I loved my old T25 (The Nun Bus) but in the end I got fed up with it breaking down all the time so I sold it and brought a T5. And here the beauty I brought, an old ariel fitters van. It was basic but solid and ran well (despite having 184k on the clock).

Although I was only going to use it for towing, moving stuff around, and trips to the beach etc, I did want to tidy it up a bit. So, here's what I did!

Below I have detailed all the things I have done on the van (n.b. please be aware these are not presented in the order in which they were done).

Roof bars
Well I had to start somewhere so the first thing I did was add a set of roof bars. To be honest they'll never be used they just make the van look better!

Windows
Although I was happy to drive the van without windows in the back and side windows would make the van a lot more practical especially when camping in it. Therefore, a set of windows were ordered. The first thing I needed to do was to strip the interior out so they could be fitted.

Although I probably could have fitted them myself, I decide to farm it out to Channel Windscreens in Risca. I was super pleased with the job they did.

Roof spoiler
The van was never going to go fast enough to need a rear spoiler to keep it down but I wanted to fit one anyway as they looked cool!

A set were brought from a popular internet auction site and came un-painted therefore the first thing I had to do was paint them. I actually did this twice as the first time I fitted them they fell off and got chipped and scratched! It was a bit of a learning curve as I discovered bonding glue reacts with paint! Note to self: bonding glue only sticks to raw fibreglass!

Hear's the roof spoiler being bonded on (the second time!)

Wheels
The original steelies were changed for alloys as they just looked a bit rubbish. Although the alloys were silver when I brought them I had them powdercoated black as they looked better that colour.

Even the wheel bolts got a coat of paint!

Bumpers
Like many vans of this age the bumper had faded a lot and gone grey making the van looked old.

Luckily there was a very cheap fix. Cherry Blosson shoe polish! A bit of masking to protect the paint, an old spounge, and they were soon re-coloured.

Whislt I was there I added a 'R line' badge to the front grill. Sadly the badge did not increase the vans performance!

As the front had a 'R Line' badge I though it was only fair to put one on the back.

Tow bar
The van was going to be used to trailer my race car so a tow hitch was esential. It was a fairly easy install, the only awkward bit was running the extra bit of wiring loom.

Other stuff
In terms of the exterior I did a few other bits and bobs. Handle covers were fitted as well as a new wing mirror shell as it was cracked. A spare wheel bolt protector was also fitted.

Indicators and lights
The van came with the bog standard orange indicators. Functional, but I wanted to change the look. Initially I changing them to smoked lenses..........

.......... however, later on I changed them to sequential indicators which looked much cooler. Here's a short video of them in action.

Front lights
The front lights were changed to OSRAM night breakers. It's a bit hard to get a photo of these, but here's the back of them!

The indicators bulbs in the front lights were also changed from a orange bulb to chrome bulbs for a cleaner look to match the side indicators.

Fog lights
I don’t know why as Cardiff's not know for fog or anything, but I really fancied fitting fog lights to the van! I just think they look cool (I've probably used them twice!).

Therefore, a complete kit was brought of the internet auction site again which saved me having to find all the parts. The kit was pretty good although the loom had to be slightly adjusted in the engine bay.

The original light switch was upgraded to one with chrome trim and a fog light option. Proper posh!

Rear lights
In order to match the front lights (and side indicators) the rear lights were changed to a later style which did not have the orange indicators. I also changed the rear number plate light to LED ones but I don't have a photo of this.