Firstly, this is a slow project... in every way.

I did a deal plus cash for my ageing Mondeo ST200 (Thread Here) which was starting to require some money spent on it to keep it looking it's best, which I couldn't justify given I'd driven it about 1500 miles in a year. So when I got offered this van, it made sense to let go of the Mondeo.



Details of the van:

2008
T200
1.8 TDCi (75bhp version)
67k miles
Full Ford/Iveco Service History
Only two previous owners

Wasn't sure whether to do a thread on it or not, but since I'll be doing wee bits here and there then I guess it qualifies. I'll throw up pictures from time to time too... just don't be expecting to see crazy big BHP Focus RS conversions or anything like that, it's a daily driver, so it'll be staying a 1.8 TDCi.

When I got the van, it had already been lowered with an axel flip kit and front lowering springs because it looked like an off road buggy with the 19" Focus RS wheels fitted, haha. Yes, it's lost some load carrying ability given the suspension/wheel choice, but for me, it's still capable of being very practical... two Labradors, mountain bike or two or some boiler suits/boots/tools is about as loaded as it'll get with me.

Here are a couple of photos of it, I've just finished upgrading the sound system in it actually, but I'll sort those photos out and post another update about that in a wee while.





...and the downside of having no bulkhead:




Cheers,
Grant

 

Looks good on the Focus RS wheels.

Nice Connect.

 

That looks pimp! Not sure what the hardware differences are between them all, might just be the map? We have a 110 at work and that flies along!

 

This is my connect had quite a bit done to it
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Thanks mate.


Yeah, the 75bhp and 90bhp are identical apart from the software.. but think that the 110bhp have different hardware fitted. Although a custom map on my van will apparently see c110-115bhp, for around £250, so that's definitely on the list of things to do.


That looks great. Did you do all the mods to it?? What sort of cost are the sideskirts?? ...and is that just a standard bumper like mine, but de-grained and painted??


Cheers,
Grant

 

I bought it like that,for your parts look up mod your transit you get all from him nice enough guy and join transit connected on Facebook,I've just sold my van this morning bit gutted to be honest,looking for a cheap one now as I had far to much money tied up in and it dos'nt get used as much as it used to

 

Cheers for the heads up on the Facebook page, will give that a 'like' in a bit.

Think that it was modyourtransit who supplied the lowering stuff and IIRC, my friend who I bought the van from, was waiting for a pair of Connect Sport sideskirts to arrive too... but never showed.

I have liked the idea of having a van for a while now (years ) but I've never had space for one, now I've got one, I can't really see why I'd sell it unless I started to do quite a few long trips for work possibly... it's just very, very practical and doesn't cost much to run at all. I am really liking it!!


Cheers,
Grant

 

So to start with I made a few wee alterations to the van to rectify areas which I wasn't happy about.

First off, decided to carpet the load area because I wasn't a fan of the bare wood floor and it should stop the pups getting any splinters!!



Next was a really basic but very effective upgrade. Fitting LED interior bulbs to brighten up the load area mainly, because in the dark the standard bulbs were absolutely rubbish.

So after a quick eBay session, I had some upgraded bulbs on their way to me... three bulbs for the interior lights and two replacement bulbs for the number plate lights (one needed replaced anyway) too.

Interior Bulb (Never took one of the number plate 501 bulb!):



Results:








Cheers,
Grant

 

This looks awesome it's nice to see a nice van that isn't a Astra!! Love those wheels on it

 

Just seen the red van in sunderland looks the part

 

Wheeled the van into my friends unit:



[url=http://youtu.be/_MVonyVSQoM]Cue the music...[/url]

The first thing to go was the standard headunit, big, bulky,low powered.. replacement is a Pioneer DEH-4600BT (LinkHere, I'd fitted one of these headunits into my old Focus RS and wasreally impressed by the amount of features, ease of use and quality of it forthe money; so there was no doubt about buying another one for the Connect.

Needed the usual aerial adaptor, ISO conversion cable andfacia adaptor. There were a few options for the facia adaptor, but eventuallywent with thisone however bought it from a local audio store for a chunk less thanHalfrauds were wanting for the same bit of kit.

Here is the headunit all fitted up:



...and given that it's Bluetooth enabled with calls comingthrough the front speakers, it obviously needs a microphone fitted somewhere tolet you talk back!! I decided to put it in the same place that I had fitted onein the Focus and it works fine, telephone calls are nice and clear both ways.



With just the headunit fitted, the standard speakers (frontonly) sounded 10? 20? times better than they did with the standard headunit...so much so that I wondered if I should really bother fitting upgradedspeakers!!

But since I'd already bought them and the standard frontspeakers were better but still not capable of being left alone, it seemedstupid to take them back. I went for some Fli 6x9 speakers(ClickyLink) after reading a few reviews and comparing them to much moreexpensive speakers, I didn't see the point paying almost double for what I waswanting them to do.

Now if you could try not to notice the amount of dirt/doghair that I discovered in the next few photos that'd be great, it's gone now,promise!! ...I unscrewed the centre console around thegearstick/handbrake so I could run the cables for the speakers down thedashboard and tuck them up underneath the centre console for as tidy aninstallation as possible.




The wires supplied with the speakers weren't going to belong enough to reach the rear doors, which is where the 6x9's were finallymounted. So using bullet connectors, extra wires were added to give the lengthrequired. MDF was cut to the shape of the door sections and then covered insome black vinyl that my mate had lying around in his unit, it's a bit bubblyin places and doesn't quite cover it all... but it looks better thanbare wood.



Keeps them nicely out the way and also if/when the van isused for days at park/beach/camping trip, then it gives the opportunity tofling open the rear doors and direct the music outside too. Happy days.

Here are a few pictures showing how I routed the wiring fromthe front to back. The passenger side is all hidden at the front end, it runsunder the side door step, into the small plastic panel at the door opening andinto the sides same as the drivers side. Wiring from van into the rear doorsused existing grommets etc... time will tell if this is working out, but so farit seems to be fine.




How it reached the rear doors:




The next/final part of this upgrade was the addition of asubwoofer, something I got talked into by a friend who said that I 'might aswell' if I was pulling the headunit out... so while I was in Halfords, I saw aspecial offer on one of their Fli active subwoofers(ClickyLink) which would negate the need to mount an extra amplifier somewhereas the sub and amp all came in one box. I read a few reviews (granted frompeople under my age range ) and itseemed a good piece of kit and came with all the wiring needed, so I boughtthat too.

[IMG]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/0703/grantfarnan/Transit%20Connect/11B834FB-4863-4E1A-A56C-1CFC4A8CEC41.jpg[/IMG]

Not sure if I'm going to bother upgrading the front doorspeakers, they handle what they're asked to handle pretty well and the 6x9'stake care of the rest with a nice wee kick from the subwoofer low down...overall, I think it cost me around £220-£230 and the difference is massive. Ifyou're thinking about upgrading but not sure if it'll be worth it, then do it,you'll not regret it at all.


Cheers,
Grant

 

Something has happened when posting and a few parts look like they were typed by a mong, that wasn't me... and now I can't edit it, just comes up as a blank screen. How handy.

This is the final photo:






Cheers,
Grant

 

Nice looking van how low is it sitting coilovers?

 

Cool van matey. It looks well on them wheels.

Where i work we have a few tranny connects in our fleet. If i was you i would fill the sills full of wax oil cause the sills rot like fook.

 

I will 2nd that glenn the one i just got was a mot fail on sills
welded 2 new ones i got off ebay on to it and moted now

 

Has that one got side windows in it??

 

Hi Glenn yeah it has a side window in it but no rear seats lol

 

That makes sense lol.

I didn't realise they suffered with rot, better get some oil down the sills on ours at work!

 

Looking good grant, a little while back i had a connect to use for a few weeks, it had 140k on the clock and drove much nicer than all the brand new Peugeot vans we've got in the fleet!

 

The van i got is sitting at 186,000 miles drives pretty good now I've gave it a full service

 

Not coilovers on mine bud, it's lowering springs and standard shocks on the front and a flipped axle kit on the rear... IIRC it came from modyourtransit website.

It's on standard fit Focus RS wheels, not sure what size the tyres are off hand, 215? 225? ...anyway, it does rub if I throw a lot of stuff in the back. But as I don't do that very often at all, then it's fine by me.


Good advice mate, had heard that the sills are a bit of a nightmare on these.. mine are in great nick just now, so definitely going to get the waxoil on them before winter sets in.


Haven't seen one with a window in the side door before now. Had thought about trying to source either a one piece rear door with a window or two rear doors with windows in them.


Thanks Richie, your 'deo is looking tidy too man.


Good to know I've hopefully *touch wood* got a few more miles of life in the van going by the mileage of the vans that you lads have used!!


Cheers,
Grant

 

my vans got a one piece rear door on it with a window im going to get the window tinted like the side window