OK yes I know, 2003 is hardly retro, but it's a late model and if it had of been a 1996 early one which is the same van, i probably wouldn't be writing this.
so, this is my stinca, it is at the moment a 1.9sdi but this will be changing in the not to distant future.
this was the van when I got it..
So the first job was to lower it, coilovers up front and an axle flip on the back, I also needed to sort that black front bumper out.
Next was that VW grill and caddy headlights.
So, when i removed the caddy lights and grill, i replaced the grill with a new none genuine one off ebay which wasnt a great fit.
I found someone breaking a ibiza GTi reasonably local so decided to go for the grill, when I got there he still had the headlights so i had those too.
so these were the Inca lights that I had originally fitted..
the first problem I ran into with the GTi lights was the connection on the rear of the lights was different. (ibiza on the left, Inca on the right)
I had luckily noticed this when I was collecting the lights and took the connector that fitted off the ibiza, but as i didnt want to butcher my loom, i decided to make a couple of "adapter" looms.
I started by removing the lights internal loom from the old lights.
and put that together with the plug I had removed from the ibiza..
and then put it all back together.
And i thought great stuff, all done...
but it wasnt, I had hit a small electrical problem. I could only turn un dipped OR main beam, this is probably correct with the standard single bulb set-up, but not ideal on the twin bulb set-up on the ibiza,,
after some googling, and asking the question on the forum, Rich_T came to the rescue with the fix, it was adding a bridge in the fuse box, which I did.
which has fixed the problem..
It all still needed a bit of fettling to get it all a bit better aligned up, but that could wait till it's been to the body shop for some paint..
with the outside getting something like i wanted it, it was time to make a start on the inside..
it WAS like this..
I had found a black dash and dark carpet, and needed to add some wiring for rear speakers, TV and other stuff i intend to fit, so out it all came..
after a day of farting around with a soldering iron, i ran out of light, so at the end of day one, it was left like this..
Day 2 was fairly simple and just a case of putting the front together, rewinding the ribbon off the air bag was also good fun..
next was the back...
This stuff while good, wasnt as easy to put on as I expected, i think it just takes practice, but by the time i had the hang of it, it was all done..
the end result was this
I also got my front seats changed.
and it currently stands like this..
so, this is my stinca, it is at the moment a 1.9sdi but this will be changing in the not to distant future.
this was the van when I got it..
So the first job was to lower it, coilovers up front and an axle flip on the back, I also needed to sort that black front bumper out.
Next was that VW grill and caddy headlights.
So, when i removed the caddy lights and grill, i replaced the grill with a new none genuine one off ebay which wasnt a great fit.
I found someone breaking a ibiza GTi reasonably local so decided to go for the grill, when I got there he still had the headlights so i had those too.
so these were the Inca lights that I had originally fitted..
the first problem I ran into with the GTi lights was the connection on the rear of the lights was different. (ibiza on the left, Inca on the right)
I had luckily noticed this when I was collecting the lights and took the connector that fitted off the ibiza, but as i didnt want to butcher my loom, i decided to make a couple of "adapter" looms.
I started by removing the lights internal loom from the old lights.
and put that together with the plug I had removed from the ibiza..
and then put it all back together.
And i thought great stuff, all done...
but it wasnt, I had hit a small electrical problem. I could only turn un dipped OR main beam, this is probably correct with the standard single bulb set-up, but not ideal on the twin bulb set-up on the ibiza,,
after some googling, and asking the question on the forum, Rich_T came to the rescue with the fix, it was adding a bridge in the fuse box, which I did.
which has fixed the problem..
It all still needed a bit of fettling to get it all a bit better aligned up, but that could wait till it's been to the body shop for some paint..
with the outside getting something like i wanted it, it was time to make a start on the inside..
it WAS like this..
I had found a black dash and dark carpet, and needed to add some wiring for rear speakers, TV and other stuff i intend to fit, so out it all came..
after a day of farting around with a soldering iron, i ran out of light, so at the end of day one, it was left like this..
Day 2 was fairly simple and just a case of putting the front together, rewinding the ribbon off the air bag was also good fun..
next was the back...
This stuff while good, wasnt as easy to put on as I expected, i think it just takes practice, but by the time i had the hang of it, it was all done..
the end result was this
I also got my front seats changed.
and it currently stands like this..
love it. Oh, and I've put a VR6 in it! Bet it sounds and goes as well as it looks now. Definitely have to look for some of that carpet as well. Looks excellent in the back. 