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T4 Petrol project

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  • T4 Petrol project

    My build thread got kicked off on the other forum a few years back, but I have up on that after all the hacks, thought I'd move it over here and maybe start updating again.

    To recap from April 2012:

    After years of wanting a van on and off, I was down at the beach this easter with mates who have a T4 and a T5 and decided it was about time!

    It was quite a hard hunt, I wanted a not-white LWB panel van, with barn doors and a single slider and spent ages on the classifieds and ebay. As I'll probably change the engine, I was happy to have a non-runner and didn't really care if it was petrol or diesel. After viewing a couple of overpriced sheds, I took a punt on eBay and won Vanessa, my factory black 2.5 petrol:

    Click image for larger version

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    Shes impressively tidy, never been a builders van - its a former 'private ambulance', which was owned by a market gardener after the funeral home and has got factory e/w, e/m and c/l. I'm the third owner and it has fsh up to 240k. Needs a bit of rust sorting around the screen and one one of the doors, but compared to the others I looked at is amazing.

    Currently shes running on 4 as one of the fuel injectors has fallen apart, although she still drives pretty well! While I'm hunting for a new injector I'll just fit LPG and see how it goes. Long term I may fit a TDI or a 1.8T, depends what comes up really!

    My planned list of mods is pretty standard:
    - clear indicators
    - eibachs/bilsteins
    - alloys
    - bed/storage
    - leisure battery/inverter/split charge/etc.

    First on the list is re-bushing the gear linkage, then tweaking the setup so I can get first without having to push the stick down, then giving the whole lot a going over with a polisher and compound.

  • #2
    Nice one, this has my interest.

    Comment


    • #3
      After a couple of weeks of nasty weather and lots of work, I finally got a chance to make some progress on the van

      This is how shes looking now, still needs a clean but I got the clear indicators on which transformed the look of the front end:

      Click image for larger version

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      This weekend I had a bit of a van mission, got LPG fitted - it starts fine and idles happily, but pinks above about 3000 rpm. Going to try changing the leads, cap and arm, then maybe fit cooler plugs.

      LPG mixer on the end of the throttle body, secured with grub screws and sealent:

      Click image for larger version

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      While I was waiting for the sealant to dry, I re bushed the gear linkages (see here: https://www.vwt4forum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=186449) did the short shift mod, then decided to pull the old ply floor out to see how bad it is underneath. Turned out there was only a couple of crusty bits that are going to need plating, all the rest is in surprisingly good condition considering one of the side windows leaks

      Gear links in progress:
      Click image for larger version

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      Last edited by d-9; 6 October 2019, 07:41 PM.

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      • #4
        Over the next 18 months, we did a fair bit to the van, not up to the standards of the show vans you see, but it was reliable and we were away in it at least twice a month

        The LPG issues were sorted after I got the van tweaked and signed off by a LPG fitter, it turns out the pinking was caused by the missing maf - the AET uses that to set the timing.

        Next up, we started using the van, with an airbed in the back and started thinking about the build. I started off with the standard RnR/side units plan, but my gf veto'd a 3/4 width bed and I didnt want to block the rear access (it seems pointless to have a van that I cant use as a van). Eventually we settled on a L-shape bed, with a narrow unit under the passenger side rear windows and a narrow unit across the bulkhead.

        Click image for larger version

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        Sorry about the drawing, obviously neither of these are too scale

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        Along the way, I realised the side windows were leaking pretty badly, so I took the van up to a well known van window fitting company. They removed all the side windows, then declared the van inoperable because the original window fitter had butchered the appertures and cut too much metal to hold the new bonded ones. So they left me to put the side windows back in myself. In the rain. Thanks.

        It looked like the only way to get this fixed was to have metal welded into the apertures and new windows bonded in, so I stuck waterproof tape around the holes between the window and the van and got on with building a rough van interior, so we could use the van for the summer

        Building the sliding frame:
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        Sofa/Bed installed:
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        Ready to be tested:
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        It would have been nice to get the van soundproofed and insulated before I did the build, but there wasnt any point until the windows got sorted, and I really wanted to have the van useable, even if it wasnt pretty. Looking back I'm really glad I did this, the current build has served as a prototype and has made us come up with a list of things that we want to change for the next one

        Click image for larger version

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        The general design of the bed works well, the back panel drops in to turn it into a double width/kingsize length bed, with storage for 3 surfboards underneath. Because the build is up against the bulkhead we have about half a meter of boot behind the bed, which I can get 3 mtbs across with the wheels off, or space for the awning, clothes bags, wetsuits, etc. With windsurf kit its quite cosy, but I dont do as much windsurfing as I'd like and when I do there is generally only me, so its not too big an issue.

        Still works as a van too
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        • #5
          Spring 2014

          The big step forward was getting the windows sorted, I went to a windscreen guy not a van company, he looked at it and said 'get one, we'll give it a go', so we ordered a window and he stuck it in, pretty much filling the gap around the glass with windscreen glue. It doesn't look as nice as a normal van, but it's now waterproof and 6 months on the windows are all still stuck in place.

          It was good using the van for a year with a build that I don't particularly care about, we've come up with a list of stuff that we want to change for the next one, which is nice as it's not much of an investment to change (the current build took about 4 days and £200 or so). A big surprise is that we don't sit around in the van all that much, but carrying 3 people is pretty useful, so I'm thinking about getting the double seat retrimmed to match the s2000 drivers seat instead of fitting a swivelling passenger seat.

          Stuff that's going on the list for the new build:
          • Sink (for washing the salt off after surfing)
          • Stove (originally didn't see the point of a fixed burner as we mostly cook outside, but it's a pain having to unpack stuff to make tea in the morning)
          • Somewhere for the tea and coffee and mugs to live (ditto)
          • Bin (for the tea bags and beer caps)
          • Table (for when I'm working from the van)


          The next big job was changing the engine, I priced up replacing the failed injector -£150 + vat, and they are specific to the AET, also the Internet said I would probably crack another injector or two in the process of removing the rail, so I decided to fit a 1.8t because it's better on fuel and twice as powerful as the 2.5. Overall the 2.5 wasn't a bad engine, on lpg it was fairly affordable to run, but lpg is a pita because of limited range and hassle finding fuel stations that sell it.

          I got the use of a workshop for free for a few months, and fitted the new engine:
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          I went for an AUQ (180 bhp Leon Cupra/Octavia vrs) with a k03s, because I wanted decent torque with as little lag as possible, running on standard management so I get factory diagnostics and cruise control.

          The engine went in pretty easily, I made up an arm that goes between the bottom half of the mk4 golf engine mount and hangs on the t4 rubber, so it is fully reversible, canting the engine forward a few mm on the drivers side so the wastegate clears the bulkhead.

          The wiring was a fun challenge, I took the 1.8t loom and modified it so it fits into the t4 fuseboard, and then made a loom to connect the octavia vrs clocks to the fuseboard and hooked it up to the vans cruise stalk, the missus even gave me a hand with the wiring:

          Click image for larger version

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          Last edited by d-9; 7 October 2019, 08:09 AM.

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          • #6
            Good account so far [emoji106]

            Sent from the Midlands by pigeon

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            • #7
              Really appreciate you taking the time to relocate this extensive history and upgrades to this forum.

              What's your history with cars, vans & bikes d-9?

              Comment


              • #8
                Originally posted by Activ8 View Post
                Really appreciate you taking the time to relocate this extensive history and upgrades to this forum.

                What's your history with cars, vans & bikes d-9?
                I'm getting closer to having time to fix up the van and thought I'd maybe keep a running build thread of it, so figured I should recap a little


                Car history, I started off playing with 205 and 309 gtis, then moved into BMW and audis as I got older. Built a few interesting cars along the way, typically stuff that the Internet said wasn't possible, because I like proving the Internet wrong The missus still has a mk2 1.8t that we built about 10 years ago, that's coming up for a oem+ restomod as soon as I have the time, and a mate is still running a ke-jet scirocco that the Internet was right about, ke is loathsome.

                The t4 is the first van I've owned, I always used to see them when I was at the beach and want one, but never got around to it until I was sat on the back step of a mates t4, changing out of my wetsuit on a really cold April morning, sheltering from the breeze behind the barn doors. I kinda wish I had a van back in the day, would have been epic for surf trips at uni, but #vanlife wasnt really a thing.

                Now I've got the van and an old landrover as my projects, but drive a sensible car day to day.

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                • #9
                  Ooohhhh....yesss

                  Now you really do have my attention.

                  1.8t you say?

                  Right that’s it... this is now in my subscribed list, and you (mr. D9), are my new bestest friend ever!!!

                  Lovely jubbly.

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Nice write up.
                    Interesting what you say about the temp. set up letting you try (and change) as you go along. That's one of the things I noticed with mine. So glad I did a temp. layout.
                    Me cago en la madre que te parió!

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Blimey 🤙🏽


                      T4ism is not a Dis-easeJust T4s

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        Originally posted by frenchdna View Post
                        Ooohhhh....yesss

                        Now you really do have my attention.

                        1.8t you say?

                        Right that’s it... this is now in my subscribed list, and you (mr. D9), are my new bestest friend ever!!!

                        Lovely jubbly.


                        The 1.8t is awesome in the van, makes me grin every time I drive it! Done about 15k with it in and it's been really reliable, the only issues were the throttle potentiometer falling off because I didn't use nylocs and the brake vacuum pipe collapsing because it was the wrong sort of pipe

                        Check out the 1.8t howto thread, if you haven't seen it already: https://just-t4s.co.uk/showthread.ph...-T4-Conversion


                        Originally posted by arfur fox-acre View Post
                        Nice write up.
                        Interesting what you say about the temp. set up letting you try (and change) as you go along. That's one of the things I noticed with mine. So glad I did a temp. layout.
                        I'd love to say I planned it, but it really was a lucky accident! My advice to anyone thinking about a conversion now is throw something cheap and quick together, and see how you use it. I know a few people that have spent years building their dream van, and slept in it 3 nights.

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                        • #13
                          Theres a 1.8t in the yard by us. Its been mentioned. I may or may not have another T4 project lined up as the blue one nears completion, well my side of it anyway. Did toy with selling S49 to fund a chassis cab or doka, then i thought VR6 manual conversation. I never know if i'm coming or going.
                          Last edited by S49; 8 October 2019, 07:51 PM.

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                          • #14
                            The easiest 1.8t for a t4 is the very early longitudinal AEB from a passat/a4 because they use the same block as the 2.0 t4, so the sump etc will all bolt on. The mk4 platform and later ones need sump mods and a custom drivers engine mount, obviously nothing you can't handle, but more work and fabrication.

                            If I get mine back on the road anytime soon, your welcome to come for a run in it

                            Comment


                            • #15
                              Originally posted by d-9 View Post
                              The easiest 1.8t for a t4 is the very early longitudinal AEB from a passat/a4 because they use the same block as the 2.0 t4, so the sump etc will all bolt on. The mk4 platform and later ones need sump mods and a custom drivers engine mount, obviously nothing you can't handle, but more work and fabrication.

                              If I get mine back on the road anytime soon, your welcome to come for a run in it
                              Is it any 1.8T longitudinal engine or just those 150bhp 95-99 year units?
                              I'll keep an eye out for those.

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