CAMPER&BUS 41

projectshed, or #projectsh*tter as it became
affectionately known, is a 2007 1.9TDi T5 that our
sister magazine VWt bought in 2015 as a project
vehicle. The goal from the outset was to show
that you can build a daily driver and weekend plaything
on a fairly sensible budget, but having covered 217,000
miles when we gave £3,500 for it as a standard builders
van, we knew it wouldn’t all be plain sailing...
Roughly £7,000 later, including lots of maintenance -
clutch and fl ywheel, driveshafts, CV joints, rear calipers,
gearbox, ABS module and pump rebuilds, new central
convenience unit, new hybrid turbo and a TT RS front
caliper and 340mm Sportline front brake upgrade, it’s
knocking on the door of 227,000 miles but is still fun to
drive and gets a surprising hustle on for an ol’ van. It’s
also on Gaz coilovers and H&R anti roll bars (honestly the
best T5 upgrade you can do!) Plus, if you really want to
‘drive’ your van, new top mounts and Powerfl ex bushes.
Famed for being fairly unreliable (at least compared
to the slightly more agricultural and van-like T4)
#projectshitter has only let me down twice. Once due to
a failed gearbox selector mechanism and secondly when
the stub axle / CV joint fell apart on the drivers side,
which is a regular T5 bugbear.

Along with a T5.1 facelift, I fi tted glass all round,

installed a massive Pioneer and Hertz audio system,

bolted in some Vauxhall Corsa VXR pews with a GTi

tartan trim and also had the awesome folk at Rusty Lee’s

fi t an M1 tested rock ’n’ roll bed in the back. Fully sound

deadened and with a new 12mm ply fl oor and alcantara

headlining with 12v LED downlighters - run from a

Durite split charge relay and 110a/ h leisure battery, it’s

certainly more comfortable in the back than when I

fi rst got it. There’s also a lashed together furniture run

made from old scaffold tube and burnt scaff boards with

some very dodgy acrylic doors for the cupboard. If I were

doing it again I’d build a wooden carcass / framework

and suspend them from that as they rattle like buggery.

It’s not fi nished, the bed still needs trimming, but I also

made some temporary bed boards and cut some memory

foam so I could crash in comfort.

Unfortunately, because I commute a lot through

central London, the extension of the ULEZ makes all

diesel vans prior to 2015 effectively scrap, so it’s time

to move the ol’ girl on and get a more modern Euro6

vehicle, but it’s been a blast and I think the 1552 Tarmac

wheels really suit it. Hopefully it shows that you don’t

always need £20k+ to have fun with a T5.