Tommy's T6.1 Day Van Build

[tommy_t6.1]

Hello everyone.

Just collected my T6.1 in Ascot grey from the dealer this evening. I just wanted to start a thread to document my slow, and it will be slow, conversion from van to day van.

My wife and I, and our 4 yr old little girl, are all very excited to start this journey and go on plenty of adventures in our camper van!

After lots of researching and perving on other people's vans, I think I got an idea of how I want mine to turn out. I won't be rushing into anything as I want to try and get everything right first time round. I've also managed to get the wife to agree to some lowering, not to the scale some of you have gone to, but a nice little drop to reduce the arch gap! She's also greenlighted a wheel change, but I've not got a clue what to go for. Plenty of time to decide though!

I've already bought myself a dash trim/window seal thing, some secondary door seals and a nice sunstrip! I'm also looking at getting some wind deflectors aswell but are these really worth it?


This is the vans current spec as ordered:
Startline T30 SWB 150 DSG
Business Pack
Ccmfort Pack
Discover Media nav unit
Fog lights
Tailgate
Soft close sliding door
Cab carpet
Rubber floor in rear
80l fuel tank
Tyre pressure loss indicator
Heated seats
Heated and folding mirrors
Rear view camera


For now here's the only picture I have as it's too dark now. I'll get some better ones uploaded in the light over the next few days!

Thanks for taking the time to read my ramblings on and we hope to get out to some meet ups once all this crazy blows over!

 

[Trouts]

Welcome @tommy_t6.1
looking forward to seeing your van progress.

 

[t6blo]

Great base for your build

 

[JasonW]

I'm also looking at getting some wind deflectors aswell but are these really worth it?

Absolutely... you won't go far wrong with Heko deflectors...

Good luck with the build.. keep us posted

 

[tommy_t6.1]

Absolutely... you won't go far wrong with Heko deflectors...

Good luck with the build.. keep us posted

Brilliant thanks Jason. I'll get some ordered!

I'm hoping to keep regular updates on the progress, but doubt I'll get much done this year. Bring on the spring!

 

[tommy_t6.1]

Today is the first day I've seen my van in the daylight and I'm very surprised at how different the colour looks! I never saw the colour before ordering and then only seen it at night since collection.

Anyway here's a few more pics in the light. Although these don't fully capture the colour of the van either!

 

[tommy_t6.1]

Had a brilliant start today! Not!

Unlocked the van this morning to load it up to do the Christmas rounds. Side door opened no issue, passenger door opened no issue, however when I came to get in the drivers side the handle wouldn't budge. Tried it a few times but didn't want to pull it hard in fear of breaking it! The door unlocks and opens from the inside but the handle on the outside doesn't do anything. You can move it slightly but it doesn't pull out all the way and it won't go back in fully!

Only done 400 miles in my van since I collected it 2nd Dec! Looks like it'll be going in once dealers reopen!


In other news I managed to get my private plate fitted the other day!

 

[tommy_t6.1]

Bit of an update on this. Phoned the dealer Tuesday morning to get the van booked in. Managed to get it in yesterday morning which I was amazed at and very grateful for. The van was ready for late yesterday but I left it unitl today to collect it. Got the van this morning and everything seemed fine with it. However I've noticed a strange issue. When I unlock the van and go to get in, I have to pull the handle at least twice, sometimes 3 times to actually get the door to open. This isn't normal is it as I don't remember it doing this before! Do I need to rebook it onto the dealer?

 

[t6blo]

Bit of an update on this. Phoned the dealer Tuesday morning to get the van booked in. Managed to get it in yesterday morning which I was amazed at and very grateful for. The van was ready for late yesterday but I left it unitl today to collect it. Got the van this morning and everything seemed fine with it. However I've noticed a strange issue. When I unlock the van and go to get in, I have to pull the handle at least twice, sometimes 3 times to actually get the door to open. This isn't normal is it as I don't remember it doing this before! Do I need to rebook it onto the dealer?

Doesn’t sound right at all I’m afraid

 

[Westcoastgser]

Bit of an update on this. Phoned the dealer Tuesday morning to get the van booked in. Managed to get it in yesterday morning which I was amazed at and very grateful for. The van was ready for late yesterday but I left it unitl today to collect it. Got the van this morning and everything seemed fine with it. However I've noticed a strange issue. When I unlock the van and go to get in, I have to pull the handle at least twice, sometimes 3 times to actually get the door to open. This isn't normal is it as I don't remember it doing this before! Do I need to rebook it onto the dealer?

I have the very same issue with my new T6.1 4motion, only noticed it since this last few days of hard frost though and thought at first that it was just the drivers side door that was frozen up. Went to passenger door and that opened OK from the outside and once I was in the drivers door opened easily from the inside. Now though both doors have stopped opening and I have to get in the side door and climb into the cab !
Anyone else having this issue and is there a cure before I book mine into the dealer.

 

[tommy_t6.1]

Doesn’t sound right at all I’m afraid

I thought as much. Looks like it'll be going back in then!

 

[tommy_t6.1]

I have the very same issue with my new T6.1 4motion, only noticed it since this last few days of hard frost though and thought at first that it was just the drivers side door that was frozen up. Went to passenger door and that opened OK from the outside and once I was in the drivers door opened easily from the inside. Now though both doors have stopped opening and I have to get in the side door and climb into the cab !
Anyone else having this issue and is there a cure before I book mine into the dealer.

Sounds exactly like my issue. Get it booked in. I can't believe the door handles on a commercial vehicle are so fragile!!

 

[tommy_t6.1]

Noticed another issue post repair. My mirrors now dont fold in using the key! Before when I locked the van and held the button down, the mirrors would fold in. I've tried putting the mirror switch in all positions to no avail! POS van!! Arrgggghhh!!

 

[tommy_t6.1]

Firstly, the van went back into VW and everything seems fine with the van upto now. Hopefully that's the end of that saga. Moving on.....


When we got the van and fitted our daughters car seat, we realised there's not a great deal of room for the 3 of us up front. I've been looking at seating options and was about to go down the kombi rear seats route, but wasn't keen as they didn't fit into my vision for the van. Upon further searching I've come across this:


Its a plate that offsets the bench seat 100mm into the rear, and also tilts it a few degrees to aid comfort. I've only collected it today so it's not fitted, but I'm looking forward to getting it in. This should hopefully sort our room issue as will give the passengers 100mm more leg room, and also place my daughters seat behind my left arm giving me a bit more room.

Once fitted I'll pop some pics up. I'm also hoping to get my secondary door seals fitted this week as they have been in the box since September!

 

[Ozi]

Where did you get the secondary door seals from Tommy? Have seen these mentioned a few times and would be interested in your thoughts once fitted.

 

[tommy_t6.1]

Where did you get the secondary door seals from Tommy? Have seen these mentioned a few times and would be interested in your thoughts once fitted.

I got them from Transporter HQ. I saw a few videos mentioning them, and the fact they are quite cheap I thought I may aswell get some. Hopefully they are as effective as everyone makes out. I'm always a bit sceptical. Will keep this updated once fitted!

 

[tommy_t6.1]

Got the seat plate fitted today. Has made a massive difference to the comfort in the cab for both the passenger and driver. Very happy with how its turned out!

Before:



After:

 

[dubber36]

How does the seatbelt sit across the passengers left shoulder? To me that looks like in the event of an accident, the belt wouldn't hold them back in the seat. There looks like there could be a high chance of shoulder damage as the body gets flung forwards into the belt.

 

[tommy_t6.1]

How does the seatbelt sit across the passengers left shoulder? To me that looks like in the event of an accident, the belt wouldn't hold them back in the seat. There looks like there could be a high chance of shoulder damage as the body gets flung forwards into the belt.

That was my thought when I initially fitted it. But when you pull the belt across you, it still sits against your shoulder, but at a slightly straighter angle. If the belt was too far forward I would have taken it back out, but its perfectly fine.

I'm going to try it with out the spacers that tilt it backwards. With out these the backrest would be further forward. See how that works.

 

[fax001]

Firstly, the van went back into VW and everything seems fine with the van upto now. Hopefully that's the end of that saga. Moving on.....


When we got the van and fitted our daughters car seat, we realised there's not a great deal of room for the 3 of us up front. I've been looking at seating options and was about to go down the kombi rear seats route, but wasn't keen as they didn't fit into my vision for the van. Upon further searching I've come across this:
View attachment 99073

Its a plate that offsets the bench seat 100mm into the rear, and also tilts it a few degrees to aid comfort. I've only collected it today so it's not fitted, but I'm looking forward to getting it in. This should hopefully sort our room issue as will give the passengers 100mm more leg room, and also place my daughters seat behind my left arm giving me a bit more room.

Once fitted I'll pop some pics up. I'm also hoping to get my secondary door seals fitted this week as they have been in the box since September!

I like the look of the seat offset plate.
Where did you get the plate from and how much did it cost ? Not seen one before.
Do you know if you can fit a swivel on top of it ?
Thank you.