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Lulu DIY build thread ........ The unconventional way !

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  • #31
    How about " Hi! My names Dick. .....do you like it?"

    Makes more sense of you say it in Terry Thomas's voice.
    And if you don't know who he is then your too young.
    Me cago en la madre que te pariĆ³!

    Comment


    • #32
      Originally posted by ricrhys View Post

      (Ric, Rick, Rich, Ricky and Richie all fine by me, and if your cross with me for some reason Richard tends to get my attention)

      Cheers 'Rich' sorry about that, but I tend to call people by shortened versions of their names or just nick-names ....... as I have a very poor memory of their real

      names !

      Originally posted by arfur fox-acre View Post
      How about " Hi! My names Dick. .....do you like it?"

      Makes more sense of you say it in Terry Thomas's voice.
      And if you don't know who he is then your too young.
      ........ Terry Thomas - Yes, very funny man. He was in one of the best movie's I think was ever made. 'Don't look now - we're being shot at' !






      TURK
      Yeah, baby ! ........ new Multivan 151bhp AHY 'BigBlue' ; ) >> http://www.vwt4forum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=1023689
      And ......... Lulu, T4 2.5 TDi short nose 126bhp > http://www.vwt4forum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=276554
      The T4 Quad Headlight Project > http://www.vwt4forum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=249064

      Comment


      • #33
        He only had to say "Hello" and I was in stitches.

        Real life Dick Dastardly, for the younger members.
        Me cago en la madre que te pariĆ³!

        Comment


        • #34
          'Dick Dastardly' ? .......................

          I doubt that even the younger members would remember Dick Dastardly !

          70's cartoon I can hear Muttley laughing right now





          TURK
          Yeah, baby ! ........ new Multivan 151bhp AHY 'BigBlue' ; ) >> http://www.vwt4forum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=1023689
          And ......... Lulu, T4 2.5 TDi short nose 126bhp > http://www.vwt4forum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=276554
          The T4 Quad Headlight Project > http://www.vwt4forum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=249064

          Comment


          • #35
            Originally posted by TURK View Post

            ........ Terry Thomas - Yes, very funny man. He was in one of the best movie's I think was ever made. 'Don't look now - we're being shot at' ! [ATTACH=CONFIG]3271[/ATTACH]
            TURK
            Not seen that one but School for Scoundrels is one of my all time favourites (not to mention Monte Carlo or bust!)

            Ding dong.

            Comment


            • #36
              Cracking thread especially when I'm still trying to work out my layout. Spent more time under it at min as rear trail arm mount was rotten as a pear. I'll do a thread on it at some point as only just found this app

              Sent from my SM-G930F using Just T4s

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              • #37
                Monte Carlo or bust. ......now you talking
                Me cago en la madre que te pariĆ³!

                Comment


                • #38
                  Hi folks,


                  Today we'll continue with the way I spray painted my cab interior using PlastiKote. Earlier in this thread I happen to mention that the whole process was done some 5 years ago ......... As I was looking through my photo album on my server, I realised that I actually did this entire job back in 2010 ........ almost 7 years ago ! where does the time go !?

                  Anyway .......

                  We all know just how boring looking the OE interior is on the T4, unless you have a MultiVan that is ! So this is how my 'Lulu' started life >>




                  And the same dull boring grey on the door cards. You'll also notice that the passenger side doesn't come with a door pocket >>




                  As the drivers side only comes with a basic door pocket, without the speaker inserts ....... I bought myself a pair of very nice door pockets with which I could install some decent speakers. I also had to buy the 'speaker baskets' to mount into the doors, those are as rare as hens teeth now ! I would highly recommend stuffing loads of wool or foam inside them as that will have the effect of a buffer and will stop vibrations, giving your speakers more base >>




                  You'll have to modify your door card slightly to allow the 'speaker basket' to be secured to your door >>




                  Don't look too shabby does it !? ........ there's one big problem though, I need to keep to my plan of a complete black interior, and those door pockets are only available with grey upholstery ! Never mind I thought, I can always do something about that. Read on for the farce that ensued ! >>




                  Now that everything fits, it's time to take everything apart and begin cleaning stuff >>




                  As my dashboard turned out so well, I would follow the exact same procedure. Degreasing with sugar-soap, rinsing with clean water, over and over again until I was sure that free of grease and grime >>




                  After priming the entire surface I applied a few coats of matt black Plastikote, then gently rubbed them down with a scourer >>




                  After cleaning those up I applied a couple more coats of paint, and this is the kind of finish you get ...... quite happy with >>




                  I then turned my attention to my brand new door pockets, at first this looked very easy, just pulling the upholstery up in the corner was surprisingly easy ! ........ Boy was I in for a surprise ! >>




                  Ladies and gents, this had now turned into a farce !!! ........ about two hours after taking that picture above, I had only managed to remove a couple more square inches of upholstery At this point I was thinking to myself, why did I even begin doing this ....... my brand new door pockets ( Ā£84.00 a pair ! ) were now F@#K'ed !>>




                  Not one for giving up, I must of tried just about every conceivable tool I owned, then it dawned on me ....... why not try to soften or break-down the glue !? So I gave white spirit a go ...... now the upholstery is more like glass fibre ! >>




                  After spending hours trying various other products, I decided to use Methylated Spirits, and bingo ! ......... This was working, it wasn't damaging the plastic but I had to use a scrapper to help it along, but this was taking an awful lot of time >>




                  It took me the rest of the day just to do one ! >>




                  So just before packing up for the day, I decided to soak the other door pocket in a plastic container submerging the upholstery. The following day, removing the upholstery was just like skinning an eel ! The moral of the story folks, if you need to do this ....... Meths is the way to go >>




                  In fact, I got it so slick, I had to sand it down a bit to give my new black upholstery something to adhere to >>




                  Door pockets prepped like all my other plastics, I was back in my garden 'spray booth' >>




                  They say that practise makes perfect ....... I was now really getting the hang of this spraying lark >>




                  After waiting a few days for the Plastikote to 'cure', I could now move onto replacing the upholstery with black stuff. I decided not to use carpet here, firstly you can't get ( or couldn't at the time ) pure black stretch carpet from MVM. So I had bought some acoustic material. It's basically much thinner than carpet but much thicker than regular material, this stuff I thought would be ideal as it needs to be pushed into the crevices to give a nice edged finish >>




                  Once the edges had been trimmed off things were beginning to take shape, and all was well with the world again ! >>






                  I don't particularly like the look of the obvious DIY job, a good job to me has to be the OEM look or nothing else. So I was very happy with the way they turned out, even though at the very start I had my doubts.






                  TURK
                  Yeah, baby ! ........ new Multivan 151bhp AHY 'BigBlue' ; ) >> http://www.vwt4forum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=1023689
                  And ......... Lulu, T4 2.5 TDi short nose 126bhp > http://www.vwt4forum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=276554
                  The T4 Quad Headlight Project > http://www.vwt4forum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=249064

                  Comment


                  • #39
                    Moving swiftly on ......... I still had various bits and pieces to spray.


                    Various trims, door pull handles and the fuse box cover >>




                    Glove box ...... I even took the time to line the glove box with some acoustic cloth >>




                    The glove box lid wasn't as straight forward as I'd hoped unfortunately. I know I could of taken the cowboys way out and simply masked the lock off, but it's always noticeable, so I had to take the lock off. In order to suss out how to dismantle something you first have to work out how it was assembled ........ At first it's not noticeable, but there's a very small shim that keeps the lock assembly in place, from there, it's easy ! >>




                    Once the shim is removed, the lock just pulls out. Then you're free to spray the glove box lid >>




                    I still had a few things to do before reinstalling my dashboard, namely, my Subaru Impreza style gauge pod. So with my trusty Dremel I began to modify the gauge pod to fit in the dashboard' troth. And work out it's final position >>




                    I also spray painted that so it would blend in with the dashboard. I also added a strip of U channel rubber on the edge to give a nice clean edge >>




                    Now that's ready to be installed. The 'Stack' gauges you see there don't actually come with the gauge shields ........ they were a nightmare to get hold of ! >>






                    Next time we'll turn our attention to some electrics





                    TURK
                    Yeah, baby ! ........ new Multivan 151bhp AHY 'BigBlue' ; ) >> http://www.vwt4forum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=1023689
                    And ......... Lulu, T4 2.5 TDi short nose 126bhp > http://www.vwt4forum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=276554
                    The T4 Quad Headlight Project > http://www.vwt4forum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=249064

                    Comment


                    • #40
                      Morning .......... actually, I haven't been to bed yet !


                      Some real cool stuff coming up guys ! ........ remember, van conversions are not a 'chore', it's an enjoyable hobby !



                      While my doors were apart and my paint was curing, I busied myself with some electronics. I did say I like my gizmo's. So I decided I wanted some cool blue LED's inside my door pulls. As my entire cab including my doors are entirely matt black, in the dead of night your passengers tend to feel around for the door pull ....... not knowing where it is ! The obvious solution is to install some LED's in the actual door pulls. At this point I may as well mention that I didn't want to attempt in spraying the old grey door pulls, they're far too complicated and too many moving parts in them. It's far simpler to buy black door pulls. No sooner had they arrived, I set about drilling some 6mm holes in them to install a cool blue LED >>




                      For electronics projects I find an old computer supply ideal for testing circuits, as they have 5v and 12v rails. This test shows just how effective a simply mod like this can be >>




                      No more fumbling around in the dead of night for the door handle ! >>




                      Why stop there ? ......... While my door cards are off, I may as well add a couple of red flashing LED's wired into my 'alarm' system >>




                      Very effective at night, if some rogue happens to be sniffing about he'll look into your van ( usually drivers side ) and right in his face he'll see the flashing red LED ........ a deterant is far better than nothing at all ! It's wired into the the vans 12v ignition switched circuit. So when you turn your engine off and pull the key out, it activates ........ simples >>




                      Now that everything is just about ready, it's time to wire everything in and reinstall your door cards >>




                      Reinstall your speakers >>




                      And voila ! ........ One completed interior door 'a la OEM' >>




                      And I wasn't finished ! ........ at a later date I made and installed a 'door open warning' system, I'll show you how to make one of those if anybody's interested >>




                      And to finish off, how has the plastikote spray held up for these past 7 years ? ......... see for yourselves, I took this picture last week and it's still as it was the day I did it >>






                      Don't just wish you had a nice van interior like someone else ....... give it a go, it's fun, not expensive and when it's completed you'll be glad you did it.






                      TURK
                      Yeah, baby ! ........ new Multivan 151bhp AHY 'BigBlue' ; ) >> http://www.vwt4forum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=1023689
                      And ......... Lulu, T4 2.5 TDi short nose 126bhp > http://www.vwt4forum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=276554
                      The T4 Quad Headlight Project > http://www.vwt4forum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=249064

                      Comment


                      • #41
                        Turk what primer is it that you use? Do you need any sort of adhesion promoter?


                        Sent from my iPhone using Just T4s

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                        • #42
                          The primer is the adhesion promoter Jonny.

                          When researching which plastic paints to use on my project, I had read that movie prop makers tended to use a Halfords brand or the Plasti-Kote products. Many of whom were complaining that the Plasti-Kote was thicker to spray ........ that's the whole point I thought. So with cheaper paints you would assume that you're saving money - more cans of spray paint for your money ! but in comparison you get more coverage with with less Plasti-Kote. Then I read that a few people had got excellent results whereby they used Plasti-Kote to spray their plastic garden furniture, a spray paint that' ideal for flexible plastic, withholds outdoor weather conditions and is UV resistant ........ that's the paint for me I thought !


                          I tend to use their 'Super' range of products, Matt 'Super' black and their own Plastics Primer. Specially formulated for plastics >>




                          I'm no expert when it comes to spray painting, but I think some people have issues ( paint cracking or wrinkling ) is because they simply rush the job. Spray dashboard in the morning and refit in the afternoon ! My method is two liberal coats of Primer ( waiting about 10 - 15 minutes between both coats ), wait about 1 hour before applying the first 'mist' of Matt Super black ( you must allow the solvents of the previous paints to evaporate). Then about 6 - 8 light coats of Matt black, again, waiting between coats, the entire process must be done within 4 hours as the paint will begin to 'cure'. And to finish off ........ let plastics cure for a couple of days in a warm environment. Then you can reinstall all the plastic trims and dashboard in your van. As the paint has had a couple of days to 'cure' ( harden ) My entire process took a few weeks.

                          Do it right ....... do it once !




                          TURK
                          Yeah, baby ! ........ new Multivan 151bhp AHY 'BigBlue' ; ) >> http://www.vwt4forum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=1023689
                          And ......... Lulu, T4 2.5 TDi short nose 126bhp > http://www.vwt4forum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=276554
                          The T4 Quad Headlight Project > http://www.vwt4forum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=249064

                          Comment


                          • #43
                            Hi all,


                            Just looking through some of my photos of Lulu, I realise I never showed how I installed my fog lights. So if anyone is interested, here's how I did mine and more importantly, what I used.


                            Originally when I first bought Lulu she came with some fog lights ( yeah, right ...... fog lights ! ), they were next to useless, the eBay types ....... you know the ones, the ones that fill up with water. I used to call em gold fish bowls




                            So I bought myself what I considered to be the best fog lights on the market, Hella MicroDE's.


                            I kept the old eBay trim from the old fog lights as those fitted nicely in the space provided. Notice the narrow horizontal lines on the lenses, it's that that gives a fog light a very wide low beam which is very effective in foggy conditions >>







                            The fog light units themselves were a bit of a bugger to install though, as the mounting points for them are on the sides, and the mounting points on the trim were at the top and bottom. Typical ! >>







                            A bit of ingenuity was required ................... a piece of PVC pipe seemed to be the answer, and it actually works very well. I can still adjust the fog light units up-down and side-to side T: >>







                            When the fog lights are installed and adjusted correctly, they look as thought they belong >>







                            To power them up I chose not to go through the my vans existing fog light connections in the fuse box. I wired mine totally independently through my auxiliary fusebox which also houses relays and fuses. Not actually shown in this picture, but my fog light relay is on the bottom row, and I've also got my dual horn connected next to it on the bottom row. The entire top row of relays and fuses are for my headlights >>







                            My auxiliary fuse box is powered directly from the battery via an 80amp strip fuse ( the other one just above it is amped at 100 amps is for my heavy duty split charge system ) >>







                            My fog lights are switched independent of any other lights, so I can turn them on and off should I need them. And I tend to use red LED switches to warn me if they're ON. The blue LED's are my Digital volt meters, one for my leisure battery and the other my starter battery >>







                            Job done ................. I just hope I don't have to use them too often, but at least now I have some >>









                            If you're considering whether you should have fog lights, or even if you think you don't need them, think again ............... if you want to see properly in bad weather conditions, I would highly recommend getting some decent fog lights T:






                            TURK
                            Last edited by TURK; 5 October 2017, 09:46 PM.
                            Yeah, baby ! ........ new Multivan 151bhp AHY 'BigBlue' ; ) >> http://www.vwt4forum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=1023689
                            And ......... Lulu, T4 2.5 TDi short nose 126bhp > http://www.vwt4forum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=276554
                            The T4 Quad Headlight Project > http://www.vwt4forum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=249064

                            Comment


                            • #44
                              Thats awesome dude! Really tidy work! Good job [emoji1303]


                              Sent from my iPhone using Just T4s

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                              • #45
                                Cracking thread!!


                                Sent from my iPhone using Just T4s
                                Slowly slowly catchy monkey!

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