1997 Vauxhall Combo Van 1.7d Isuzu

[GavinJ]

I’ve been using a ‘97 Mgf as my daily over the past 16 months and put around 23k on it that time (also took it up the hill @ RRG18) but I knew I was pushing my luck as it now had 123k on the clock and I didn’t want to kill it with the mileage I do for my work commute and the previous owner was desperate to have her back - so MGF was sold and I began to browse eBay and Facebook market place.

This resulted in me purchasing £350 worth of Vauxhall Combo van with the 1.7d non turbo Isuzu engine goodness.

Here’s some pics from the original advert.

[GavinJ]

Honest as it gets but it’s in desperate need of tlc, good news is that it has a ticket until November and virtually a full service history and starts perfect from stone cold.

First job was to strip out the rear and hopefully eradicate its interesting odour!



This revealed decent ply lining and the original rubber loading mat.

[GavinJ]

A little of t cut gave me hope that the 23yr old paintwork could be revived.





Fast forward to two full days of annual leave worth of cleaning, polishing, rust repairs (edge drivers door, rear door etc.) and bumper paint - this stuff was epic as the bumpers were a very light grey so as faded as you could get. Also added a Esso Vinyl to break things up a bit, more retro decals on order...

I ended up with this,







Owes me around £450 including purchase cost (it’s had a new battery as well @ £52)

[GavinJ]

Quick before and after;

[07lilredwagon]

nice transformation. the inside looks so much better....I mean, where can you even get shag carpeting anymore...for walls.

JP

[strikey]

what a transformation...gone from "oh dear" to "oh yeah"!

[Neil]

Looking great. Nice to see one getting some love. Out of interest, what bumper paint did you use?

[GavinJ]

May 26, 2019 20:25:26 GMT Neil said:

Looking great. Nice to see one getting some love. Out of interest, what bumper paint did you use?

Thanks - this off eBay

rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.co.uk%2Fulk%2Fitm%2F271845221131

Went on great, zero reactions.

[stef56]

Hi, Would like to view your combo van.Stef 56

[unclefester101]

Still available

[paul99]

Curious about the headlights, just grubby in the first pic, or have they been polished/cut back?