Last week I picked up a 2013 1.6 caddy maxi.
203k miles on the clock, bit rough around the edges and a few little issues but seems like a solid runner and for £2350 it was an absolute bargain.
The plan is to convert it to a camper for weekend adventures with me the missus and the dog.
I’m not a very mechanical person at all. I’ve never messed around with a car or done any real DIY work, so this build is probably gonna be a bit painful and a little bit amusing to read for those experienced builders lol!
I’m excited to get stuck in and after a week of lurking around on the build threads here I’ve got all sorts I want to do with no idea how
Here she is
Job list so far:
- Windscreen was completely shattered when I picked it up. Had it replaced already
- passenger sliding door doesn’t lock, so bounces back open and slides around while driving, got it cable tied together until I can figure out what’s wrong with it? Might just get a full door from a breakers and replace the door, I’m just not keen on having to have a second key for the new lock
- massive dent in the sill, it’s obviously caused the paint to crack and started to rust. It’s not at all bad, I think a little sand over and a lick of paint and it would be fine.. but I’d rather just replace the sill i think
- when I picked it up, I drove for a few miles and then took the dog for a walk before our two hour drive home and the second time I come to start it, it wouldn’t start. Ended up giving it a jump and it was fine and has been since BUT now and then I get a flashing light on the dash for my glow plugs, so I’m gonna have to get it on a obd and see what faults it’s giving. But it’s done 200k and glow plugs last 100 according to google so I’m gonna replace those in the meantime.
- Bed in the back is full of rust so I’m gonna clean all that up, got a few tins of hammerite ready to go here, just waiting on a wire brush and some sanding disks being delivered
I think that’s all that stands out as needing immediate attention. After that I’ve got a list of mods I wanna do to make the cab comfy (Touran interior conversion, mfsw, few LED lights and whatnot), I wanna lift the suspension and upgrade the shocks and springs for off road driving and put some big chunky all terrain tires on it, few other interesting ideas. Then obviously we’re gonna kit out the back, we’ve planned for a completely off grid build, only thing we’re gonna lack is a shower, but we think we can squeeze in a bed, sink, hob, toilet, decent water tank, plenty storage and a full off grid leccy system (solar, dc to dc and a hook up point for campsites) finally I’m gonna have a go at wrapping the full thing myself once it’s finished, that’ll be an entertaining read.
Think that’s about it for now. Excited to get going! I want everything finished yesterday, so I’m hoping this should be quite a full on build thread, I just have to keep it updated!
Cheers lads, Eli
Also. Anyone have any idea what could be wrong with the locking mechanism, or any idea on what I need to do/take apart to figure it out that would be well appreciated until I can get approved to have a look into the how to section? Can’t find anything online, I’m baffled.
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