Giotec daily - Everything you've never seen before.

[TheGee]

New wheels on, rear spoiler on, only the rear parking sensors to fit and the side skirts to finish off and the outside is done

[TheGee]

I’ve found a new combination that’s is literally the perfect match to the oem interior matt black plastics

The last combination of Upol satin black with Hycote matt lacquer was close but not quite, especially in sunlight, and it didn’t wear well at all & I had to repaint the iPad surround a few times which is pretty shit. However…..

Introducing……Halfords!!! (I use a capital H because I’m not a Neanderthal)

I’ll do this in steps on my door handles.

I use these funky sanding rag things I get from a body shop supplier in Ashford Kent.
I give the handle a good going over with 360 grit


then hit it with an even coat of filler primer from Halfords of all places!



20 minutes to tack up & then hit it with 5 light fog coats of matt black plastic bumper paint wot I got from Halfords




followed by a few extra coats just because they’ll get as much use as a door handle at a Halfords super store


It’s super shiny when wet but once dried it’s soooo matt and lovely Leave it to dry for an hour or so somewhere strategic


Then I went for 5ish light coats of matt lacquer I found in a lovely local retail outlet wot have been around since 1984


Another hour or so and I’m basking in the wake of my own mattnificence


Literally perfect

[stu_b]

Looks like a sweet result
Shame we don't have Halfordd in Australia
What else will you tackle if the interior trim ?
Any good for external like bumpers etc ?

[TheGee]

The main dash centre piece which holds the iPad is painted Matt black so I’ve been on a mission to match that piece to the colour of the oem vents and instrument cluster but it’s never been a perfect match until now hence why I’ve gone nuts and painted all my exposed plastics to match.
I’ve no idea what it’d be like on external pieces as I don’t have any left

[TheGee]

An almost complete interior, a few little tweaks like the centre armrest from black to brown Alcantara and the side sill trims, new mats, and also waiting on the new seats to be finished

At least the top half is done


And I’m not totally sure on the roof rack….I think that is going to be a fit it when I need it jobbie



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[TheGee]

The new seats of divine comfortness


I bought these in June from a 2023 GTD & have been playing around with ideas for a few personalised tweaks.
As the airbags had detonated on both seats, one of the lumber levers was missing as was one of the the sliding handles, it was time to get smooth and simple so the child seat anchors were cut off and thrown away, all traces of airbags and seat belt sensors etc were removed as my van doesn’t have seat bags or belt monitoring.



I don’t care about the lumber adjustment so I locked both lumbar supports fully back, cut 7” off of the slider lever so it’s super hidden underneath the seats, and modified the rails so the seats slide 4” further back.


Although I changed a bunch of stitch lines, rolled the front base, deleted the rear pockets, and reshaped the shoulder panels slightly








I still knew there was more…..so, I found a set of heated rear seats from an almost brand new Audi A7 for £40 which solved the winter woes, and for the summer I found 2 sets of cooling gel pads originally intended for a Merc s-class which now live in the seat base and backs stitched into the face layer behind the scrim foam



The Lamborghini brown Alcantara remains blending perfectly with the black 3 layer dinamica which I’ll be using throughout. I’m not at all keen on the Milano suede crap from AS Trim as it wears out in no time so I’ll be re trimming everything with the black dinamica, once I’ve done a few secret remodel touches to keep ahead of the game

There’s also dual colour courtesy lighting under the seats illuminating the front foot wells and some extra audio related goodies but those are a secret for now



Did I mention I’ve stripped the air ride?

[juliang71]

Really interesting build thread, especially enjoyed the post about sound proofing, deadening, etc. Even though I have used Diall loft insulation and upcycled some 5mm laminate floor insulation I had lying around. You've clearly done your research!! Van looks great as well.

[TheGee]

Thanks Julian


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[TheGee]

As I mentioned previously, the air ride is now off, less than 3 months since it was fitted thanks to the disgraceful work carried out by Still Static and his band of merry charlatans. So, I now have sublime ride comfort regardless of being loaded or empty and pretty damn good handling. Replacing the air ride are Bilstein B8 front dampers, Eibach -60mm front springs, and -50mm rear leafs, BC Racing rear dampers and the rear axle back in its standard position. No axle flips, no wobbly blocks, no hangers, just good old fashioned expertise. And here’s how….

I went to the guys at Midland Road Springs with my plan of lowering the leaf springs but keeping excellent ride comfort under all conditions. They did a ton of measuring and calculations & we came to the conclusion that using a pair of brand new heavy duty leaf springs (2K0511151N) will give almost the perfect tension (15% progressive firmer at target ride height) when lowered -50mm. They needed to be brand new because of sagging, and when leaf springs are lowered they loose a percentage of their load tension so the added strength from the heavy duty would compensate those losses. The turn around time to lower the springs was less just over an hour and they even dipped them in black paint afterwards so they looked perfect



The Airlift controller I had in the console is being replaced with the controller for the Goldhorn DSP and my amplifiers are going back to their original home behind the seats.

Anyone interested in buying a show standard air ride set up?

[TheGee]

Something Julian made me realise is how much I’ve not put on here lol I usually put everything on my Instagram but hey ho.

So, sound proofing, sound treatment, deep dive, front doors. I’ll add to this over the next few days as I can go into detail. As with everything, there’s a lot of different options and price variations on products available. I’ve used the best performing products from testing I’ve done myself that suits my needs.

Parts I’ve used.

Butyl rope 5mtr (2mtr per door)

Silent Coat 5mm multi layer deadening (5 sheets per door)

Dodo Thermoliner pro 15mm (1mtr per door)

Silent Coat 2mm deadening (5 sheets per door)

CTK Elastic ccf 6mm (1mtr per door)

22oz Polyester wadding (1mtr per door)

14mm D-Rubber (5mtr per door)

First, strip the door down to a bare frame, thoroughly clean all surfaces with isopropyl alcohol. DO NOT use acetone as it’ll run out of the water drains and destroy your paint.



On the outer cross brace, warm the butyl rope and push it firmly along the length of the brace use making sure it gets in the gaps. This is to stop the resonance between the two pieces.



On the outer door panel, make templates of the shapes needed to cover the panel with the largest pieces of deadening possible. This is important because deadening mat is most effective in large pieces. Apply the deadening mat warm.
Tape the templates for the deadening to shape one above and one below the brace bar. Use aluminium foil tape to seal all edges and joints.

[mando]

As I mentioned previously, the air ride is now off, less than 3 months since it was fitted thanks to the disgraceful work carried out by Still Static and his band of merry charlatans. So, I now have sublime ride comfort regardless of being loaded or empty and pretty damn good handling. Replacing the air ride are Bilstein B8 front dampers, Eibach -60mm front springs, and -50mm rear leafs, BC Racing rear dampers and the rear axle back in its standard position. No axle flips, no wobbly blocks, no hangers, just good old fashioned expertise. And here’s how….

I went to the guys at Midland Road Springs with my plan of lowering the leaf springs but keeping excellent ride comfort under all conditions. They did a ton of measuring and calculations & we came to the conclusion that using a pair of brand new heavy duty leaf springs (2K0511151N) will give almost the perfect tension (15% progressive firmer at target ride height) when lowered -50mm. They needed to be brand new because of sagging, and when leaf springs are lowered they loose a percentage of their load tension so the added strength from the heavy duty would compensate those losses. The turn around time to lower the springs was less just over an hour and they even dipped them in black paint afterwards so they looked perfect



The Airlift controller I had in the console is being replaced with the controller for the Goldhorn DSP and my amplifiers are going back to their original home behind the seats.

Anyone interested in buying a show standard air ride set up?

Hi mate, cracking van it’s looking mint.

What was the issue with Stillstatic? I nearly pulled the trigger on that set up before Xmas but opted for the plush one as it’s a bit more tried & tested, sounds like I dodged a bullet.

Cheers


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[TheGee]

Thanks Mando

[TheGee]

More randomness going on!

So, I’ve removed the glove box catch as I’ve built an electric Tesla glovebox release mechanism with Rolls Royce inspired counter weight and tension cogs into my touran glove box
The electric release button is hidden and wired into the comfort system.


I’ve also removed the glove box light and replaced it with a led light in the top edge and removed airbag key switch.

To match the new passenger smoothness I’ve relocated my headlights switch and reshaped the full panel and fuse box door.


The headlights switch now lives behind the fuse box door out of sight


I’m going full retrim in black dinamica and once I’ve trimmed the door and glove box door I can mask up and flock the fuse box inner around the headlights switch and inside the glove box.
To fit the headlight switch the body control module was relocated as was the relay bank above. Drastic but effective

[J_Con]

Some effort you are going to mate! Well done


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[TheGee]

I always forget to post here

So the interior is almost done, I’m swapping out the standard ac for climatronic dual zone next week, rebuilding my A-Pillars and a few other little tweaks but essentially it’s sorted. I’m always amazed that almost nobody notices anything different until I point things out



The glove box I had working via the iPad but it was a pain waiting for the Bluetooth to pair etc so that’s now on one of the buttons under the iPad.



The headlight switch delete was a winner and I’m going to move the hazard lights switch again and also blank off the flappy paddles to clean it up more.


The roof I’d originally left the roof rack holes but that drove me nuts so they’re now gone and the whole roof is now smoothed


The audio happened and I have a Goldhorn DSP doing the duties to the 3 Genesis G3 amps I had built to spec for me in 1998. I have a 4ch running the front left, another running front right, and the DMX is feeding the subs 850 watts each.