbh, so I’d say I could have a good go at making/modifying most things.
I’m a time served mechanical/electrical maintenance engineer on CNC machines so a little job like this is nice and easy.

The machined top mounts weren’t a necessity on running the solows as there is still a lot of adjustment left on the fronts. My theory was the top mount will give me an extra 12-15mm drop which keeps 12-15mm of damper travel so should keep it a little comfier when the roads are rough. As in the past when I’ve had cheap coilovers in previous cars, they’ve been wound all the way down and pretty much bottomed out on the slightest bump in the road. Although I could be completely wrong in this

 

[Farnorthsurfer]

On my windsurfing dream van thread I have a photo of the reworked lowered handbrake bracket if you haven't seen one. I didn't move it forward and had no problem adjusting the cable slack under the van. Link in sig below.
Your van looks great, nice job

 

[benholmes21]

On my windsurfing dream van thread I have a photo of the reworked lowered handbrake bracket if you haven't seen one. I didn't move it forward and had no problem adjusting the cable slack under the van. Link in sig below.
Your van looks great, nice job

Oh that’s awesome! I’ll have a look now, thanks for the heads up! Can you adjust the cable under the van to remove the slack rather than have the adjustment maxed out as such on the mechanism inside?

Cheers pal, appreciate it! Next up is going to be electrical install B2B charger, leisure battery and 230v EHU and possibly OEM fixed side windows (undecided on these yet) but currently going through the process of buying a new house so need to reign in my spending a little in the van haha!

 

[benholmes21]

Where did you get the info on rerouting abs lines and bora bumpstops ?
Are these necessary on so lows ?

Here’s the post I found it on @JumpShip

I have bought some vw bora bump stops, they fit perfectly up into the remaining tube , thin end first, then trim the largest end down to suit they work perfect. View attachment 143488

 

[Farnorthsurfer]

Oh that’s awesome! I’ll have a look now, thanks for the heads up! Can you adjust the cable under the van to remove the slack rather than have the adjustment maxed out as such on the mechanism inside?

Cheers pal, appreciate it! Next up is going to be electrical install B2B charger, leisure battery and 230v EHU and possibly OEM fixed side windows (undecided on these yet) but currently going through the process of buying a new house so need to reign in my spending a little in the van haha!

if I recall correctly I just adjusted the front and the back of the cable to sort it. Initially I just took up the slack at the front and it was fine but before I went in to the MOT it needed a few turns under the van to make sure it was in range for the test. Hope that helps.
Drilling the spot welds out and re-welding the bracket is easy but I actually bought a spare seat base so I could run the van while I modified the base.

 

[benholmes21]

if I recall correctly I just adjusted the front and the back of the cable to sort it. Initially I just took up the slack at the front and it was fine but before I went in to the MOT it needed a few turns under the van to make sure it was in range for the test. Hope that helps.
Drilling the spot welds out and re-welding the bracket is easy but I actually bought a spare seat base so I could run the van while I modified the base.

Ahh okay! I’ll have a look under the van and check it out before I decide which route to go in if to move it forward or not then! Thanks for the heads up, much appreciated!

I’m about to order a spotweld drill to remove the jack fixing bracket in the rear arch and the bulkhead bracket. I’ll make sure I keep it safe for the seat base mod then! I might get it eyed up and do it on a Saturday or Sunday morning at work when it’s quiet… I can get it welded and painted then too all whilst on the clock haha!

 

[Farnorthsurfer]

Ahh okay! I’ll have a look under the van and check it out before I decide which route to go in if to move it forward or not then! Thanks for the heads up, much appreciated!

I’m about to order a spotweld drill to remove the jack fixing bracket in the rear arch and the bulkhead bracket. I’ll make sure I keep it safe for the seat base mod then! I might get it eyed up and do it on a Saturday or Sunday morning at work when it’s quiet… I can get it welded and painted then too all whilst on the clock haha!

I just used a regular cobalt drill and it was fine, save the cash for other things

 

[benholmes21]

Few little updates. Got more sound deadening done and started with the thermo liner. Went for the Dodomat 15mm pro. Managed to get the whole passenger side done including the sliding door but didn’t get any photos so will get a few of these when I put insulation in.

Foil taped everything too because my OCD had to make it look nice and also fully seal it.



Got myself the classic IKEA bed, going to machine a plug at work next week so I can cut down the support braces to help it fit between the arches and still have the support bars in. With how thin/cheap the metal might be, not sure welding it would be that easy, so easier to turn 2 plugs on the lathe.




Fitted a glass bung to remove the rear wiper. Going to turn a bung that matches the dimensions of the original connector to blank it off, then bag it up etc. Had planned to swap the screen wash pump to single outlet and the wiper stalk to match but decided against it because if needed it can always be put back to standard.




Ordered an awning rail from Camper Essentials, (highly recommended. Thanks for the great service Sacha). Love that the rail has been profiled and looks so much better than the generic round one.

Even with the rail being hidden, I decided to get some pure grey paint and colour match it to make it that little bit stealthier
Used some 1mm foam adhesive tape on the back of the rail too so it didn’t damage the paint underneath and some loctite thread sealant on the new Stitches&Steel bolts so I’m not fighting to get the original bolts out in a years time.





Waiting for a few more bits to be delivered and I’ll get some more updates on.

 

[Sasquatch]

Strangely enough I've just binned (one of) an electric car in favour of a T6.1.

I've gone from this (on the left) ...



To this...



A bit heart wrenching as I loved the Mini but I've always wanted a camper and being 6'5" with a knackered hip the Mini was becoming difficult for me. We still have the family electric car and my Volvo C70 T5.

Lovely van you have there, watching the conversion with great interest.

 

[benholmes21]

Strangely enough I've just binned (one of) an electric car in favour of a T6.1.

I've gone from this (on the left) ...

View attachment 255719

To this...

View attachment 255720

A bit heart wrenching as I loved the Mini but I've always wanted a camper and being 6'5" with a knackered hip the Mini was becoming difficult for me. We still have the family electric car and my Volvo C70 T5.

Lovely van you have there, watching the conversion with great interest.

Great minds think alike! Although with being tall and the hip, I can see why you got rid! A lad at work has the electric mini and I really like it, if the range was better I’d have definitely considered it when I was looking! As much as I loved the Tesla (and the speed/acceleration) i absolutely love driving the van!
Your van looks great! Hopefully a few more updates coming soon but nothing huge now until after I move house in February