Chosen Fabric

Remember that lovely green striped fabric we found back in Feb?  Well, we did some research and it doesn't appear to be a current line.  Eek!  We went back to Anglia Furnishing Fabrics (very helpful people) and loved it just as much as we did the first time we saw it (always a good sign).  On asking about the availability we were reliably informed that what they had in stock was the remainder of the run... so we bought six metres of it!  Hopefully, if our calculations are on track then we've got enough to do the rock 'n' roll bed, the cab seats, and the door cards (with a bit left over for my mum who loves hoarding fabric remnants!).  To get an idea of what it's going to look like we draped it over the sofa.  Check this out, groovy or what?!

Beautiful!  It's going to look so cool!

Stripping Out Chesney

Well, here we are in March and things are finally starting to get underway!  It's been a couple of months since we collected our lovely four-wheeled friend and now we both have a week off as it's our birthdays so what better way to spend it than cat sitting for my mum and dad, making the most of having a big driveway, a garage full of tools, and the sunshine!  Here's a short video I put together of some snaps we took whilst removing all the gubbins.  What HAVE we let ourselves in for?!  Enjoy! ;o)

New Shoes!

Driving around with no wheel trims meant that whenever we parked up, Chezzy looked like an abandoned vehicle.  Poor ol' boy!  Eventually we're going to sort him out with a set of classy alloys but to smarten him up in the meantime we nipped down to Halfords and bought him some new shoes.  It's only a small thing and cost about £20 but we couldn't believe the difference it made.

As you can see from the photo below it's been a lovely day here in Norwich, so we decided to hop in and have a wander into the city to go and take a look at some fabric shops.  We went to get some ideas about colour schemes, patterns, and prices, and after trawling through four or five haberdashers we found we didn't really agree on anything.  It seemed that where Angie was more keen on the subtle tones and patterns, I was a fan of bright colours and loud prints!  Oh dear...  But, we struck gold when we both spotted a gorgeous fabric that we thought would be perfect for the upholstery.

Yes, he's had a bath :o)

Think we might be going for a green theme...

Chezzy's First Snow

I love snow!  It makes everything feel so clean and peaceful somehow, and the bonus is that when it melts off the van it'll take all the crud with it!  Clean van!

Winter wonderland - ahhh innit lovely jubbly?

VW T25 Audio Wiring

Wire Function	Body Colour	Trace Colour
Main positive power	Red
Memory Positive back up	Yellow
Aerial Switched Power	Blue
Dial Illumination	Orange
Ground (negative)	Black
Speaker: Front Left +	White	White / Black Stripe
Speaker: Front Left -	White
Speaker: Front Right +	Grey	Grey / Black Strip
Speaker: Front Right -	Grey
Speaker: Rear Left +	Green	Green / Black Stripe
Speaker: Rear Left -	Green
Speaker: Rear Right +	Purple	Purple / Black Stripe
Speaker: Rear Right -	Purple

Today I shall mostly be faffing with...

The RADIO!!!  We love our music (ok, perhaps I'm a little more obsessed with a CD collection nearing 500), so when I looked at the Goodmans cassette deck... yes that's right, a CASSETTE DECK... my heart sank.  "That's gotta go" I says to Ange.  Well, it just so happens that being the keen bunny I am, I'd been watching eBay for a couple of weeks to work out what we could get for a reasonable price and  for the princely sum of £37 I managed to sort out a nice second hand (but nearly new) head unit.  It's a Sony CDX-GT25 which does CDs, mp3s, good ol' radio, and an 'aux in' for plugging your iPod into.  Smashing! :o)

I think I died a little bit inside when I saw this.  What's with the carry handle on the front anyway?  Is it supposed to be portable?!?!? 

Out with the old...

Because of Chesney's age, I had to adapt the standard wiring loom by fitting an ISO connector using spade terminals.  This meant I could then use a PC3-433 Sony 16 pin to ISO connector and plug it straight into the head unit.  Simples!

Taking out the removable 'cubby hole' in the middle of the dash made fitting the head unit in a lot easier.  I found that getting the unit itself in was a little trickier because the heater ducting can be a bit of a hindrance, but with some gentle encouragement and patience it all fitted in snug as a bug.  

We might be driving around in an old skip but at least we've got some tunes now! :o)

Assessing the Situation: Part 6