I converted a van to a camper. Here's how I did it. (Picture heavy) well, it will be

[GreenNinja67]

Maybe the wrong place for this thread.
Mods please feel free to move it to where it should go.

Right, the background:

7 years ago I bought (the missus pushed buy it now actually) from eBay a LDV Convoy ex council minibus with a view to converting it to a camper.

We had a great weekend in it in Cricceith on the Llyn Peninsula but broke down on the A303 at Andover on our "proper" 2 week holiday heading to St. Ives.

Engine had blown up so as the bodywork was afflicted with metal moth I decided to scrap it.
Lost a fair bit of money there.

Wind forward 5 years and a friend of ours lent us their Peugeot Boxer self converted camper van for a couple of holidays. Great vehicle if a little slow as it only had a 1.9 non turbo Diesel engine.
It failed its MOT last year so we though that was that.

So, the other half texted me mid January this year whilst I was at work saying, "the guy in Kidderminster market who we buy our dog treats off is selling his van. Whaddya think?"

I said I'd like to see it.









OK so the bodywork wasn't the best but I thought I could tart it up a bit.

Plus the van came with an A4 list of all the genuine Renault / Vauxhall parts the guy had had fitted / replaced.

So the deal was done after a successful test drive.

My dog Rosie thought it was the best thing ever and didn't want to leave the inside of the van.

Then I realised why, it must have smelt like the best doggie restaurant ever as it had been transporting dog treats to and from the market for 5 years.


To be continued...............

 

[GreenNinja67]

Although the van was already ply lined and insulated I wanted to see what the bodywork was like inside, clean it all up and run cabling behind any new walls so the ply and loft insulation came out.

After a quick clean and hoover it didn't look too bad (apart from behind the plastic trim along the driver's side).

 

[Uncle buck]

Going to be watching this thread with interest as considering doing the same thing myself.

 

[GreenNinja67]

I then decided to "attack" the roof as it looked as it hadn't ever been cleaned. So after half a day with a floor scrubbing brush on a tall ladder it finally looked passable.

 

[GreenNinja67]

Going to be watching this thread with interest as considering doing the same thing myself.

Good, my copious typing and writer's cramp won't be in vain then

 

[GreenNinja67]

Next came the cab area which was filthy.

A quick cleanup with some dash cleaner, Fairy Liquid for the floor and glass polish and it came up a treat!

 

[gcgraphs]

Thanks, a "watched thread" now.

GC

 

[GreenNinja67]

Next for the flooring.

I left the ply down as it was in good nick and to preserve the ceiling height I left out any extra insulation as this van is predominantly for warmer weather.

For the bed I copied an idea Matt of Vanlife.tv fame on Youtube invented (well worth watching his conversion videos).

Basically got some thick planks of wood and bolted them to the members halfway up the side of the van. This appealed to us as we wanted a bed made up all the time and this gave us a lot of space under the bed for storage (as you'll see later).

 

[TGphoto]

Keeping an eye on this, very interested!

 

[GreenNinja67]

My good lady had the good idea of using some chests of drawers for storage in the van. One facing into the interior compartment along the leading edge of the bed and the other facing the rear doors (so back to back effectively)

Luckily 2 came up on our local Facebook marketplace so off I went to measure up.
They were both a little short in height but I'd make up the difference with MDF (this would help support the bed base with our combined weight on it).




Both in superb nick and £45 for both. Result! And proper wood too.

We decided we'd only use the larger of the 2 and I removed the 4 feet which would make it easier to bolt to the floor of the van.

 

[GreenNinja67]

At this point we were both really becoming excited about the conversion and were day dreaming at work about travelling the lanes of Devon & Cornwall with the sun beating down (well I was).

So my good lady surprised me by ordering a window, Heki roof light and a Porta-Potti from Jackson's Leisure (Good people and very helpful).

I'd watched Matt's video on installing the window (if you don't know who Matt is that'll teach you for not reading every post) and although it looked "easy" I was still filled with trepidation regarding cutting a hole in a perfectly good piece of metal.

Measure 3 times and cut once - a good adage and it went well. Always use a new metal cutting jigsaw blade and throw it away after cutting the hole, they're only pence really and you want to get it right.
Also put masking tape anywhere the jigsaw will touch the metal or you'll be left with scratches around the periphery of the window and make more work for yourself. Basically wider than I did luckily the scratches polished out.

You'll need to create a 1inch thick square of wood so the 2 halves go together correctly as motorhome walls have insulated 1 inch thick walls by design.

After around an hour it was in and bolted together. Looks good too.

 

[david357]

Interesting thread, the van is coming along nicely, Good luck.

 

[GreenNinja67]

The roof light was almost a carbon copy of the window (including the 1 inch wooden spacer) with one important difference. The roof isn't flat for 2 reasons, strength and sound reduction.

Yep, again I turned to matt's video and this helped me enormously.

To take up the "airspace" between the roof and the roof light some people just squirt Sikaflex into the gaps but it looks a mess.
I found you can get mastic tape and gradually built it up in layers so the gaps are filled.
Then mount the roof light, screw it together and finally put a bead of Sikaflex around the periphery to ensure a water tight seal.

We had some really heavy rain the night after fitting this and it was completely dry inside so job done!

 

[Dave *]

Don't stop now

 

[GreenNinja67]

I next had to decide where and how to run the 12 volt cabling for the LED lights and USB power sockets I was planning to have in the van.

As my good lady (we'll call her Sharon because that's her name) insisted on having a toilet / bathroom cubicle in the van (glad she did now), I decided the leisure battery would be best situated behind the toilet so started running cabling through spiral conduit so it was protected from where I drilled through various bits of metal on the side walls.

TIP! or any cables running to the back of the van thread garden hosepipe into the top box section in the van. This makes it really easy to get the cabling to where you want it. (I only did it one side and if was a real job on the side I'd not done this.





These wires in the images go over the roof behind the insulation and cladding to where they're needed.

 

[GreenNinja67]

Don't stop now

My fingers are hurting!

 

[GreenNinja67]

I decided to use pine cladding for the walls, side door and ceiling as it was relatively cheap and light and readily available from Wickes and B&Q.

I used 7.5mm cladding for the door and walls and 14mm (I think) for the ceiling.
I bolted this to the ply I'd refitted to the walls and door and straight to the metal cross struts on the ceiling, ensuring I packed all the original loft insulation behind the cladding.

 

[Lemaildetom]

Maybe you're not even in the right forum!

I can't see much in term of photographic interest in these picture. But best of luck for you man, it always take longer that you can thing, every niggles take time and then there's always the van itself that can need a nit of sorting. In 2010, i bought a mercedes t2 from 1987, the inside was totally trashed really, only choice was to gut it out and start from fresh, i converted it all myself, it still not finished but usable. Made it that extra bit better to do it yourself too.

The before picture!

And now, also that picture is a maybe 3 years old

My van is actually for sale just now :-(. It's my only car and it's a bit cumbersome. So i'm looking for a renault master same base as yours but swb one!
Good luck and maybe look for camper conversion forums, i'm on one at the moment but you have to pay and not sure it's worth the money to be fair, it has gone done hill in the recent years.

 

[andya700]

My fingers are hurting!

Fantastic work so far Terry, are you going to fit rubber grommets in the round holes where the cabling is just to make sure they don't catch any sharp edges? The skylight and windows look really good.

 

[GreenNinja67]

To keep this guide factually correct I need to wind back a bit.

I realised we needed some welding work done on the drivers side behind the plastic trim so before cladding the walls I decided to get this done as the welder would access to the inside of the van.

I cleaned the rust off with wire brushes attached to an electric drill and was surprised to see how bad it was. Gulp!

I leaned it back to bare metal and applied Kurust until the welder took the van away to work on it.

£300 lighter and with a few scortch marks on the Lino (t***) it came back and we were really impressed with what he'd done.

It looked as though with a little filler and paint it'd look ok.

 

[cardiff_gareth]

Now following this!

 

[GreenNinja67]

Fantastic work so far Terry, are you going to fit rubber grommets in the round holes where the cabling is just to make sure they don't catch any sharp edges? The skylight and windows look really good.

Thanks Andy,

I fitted cabling grommets where I didn't have the spiral conduit but I figured the conduit was thick enough to withstand any rubbing and chafing.


@Lemaildetom
Great conversion mate.

 

[Lemaildetom]

I decided to use pine cladding for the walls, side door and ceiling as it was relatively cheap and light and readily available from Wickes and B&Q.

I used 7.5mm cladding for the door and walls and 14mm (I think) for the ceiling.
I bolted this to the ply I'd refitted to the walls and door and straight to the metal cross struts on the ceiling, ensuring I packed all the original loft insulation behind the cladding.


View attachment 128149 View attachment 128150 View attachment 128151 View attachment 128152 View attachment 128153

It look nice and you are doing good progress but you are creating futur rust problem there. There's nothing to block moisture, so moisture will go through the wall, the insulation will act like a sponge, so it will loose all sort of insulation property and create rust.
I have used closed cell foam thing (like kingspan) in mine and a vapour barrier (something like that bubble wrap stuff above to make sure no moisture can reach the inside of the bodywork) under my walls, and ceiling.

 

[GreenNinja67]

Here's how it came back from the welders.

 

[GreenNinja67]

It look nice and you are doing good progress but you are creating futur rust problem there. There's nothing to block moisture, so moisture will go through the wall, the insulation will act like a sponge, so it will loose all sort of insulation property and create rust.
I have used closed cell foam thing (like kingspan) in mine and a vapour barrier (something like that bubble wrap stuff above to make sure no moisture can reach the inside of the bodywork) under my walls, and ceiling.

I read a lot about vapour barriers and it's true what you say.

Luckily it's built in such a way that I can remove the walls easily and retro fit one if needed.

To be honest if we get 2 or 3 years out of it we'l be happy.

 

[Lemaildetom]

To keep this guide factually correct I need to wind back a bit.

I realised we needed some welding work done on the drivers side behind the plastic trim so before cladding the walls I decided to get this done as the welder would access to the inside of the van.

I cleaned the rust off with wire brushes attached to an electric drill and was surprised to see how bad it was. Gulp!

I leaned it back to bare metal and applied Kurust until the welder took the van away to work on it.

£300 lighter and with a few scortch marks on the Lino (t***) it came back and we were really impressed with what he'd done.

It looked as though with a little filler and paint it'd look ok.


View attachment 128155

That's a shame, i don't understand why they need to put these plastic bits on the body! What a bad design, it's normal water get trapped and that make rust.... There's that on all cars and van now but for 10 years the rust is hidden behind! Good job to get it sorted!

 

[ukaskew]

Loving this. My first thought was that those chest of drawers must be pretty darn heavy. Some lightweight but sturdy Ikea jobbies might be better.

I'd imagine any weight savings that can be found will quickly add up to a significant saving in fuel and wear and tear etc.

 

[GreenNinja67]

Now where was I? Yes, the walls.

 

[GreenNinja67]

Sharon wanted a seatbox in front of the bed where could store my camera gear and the dog stuff so I set to work with a saw, screws and some CLS and more cladding.

This would also eventually serve as a place to eat our meals when weather didn't permit dining al fresco.

 

[GreenNinja67]

Next came the colour scheme.

We both love the beach so we chose a light blue chalk paint for the walls and beatbox and white chalk paint for the ceiling.

2 coats were needed with 3 in some areas.

Total paint used was 4 x 750ml blue and 2 x 750ml white.

 

[Bluekwack]

Looking good, now watching this too!

 

[architectfadi]

Very interesting. Thanks for posting

 

[GreenNinja67]

I decided to do something different on the chest of drawers.
1 coat of white and blue over the top then gently rub it down to show the white through in places for that distressed look.

 

[GreenNinja67]

Loving this. My first thought was that those chest of drawers must be pretty darn heavy. Some lightweight but sturdy Ikea jobbies might be better.

I'd imagine any weight savings that can be found will quickly add up to a significant saving in fuel and wear and tear etc.

I did think about this but reckoned that with 2.5 litre turbo engine and max weight of 3.5 tonnes I'd sooner it was quite solid inside.

 

[GreenNinja67]

Toilet compartment being erected

 

[GreenNinja67]

Now came the kitchen unit. This took ages and more wood than I thought it would take.

 

[GreenNinja67]

Thanks to the friend who lent us here Peugeot van for donating the hob and the sink.

That tap is plastic and was £35 !!

 

[GreenNinja67]

Whilst fitting the kitchen I utilised the left side to mount the 12 way fuse box for all the lights, USB charging sockets and to power the Halfords electric coolbox.

The leisure battery and split charge VSR (voltage sensitive relay) also fitted in the left side of the kitchen.

 

[GreenNinja67]

Originally I planned to house the rest and grey water containers on the right side of the kitchen but instead installed them into the back of the van so we had more space in the kitchen unit.

The gas bottle was installed under the kitchen and a drop out vent was fitted through the floor for safety.

This completed the kitchen unit. Grey chalk paint was then applied to the doors to compliment the worktop and the Lino.

Sharon added a power curtain to the toilet are for privacy.

She also suggested I put one of my images I'd had printed on acrylic on the wall behind the kitchen to add to the seaside theme.

 

[GreenNinja67]

Also added were a 4 way 12 volt panel t the right of the beatbox and a garage consumer unit inside the seatbox.