1980 VW T3 Double Kab

any more news on this mate? quite like vdubs especially with a porka or scubbie engine in one

So I've been thinking about the interior a lot and what I want to do with it so thought I'd make a start..... No I haven't done any more to the outside but I don't like to work in a logical order

First thing was to take the rear seat frame out.



It was bolted through the floor, which means the side with the door is easy but the other side, on your own isn't

RR ingenuity



Remember this? Well it was glued, screwed and masticced in, what a PITA to get out



But out it came, carpet and wooden floor up and it doesn't look too bad



Bit of wire brushing bought this out, but overall I'm pretty pleased with the condition of it





Couple more weeks till I'm home again but more to follow then.

So, another small update. I finally kicked the Peugeot out of the garage. It ran, promptly overheated and I suspect it has a blown headgasket Which was what prompted its rebuild in the first place!!



its now gone to the garage with instuctions to give it back when its fixed

So, I set to the van with various methods of rust removal...

The screwdriver!



And the angle grinder with abrasive pad!



Its all a bit scary! Then I got sick of breathing in dust so locked the garage up and took the Escort down to the 8 Ball opening night in the lashing rain! I'll get back in there next weekend

its so good to see this getting some love ...
i know this truck pretty well ,a good friend of mine owned it for a while .
i went with him, to buy it from a guy in clavering ,i remember it running out of fuel on the test drive and had a dead battery as well ,we had to leave it stranded on a blind bend whilst we walked a mile or so back into clavering to get help.not the best of adverts for a car for sale but we bought it anyway.
he fitted the gti interior as well as the dubious speaker install lol.
it also had a oak bed as well but this warped and i guess was removed and the alloy fitted.
funnily he was also plagued with the cutting out problem ,it used to lose power and not rev over 3k eventually cutting out completely ,if you then left it for a while it would restart and be good as gold for a random amount of time before doing it again.
he tried changing most of the injection system ,ecu etc but never could track the fault down.
unfortunately my mate passed away pretty young (R.I.P Carl) and his widow sold the truck on.
i still work with Carls brother Bill every day, so will tell him its getting the resto it deserves.

some pics of it along with my single cab and bills panel .

Blimey, been a while but between dropping the engine on the Escort, keeping trying to get the 205 running and life, this has taken a bit of a backseat But, I want to take it to the Gathering next year so I need to get on with it. I did some more rust removal



drilled out the welds on the locker door stop,



Oh dear





Then decided to slice a hole to connect up the holes



We're here now, with me looking at it, and repair panels thinking where the hell I go next!





I've made a few decisions on stuff, but you'll just have to see how it pans out

I have always loved the dokas, nice to see one done properly. I am off to check one out my self.
They are so useful 5 seat and a bed.
keep the welder on and i am courios how the scoobi conversion i coming on.
bookmarked this one

Well, thanks for the vote of confidence mate! hopefully it'll turn out OK Scooby conversion will be a bit down the line I think, although the more I look at what needs doing the more I think a full stripdown might be in order Hopefully it won't take as long as the 205 has

I have the week off, so after having a bit of a clear up, I started inearnest on the van! First thing though was to build a metal folder using Tony BMW's plans over on the "making panels" thread!



Had a few issues but I'm well happy with the result, and I got the chance to warm up the welder without worrying too much about the welding Not pretty but more than capable of doing the job

I've been running the grinder round the bottom of the B post, not to mention spending a lot of time staring at it! I looked all over the net to see what the jacking point looks like, but no joy. In the end I swallowed (Gulped) and bought a new chassis rail. Now this might seem a bit excessive, but I spent so long prevaricating about it that in the end I just thought sod it! Here it is



I just need to have a look at the back end as I'm pretty sure it's nice a solid, which is good, it'll save me doing the rear suspension
I made a decision yesterday though that I would start at the front and work my way back. I'd already chopped the rusty front wheelarch out, had a new one (which went back as it was shocking) and got hold of a chopped one. I started to get it apart to see what sort of nick it was in.







One problem with buying chops! They tend to be just as rusty as what you already have Anyway, I stripped it down, gave it a tickle and decided that this was the ideal opportunity to get rid of the fuel filler (No, it won't run on air sadly I'll be fitting another!) Template, chopped a bit out, then did it again, fettled, welded and ground down. I'm actually pretty happy with it, I even got to use my new panel beating hammers to put in the curve!











Sadly, I'm not to happy with that bit so I may chop it out and take a piece from a rear wing I have. I'll look at it tomorrow and see how it looks with a fresh set of eyes. It's not welded in yet, just sitting there. Mojo booster ;D

Oh, and this arrived!!



No I haven't won the lottery, again, I'd just been dithering about, and then Machine Mart had a VAT free sale, so I saved a hefty chunk anyway. Makes my little Aldi one look a bit weeny



Oh, and that will be up for grabs if anyone's interested.

Good work Pete, keep cracking away mate and you'll have it done in no time. Last bit may not be true though you will have the satisfaction of knowing your not driving around in a rusty bucket full of wob ;D

Maybe it's 'cos I'm fairly new to it but there's nothing like a decent bit of DIY metal work for a sense of achievement IMO.

What you after for the little yellow comp? Apart from anything else my manual pumps are more than a bit tedious for the vans tyres.