Mercedes Vito W638 - Day van
Discussion
We've been looking at vans for a few months now, initially looking at Bongos, then VW T4s and finally settling on a Vito. As our budget was quite low a Vito made the most sense and although they can be rusty, all the VWs we looked at in our budget were worse than this Vito!
The lad we bought it off had it for the best part of 4 years and worked as a joiner. He had it off the road 6 months ago to covert it to a camper after it got vandalised, every panel was keyed and windscreen wipers bent back. Its been given a blow over in the factory colour and looks pretty tidy and he showed me some pics of it before it was sprayed so I'm satisfied its not completely rotten, although there are a few bubbles here and there.
He's already insulated it inside and had it ply lined and carpeted, which saves us a job. He's also made a bed which although is well made, we feel is too big for the van as its a SWB and the bed is 6'9"! So it will either need re-engineering or ripping out and getting a proper rock n roll bed.
Its going to be a bit of a rolling project doing bits here and there as and when we can afford to. The first thing to do is lose the wheels and refit the standard steel wheels with some Continental Vanco Winter tyres, this should make it usable year round as it will be the OHs daily transport and it will be useful when we go camping in summer and inevitably come across muddy fields!
Although I like the look of the alloys they are the wrong offset so give it the 'standing on tip toes' look with the positive camber. As well as that I think they are off a CLK so I doubt they are rated for what could potentially be a 3.5t van!
Anyway here is 'Mavis' (numberplate ends MVS
)
The lad we bought it off had it for the best part of 4 years and worked as a joiner. He had it off the road 6 months ago to covert it to a camper after it got vandalised, every panel was keyed and windscreen wipers bent back. Its been given a blow over in the factory colour and looks pretty tidy and he showed me some pics of it before it was sprayed so I'm satisfied its not completely rotten, although there are a few bubbles here and there.
He's already insulated it inside and had it ply lined and carpeted, which saves us a job. He's also made a bed which although is well made, we feel is too big for the van as its a SWB and the bed is 6'9"! So it will either need re-engineering or ripping out and getting a proper rock n roll bed.
Its going to be a bit of a rolling project doing bits here and there as and when we can afford to. The first thing to do is lose the wheels and refit the standard steel wheels with some Continental Vanco Winter tyres, this should make it usable year round as it will be the OHs daily transport and it will be useful when we go camping in summer and inevitably come across muddy fields!
Although I like the look of the alloys they are the wrong offset so give it the 'standing on tip toes' look with the positive camber. As well as that I think they are off a CLK so I doubt they are rated for what could potentially be a 3.5t van!
Anyway here is 'Mavis' (numberplate ends MVS
)Edited by Garett on Tuesday 4th March 21:58
I've had a Vito as a works wagon for my last two jobs. The 06 model showed no signs of rust, my current 04 model has bubbling in quite a few places.
You mention about changing the tyres for the odd muddy campsite. One Vito I had had Mud and Snow boots fitted and I don't know what's on this one, but the previous owner states the same as my previous expirence.
They're useless on any surface every so slightly slippy. Snow, a muddy verge, utter useless, so try to keep them on the black stuff!
The earlier front wheel drive model though, meant to be fine. If yours is the front wheel drive one, ignore my tales of woe!
You mention about changing the tyres for the odd muddy campsite. One Vito I had had Mud and Snow boots fitted and I don't know what's on this one, but the previous owner states the same as my previous expirence.
They're useless on any surface every so slightly slippy. Snow, a muddy verge, utter useless, so try to keep them on the black stuff!
The earlier front wheel drive model though, meant to be fine. If yours is the front wheel drive one, ignore my tales of woe!
This shape of Vito are front wheel drive with the newer model being rear wheel drive again I think (I know that my own Vito of the same shape is definitely FWD).
Sounds like the projected use is the same as my won over the last twelve months or so.......OH's daily transport, occasional heavy use and regular camping trips
It's been nothing short of superb so far.
Good luck with yours.
Sounds like the projected use is the same as my won over the last twelve months or so.......OH's daily transport, occasional heavy use and regular camping trips
It's been nothing short of superb so far.Good luck with yours.
Work on the van has mainly been getting it on the road and serviced.
First job was to get rid of the alloys as the tyres on them were shot. We bought a set of conti vanco winter tyres for the standard steel wheels which were looking a bit sorry for themselves.
The worst shown below.
So I went to town on them with a wire brush thing on the drill and took them back to the metal.
And gave them a few coats of black hammerite.
No actual pics of the van as it stands now but the difference in the way it drives compared with the ill fitting alloys on low profile tyres is night and day. Its now much lighter on its feet an the ride is vastly improved, makes you wonder what all these dub boys are playing at with 19" rims on their T4s!
I've also done a service of the routine bits, air filter, cabin filter and fuel filter. The cabin filter was a right b
h took me nearly 3 hours crawling around the cabin floor scratching my head and swearing! Anyone who has done one will understand!
The next job is change the oil but I've some how managed to cack handedly round the sump plug off so a mate is sorting it for me on Saturday.
There's still a lot to do before we go out in it. Interior trim bits need putting back on, the bed needs either modifying or buying a proper rock n roll bed and we are going to get a window fitted and some kind of roof vent. Can anyone advise on how noisy those rotating passive vents are? If at all?
Ta
First job was to get rid of the alloys as the tyres on them were shot. We bought a set of conti vanco winter tyres for the standard steel wheels which were looking a bit sorry for themselves.
The worst shown below.
So I went to town on them with a wire brush thing on the drill and took them back to the metal.
And gave them a few coats of black hammerite.
No actual pics of the van as it stands now but the difference in the way it drives compared with the ill fitting alloys on low profile tyres is night and day. Its now much lighter on its feet an the ride is vastly improved, makes you wonder what all these dub boys are playing at with 19" rims on their T4s!
I've also done a service of the routine bits, air filter, cabin filter and fuel filter. The cabin filter was a right b
h took me nearly 3 hours crawling around the cabin floor scratching my head and swearing! Anyone who has done one will understand! The next job is change the oil but I've some how managed to cack handedly round the sump plug off so a mate is sorting it for me on Saturday.
There's still a lot to do before we go out in it. Interior trim bits need putting back on, the bed needs either modifying or buying a proper rock n roll bed and we are going to get a window fitted and some kind of roof vent. Can anyone advise on how noisy those rotating passive vents are? If at all?
Ta
Edited by Garett on Tuesday 4th March 21:52
The van has been sporting its 4 Continental Vanco winter tyres all summer on the standard steel wheels, I prefer it to when it had the alloys on and it drives and rides so much better as a result. I also like utilitarian look, you can forget the Dub scene with their lowered vans on 18s, this van gets used properly not for posing in! Some of the places we've been and lanes we've driven down you couldn't manage in something with such a low ground clearance.
We've also had an OE window fitted to one of the sliding side doors and we invested in a proper rock n roll bed, we made the mattress ourselves using and a sofa bed foam mattress as it was cheaper than having the foam pre-cut and the Mrs has made some very fetching curtains. We also adapted Ikea unit for storage inside, so as you can tell by now we're doing this on a budget! Its all a bit rudimentary but it is very comfortable and certainly is a step up from a tent!
We've had the van on the road now for 9 months and I've done the basic servicing myself. The air filter was filthy and damp(!) as the airbox hadn't been closed properly by whoever had done it previously. I also changed the cabin filter and it was black, they're a pain to get at on these as its buried deep in the dash and you have to lie on your back in the footwell to get at it. After that the blowers were stronger on low than they were on full previously so it must have been really clogged up! It passed its MOT after the load compensator for freed up as it was sticking and a set of new discs and pads on the front as the old ones were heavily corroded.
During the cold snap in April
The disgraceful cabin filter!
Old vs new
Finishing off the interior insulation
Progress being made during the fitting of the bed
We've had some good use out of it in the glorious summer we've had. We've had a couple of trips to north Wales, a night in Blackpool, trips to the Peaks and the Lakes, we've been too Dumfries and Galloway and done 4 of the '7 Stanes'.
The Mrs uses it as her daily transport which is 13 miles each way of stop start traffic into Salford, and back out to Saddleworth. Doing that she manages an average of 36 mpg which I think is damn impressive van, on a run it'll do 43 mpg which is also fairly impressive for 2 tons of van! Being under 2.0 meters means it gets into most multi story car parks and its quite funny as she rolls into the smart car park at her office in Media City parking next to the other girls in the office in their 13 plate Minis and Golfs!
With a measly 82 bhp it is a tad slow but as its either sat in traffic on the commute or cruising down the inside lane at 65mph power isn't important. Being a turbo diesel it has enough grunt to haul us up the hills fully laden so thats the most important thing. The gearbox lets it down a bit, 5th could be a bit longer as it gets noisy at anything north of 60 mph and the speakers for the stereo are a bit feeble!
Parked up in Beumaris in the sunshine
Over looking the Menai Straits
Parked up in Scotland with my mates S2000
At the campsite near Llandegla Forest
The next steps for the project is tomorrow it is going away to Duke St garage in Shaw for some body work and rust proofing. Of course being a Mercedes van from this era they suffer badly from rust, ours isn't too bad at the moment but there are areas where its starting to show through on the sills, door bottoms, wheel arches and top of the front screen. Structurally its still sound though so it will be patched up, the lower half sprayed the factory colour, cavities sprayed with hot wax and liberally coated with Dinitrol underneath and inside the arches.
Once that is done we may go out in it again before winter but once the winter sets in that's the chance for us to work on it as in summer we're too busy using it!
On my list is;
- redo the floor
- get rid of the wooden bulk head
- get a rotating passenger seat
- mains hook up
- more permanent solution to interior lighting
- proper bike carrier, either a Fiamma secured to rear hatch or a towbar and a Thule towbar mounted carrier.
- Improve the stereo
So plenty to be getting on with!
We've also had an OE window fitted to one of the sliding side doors and we invested in a proper rock n roll bed, we made the mattress ourselves using and a sofa bed foam mattress as it was cheaper than having the foam pre-cut and the Mrs has made some very fetching curtains. We also adapted Ikea unit for storage inside, so as you can tell by now we're doing this on a budget! Its all a bit rudimentary but it is very comfortable and certainly is a step up from a tent!
We've had the van on the road now for 9 months and I've done the basic servicing myself. The air filter was filthy and damp(!) as the airbox hadn't been closed properly by whoever had done it previously. I also changed the cabin filter and it was black, they're a pain to get at on these as its buried deep in the dash and you have to lie on your back in the footwell to get at it. After that the blowers were stronger on low than they were on full previously so it must have been really clogged up! It passed its MOT after the load compensator for freed up as it was sticking and a set of new discs and pads on the front as the old ones were heavily corroded.
During the cold snap in April
The disgraceful cabin filter!
Old vs new
Finishing off the interior insulation
Progress being made during the fitting of the bed
We've had some good use out of it in the glorious summer we've had. We've had a couple of trips to north Wales, a night in Blackpool, trips to the Peaks and the Lakes, we've been too Dumfries and Galloway and done 4 of the '7 Stanes'.
The Mrs uses it as her daily transport which is 13 miles each way of stop start traffic into Salford, and back out to Saddleworth. Doing that she manages an average of 36 mpg which I think is damn impressive van, on a run it'll do 43 mpg which is also fairly impressive for 2 tons of van! Being under 2.0 meters means it gets into most multi story car parks and its quite funny as she rolls into the smart car park at her office in Media City parking next to the other girls in the office in their 13 plate Minis and Golfs!
With a measly 82 bhp it is a tad slow but as its either sat in traffic on the commute or cruising down the inside lane at 65mph power isn't important. Being a turbo diesel it has enough grunt to haul us up the hills fully laden so thats the most important thing. The gearbox lets it down a bit, 5th could be a bit longer as it gets noisy at anything north of 60 mph and the speakers for the stereo are a bit feeble!
Parked up in Beumaris in the sunshine
Over looking the Menai Straits
Parked up in Scotland with my mates S2000
At the campsite near Llandegla Forest
The next steps for the project is tomorrow it is going away to Duke St garage in Shaw for some body work and rust proofing. Of course being a Mercedes van from this era they suffer badly from rust, ours isn't too bad at the moment but there are areas where its starting to show through on the sills, door bottoms, wheel arches and top of the front screen. Structurally its still sound though so it will be patched up, the lower half sprayed the factory colour, cavities sprayed with hot wax and liberally coated with Dinitrol underneath and inside the arches.
Once that is done we may go out in it again before winter but once the winter sets in that's the chance for us to work on it as in summer we're too busy using it!
On my list is;
- redo the floor
- get rid of the wooden bulk head
- get a rotating passenger seat
- mains hook up
- more permanent solution to interior lighting
- proper bike carrier, either a Fiamma secured to rear hatch or a towbar and a Thule towbar mounted carrier.
- Improve the stereo
So plenty to be getting on with!
Very cool 
Totally agree about the utilitarian look, the green with black steel wheels is great
What is the insulation in this picture? I want to do the front doors in our motorhome and am trying to find a cheap but effective method.
http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f14/gazereth/Vit...
Totally agree about the utilitarian look, the green with black steel wheels is great What is the insulation in this picture? I want to do the front doors in our motorhome and am trying to find a cheap but effective method.
http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f14/gazereth/Vit...
Nice, I've been thinking about a project van myself recently.
We have a toddler who needs regular hospital stays and planning a trip abroad is a bit of a hit and miss affair as we get little warning when she has to go in - I met up with an old friend who has a camper but I just can't live with the big white box look and the impracticality of a full-sized camper.
Converting a smallish van seems like the perfect solution for weekends away and short breaks for the three of us at the drop of a hat.
So far I've looked at a couple of scabby T4s and overpriced T5s and have decided to go with something a bit less fashionable too - will follow this with interest (and may start a 'reader's cars' post of my own when I get round to starting the project).
We have a toddler who needs regular hospital stays and planning a trip abroad is a bit of a hit and miss affair as we get little warning when she has to go in - I met up with an old friend who has a camper but I just can't live with the big white box look and the impracticality of a full-sized camper.
Converting a smallish van seems like the perfect solution for weekends away and short breaks for the three of us at the drop of a hat.
So far I've looked at a couple of scabby T4s and overpriced T5s and have decided to go with something a bit less fashionable too - will follow this with interest (and may start a 'reader's cars' post of my own when I get round to starting the project).
I only have only 1 pic of the interior which just shows the bed folded up and the Ikea unit in place. Although we measured the unit to make sure it did fit prior to purchase, when we fitted it bizarrely it was absolutely mm perfect, literally!
Ikea unit
The insulation I used was from B&Q and is loft insulation made from recycled plastic bottles! A bit of research revealed that it is quite popular with DIY camper-vanners and at £16 a roll you can see why. I cut mine in half (depth wise) because its so thick so a decent pair of scissors is essential.
Mark - We too looked at scabby T4s, it took us 3 before we realized there was better value to be had elsewhere. All were advertised for more than what we paid for our reasonably tidy Vito. Ours was also in a semi converted state and freshly resprayed too, and to get a T4 in that condition you'd be looking towards double what we paid. The Vito might not be as trendy but I like it because of that, and I also think its a good looking van to boot. Size wise there is nothing in it between a SWB T4 and a Vito, although LWB wasn't available with the W638.
The newer Vitos and the T5s are much more accomplished vehicles to drive, quieter and more car like, but you do pay a premium for that.
The van is in the bodyshop at the moment, hopefully they won't find any hidden rot and I'll have it back next week looking tidy and rust proofed ready for winter. I've also bought some pressed UK plates in anticipation of having it back (MOT compliant ones of course!) as that will help freshen things up visually.
Ikea unit
The insulation I used was from B&Q and is loft insulation made from recycled plastic bottles! A bit of research revealed that it is quite popular with DIY camper-vanners and at £16 a roll you can see why. I cut mine in half (depth wise) because its so thick so a decent pair of scissors is essential.
Mark - We too looked at scabby T4s, it took us 3 before we realized there was better value to be had elsewhere. All were advertised for more than what we paid for our reasonably tidy Vito. Ours was also in a semi converted state and freshly resprayed too, and to get a T4 in that condition you'd be looking towards double what we paid. The Vito might not be as trendy but I like it because of that, and I also think its a good looking van to boot. Size wise there is nothing in it between a SWB T4 and a Vito, although LWB wasn't available with the W638.
The newer Vitos and the T5s are much more accomplished vehicles to drive, quieter and more car like, but you do pay a premium for that.
The van is in the bodyshop at the moment, hopefully they won't find any hidden rot and I'll have it back next week looking tidy and rust proofed ready for winter. I've also bought some pressed UK plates in anticipation of having it back (MOT compliant ones of course!) as that will help freshen things up visually.
Well I'm now several hundred pounds lighter, but on the plus side the van will be winter proof and good for a few years yet.
There were several patches of rust, mainly surface rust on the sills, door bottoms and arches. Thay have been dealt with and the lower half of the van and the windscreen surround have had a blow over. They seem to have done a fairly good job blending the paint in too.
Its also had a copious amount of Dinitrol sprayed over the underside, and inside the sills, outriggers and box sections, inner arches and inside the doors. From what I understand the advantage of Dinitrol over Waxoyl is that it never fully sets and hardens so can remain flexible and won't dry out and flake off. It is bloody messy stuff and there were a few areas where the waxy like substance had made its way onto the windows and body panels! Thankfully I took the afternoon off work to collect the van so I had a bit of time to clean it up and fit the new plates. It also needed a damn good interior vaccumming too after being sat in a dusty body shop for 2 weeks.
Anyway a few pictures in the fading autumn light and some from when I collected from the MOT inspection pit.
There were several patches of rust, mainly surface rust on the sills, door bottoms and arches. Thay have been dealt with and the lower half of the van and the windscreen surround have had a blow over. They seem to have done a fairly good job blending the paint in too.
Its also had a copious amount of Dinitrol sprayed over the underside, and inside the sills, outriggers and box sections, inner arches and inside the doors. From what I understand the advantage of Dinitrol over Waxoyl is that it never fully sets and hardens so can remain flexible and won't dry out and flake off. It is bloody messy stuff and there were a few areas where the waxy like substance had made its way onto the windows and body panels! Thankfully I took the afternoon off work to collect the van so I had a bit of time to clean it up and fit the new plates. It also needed a damn good interior vaccumming too after being sat in a dusty body shop for 2 weeks.
Anyway a few pictures in the fading autumn light and some from when I collected from the MOT inspection pit.
If Vitos are your preferred van of choice then look up this website for all things Vito.
http://www.benzworld.org/forums/v-class
There is also a huge gallery of photos of vans in different guises Pages 1 - 150
http://www.benzworld.org/forums/v-class
There is also a huge gallery of photos of vans in different guises Pages 1 - 150
We've not made a great deal of progress with this over winter, but we have been using it a lot for chucking the bikes in and going for a ride, its also extremely useful to have somewhere to get changed so you don't have to travel home filthy, wet and cold!
Its just been serviced again and has a few ongoing electrical gremlins but nothing serious.
We do have plans to build some sort of storage solution inside, and we have just bought an Awning for a bargain-tastic price.
One of these bad boys
Its just been serviced again and has a few ongoing electrical gremlins but nothing serious.
We do have plans to build some sort of storage solution inside, and we have just bought an Awning for a bargain-tastic price.
One of these bad boys
Edited by Garett on Tuesday 4th March 22:00
So its been an eventful week for Mavis, we booked her in for some routine work - change the brake fluid and do the tracking, swap tyres front to back and investigate an ominous sounding clunk from the front suspension. An hour after dropping the van off I get the dreaded phone call and the list of faults that need rectifying.
We've had the desire for some more storage space for a while now and after exploring various avenues have decided to have a bash at building our own. We'd love to have a bespoke cupboard and kitchen unit installed but neither of us have the skill, time, facilities or money. We've decided that the way forward is to build our own shelving/cupboard from 2x4 and MDF.
Before we do that though we need to change the vinyl floor as its grubby, torn and stained, don't store tyres on vinyl or you'll end up with a reverse 'Hankook' logo ingrained into your floor! So out came the bed, wheel arch boxes, Ikea drawer unit, wooden bulkhead and up came the floor.
These builds are all about progress, so nothing like a little bit of regression!
So removing the flooring and wheel arch boxs, fitted by the previous owner revealed a bit of a nasty surprise! The Vitos biggest enemy, the dreaded tin worm.
So out came the ply floor, dreading the worst that there'd be more nasty surprises. Thankfully the rest of the floor underneath was is great shape, as was the other inner arch.
A closer look at the rust, it hasn't gone through into a hole so I will probably have a go and fixing this myself, grind it back, get some rust remover on it and then spray with some zinc primer, it doesn't have to look pretty as it will be out of sight.
- 2x Bottom ball joints
- 2x Front ARB drop links
- 2x Outer track rod ends
- 2x Outer CV boots
- 4 wheel alignment
We've had the desire for some more storage space for a while now and after exploring various avenues have decided to have a bash at building our own. We'd love to have a bespoke cupboard and kitchen unit installed but neither of us have the skill, time, facilities or money. We've decided that the way forward is to build our own shelving/cupboard from 2x4 and MDF.
Before we do that though we need to change the vinyl floor as its grubby, torn and stained, don't store tyres on vinyl or you'll end up with a reverse 'Hankook' logo ingrained into your floor! So out came the bed, wheel arch boxes, Ikea drawer unit, wooden bulkhead and up came the floor.
These builds are all about progress, so nothing like a little bit of regression!
So removing the flooring and wheel arch boxs, fitted by the previous owner revealed a bit of a nasty surprise! The Vitos biggest enemy, the dreaded tin worm.
So out came the ply floor, dreading the worst that there'd be more nasty surprises. Thankfully the rest of the floor underneath was is great shape, as was the other inner arch.
A closer look at the rust, it hasn't gone through into a hole so I will probably have a go and fixing this myself, grind it back, get some rust remover on it and then spray with some zinc primer, it doesn't have to look pretty as it will be out of sight.
Progress has been slow on this but the rust has been sorted and the floor is back in, also we've re carpeted the ceiling and fitted some LED lights so its coming together.
There was actually an area of rust hidden under seam sealer that needed cutting out and a small plate welding it. The rest of it I attacked with an angle grinder and covered in zinc primer. Also all the old glue previously holding the floor down had to come up, Sikaflex is bloody tough stuff!
Doesn't matter if its not pretty as its all going to be out of sight anyway.
For the ceiling we chose a lighter colour so it wasn't so dark. The lights were purchased from Ikea and were 12v anyway (just removed the transformer to step down from 240v) so nice and easy to install. We were considering a leisure battery but all we'd really use it for is lights but theres no need with LEDs as the current drawn is so low.
There was actually an area of rust hidden under seam sealer that needed cutting out and a small plate welding it. The rest of it I attacked with an angle grinder and covered in zinc primer. Also all the old glue previously holding the floor down had to come up, Sikaflex is bloody tough stuff!
Doesn't matter if its not pretty as its all going to be out of sight anyway.
For the ceiling we chose a lighter colour so it wasn't so dark. The lights were purchased from Ikea and were 12v anyway (just removed the transformer to step down from 240v) so nice and easy to install. We were considering a leisure battery but all we'd really use it for is lights but theres no need with LEDs as the current drawn is so low.
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