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Sorry for another build thread but I have some spare time right now and I'm embarking on a new build which I find pretty exciting, that's not say that any of you lot will, but hey I'll type and post photos and let's see how things go.
A couple of warnings first ...
1. I have to be careful about what I reveal and when as I'm doing this on someone else's behalf so photos will be snippets and close ups for now.
2. If you recognise the van / owner from snippets of info or photos I post I'd prefer it if you didn't reveal all just yet.
3. The style of this project doesn't necessarily reflect the tastes of the majority of members of this forum but it's a definite case of more is more and sometimes it's fun to just do what you want and to hell with general opinion.
The completion target for this project is to keep the style that it's currently finished in but to a high quality standard. It will actually be used as an art piece in galleries / exhibitions as well as car shows and will include an interactive / visual display that's going to be pretty special and unique when you get to experience it.
Deadline - I think Japanese Auto Extravaganza in September is a suitable show for the big reveal but we need to get the van back to the owner in advance so they can do some computer trickery as part of the visual display mentioned above.
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Right where do I begin? I know, the start...
02.07.2015
As with my Acty project this too started thanks to the power of social media - A fellow Nissan Elgrand owner spotted a minty Nissan Elgrand kitted out in a crazy Japanese vanning gundam style, you know the ones, like these....
He posted the photo on the Elgrand club Facebook page and I duly posted on Instagram in a vein hope of finding the owner as i was tempted to do a similar style myself but bottled it.
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13.08.2015 (approximately - curse Instagram and their weekly time measure)
Someone tags the owner and I contact him to say how much I'd love to meet up / photograph / see the van.
I don't hear anything back - he probably thinks I'm just a car fanboy weirdo and he's a busy guy. You don't get 25k Instagram followers from sitting on your derrière all day - well some do but that's another story.
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01.09.2015
I receive an email from the owner's friend / colleague containing the following extracts ...
I hope you're well, thanks for agreeing to have a look and casting your elgrand opinion on the work thats needed on the whip.
The van was meant to go around Europe in each major city.
It was going to be advertising for clothing label, but at the last minute they pulled the plug....
I really can't see what there problem was !!!!!!
Haha its so lucky the project didn't happen as you cant drive the van over any speed bumps !!
So we would of struggled just to get out of bloody London.
Anyway the long and the short of this is, he got to keep the van (lucky boy)
The clothing company had <a company> doing all the work on the van, but once they had decided the project wasn't going to happen, they stopped paying <the company> just before they'd finished,so as a result the finish on the van is not very good.
Do you know anyone you could recommend for either of those ?
I was thinking its probably going to be best to try and buy a original body kit and start from scratch.
What do you think?
<G> said your based up in the midlands, were about's are you ? i'm from Leicester.
If you wanted to come & check the van out and or take some photos your more than welcome dude.
Any help or thoughts are and will be greatly appreciated
So at this point I'm pretty excited to be involved in just recommending someone in the hope that in the future I'll get a photo of my Elgrand alongside it. I recommend a few places, give my advice on how the various problems need to be tackled, and leave it at that.
I get a thanks for your help type email but don't hear any more - i assume things are progressing elsewhere or are on hold for a while and to be honest forget all about it.
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Love what you've done with your two existing rides so looking forward to this. Luckily I kno nuffin and no-one so there's no chance of me blabbing!
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02.03.2016
6 months on from original email and 8 months on from the original spotting, Out of the blue (or should I say mint green) I receive an email that goes something like this (the names have been changed to protect the innocent) ...
How do Phil I hope all is well !
I'm so sorry i've never got back to you to let you know the out come of the green machine.
The reason being is that sadly its just sat outside of my house going rusty for the past 5 months !!
<G> the artist who's van it is has just been so hectic with other projects that the vans just taken a sideline ( a non moving sideline)
Anyway the reason i'm writing to you is to see if you would/could possibly be interested in taking on the project yourself ?
Me and <G> have always admired your skills & eye for detail, and looking at your insta it doesn't seem like you've got a wheel based project on at the mo.
Obviously theres a budget he's thinking around * grand
Would be something that interested you ?
No worries if not dude, it was just a thought.
I had to read that email a few times, due to budget restraints modifying my Elgrand has taken a back seat of late and here I was being offered the chance to modify (or at least organise the modification of) another van in a style I love with obviously some recompense for my efforts.
A few messages and phone calls later takes me up to ...
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20.03.2016 Starts off with me on a train platform, with a massive back of tools for all eventualities and a fellow car fwiend whose come along for the adventure.  Trains of the day ... Hednesford -> Birmingham Birmingham -> London Euston Euston Underground -> London Bridge London Bridge -> New Cross Gate  We get to see the van at about 3pm and despite its weak points the overall look is fantastic, bonkers yes but fantastic all the same, following a fast paced chat about ideas / visions / concepts we head off with a plan to get out of London before dusk. First stop petrol station to fill up and top up air in the "been sitting for 6 months" tyres. Petrol was the easy part, unfortunately the trick wheels that were fitted have their valves hidden behind one of the spokes - nice and clean look but PITA when the tyre pumps at petrol stations aren't flexible enough to get around the spoke!! We try a few, all the same, we'll just have to risk it, in the meantime driving around the south and west outskirts of London was hilarious and the looks unbelievable - I thought my usual odd choice of vehicle attracted attention but this was something else! It's not surprising when this is on the roof ...  Thanks to London traffic it gets dark before we've even made it off the M4 onto M40. Well it's dark before we get on the slip road of the M40 and it's very dark by the time we actually get off the slip road and onto the M40. The reason being that the rumble strips on the bend of the slip road aren't rumble strips at all - they're the back near side tyre making a break for freedom. We make it onto hard shoulder, we find a jacking point behind the silly body kit add-ons, we manage to rip off the rear bumper appendage so that we can free the trapped spare from under the van, and we manage to get back going again without having to explain to any highways agency traffic officer why we've parked a transformer on the hard shoulder of a busy motorway. At this point I'm wondering why these silly projects attract me so much and why I don't enjoy sitting on the sofa watching football, decorating, mowing lawns and doing predictable hobbies. We buy a foot pump at a service station, we couldn't find a hand held automatic one so I need to add that to my transportable bag of tools, check and top up all pressures and slowly head back to Hednesford with pure fear of the unknown -get another burst tyre and we really would be stuck. The closer we get to home we start listing contacts in the areas we pass through who would have spare 5x114 wheels. Luckily we make it back, two hours later than the sat nav said when we headed back and probably four hours later than initially planned. But we made it back alive and it's a tale to tell, which is partly the reason I want to tell it even if nobody is reading! I park the van outside the body shop who does my work so it's ready for me to head over the next day and I head home, arriving back pretty much at midnight. |
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21.03.2016 Text from body shop ... Morning dude. Got to ask is this elgrand parked up out side something to do with you ? My reputation precedes me  It's become something of a local attraction, i discuss options later on, plough my Acty into the bins outside the body shop and head off. The same evening I price up parts needed and other aspects of the build and send my estimates over to the owner and his mate. The budget has doubled and we still get the green light but boy this is going to be good!  |
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25.03.2016 I try one of the add-on wings for size against my Acty....  Photo of the bumper add on that we had to rip off on the m40 slip road, the wings we'd brought back on the back seats ...  I fracture my ankle in three places simply by turning around and falling at the same time, hours later I receive the first lot of funds to go Japanese part shopping which is good timing seeing as I've got sod all else to do. (Apart from come up with big plans for my "daily and definitely not a project" Acty - see my other thread) |
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02.04.2016
The few Japanese auctions rather than "buy it nows" have finished which we won and rest of cash to pay those off and body shop deposit has all arrived so now it's a case of sitting back and waiting for parts to arrive and body shop progress.
More to follow as it comes...
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This has got win plastered all over it!
I would probably never buy one but I love those crazy vans.
Can't wait to see more.
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The Millenium Volcon"Get yourself a Volvo if that's what you really want, you might be dead next year. In the meantime, you could be going sideways in a gigantic land barge."
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MaxN
Part of things
Posts: 482
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This can only end awesomely
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oh I know what this is now haha my oh my this is going to be sweet
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I've got a photo of this saved on my computer  Can't wait to see how it turns out! |
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1988 Ford Fiesta Popular Plus Daily
1978 Triumph Spitfire Project
2002 Nissan Almera Tino Budget Build!
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I've got a photo of this saved on my computer Can't wait to see how it turns out! Nor can i - main thing is that I meet the owner's expectations which I'm sure it will as he's expressed himself well in his passionate suggestions. |
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This continues to be one of the places I obsessively keep looking in.
Get well soo is very clichéd but is what I mean.
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A few updates in the order I've received them rather than when they've happened ... Orders arriving in at the Japanese warehouse from the various yahoo auctions sellers -  The worst parts (custom front bumper and grill) now stripped off along with headlights -  What was left of the rear bumper removed too -  Copper metal flake, samples to follow next week -  Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk |
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Curtis
Part of things
Posts: 622
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Eeeeeee can't wait for this big reveal! I saw the photos on fb (hush hush), can't wait to see what it looks like after you've had your play.
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Driving:
Shitbox Honda S-MX |
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This continues to be one of the places I obsessively keep looking in. Get well soo is very clichéd but is what I mean. Cheers grizz luckily I'm just project managing this build so I should be back on my feet around the same time as the bodywork on this is all finished ready to take it to other companies to complete the other aspects. |
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I hope the image I have in my head is as awesome as it'll look.!
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Can't wait to see how it turns out!
