Mk2 Caddy VR5 Build

[Al]

I can get you one, but delivery will be about 1 week

http://www.retrofication.co.uk/495.html

I have put them in stock as special order if you need one

[Sammo]

I can get you one, but delivery will be about 1 week

http://www.retrofication.co.uk/495.html

I have put them in stock as special order if you need one

Thanks for that Al. I'm going to have to wait until payday now though.

[Sammo]

My modified ECU arrived back today

Annoyingly I haven't had a chance this week to work on the van. I've been getting to work at 7.30am and not leaving until 7pm by which time the light has rapidly faded. I'm hoping to leave work earlier tomorrow and get the subframe bolted back on!

[Sammo]

Just been out working on the van for a bit. I was looking at the gear shifter and I'm not sure which one I need to use. The original was a rod shifter but obviously the new one will be cable change. I'm using a VR6 gearbox and I have been advised to remove the tower from the V5 box because it's better. I assumed I would need a gear shifter from a Mk4 Golf but the mounts are completely different to what's on the van. Can anyone advise me what shifter I need to buy? For now if it means having to stick with the VR6 shift tower then that's fine.

[fuus]

Any chance of some pictures Sammo? (:

[Sammo]

Of course

This is what's in the transmission tunnel.



These are the two shifters next to each other.

[Sammo]

All four bolt holes (I'm counting the two front studs as bolt holes as they can be removed) are narrower than the original.

[fuus]

I think this guide should be just the ticket for you http://forums.vwvortex.com/showthrea...A-lots-of-pics

[Sammo]

I think this guide should be just the ticket for you http://forums.vwvortex.com/showthrea...A-lots-of-pics

That's exactly what I was after

[jordanw]

Loving where this van is going.

[Sammo]

Got a bit more done today. I didn't have my Daughter this weekend because she's got tonsillitis and didn't want to leave her Mum

Saturday was a lovely sunny day. Perfect for getting plenty done to the van. Unfortunately I woke up with a migraine which wouldn't shift all day so I spent most of the day sat in a dark room. Such a waste of the day!

Today wasn't quite as sunny, however I was feeling fit and healthy so once I'd watched the Grand Prix it was time to get out there and get some work done.

I started off getting the subframe back on. This meant fitting the Powerflex bushes to the ARB and then bolting it all back up. This is a surprisingly difficult thing to do by yourself but I managed it eventually While I was working in that area I replaced the track rods as well. The old track rod ends are seized solid so it was easier just to replace the rod and end instead.

This is the ARB after a quick going over with the wire brush and then slotting the poly bushes on.



Fitted



Once that was all back on I wanted to get the cable shifter fitted. Originally the van had a rod shifter fitted which obviously wasn't any good for the new gearbox. I'm using a VR6 gearbox with the VR5 gearbox shift tower (apparently it's much better than the VR6 shift tower) which means I needed to use the cables and shifter from a Mk4 Golf or similar. Annoyingly the designs had changed quite considerably over the years which meant the new shifter wasn't going to bolt straight on.

I lined the two shifters up next to eachother to get an idea of how different they were. Pretty different I'm sure you'll agree.



Fuus very kindly pointed me in the direction of a build thread for someone who had fitted this shifter to a Corrado. It all looked pretty similar so I decided to follow those instructions and hope for the best

I started off with "modifying" the transmission tunnel. This is what I started with.



After getting busy with the Dremel I was left with a bit more space.



Once that was done I needed to elongate the rear bolt holes on the shifter. This would allow me to use the original rear shifter bracket for the old shifter.

I marked up the bolt holes where they needed a trim up.




The Dremel then came back out and using a carbide attachment I ground away the metal that wasn't required



I then replaced the two front studs with some longer ones I picked up from B&Q. These would be long enough to reach all the way into the van (once I'd drilled some holes in the transmission tunnel).



All that was left to do now was work out where to drill the holes, drill them and then bolt the shifter in! At this point it started spitting so I forgot to take photos and just got on with getting it fitted. It all went pretty smoothly and from the top it almost looks like it was meant to be there.




That was it for the day because it started to chuck it down This week is meant to be nice so I'm hoping to get the van back on its wheels and ready to slot the engine in

[tontoe]

Noooooo you could have used a tdi / Ibiza shifter!!!!!!

[Sammo]

Noooooo you could have used a tdi / Ibiza shifter!!!!!!

Time is against me and this shifter was available immediately for next to nothing. It wasn't particularly hard to get it to fit so I didn't mind

[tontoe]

No why is time against you!!!! been there so many times and made so many bad decisions!!!! Then spent more time fixing previous fuckups

[tontoe]

Whats the plans for the engine mounts? Vr6 ones?

[Sammo]

Got a little more done today. I took the lower arms into work and got one of the techs to push in the Powerflex bushes before he left after work I managed to get out early today and was home before 6pm so I set to work getting the arms fitted.



It's been quite a few years since I last fitted arms with poly bushes fitted and I think I must of blocked the previous experience out! What an utter pain in the arse to fit! I ended up having to loosen off the subframe to be able to get the first arm to fit. That whole process took me at least an hour! To fit one bloody arm!!!!!



That was enough for this evening. I didn't have the patience to try the other side so I'm saving that bit of excitement for tomorrow night!

[Sammo]

Whats the plans for the engine mounts? Vr6 ones?

Im using the VR6 gearbox and front mounts but the rear engine mount is completely different on the V5 engine. I've got a fabricator friend who is going to knock something up for me.

[Sammo]

Sorry for the lack of updates. I managed to do myself a mischief a few weeks ago and hurt my neck/back to the point I could barely walk for about a week!

For anyone that might be following this I have some good news My neck is finally better (well when I say better I mean it doesn't feel like my head is going to fall off) and I've got a week off work Tomorrow my neck is going to get a good work out because I've got a 40 minute kart race to partake in. Some friends and I have had it arranged for weeks so I guess it's going to be a good test of how strong (or weak) my neck is! I'll film the race and upload it for you all to have a good laugh at

Anyway, the week off should see the van back on its wheels and hopefully with the engine perched in the bay. I do all my work by myself so this will of course largely depend on neck/back strength but I'm hoping to be at this stage I'll keep the thread updated as the week goes on and I hoping it will be decent updates!

[Sammo]

Another quick update. My neck held up well at Karting today although the heat did me no favours!

I'm happy to report I'll be getting my arse into gear tomorrow and getting on with the van

Once I've edited the Karting video I'll upload it

[Sammo]

Anyway, an update

I got straight out there this morning and got on with some vanning! First thing I wanted to do was replaced the front brakes lines. When I'd tried to undo them a couple of months ago the nuts just rounded off where they were rotten.



Out came the trusty Dremel and about ten minutes (and a good soaking of brake fluid) later they were off




Now they were off it was time to make up some new ones. As you've probably gathered I don't have a garage or workshop at home. I have a reasonably good tool collection but I don't have the weird and wonderful stuff like a brake pipe flaring tool. We've probably got one at work but I doubt anyone knows where it is. Somewhere else that has one and knows where it is is the garage I did my apprenticeship at. Thirteen years ago!! So off I went to pick up some copper brake pipe from GSF (only £8 for 25 metres using a discount code I found online), some new brake pipe securing clips from TPS and a kneeling mat from B&Q (for my poor old knees!).

I arrived at the workshop to a greeting of "bloody hell, where have you been?!" It's been about a year since I popped in to say hello/borrow a tool. Funnily enough the next question was "So what have you broken?". They know me so well Anyway, I got straight on with making up the new lines and before I knew it they were done. I then lent a hand around the workshop for an hour or so, went and bought everyone lunch, sat and ate lunch and then finally headed off home again! Once I was home I got straight on with fitting the new lines. They went straight on with no fuss at all and look pretty good, even if I do say so myself!






You can probably see I bolted on the braided brake lines too. They're Black Diamond ones and seem really good quality.

While I was at the workshop I was talking to my old Boss about doing some of the welding for the engine mount and exhaust downpipe for me. He had no problem with that and said to let him know when he was required and he'd drag the welder round to mine. He also agreed to make the metal box I need to mount the throttle pedal That meant the next thing to do was crack out the modelling card (or Nesquik cereal box) and try to fashion one for him to copy.

I started with this.



Made this to mount the pedal to.



Then I got too involved and forgot to take any more pictures. So this is what I ended up with





Looks crap doesn't it! However it's almost spot on for where the pedal needs to be. I've dropped it off to his house already and asked him to slot the bolt holes so there's a little bit of adjustment available!

That's it for today. Tomorrow I'll be getting on with he suspension again and should have it on it's wheels by the end of the day (hopefully!).