Rosy the Red wReck

[TommyP]

We’ve all read that MDF is cheap and heavy and not really the best thing for a small van camper build so I looked for the lightweight stuff which everyone wants £130+ per 8x4 sheet and thought “fuck that”.

Thankfully the brother in law is the operations manager for a timber supplier and he spoke to his contact at James Lathams which is a massive UK timber supplier. There’s fuck all they don’t do. They offered a 15mm lightweight poplar furniture ply which was £40 a sheet and slightly lighter than the usual and highly expensive stuff. I’m guessing it’s the same as the camper conversion companies and the slight difference in weight is the laminate they stick on it along with £100 a sheet. Rip off merchants.

I started the interior fit out during the summer of 2018:

We put some thin vinyl on the face and I’m not happy with it so we’ll rip it off at some point and go for something else.

I used that knock in “T” trim for the edges. Just need a slot cutting bit in the router and a hammer. I got the camper/caravan push button latches and the tambour doors are generic ones of eBay. All of it was cheap really. I’m not one for spending more than I have to.

I can’t remember which one it was but I went for the Smev 3 burner corner hob as I didn’t fancy the all in one hob and sink convos that everyone else has and when you’ve got 3 kids, 2 burners just doesn’t cut it.


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[TommyP]

The shitty little 4 cylinder had always sounded rough but ran okay. The previous owners had got a nasty little boost gauge in it that read 14psi and it felt peppy for a little old diesel engine in a commercial vehicle. One of the tappets was noisy tho. You could tell when you had weight on but it drove well really until one day when the turbo suddenly sounded like it was routing itself a larger compressor housing. Only made the noise once but I figured it was in need of a little love. I considered the golf Tdi option but I just hate ECU’s so that wasn’t going to happen. I did think of going mTdi but had other stuff on with sorting Jono’s Scirocco so didn’t want to blow a load of time and money on the van. I pulled the head after I swapped the tappets and managed to break the head in the process. Twat.



I managed to find a golf gtd pump for the LDA lid for bargain money - £75 I think? The golf one comes with a more aggressive boost pin than the AAZ one so I was happy with that. Followed Regs bible on the pump mods, restrictor pin inside, Governor mod, re indexed throttle. New head and tappets on, intercooler, better gauges:

I couldn’t get it to fuel/boost up to 14psi again but it feels much stronger and pulls so cleanly now up through the Rev range even at 12psi. It does this weird thing where it starts and idles fine the after a mile or so the idle rises for a few more miles and when it’s warm the idle settles again. Reg gave me some different springs at VW Action to try in the residual fuel lever. I reconnected the fast idle for the cold start too, it hasn’t worked before and was locked off but I just fancied having it back. No reason other than that. It does sound and run so much better than it ever has for us but it’s still only a shitty little 4 pot. Having said that, I’m happy with it, I don’t tow and it will now sit at 80 loaded up any hill and down dale so I’m going to stick with it. As a camper it doesn’t need to be powerful or fast but it’s plenty good enough now. Having said that I do want a bigger turbo as the one that comes one ABL’s is laughable. Does a job tho. I’ll probably stick a golf vgt on it at some point. I’ll get the white one sorted first.

As a performance comparison, this one stays with the white one off the line and just slightly quicker initially as the white one tips the scales at 2.8 tonnes but then the white one reels it in and growls past it at about 50 or so.

I do miss the sound of the white one tho when I drive Rosy so I’m going to have fit a decent stereo and insulated the shit out of the vab so I don’t have to listen to the ABL lol.

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[TommyP]

At the start of lockdown I sent it to my mate as he’s a shit hot sprayer who’s had all sorts of customs in mags n shit but he’s as slow as. But if a running joke with how much tax he’s got left on them and all that. Anyway, he didn’t have any work at the start so I took it over to him in the middle of nowhere out past March. He’s been doing bits every now and then and is nearly ready to prime:

I need to crack the whip and get Jono to start refurbish the Audi 17”s for when it’s back. We got a bargain fiamma 4 bike rack for it and a tailgate spoiler. I’ll just have to tweak the spoiler a bit to get it to fit over the rack top clamps but that’ll be easy. Also got those newish led rear lights: I might leave them in the kitchen tho as the match the tiles quite nicely.


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[huskyman]

Hi. Tommy. Are you getting the roof done

[Jumbungla]

Great thread Tommy. It's like reading what the future is like for my van haha.



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[Activ8]

Seconded. Great thread TommyP & Jono you've both put a ton of work in. I didnt realise how much you've both done. Which was colour schemed first - kitchen or the van?

[TommyP]

Hi. Tommy. Are you getting the roof done

Pop top eventually so I’ve not gone far with the roof internally.


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[TommyP]

Seconded. Great thread TommyP & Jono you've both put a ton of work in. I didnt realise how much you've both done. Which was colour schemed first - kitchen or the van?

Yeah we’ve spent. Fair bit of time and even more money on it. You guys rarely see it I suppose but it was in a bit of a state when we got it to be fair.

Not sure how you mean about the kitchen but the unit finish is being changed because I absolutely hate it.


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[TommyP]

I’ll post more later but it’s balls deep into full respray prep. Keeping the same colour as her indoors has decreed it.


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[Activ8]

I meant the 3 strong colours on your kitchen tiles have been transferred to the camper. What paint brand did Jono use for the dash (couldnt read the cans in the pic) - really good job and strikingly different!

[TommyP]

I meant the 3 strong colours on your kitchen tiles have been transferred to the camper. What paint brand did Jono use for the dash (couldnt read the cans in the pic) - really good job and strikingly different!

Wilko spray! Tight bastard. I think the kitchen was first. I got harassed more about that but got my own back by making him grout it.


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[TommyP]

Wilko spray! Tight bastard. I think the kitchen was first. I got harassed more about that but got my own back by making him grout it.

The satisfaction you get from watching someone grout for the first time is on a par with a decent stand up gig. “It looks great now it’s been wiped.......why is it smearing again?” Over and over and over and over again. Fucking hilarious when the rage sets in

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[TommyP]

This app has a mind of its own.


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[huskyman]

Hi. Tommy. South Coast poptops done mine. All trimmed in grey smoke carpet plus strengthening frame. Lwb. £2200. Swb. £2000. All done in three days. Very. Good. And he knows his stuff. That is all he does.. Now the old bus has gone. Going to get one fitted on the new van. Later in the year

Good luck

[TommyP]

Did you put any bracing in for the tailgate hinges?

I missed this reply. No bracing. It seemed pretty thick when we put it in the door is solid. I used some penny/repair washers iirc.

I never read anything about anyone else putting bracing in at the time. The hinges lined up with some pressings in the body so I figured it was all good.


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