Campervan Conversion

[Paul ™]

Well after talking about it for a few years now, finally got myself a vehicle to convert into a campervan

It's a 1990 Ford Transit Minibus, 190 LWB 15 seater. 2.5 Diesel.

Been owned all its life by the RNIB, so only been used for short trips and been serviced 6 monthly.

I've picked it up really cheap, for its age and it has MOT till Feb 15, Tax till Apr 15 and a staggering 11,990 miles on the clock.

Anyway, I've got myself a bargain so am going to be converting it over the winter as a project and have no idea what am doing

Looking to spend up to about £2k on it all in, though might flexible a bit on that depending on specification of install I go with.

Link to Pics

I know I can make a few quid back on selling the seats, tailgate ramp/lift and maybe the rear view camera/monitor.

Anyway, has anyone here undertaken anything like this? Would be good to get some tips/advise and I have a few mates that have done it and hopefully a mate up here will help out who is good with woodwork/electrics.
Not decided on a design yet, but hopefully going to make a 3 berth out of it, with a toilet/wetroom, fridge/cooker/hob and seating for 4 with a table.

Edited May 29, 2014 by Paul ™

[eFestivals]

I realise that you'll likely be spending more time in it than most might do, but I always find that vans have more in them than I really want - in general i'd prefer the extra space to the extra gadgets.

For instance, a bog and wetroom is nice, but ... the bog will smell. You'll have to empty it. And the wetroom will have you making loads of trips for water (and perhaps waste water away). And of course that's a chunk of space that's taken up that can't be used for other things.

Consider carefully whether you really do want stuff like that, as it's easier to change your mind before doing stuff than afterwards.

Nice seats BTW - they look like they'll be worth a few quid.

There's not a lot I can recommend to help you along, but I would suggest (specifically for the sort of long use I guess you'll be making of it) a nice big solar panel (with a leisure battery set-up) - with a bit of luck you'd never have to run the engine to get some charge.

[Katster]

Please keep one of the seats and maybe some handrails as features. Converted stuff like that always looks cool with some original stuff left in. Enjoy! I WILL do this one day...

[Paul ™]

Yeah you're right Neil, I will be using it for a fair bit of time over the summer due to my role working events and also attending festivals, so I want it to be as practical as possible, not overloaded with gadgets.

Good shout on the solar panel though, and yeah the toilet/wetroom will need the services to go with it, but sometimes I can be on site without basic facilities available either easily or not at all.

As for the seats, a few people have said they are worth a few quid, not even looked as far as that yet as I still need to get it up here from down south and find somewhere to store it over summer.

Might even get my boss to insure it over the summer under the company and we can use it as we are forever hiring the bloody things

Cheers for the advise

[Katster]

Advice

[Yoghurt on a Stick]

I've got a Transit LWB conversion campervan. I would echo Neil's advice about the wet room for definite and maybe the toilet (although you say that you may need this because of your job). We may take the toilet out of ours because it's just in the way and of little use and would give us greater space to operate within.

I can't give you any advice on planning but suspect there's specialist sites and forums for this kind of thing. Not sure if it will help at all but here's some photos of our campervan - see below. It has a fixed double bed (with storage underneath), kitchen, toilet and storage above the front cabin. The upside of the fixed double bed is that it's extremely comfortable to sleep on. The downside is that it leaves no room for a lounge type area. This means that you have to lie and sit on the bed when it's raining outside and you can't use camp seats outside. I'm thinking of getting an awning for the van so that we can overcome this issue during the day.

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[eFestivals]

I'm thinking of getting an awning for the van so that we can overcome this issue during the day.

The need for an awning essentially comes about because there's too much stuff within the van. For example, without a wetroom & bog there might be greater space inside the van that meant you didn't need an awning.

Having said that, I'm ultimately not so sure I'd want a van without an awning (tho of course how big the van is does make a difference). Sat inside a van with the doors and windows closed (to keep out the less pleasant weather) for hours on end isn't much fun, and for Paul's sort of use (where he might be in the same place for a few weeks) I suspect he'd very much appreciate having the extra room for living that he'd get with an awning, rather than trying to make everything of his mobile life fit just within the confines of the van.

Paul, if you do look at awnings, make sure you check out the ones from http://www.khyam.co.uk - they're more expensive than others, but the quick-erect system makes them very easy up-and-down (less than 5 minutes to take down and pack away, about 10 to go up).

[Paul ™]

Cheers folks.

Yog did you do that conversion yourself or did you buy it like that?

If you did it, how much roughly was it?

Last night I was also told of a potential donar caravan nearby that's in good nick for cheap so a mate is taking photos of it today.

If its decent ill go see it and see if it's worth buying to breakdown for a lot of stuff.

I may go down the awning route eventually so cheers for the tips.

[Yoghurt on a Stick]

Hello Paul

I bought the van already converted. I'd rather not say how much I paid for it as I think we were royally ripped off and it's embarrassing. I'm not sure though as we did zero research on them before buying and even less since! Essentially we both just wanted a campervan. My wife saw that one and said that's the one for us. As I had very little else to go on in the decision making process I thought why not.

Neil - thanks for mentioning that awning site. I'll make a record of that.

[Katster]

I am very jealous. Whilst we will soon be purchasing a trailer tent which is a huge step up for us, I cannot wait for the day when we can buy a van and convert it into something such as above.

[LondonTom]

I have to say I am rather jelous Mr Yoghurt! That van looks bloody fantastic!

Really love the paintwork!

Edited May 30, 2014 by LondonTom

[MrZigster]

Yoghurt On A Stick. Re post #6 (too long to quote)..

Just love it. I see campervans day in day out and, trust me, that is just THE most jawdropping example of its type I think I have seen. Even without the paintjob. Is that a real oven?

As you are probably aware, a lot of these vehicles have the bed as a drop down hinged bunk over the drivers area, but then you'd lose an awful lot of storage space I guess.

Losing the wetroom/W.C. is probably an option if you are only likely to use it in places that have alternatives.

Anyway, just love it and will look out for it.

[Paul ™]

I agree the wetroom/wc will take up a bit of room (and a bit of a pain to plumb in) but this is a 15 seater minibus am going to convert (about 4m of length) so am not going to be tight on room.

It just makes sense to put one in, but reading up on it today, it;s not going to be easy either!!

[eFestivals]

Paul, unless you put almost nothing inside it's going to feel tight on room when you're sat inside with the doors shut hiding from the weather for a few hours. That's how it goes with campers.

[Yoghurt on a Stick]

I have to say I am rather jelous Mr Yoghurt! That van looks bloody fantastic!

Really love the paintwork!

It's actually a wrap rather than a paint job. A wrap is a plastic film which I believe is put onto the outside of the van with a heat torch. Lord knows how they manage to get every bit fitting right though. The wrap is of a load of people raving with their arms in the air, with a few lazer beams thrown in for good measure - better seen on this photo;

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Edited June 2, 2014 by Yoghurt on a Stick

[Yoghurt on a Stick]

Yoghurt On A Stick. Re post #6 (too long to quote)..

Just love it. I see campervans day in day out and, trust me, that is just THE most jawdropping example of its type I think I have seen. Even without the paintjob. Is that a real oven?

As you are probably aware, a lot of these vehicles have the bed as a drop down hinged bunk over the drivers area, but then you'd lose an awful lot of storage space I guess.

Losing the wetroom/W.C. is probably an option if you are only likely to use it in places that have alternatives.

Anyway, just love it and will look out for it.

Hello MrZigster. It is indeed a real gas oven with 4 ring gas hob on top. The bed you can see in the photo also has a hydraulic type hinge which allows you to easily lift it up from the right hand side revealing a load of storage space underneath.

[Paul ™]

Paul, unless you put almost nothing inside it's going to feel tight on room when you're sat inside with the doors shut hiding from the weather for a few hours. That's how it goes with campers.

Fair point, guess it will still be better than a tent

Found this site last night, I really like the layout of this conversion and tempted to send off for the CD with all the info about it for £10.

Link

I thought that was a paint job too Yog, it looks amazing

[t8yman]

A wrap like that will set you back £1600+VAT round these parts, so dont be too harsh on yourself thinking you have overpaid. It looks like a lot of TLC went into designing and building it. I am very jealous, and would love something like that for touring around in. I hope its got a fucking wicked soundsystem?

[LondonTom]

It's actually a wrap rather than a paint job. A wrap is a plastic film which I believe is put onto the outside of the van with a heat torch. Lord knows how they manage to get every bit fitting right though. The wrap is of a load of people raving with their arms in the air, with a few lazer beams thrown in for good measure - better seen on this photo;

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Ah I see, it still looks bloody great!

[Yoghurt on a Stick]

A wrap like that will set you back £1600+VAT round these parts, so dont be too harsh on yourself thinking you have overpaid. It looks like a lot of TLC went into designing and building it. I am very jealous, and would love something like that for touring around in. I hope its got a fucking wicked soundsystem?

The bloke who sold it to me said that the previous owner had had the wrap fitted and that it cost him £3K!! If this is true I think it must have been fitted in the early days of wrap fitting when there was less competition. The price for a wrap you mention is what my recent employer was being charged so think that's exactly what it would cost nowadays. Strangely enough the bloke who fitted it out put a tv in there but no sound system. Maybe that's something I'll get around to at a later date.

[t8yman]

Yeah, I enquired about wrapping 2 of my vans, and that was the price I was quoted, but thats up north, where its a bit grim. Could be more in the more affluent south!

[eFestivals]

Yeah, I enquired about wrapping 2 of my vans, and that was the price I was quoted, but thats up north, where its a bit grim. Could be more in the more affluent south!

a few years ago, Bristol Council decided that Bristol should have Bristol Blue taxi cabs in much the same way that London has black cabs. I happen to know that the taxis were getting done for about £600.

[t8yman]

Sounds about right then.

[atomised]

How is planning going on this project?

[w_woking]

Hi,

Nice van @YoghurtonaStick .

I'm a bit of an outdoors/control freak myself, so I like my camper with lots of space to carry gear. Bikes/Windsurf/camping gear. Whatever the activity.

Now a shower and wet room would be nice, but I cant really justify that much space. But I've seen that in big VW Crafter or Sprinter vans. But with a vehicl of that size, you get limited by where you can go. If a car park is going to have a height restriction, its usually about 2m.

You can see my conversion build story at the VW T5 Forum
http://www.vwt4forum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=357596

This is a forum which focusses on VW Transporter vans. There are loads of stories and discussions about how to use the space, find parts, and generally sharing peoples ideas.
If you hit YouTube and similar, there are some great video diaries of conversions. Great to watch the process of strip back to the metal, then build up to the final piece of work.

Good luck with your conversion, have fun.

Edited June 20, 2014 by w_woking