New Member

[PGBarnett]

Hi all,

New member here from Melbourne, Australia. I recently purchased an ex-police 2016 T6 Transporter TDI400 LWB 4motion twin slider in pure grey. I frequently see a parked multi van at my local train station where the coppers patrol on foot and assume my van was used for a similar thing in the northern 'burbs of Melb (based on service history). Looking to turn it into my adventure vehicle and adding a light camper/weekender fitout for beach and alpine region trips...but first trying to figure out what I actually have first.

A couple questions if anyone can please help with...

1. Anyone know where I can source a rear air-con roof duct? Seems I only have the vertical and shorter section of the roof duct - see attached pic. Might need a bottom vent too.
2. I've got 8 bolts in the floor for what I assume were 2 rear single seats (can't imagine just to hold timber floor down). Does anyone know or have something similar - Maybe something like this? - SafetyExcel Seat - Additional Seating for Volkswagen Van

Looking forward to getting stuck into the build.

Pics attached including the van behind my GTI.

Cheers,

PGB

 

[Elver]

Hi! Looks like I have the identical van to yours. Same back storey, but mines blue. Ex Melbourne LWB police van, bolted in rear seat (fitted at time of sale by vw dealer apparently) and a broken rear aircon duct system. rear ac works really well just the ducts are terrible.

Did you sort the rear aircon duct? Mines ripped out of the roof and I’m looking for hints to secure it back on without replacing the whole roof or looking janky.

did you sort out your seat issue?

Thanks,

Tom

 

[DingusOp]

Hi Good Luck with your build!!

 

[PGBarnett]

Hi! Looks like I have the identical van to yours. Same back storey, but mines blue. Ex Melbourne LWB police van, bolted in rear seat (fitted at time of sale by vw dealer apparently) and a broken rear aircon duct system. rear ac works really well just the ducts are terrible.

Did you sort the rear aircon duct? Mines ripped out of the roof and I’m looking for hints to secure it back on without replacing the whole roof or looking janky.

did you sort out your seat issue?

Thanks,

Tom

Ah Nice one! Got any photos? I found a sticker on the front passenger seat base when I put a swivel base in - turns out the van was a forensics vehicle.

Yes, found and ordered a replacement duct from LLLparts in the UK without much fuss - just a bit pricey with shipping/import costs: https://www.lllparts.co.uk/?currency=GBP&language=en.

I've sound deadened (was partly already done) and got new lining done for walls/roof after I tried doing some myself - wasn't bad but not as clean as a professional CNC job - so got it done properly. The duct doesn't fit great with the increased thickness of the carpeted roof & ply wall lining, so have kept it out for now - will likely need to amend the wall ply, and add an additional clip/bracket to fix the duct to the wall/roof to keep in place in correct position (hoping to hide as best as possible) - A Winter 2026 job.

I haven't bothered with the rear seat as yet, as I don't need it (just myself, the Mrs and the dog at the moment). When the times comes, I might go with something like this: https://kombilife.com.au/products/s...de-for-volkswagen-vans?variant=43616254886132.

Other than that, a brief list of the build so far:

Kitle FlexLite Kit: Universal Van Conversion Kit For Camping
Birch ply wall lining and roof carpeted - Got the guys at Kitle to do this to match the kit, after I had an initial crack at it myself.
Passenger swivel seat - Kombilife. I got a guy in Yan Yean to install and an Engineer in Thomastown to provide Certificate. Seems this was the only way they'd do it.
Lagun table leg - Again, Kitle supply the birch ply tabletop to match the kit.
x2 Lagun table mounts. 1 goes on the kit and I rigged up one for the swivel passenger seat to replicate what the Ovano swing-out table does. I move the table between the 2 spots.
Frontrunner platform rack and rear ladder.
Sliding door storage pods - Kombilife.
Bluetti Elite 100 V2 power station - goes in kit cubby hole.
Yakima BackSwing and OnRamp bike rack. - Recent purchase. Keen to hit some rail trails this year.

+ A few other miscellaneous things (door seals, curtains, flyscreens etc.)

It's a pretty clean, simple build. Heaps of storage and space on the roof rack. I love the adaptability of the table location and that I can take the kit out to use the van for its original function when needed. Next major things are:

- Slide windows for the sliding doors.
- Lift Kit / Suspension / Wheels.
- Maybe an awning but after a few trips can't justify it yet.

The ply floor they had in when I got it does bother me a bit as it doesn't quite fit properly - you can see the gap right behind the front seats - I'll replace at some point.

Van has been great, we've been up to QLD and back this summer, did the Sapphire coast and back the summer before. Several trips to Bright, Gippsland, Warrnambool and obviously down to the coast for overnight/long weekends etc. Heading to Adelaide hills this Easter.

Managed to be pretty warm inside with the tailgate latch extension for airflow when in Bright/Mount Beauty and 1-2 deg overnight. Got some usb charged fans hanging from hooks on the roof when its warm - a roof top tent would be nicer for ozzie summer though.

See a few photos attached.

Got any big plans for yours as yet?

- PGB

 

[Elver]

Crikey you’ve been busy.
I think ours was planned for moving people. Aparently it was ordered by the police but they sold it to a tradie who needed a van and was happy with the spec. So the police had to re order another custom spec van. Seems they may not have been paying enough and the tradies made the dealer more $$$.

Can I ask what the little wall panels cost? Their stuff is nice.

So we have:

1) Stripped out the tradies stuff that was in it, and cleaned a heap of warning issues / dealt with some tyre and mechanical stuff. (180,000 km…)
2) Added two 120ah batteries under each seat and a 30amp victron charger, then some power infrastructure. (See photo)
3) replaced the suspension (was flogged) with a 50mm lift kit. Was going to get kombi life to do it but they messed me round for 6 months so I imported from THQ and got it installed by my local pedders shop. Was about the same price and didn’t need to drive 6 hours to Kombilife.
4) started the design for camping setup. We want a long bed unit 1.8m drawer kitchen and one side able to be opened so we can carry long stuff for projects and doing stuff about town. So a fold out bed that’s mounted drivers side and folds out to the passenger side.
5) We have a roof rack and cheapo 2.5m awning (anaconda cheapie) and that will do for now. Came with the van. I’m keen for dual 180 degree awnings later but not sure I want the weight / aero penalty.

Attached photos show my solution to the falling out ac ducting - not pretty but will do for now. We removed the ducts, added a 40 x 25 Angle of alloy then screwed that to the roof, and then screwed the duct to the angle. Not super pretty but won’t fall down.

And when we installed the dual batteries the plastic covers below the two captains chairs didn’t fit so we just made I made some ply covers with 4 way stretch carpet to finish off the seats.

 

[PGBarnett]

Nice, you've been busy too!

The panels with v grooves were approx. $1300 + GST installed for the upper rear right, left and tailgate...pricey but really happy with them and made sense to match the kit. The roof carpeting (and trim) was $500 if you don't won't to do it yourself. I assume you'll end up with the same issue re: duct fixing but don't mind your approach...gives me something to think about.

Ah, yeah similar kms on mine 175k ish.

Plenty of power - love it. Mine came with a 2nd battery under passenger seat but I always freak out I'll go flat with car fridge - hence the power station. I need to do a similar thing for the seat base panels for the same reason...plastic has been cut and falls off every swivel.

What suspension and lift kit you go for? happy with it? Did they install diff spacers etc.? I'll prob do a similar thing (order it and get it installed locally).

I like that camping setup you're thinking, I probably would've done a similar thing if a kit were available - seems to be more options in UK but not here - I'm not quite handy enough to get the spec/finish doing it myself.

I also need some new speakers - still loud af and the roof rack doesn't help lol.