Transformation Step 1: Cleaning

In order to get off to a good start on the transformation of the van, we had to start by deep cleaning it. To tell you the truth, we never thought we would go as far as we did, but it had to be done. We could only see the van’s true state after completely stripping it.

Our starting point was a simple piece of plywood screwed to the floor. Not too difficult to take off, right? Looking back on it, it was something that we couldn’t have neglected. If you truly want to clean something, you can’t skip this step. It’s important to know every inch of your vehicle and pick a familiar starting point to be sure that you can put everything back in the right place afterward.

It took a good half-day of work, since the rust had caused the screw to break. Luckily, the weather allowed us to open the doors and let the dust blow outside.

During the second day of cleaning, it was time to attack the plague of all cars in Quebec – rust! Even though the van hadn’t clocked very many kilometres, it was still a 2002 and had spent a lot of time exposed to the elements. Taking off the flooring on the driver’s side gave us the chance to see how close we were to the ground! We had a big day of buffing ahead of us. In a case like this, it’s important to use a wire brush to remove the rust without removing the metal. Masks and safety glasses were called for, because the dust coming from that rust wouldn’t be good for our health! The brush wasn’t the miracle solution, apparently. People tell us that in shops that specialize in this type of work, they go with sand blasting. However, we brushed every nook and cranny very thoroughly, sometimes using a hand brush.