Covid caddy project

[the swan fiend]

You’re doing a great job of transforming this van mate. Well done and top work. The r36 seats look well smart.....and I think it looks fine at the standard height.

The big VW sign in your garage is boss! Id have one if I had any room!


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[Ripley55]

I'd have that sign in the Dining room if she'd let me

[fishynos72]

You’re doing a great job of transforming this van mate. Well done and top work. The r36 seats look well smart.....and I think it looks fine at the standard height.

The big VW sign in your garage is boss! Id have one if I had any room!


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Thank you, Its a whole lot of photos and pages for not a lot of big changes to the van besides cleaning and maintenance. Hopefully that changes in the future.

I love my vw sign, its a shame its water damaged, but if It wasn't it'd still be on a dealership wall somewhere.

I'd have that sign in the Dining room if she'd let me

There's a photo somewhere (I'll try to dig it up) of exactly the same illuminated sign hanging inside someone's house above their stairwell.

My other half isn't quite so relaxed about our decor

[fishynos72]

Hello all,

Happy 2022, I hope everyone had a safe holiday period.
Long time between updates I know. Typical Christmas madness.

So once again the inside of the caddy has come apart.
After fitting the Passat seats I couldn’t help but want to update from the early caddy grey plastics and floor covering, but because of covid the price of used vehicles has doubled, meaning very few vehicles are being written off leaving wrecking yards asking crazy money for parts due to having no caddy to wreck.

After months of searching I’ve managed to put together a later black interior.





So I was enjoying that for a little while, toodling around the country side avoiding catching Covid.
Then I got the itch and I turned my attention to the exterior of the van as it’s well overdue to some updates.

That began a slippery slope- starting with a set of Vito 17” steel wheels.



Stock 15"



To now 17"



Not too financially crippling so far
And then that slope slipped lead off the side of a cliff…



After basically searching for the year I’ve been driving the caddy, I’ve finally found most of what I need to create a 2020 Caddy facelift conversion.



And because I’m impatient I fitted the rear bumper setup straight away along with a new Transporter wiper blade and a de-badge job. Thus leaving only the taillights to go to complete the rear of the vehicle.



Note the different bumper sliders.



Very happy with the conversion to black.


I’ve quite the challenge ahead retrofitting the updated front end, the chassis out-riggers and small glass panels need to be changed for it all to work.

To top my week off, on the way home from collecting all these panels my clutch began to slip like crazy.

Given I got a whole year of driving out of it I didn’t expect to get, I’m not mad.
So to completely drain what was left of my bank account, today’s purchase is a brand new DMF, slave cylinder, throw out bearing and clutch kit.

Wish me luck!

[Ronnibegood]

really nice looking Van..

I really like the look of the 17" steelies, now i need to find myself a set of those..

[fishynos72]

Thank you,


Until they released the mk5 caddy the biggest Volkswagen steel wheel Australia saw in 5x112 was 16".

The mk5 caddy wheels are $800AUD a set of 4 wheels pre tyres at internal dealership pricing, so they were a definite no.



The Vito wheels have a more aggressive offset, and require hub centering rings due to the different bore size.

The Vito wheels aren't common in Australia in a 17" but definitely more common than 2nd hand mk5 caddy wheels.


Last night i geared up hoping to be victorious in my install of a new clutch.





My parts supplier took my VIN and assured me despite my what I thought I knew, that my vehicle had a Duel mass flywheel.
This meant my 'cheap' clutch replacement just got a lot more expensive, I didn't mind as I'd rather have the DMF all fresh and new for a smoother drive.



So after dragging the gearbox out on my shed floor, you can imagine my horror when I saw the Single mass flywheel bolted to my engine.






Not being sure if this is how my vehicle is meant to be from factory, or if the 'mechanic' who replaced the engine in my van ten years prior to my owning it, cheapened out and did a SMF conversion. The 'Excidy" branding on the flywheel and lack of any markings on the clutch only muddy the waters further.





Thankfully the parts department at the dealership I work at helped me double check numbers.



It would appear my van has had a Single mass conversion at some point. I suspect that coupled with the cheaper parts have lead to my clutch issues






I'm really curious to see how the vehicle runs and drives with a DMF.

[fishynos72]

Great Success!

Though not without it’s challenges and frustrations.


Got the new DMF and clutch all bolted up, gearbox installed happy days.



Only to have the dust shield rub on the rear of the DMF…..



So we’re back out again for some adjustments.



Then it was all back together for successful test driving- mad max style.





Then I figured I’d better put a front end on it.



The missing brackets and bits are on order and should arrive this week allowing it to be a complete road-going vehicle once again.

I'm very pleased with the new look (despite the slight panel colour difference).

I should have some video content coming soon documenting the recent frenzy of work.

[Cooney28]

Caddy look great. Enjoying the videos too. Looking forward to the next installment.

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[gpaolo2kn]

we follow the developments

[itease]

Coming along nicely mate, I've heard the front doors are different to the facelift ones as well with the door line different, is that true?

You should've done an FSI conversion whilst the box was out

[fishynos72]

Thank you for the nice words.


Hopefully have some more videos to you shortly.

The front doors are different. The outer skin on a later van has a sharper swage line pressed into it, to line up with the line on the front wing.

The line runs across the top of the side marker.
Even my mismatched setup. It's not that noticeable. It'll be even harder to spot once all the panels are the same colour.



As for engine swapping- I love the diesel. Can't beat the torque and the 1000kms on a tank.

I've worked on and driven plenty of VAG FSI stuff, and it's nice, but I really wanted a TDI in my fleet, I'm not a fan of the 1.6tdi in later vans, hence Ive chosen to invest in this earlier one. (Mines a sweet spot, as it's electronic power steering and still the BLS diesel, keeps the engine bay less cluttered).

Aside from an air con compressor and turbo it's had nearly everything replaced that high millage might cause issues with

[itease]

It’s hard to beat the torque of the diesels, I have a couple of Caddy’s and one FSI converted and it’s soo much fun to drive.

I’m just about to do another one with an EA888 and dsg and a full facelift conversion like yours but I’ll buy a complete car from the auctions and I already have all the rear including a tailgate.

[fishynos72]

The beauty of this VW chassis, it's all like lego.

EA888 will be good fun, easy to mod and yet reliable.

I really should have just bought a smashed van myself- just dont have the time or room to wreck a complete car and then sell off the drivetrain.

Since buying my van the idea of DSG converting crossed my mind a few times. I've been involved in converting various mk5 golfs to DSG in the past.
I enjoy ripping around town rowing gears too much. Also it being manual stops people asking to borrow it to move house.

[osborne18]

hi bud, dont suppose you have the part number for the bumper sliders ?
Is this the only thing you had to change on the rear for the upgrade ?

[sewi]

Great stuff you got there. I especially like the Mk4 rear conversion as it is something I'd like to do myself.
These seats are vented? How is that connected to AC?
It looks great. I know you went with the auti vents but any plans to swap the dash? I find this process quite troublesome but it does look a loot more like a car afterwards.