The Caveman Chronicles

[TommyP]

So I figured I better start a build thread for at least one of them....

I already had the camper at this point and figured I’d had enough from the engine management light of modern diesel vans so I flogged the Citroen relay and after weeks of searching through fuck knows how many turds and wrecks,I was drawn back to the first one I had seen advertised but discounted due to it having a sluggish 2.4d under the bonnet but with a genuine 135k on the clock. It was a metal fabricators van for years and years before the guy I got it off had it:

I went to look knowing at worst I could slap a turbo on it. Plenty of corrective paste and shitty paint matches but it drove great (as well as 74bhp can) and was structurally solid so i bought it for £2000 which was a bag of sand off the asking price and it was back on the drive that day from Yorkshire to Leicester:

More will follow in drive and drabs. I’ll just search through my photos and narrate what I’ve done from my phones album.


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[Hans]

Can't wait.........

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[arfur fox-acre]

Thank fool for that. A new build thread. Keep it coming please.

[S49]

Keep it coming Tommy, another build thread about to over take mine.

[TommyP]

I polished her up, slapped a bra on her and put her straight into work.

I then settled on some 17” fat fives

Which I went on to have done in gloss black by a mate as I didn’t have time to do them myself (this will become a theme with this van)

More of it on site

After searching for ages and coming up with fuck all. When I was fairly new to this forum I discovered Frenchy, he had a roof rack off his van from when he used it for his work and that’s how I got to know him. He also gave me lots of info on the turbo conversion and showed me under the bonnet of his. Very helpful to poke and prod around as I had started collecting the parts to do mine.


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[TommyP]

This failed on the A14 about 70 miles from home:

I threw the belt in the cab and just carried on home calling around for parts on my way. I picked this up when I got back

I also did the power steering pump at the same time as it was noisy. New belt and sorted.


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[TommyP]

Her first winter with me came (2018) and she was a bitch to start. I investigated and found a completely fudged glow plug system.

Not got the pics but 2 plugs weren’t connected and the fuses on the inner wing were gone and the cables bolted together!!!

I got another fuse box of the Bay of e for £15 and swapped that in, swapped all 5 plugs which was a tad fiddly but perfectly doable with a bit of time, fitted a inner wing fuse holder and a cheap shit relay. The relay didn’t last long so I got a genuine Bosch one from the dealer round the corner from me and it’s been perfect ever since.


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[TommyP]

I’d already been gathering there bits together for three turbo conversion and as I need it on the road every day without any downtime, I started fitting the bits that could be before I started pulling manifolds etc and got to the point of no return.

I used a Golf mk4 lower bumper grill for the intercooler air and cut it out with a jigsaw using a special laminate blade as they’re fairly fine toothed and have flat blades so they cut with the upward and downward strokes. I use them on sit for cutting sanitary plastic sheeting so they work perfectly. They’re also super thin so great for corners.


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[TommyP]

Got the inlet off with my trusty snap on flexi head 3/8

Jez/Frenchy joined me on the day I was finishing up the turbo conversion as he’s a good egg.



This oil catch can off eBay is shit btw

All done

Pump was retarded on the Dti:

I belted it round to +1.05 to see how it was:

It ran great but still needed cold start on chilly mornings. I think I may have knocked the pump back to +0.95 on regs advise some time after this.

Activ found some Bosch recon injectors which I fitted:




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[TommyP]

I run 15/16 psi boost and have pretty much since the conversion which was spring 2018 iirc. Like Jez and some others, I get an annoying tapping noise when at full boost, let off and it stops. It’s also worse in the warm weather. Doesn’t really do it in the winter and never when it’s first started/driven from cold. Just when it gets warm and it’s warm/hot out.

I cane the living shit out of it sometimes and it’s never got worse in the 35k since turboing it.


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[TommyP]

Ignition switch issues sorted quickly

I use a ph2 drill bit and a tiny spanner to turn it to get these out. Piece of piss.


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[TommyP]

Front brakes needed doing and due to the towing and general heavy ass nature of my van and kit, I went for 300mm vented:

Drilled the guns out from 16mm to 18mm.

A lick of Foliac caliper paint and they’ve been great.


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[Hans]

Great write. How did u fix the intercooler?

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[TommyP]

Great write. How did u fix the intercooler?

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With 25 or 30 mm angle iron into the engine face of the front crossmember. There’s a slight lip on it but the angle secured just above it so it sits nice and flat and strong.

I used self drilling hex head screws into the crossmember. 3 no stainless M8 bolts into the top of the intercooler in the captive nuts on the top.


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[Hans]

Thank's mate. Looking to fit a land rover oil cooler ( almost same shape as yours)

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