A busy sunday...

Today was spent working on the van, cleaning it and ripping out old Police stuff that wasn't needed.

I even had a helper today! Kim cleaned the doors and dash etc and we also managed to get the floor clean. So it's now ready for hole filling and rust treatment/proofing. It looks so much better though! Got all the police wiring out, the internal lights have now gone. Getting very close to actually starting the conversion..

I still had a panel left to get rid of on the back door. I'd left it on because it was held on by the door handle. So I set about removing it, managed to prize the door handle off with a screwdriver but then needed a star shaped screwdriver.. All I had was a star shaped bit, that fits into a drill and I really couldn't be arsed to go get the drill. So instead I fashioned my own out of an extension and some pliers! Job done :)

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Excuse me Mr policeman..you left these..

So as Teabag used to be a police surveillance van, he has a few quirks..
Well I found out he had a lot of quirks after I stripped everything back and looked underneath.
Here's the treasure I found:


Split Charge Relay / Fuse box / A ridiculous amount of cabling

Micro cameras hidden in the backdoor behind the VW badge!

The black bit here, has been replaced with privacy glass!

I'm going to re-use these as reversing cameras and possibly rear view cameras, which will hopefully be linked up to and LCD screen that folds down in the cab!

 ANPR Cameras x2

I want to try and sell these but no idea if there would be any demand for them..

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The window dilemma..

So currently teabag has no windows. I know where I want the windows but I don't know what sort to get.
This is what I'm thinking:

Rear barn door windows

Slide door window

I was originally going to get a plain window here. However, as the stove is going to be right behind it, I want some ventilation. So rather than constantly having to cook with the slide door open, I'm thinking of getting a slide window here. 

Like this one but for the other side:

Rear panels

This is where I'm having the biggest dilemma. I just don't know what windows to have here. I've enquired about a few but I'm still unsure. I think I want them to open, for some ventilation.

There's a few types of windows out there but I have stumbled on these that could work. They look like they fill the whole panel and have a vent window at the top.

I'd put one each side, I think it would work. Although the passenger side one wouldn't actually be the whole panel windowed as the kitchen will be behind a bit of it. So the actually window inside the van would just be at the very rear.

Still contemplating, watch this space.

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Preparation has started!

Here's a picture of where I currently am with getting the van back to it's basics in order for me to make a start on converting it:

As you can see, I have managed to remove the bulkhead, the ply lining, the floor and the bench seat.

The bulkhead 

This was a complete pain in the arse, rivets everywhere and they weren't your everyday normal rivet either. These were super rivets! a couple of drill bits later and the bulkhead was no more. I'm going to look at selling this at some stage.

The floor

The ply floor definitely needed replacing. It had begun to come away from the van floor. This had in turn sunk the screws deep into the ply so you couldn't get to them. After several attempts I got annoyed and grabbed a claw hammer! Turned out it was also riveted in places but I managed to basically rip it up without breaking any of the ply. This may prove useful as a template for the new stuff later.

The ply lining

This was easy, it was just screwed into the van walls. However, there are a few of what look like carabina fastener hooks that were screwed to the sides of the van. I've kept these, as I saw a great idea for a "make your own awning" using these style hooks, some tarp an some poles.. Watch this space!

The bench seat

I decided early on that I wanted to remove the bench seat and fit a single seat in it's place. This was so you could walk through from the cab. I also want the passenger seat to be ale to swivel. After a bit of struggling with an adjustable spanner (the only tool I had to hand!!!), I managed to remove the seat part. I then fetched my ratchet set the next night and was able to get the box section off. Underneath the seat, is a plethora of electrical activity. This will be my next job, deciding what goes and what stays!

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