Dez' 'fleet' thread. Another bl00dy transit!

It is. If you go back to page 1 there’s a link (I think) to it’s thread.

How much are alloys worth currently? I have a 15" set with zero desirability/value for a Mini that might be worth weighing in.

Thanks very much. I'll have the tyres taken off and weigh them in. Somebody might even want a set of budget tyres cheap as well

Speaking of other things, I’d just stuck the Skoda round the side of the workshop and forgotten about it until the v5 appeared.

In that time the MOT had expired, so I now had to sort the last bits and bobs to make it testable.

Previous list from a few pages back with amendments

1.-dislocating front chopped springs.
2. balljoint.
3. Rear tyres shagged out.
4. wheel flat spot.
5. Rear exhaust.
6. Fan wiring/switch.
7. Front crossmember. (Not mot fail)
8. Stereo on permanently.
9. Drivers speaker grille missing. (Not mot fail)
10. seats.
11. No v5.
12. No rear springs.
13. Bit of grot on rear shock turrets. (Not mot fail)
14. Drivers window falls off the runners.
15. Gear linkage very sloppy.
16. Damaged rear brake pipe.
17. Intermittent misfire.

So the next major issue is them rear springs, or lack thereof.
I did some reading up on this and people ‘recommend’ fitting various lowering springs from different vehicles, mostly mk4 golfs or Octavias. That’s great if you want it low but never plan on putting anything in the back. I want it low but still with a fairly stiff spring rate.
So I bought some stock springs, from those efficient Czech chaps again-


Would have cost me £68 in the uk, bought from the Skoda-diely people for £48 delivered and they turned up in less than a week.

The other this I bought is a second hand pair of these-

They’re ‘drop plates’ from the back of m1 golf, caddy, etc. they just act as a stepper for the bolt-on spindles, and give 80mm of drop.

Some parts number bashing says the Felicia rear spindles are the same as mk1 golf and caddy, so these should bolt straight up. I guess I’ll find out the hard way if they don’t!

They’re fairly hefty 10mm plate, which will actually work in my favour a little as the truck currently has 5mm spacers for the rear wheels to clear the shocks. With these on I can ditch the spacers and they’ll only sit 5mm wider.


I imagine I’ll still have to chop the stock springs after fitting these to get the desired ride height, but that will give a further spring rate increase so I’m not complaining. Just need some ramp time to try it all now.

With the annual season of compulsory festiveness completed, I’ve been threatening to put a MOT on that Skoda.

So first I had to chuck all the insides er, back inside.
This involves cutting down the ‘new’ rear carpet using the manky old one as a pattern.


The old one is obviously just a car one cut down and bent to shape, but there’s nothing to indicate it’s ever been swapped, so that could well be how they did them from factory. Note how they’re cut different around the handbrake if the car has a centre console. The front section is cut differently over the tunnel too to allow it to bolt down.

I peeled the insulation off the back of the old one and fitted that as well as the new set, so I have double insulation to hopefully make it a bit quieter. It made it a bit harder getting the carpet back in but with some knocking it into the corners, it fits.

Speaking of centre consoles, that all got fitted up and bolted down too. As well as the console the handbrake cover and gearstick boot are different too so it pays to be breaking a car to make sure you get everything. You even need a fitting to go into the square hole on the floor to screw it down.


The carpet is not mint but is 100x better than what was in there, and mostly importantly doesn’t smell of 25 years worth of builders cheesy sweaty arsecrack.



Just a couple more trims to go on then thats done. I fitted the door seals off the donor too as they were cleaner and not damaged.

Lastly I painted the seat brackets I made ready for the seats to go back in.




Drying times are not great at this time of year, but hopefully I can get them back in tomorrow.

I still struggle to see a "system" in that bunch of holes.

Really curious to see these "swiss cheese slices" mounted.

Glad to see an update - this is actually my favourite fleet vehicle of yours (and yes, I accept that I'm odd).

The next round of stuff on the bed.

I cut the big sheets of checkerplate down to width and chucked them in place to get a feel of how it will look.
I’m happy with how they work, but they can’t be attached yet as the bed needs sandblasting. It gets it clear in my head how certain bits will operate though.



With all the fundamentals in place, it was time to do some tarty bits.
I drew these up on the fly they banged em out in 2mm. I’d been experimenting with edge swaging on the trumpf and wanted to try it out on something. They do have a little bit of function to them in that they brace the lower rail under the lights whilst reconciling where everything meets in that corner, but otherwise they’re just to look good.



But mostly I did them like that as there wasn’t much room for any ‘flair’ on the bed without reducing functionality, so I had to get some in somewhere!

Next thing I did was make up the ramps as I need to figure out storage for them.

These are an experiment in just how little I can get away with. The box they’re made of is quite small and thin wall. I think it’s 80x40x1.2 from memory.
I calculated that when skinned with the leftover checker plate they’re the same weight as a set of ally ones, but thinner and with a longer taper.
They’re also 10ft long to give me a super low entry angle.



The lower tapers are plated in with 2.5mm thick strap, as this will potentially be a ‘wearing’ part when dragging them around.



Next I need to make them hang off the back of the bed. There’s lots of complicated ways of doing this, but the simplest and best solution to me is always Angle into angle hook channels. They’re easily adjustable for width and angle, and if they get bashed are easy to straighten.

Something like this-


One bit of angle welded to the end of the ramp, to hook into another bit welded to the end of the bed.
That doesn’t mean I can’t tart them up a bit though.


Some added lightness and the corners rounded to bring em up a bit. Note the outer end is deliberately left open so they can be swept out.

Then, there’s some big infill plates to go at the back for the light mounting. These sit recessed and weld onto the corner braces above too, properly stiffening up the lower corners, because if anything gets bashed, it’ll be those.





You can see my plan is to have the centre section hinged and the ramps slide in behind, but I’ve not quite finished headscratching on that just yet. I’m kinda 90% there but I want it to be slick and also secure.

Apart from that, flipping the bed upside down and finish welding some bits, and the rear arch mounts, the bed is about ready to sandblast and paint.
There’s major work going on elsewhere first though.

Great work as usual. Are you going to fit a piece of angle in the centre section too so you can use a ramp there as well? I know the bed is open down the middle, but you can always use a bit of ply to accommodate for transporting something narrow like, say, a sit-on lawnmower.