Project St-Inca - cab refit, lots of sweating and swearing!

 So...progress is being made…Saturday  I set about getting the cab of the van finished, to console myself that the wheels and suspension weren’t finished in time for this year's Limerick show…

Friday night, me and Dylan resprayed all the interior trim pieces in sexy satin black Hycote…

Here’s how it all looked Saturday morning….

Stripped out the old paint-stained seats and lobbed ‘em on the rubbish pile – also ripped out all remaining trim and scrubbed it all with plenty hot soapy water, then treated them all to a bit of vinyl dressing before refitting.

I scrubbed the shit outta the carpets and remaining trim and then moved onto the refit…new cup holder centre console, Mk3 Golf VR6 front seats (which I was assured were a handy fit – they weren’t, due to the steel beam running across the front of the load floor; lots of sweating, straining, cursing and brute force sorted that), refurbed door cards, refurbed overhead shelf, roofliner, door handles , the whole nine yards! Hell I even threw a non-sunroof Mk4 Golf interior rooflight into the headliner while I was at it – I was on a roll!

9 hours later (OK, there were a lot of coffee and smoke breaks which probably accounted for about 3 and a ½ hours!) this is how she looked…time for a little reward after working in the hot sun all day, and what better than Clonmel Chardonnay with which to do it, eh?

So now, it’s a much better place to be than when I picked her up...gone are the old smells of neglect and the seats are much more comfortable and supportive on a long drive.

Next on the list – get the rear fit-out done in time for me and Dylan’s road trip to Inters at the end of June!

Project St-Inca; full frontal tidy up...and some more cheap child labour!

Quick update..

Refurbed/resprayed satin black on the grilles, front badge and fitted the ibeefa spoiler on Saturday eve, prior to going to the charity run…tidies the front up nicely and takes the unfinished look away…

So last night, made a start on the wheels…haven’t had time to get tyres off, so cut the valves off to deflate them, and bought a multi-pack of masking tape to ensure I don’t get paint on Cian’s tyres!

First job was to detar, using a scrub brush and chemical guys ‘tardis’…then rinsed and used chemical guys ‘very cherry’ to remove any remaining dirt, so that any grit wouldn’t be rubbed into the metal while sanding, also removed all the balance weights to get clear access at the rims….why oh why do some numptys hammer weights onto the front of alloy rims….SWEET LORDY JEEEESUS WHYYYYYYYYYYYYY?

Here’s a couple pics of clean-up, using cheap child labour….

And the first wheel starting to get rubbed down with 180 wet ‘n’ dry paper….

All that nasty corrosion that was sitting under the balance weights is starting to smooth off, so its just a smooth surface I’m going for, before I lay on some light primer, then lash on a few coats of smooth spray hammerite, which gives a lovely gloss, self-levelling finish…

More pics to follow after sanding gets finished tonight hopefully, if this incessant pissy weather ever fucks off and lets the sun shine through!

Project St-Inka!!!

So, the paintworks finished!

Big shout out to graffiti artist Dusto for his outstanding work - he was at it till 5am today!

I'll leave the pics do the talking!

Picking her up tomorrow eve, so its rush-rush-rush to have her ready for the Limerick VW & classic show on may 27th!

Coil-overs still to be fitted, full service kit to be done and the new wheels need to be refurbished...oh yeah, gotta fit the new interior too!

I foresee a lot of late nights and coffee...and lots of swearing!

Check back soon for updates!

Later,

RV.

Inca van has gone for painting today.

Not just your average respray either!

All will be revealed soon...

Oakie-dokey!

Look what landed at my house this weekend!

Never mind yer barnfinds, this is my shedfind!

89 8v Mk2 GTi, oak green, electric windows, central locking and power steering.

Big thanks to Tommy Power for letting me get my hands on her....this is a keeper!





Watch this space!

Interior Fit-out Begins IN Child Labour Scandal Shock!

OK so, making progress finally on the weekend mini campervan project...

Whipped off the roof-bars to find major rot where the roof had been drilled - major thanks to Alan Robinson (Robbo) for his chopping/welding/filling skills - free plug for a seriously sound chap!

Started to cover the rear panels with flash-band for sound-deadening - it makes a lot of difference..just got the sides done over the weekend - took 10metres in all; will complete the inner roof this week.

Cheap child labour - ya can't beat it! Is it sad that my son's more excited about this project than any other car that's passed through my hands?


Other side...


Also started the insulation - using 'Thermawrap' roll -very easy to work with, although the foil tape is a pain in the arse!


More updates as the interior fit-out continues during the week...

Mmmmmmm...Dishy!

So, here's a couple of teaser pics for the wheel plan for 'Project Inca-pacitated'...

Can't get much more old-skool, deep-dished goodness than OZ Turbos...thanks to my good mate, Cian!

Trial fitted one last night to see what the poke would be like, to be honest I was worried they'd be a bit 'Ben Hur' and a risk to passing cyclists! But, they turned out to fit quite nicely, thank you very much!

Next will be a full part-out, refurb and rebuild...colour to be confirmed as soon as I decide what colour the van's gonna end up.

This pic even show's my son Dylan's approval! HAHA!

 

And this was just a random pic while she was jacked up...

In the meantime we just threw the RA's from the shed on, as the tyres had a bit of meat still on them and a set of wind deflectors to keep the 'soft' Irish rain out when driving, plus Robbo's done a great job cutting all the rot outta the roof and sealing her up weather-tight, ready for the woodwork to start in the rear!.

Other updates of note:
Roof-bar holes and associated rust have been cut out and fresh new steel welded in;
Body-trim ordered from Lar in the local SEAT dealer - good man, Lar;
Timber and screws for rear camper fit-out currently sitting in the shed until this fuckin' rain stops;
MK3 GTi seats sourced and collected from all-round good guy Ronan;
New interior trim to be collected this weekend from a crashed 2002 VW Caddy.

That lots gonna keep me and Dylan busy for a few weeks!

Added to this is the news that something very tasty is gonna be dropped off at our house tomorrow eve...left hand drive, Oak Green barn-find! Can't wait!

check in soon for more news..and probably lots of swearing as we fit out and fix up this van!

Later,
RV.