Volkswagen Caravelle C T25 1985

[msabbasi]

The lumpy door cards gets fitted. It is not too lumpy. But I think there is something missing in the door hardware. The lock mechanism is visible. I don't this the folks at VW accept this type of workmanship.

Note the exposed lock mechanism on the right of the door card

Got this picture from the net. It has a cover as I suspected.

Here is the thing. I opened this van a year ago. I cant remember if there was a cover here or not. I guess it is time to dig around.

[msabbasi]

Rear Seat: The rear seat went in today. I'll call that a milestone. It was free of drama apart from the mandatory swearing and scraped knuckles.

The seat legs need a bit of work. There is a cover (missing in the picture) that goes over the legs.

Another view of the rear seat

The seat fabric needs a bit if cleaning but that's a job for later.

The rear seat folded to receive more luggage I suppose. I am not too impressed with this feature. It would have been better if the cargo area became a totally flat bed.

Next major step will be to fix the middle seat. The seat is designed to be removable. As earlier decided that for normal operation this seat shall remain in place but removed for art studio duty.

[msabbasi]

Just a random shot of the paint after some polishing

[msabbasi]

The other side

[omersiddiqui5482]

Sir kindly dont mind me saying but do give some detail under the wheel arches. the Van look really good Mashallah. I have been observing the thread since its creation. mashallah awesum work.

[msabbasi]

Dear Omer sb. Thank you for your kind words of appreciation. The matter of the wheel arches was touched earlier in post number 43. Unfortunately, there is nothing much I can do here. This is the way this van came from the factory.

[nnabeel]

oeshabashey.......Masah Allah the van looks awesome........great job sir

[msabbasi]

Thanks

[msabbasi]

I had a lot of driving to do today doing chores. About a 100Km or so. Van didn't miss a beat (Alhumdolilah) I decided to do a few light jobs on the van. So today the coat hangers went in. There are four of them in the rear cabin. Look like this:

As part of the chores I went to collect some goodies from the UPS folks.

Rear wheel bearings and seals

Rear brake set

I think the van needs a bit of work on the rear wheels. Brakes and bearings. Brakes are dragging on one of the rear wheels. When I am in there, I'll have a look at the wheel cylinders.

[msabbasi]

Work on the interior is proceeding in very small increments. Basically that due to the rather hot weather and no shade where the van is parked. In post # 302, I mentioned that a cover was missing below the rear seats. That went in this morning:

I think the edges of the cover could do with a bit of matte black paint to smarten it up.

This looks like MDF with a matte black nylon coating just like the one in luggage area. Any use of thinner based paint will destroy it. My choice will be water based acrylic paint just like the one I used on the headliner.

[Xulfiqar]

Nice, please do the german or american way of grease packing in them - The Pakistani packing way makes even the best bearings go to trash in a few months.

[msabbasi]

Today was another milestone moment. The center seat went in. Pictures:

Please excuse the plastic sheet. I had covered the center seat with is sheet

Just another view. The center seat looks a bit lopsided. That is the cellphone camera playing tricks.

Today myself and the wife wen for a bit of an extended trip. The walk through feature of the van allowed her to easily move from the front of the van to the back without having to get out.

The a/c was sorely missed. So that will be the next thing on the list.

[omersiddiqui5482]

Mashallah!

[Xulfiqar]

Now compare these with hiaces - you will find that a toyota hiace is like comparing rocks to apples.

[msabbasi]

This is very solid driving van compared to the Hiace but it does rattle a bit of rough roads which I guess the Hiace may not. But then a more fair comparison would be to talk about a 1985 Hiace vs 1985 VW.

Definitely the walk through feature does not exist in the Hiace on account of the engine hump between the front seats camouflaged by the third front seat. But on the flip side I am guessing the Hiace aircon would be in a different league.

[Xulfiqar]

The old 80s hiace aircon is imaginary at best. For real ac performance, u need an american van as in classic american tradition, thry first make an A/C then attach a vehicle to it.

[capsat]

if tinting for rear 4 glass pans both sides is not illegal in Islamabd please goahead and tint them with 3M REFLECTO SHEET it looks like mirror under sun and clear under cloud and after sunset

selecting & installing an aircon will be real trick for HVAC shops in Islamabad. There is a shop on bank road in RWP they specialise doing ARMY AMBULANCE aircon work if you get a chance passby. do have a look.

[VCheng]

Here is an option:

http://dcpowersales.com/products/air-conditioning/roof-mount-ac/

[Xulfiqar]

Ac work on this van wont be anything extra ordinary if they already know how to work on hiace a/c and land cruiser ones too.

The pivot point would be using nitrogen to pressure test, correct oiling and using the correct vacuum pump (not a compressor)

[msabbasi]

@farrukhzeeshan: Sir, thank you for your "likes"