Talk to me about Van conversions

[The999Kid]

Right folks! Now I actually earn a fair bit of money I can perhaps put this little dream of mine into action.

I'm thinking about buying a cheap decent sized van and doing an interior conversion for 2 purposes. 1) to hold all my watersports kit (not that kind of watersports you filthy buggers!) and 2) somewhere to potentially shelter, change and kip when enjoying my trips around the country (and potentially Europe) in search of adventure.

Now I'm a complete novice when it comes to projects like this so its gonna be a bit of a steep learning curve for me to undertake. I can just about maintain the chain and sprockets on my bike, so taking a high mileage ex work van and turning it into something I can call my own little adventure machine is going to somewhat of a challenge!

Having scoured various sources and websites, dealers etc I find myself faced with 2 options. I can either buy an out and out van like an old transit/iveco/Daf and go the whole 9 yards with regards to space and potential for customisation, or I could buy a large car derived van and just have it utilitarian being just big enough for me to fit my kit inside and enough space for a roll mat, pillow and duvet on the floor.

So far my list of considerations for the interior is as follows:
-mechanical soundness, it needs to be reliable
-racking and storage media
-insulation, carpeting and general comfort (possibly rear electrics for kettle, heater)
-methods for achieving the above
-interior layout
-cost
-exterior renovation

Any feedback, thoughts, ideas or even volunteers to teach me skills that would be useful in this pursuit would be much appreciated.

And yes, this will go in the show and tell thread as a project
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NDB 19/10/1989 - 1/11/2010 |Nowhere.Elyseum wrote: I get the distinct feeling that Tim should be our secret weapon for future trolling. I don't know many people that can rip the piss in Iambic pentameter

[walkey1990]

I've seen a few Mitsubishi Delica camper conversions that some guys owned that were water sports instructors. Looked good and they're 4wd (same as a shogun with a different body).
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Yorkshire born, Yorkshire bred, strong in t' arm, thick in t' 'ead!

[tony_d123]

Van based car or crew bus is the way to go, you are has halfway there and no VAT if you are buying from trader. I have a Peugeot Expert Tepee, Citroën and Fiat also do a version of the same van. If you are going to spend a lot of time and money converting it, I would buy the lowest mileage latest version you can afford. No point going through all the pain of converting it only to find out its a as scrapper in a year or two.
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Blackpool, Lancashire

[G]

Do you want it to be 'stealth' - ie looks like a normal vehicle or do you want it to look like a camper?

A lot of people selling vans are shisters. Expect a lot of travelling to look at piles of junk sold as "needs nothing". Most will happily blatantly lie to you on the phone about the condition of the van.

Racking is easy. Make racks .

Insulation you have a good few options. Will depend on the space you have. One popular one is to ply-line it, then fill the gaps with expanding foam.
Whatever you do, you need to make sure there isn't going to be moisture sitting between the insulation and the metal of the van, eating away at the metal from the inside.
Carpeting is the same as anywhere - can probably find off cuts for not much.
Electrics is another matter. Running a kettle without being plugged into the mains is a big thing.
Better would be to use gas for that. Basic would be a suncamp style stove (square one), but eats through gas bottles. Move up to a dual burner camping stove, then up to hobs and maybe even a grill/oven from a caravan.
Consider if you need 240v at all - you can get 12v adapters for a lot of electronics.
Presuming you do want to use some electrics, get a second battery and a split charge relay. Also consider a solar panel if you're going to be parked up a lot needing power.
Also want to consider a fridge - you can get ones that run off gas and don't use a massive amount.

What is your budget

What do you want to do to the outside?

[J4mes]

I'd buy an ex utility company 6 seat crew bus (LWB transit normall)

We have them, and they are fitted with:

240v and 110v outlets
microwave
webasto space heater
hot water bowl with drainage (for hand/cock washing)
hot water kettle
3 seats in the mid section which could quite easily be removed to make space for a bed
and then a 4 foot long load area in the back with racking which is where all your gear could go.

cost may be the issue.

[The999Kid]

Thanks all for your input,

Ideally I'd like it to look like a van, tying in with the exterior ideally if I have enough money at the end of sorting the exterior out I'd turn my attention to maybe touching up the paintwork on the outside. but I'd like to keep the exterior as standard as possible.

Budget for this project I'd like to be able to have it fully useable (Vehicle, Tax, MOT, service, interior) for 3.5k but wouldn't be fussed if it ends up closer to 4 by the end...

And yes I'm fully aware that puts me squarely in the realms of hunting for rocking horse shit.
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NDB 19/10/1989 - 1/11/2010 |Nowhere.Elyseum wrote: I get the distinct feeling that Tim should be our secret weapon for future trolling. I don't know many people that can rip the piss in Iambic pentameter

[duhawkz]

is there any particular reason you want to go down the self build route, if i where you i'd just buy a camper van the you can stick a roof rack on. I've see loads of small campers (vw T25 sort of thing) with surf boards and kayaks on their roofs.

You should be able to pick up something with in budget.

And Campers are cheaper to insure than commercial vehicles, why go to the hassle of building one
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"The guy is a worthless cunt and I honestly believe I would be a slightly happier person if he died." - Chris-Red

[The999Kid]

[G]

As above, some good reasons to go for something setup as a 'camper'.
However, also good reasons for 'stealh' - for example being able to park up in a lot of places and be ignored.

Are you bothered by fuel economy?

If you search for 'stealh' in camper/van sales places you may find something setup around the sort of thing you want ready to go.

[The999Kid]

[Robby]

So you're looking at spending £4k (it'll be 6 by the time you're finished) on a van to carry some sports gear and have a bad night's sleep in from time to time.

Why not put the stuff in the boot of the car and stay in a hotel? You need to spend a lot of time in a holiday inn before you've spent £6k.

[G]

I'd get a better nights sleep in a nicely-chosen location in the bank of a van than in a hotel.

If you do it carefully and well, you can actually make money doing this - though of course easy to create a money-pit too.

[Tarmacsurfer]

Done a fair bit of surfing and cycling, usual vehicles for this style of day van conversion on the cheap are Delica and something like a Hilux Surf, although I've not seen many I'd guess any of the "lifestyle" pickups could be used.
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I'm immortal. Well, so far.

[G]

I do like the Delica, but unless you actually need the 4x4 abilities, it wouldn't be my choice.

Hilux surf a bit 'meh' for me (have driven one around a bit) - at least the Delica has a nice bit of space with swivelling mid seats and a flat floor plan. A lot less useful for living in that something higher inside, I'd say.

[tony_d123]

Another tip if you can live with a van based car rather than a pure van, is look at ex-motabilty vehicles. They tend to be much lower mileage and better cared for than vans. But with your budget I guess you may be looking at old Vans?
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Blackpool, Lancashire

[Twofish]

The OH did this - bought a '56 ex-police Merc Vito complete with the 'customer cage' in the back for about £5000 and has converted it into exactly this sort of thing. The van had done just over 100k but had a full service history so although it'd already had a life it had been looked after (complete with possible teeth marks in the steering wheel).

It's got two sliding doors, side windows but no rear windows. There is a bench seat in the back that's easy to take out. It's got a powered vent in the top leftover from being a 'customer van'.

The OH got the cage out eventually (angle grinder, swearing, much entertainment). He insulated the whole van (you can buy ready-cut kits for particular vans), got pop-on window covers, curtains for the side windows, has converted the passenger seat to swivel round, got an old futon to sleep on (and fold back), LED internal lights and found various gadgets and nets to store things in. He's still working on it but it works well now as a four seater car-van, surf van, camper van etc. We've got a Coleman shelter for proper camping so we can cook outside and leave chairs etc. out there. He's still looking at getting a second battery fitted too. Spent about £1000 max so far.

Comfortably sleeps two people and two retrievers, although you can't stand up in it properly, but that means it's low enough to get into car parks!. It's properly cosy and we've got a piece of memory foam on top of the mattress, I swear I sleep better in there than in B&Bs.
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CBR600F -> F800GT
Still thinking about it.

[Ted]

I was very fussy when picking a work van, and had strict requirements.

I'm 6ft2, and my back has seen better days, the van needed to be tall enough for me to stand up straight in, so I could move heavy tools without putting my back out, and get changed if needed (I work outside, so can get very wet).

The van needed to be big enough to carry a fair amount of materials / waste, but yet small enough to park in the majority of car parks, and down side roads.

It needed to look fairly presentable, so had to have that 'modern' look, unlike an old Transit smiley van.

I settled on a Vauxhall Movano (Renault Master).

54-reg -first few of the modern-looking ones of that model, but old enough to be cheap

MWB -long enough to hold a lot, short enough to park in 75% of car park bays, and down side roads.

High-Roof -so I can stand up straight.

2.5 CDTI -has pleanty of power and speed, and returns a very good MPG considering the size (about 40mpg I think)

https://img.photobucket.com/albums/v474/EAM-Enterprises/Vehicles/Vauxhall_Movano/WP_20150313_10_44_14_Pro_zpsjlawpcrn.jpg


The only real downsize is that I can't get in multi-story or other height-restricted car parks, as its about 2.5 metres tall.

...but the inside space is worth it. Loading bikes is easy!


I've also got a 2001 Citroen Dispatch, which I inherited off my late father. It is wheelchair converted, and a 1.9D. It's fairly high roofed, but I can't stand up in it. However it does fit in car parks.
That returns the same MPG, which is depressing considering how much smaller it is. It's currently laid up needing a clutch, which I've put off because I get more 'bang for my buck' with the Movano.


If I change jobs, I'll be keeping the Movano, just because its such a useful size. I would have it as a basic camper, but with everything removable, so I can pick up large items of furniture, bikes, etc.


So, size is the biggest consideration, both height and length.

MPG is also massivley important, especially if you are touring. Newer diesels (common rail) are much cheaper to run, but older diesels can run on poor quality diesel or biofuels. Injector repairs cost a fortune on modern diesels.

If you are going abroad a lot to countries where fuel isn't as refined, I'd be tempted to go with older diesels. If you are just going round built up countries, modern diesels are cheaper to run...
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'07 Honda CBF500 / '93 Vauxhall Astra (www.fb.com/2wdOffRoader) / '04 Vauxhall Movano
Projects: '81 Honda CX500 x2 / '85 Land Rover One-Ten / ...plus many horticultural things.
||| Bike Test: DAS: PASSED 13/02/2009 ||| Car Test: PASSED 22/05/2005 |||

[The999Kid]

Some excellent info and ideas coming out people! Thanks muchly and keep it up!
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NDB 19/10/1989 - 1/11/2010 |Nowhere.Elyseum wrote: I get the distinct feeling that Tim should be our secret weapon for future trolling. I don't know many people that can rip the piss in Iambic pentameter

[stinkwheel]

A couple of points.

1) If it's bigger than a certain size and registered as a commercial, you have a restricted upper speed limit (50 on A-roads, 60 on motorways).

2) Some ferry companies utterly hump you for taking a commercial vehicle. They have a list of things you need fitted to make it a "camper" such as a fixed table.

3) If you're surfing etc, get one with a tailgate you can stand under to get changed but be aware it can foul a board hanging out over the rear.

There is a homemade camper club. Could be very helpful. Especially with regard to minimum requirements for ferries and getting a commercial re-registered as a camper.
https://sbmcc.co.uk/
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“Rule one: Always stick around for one more drink. That's when things happen. That's when you find out everything you want to know.”
I did the 2010 Round Britain Rally on my 350 Bullet. 89 landmarks, 3 months, 9,500 miles.

[iooi]

[Ted]

[Al]

[G]

I'm surprised the Dispatch of that size gets such good mpg, but they are rated pretty well.

I do like that my Vito can fit in 'much all multi-story car parks etc (which the Delica wouldn't, but it was a high top.)

I presume swiveling Vito seats, on that Twofish, didn't include a double passenger seat?
Also, any details on the pop on window covers?

[Twofish]

[G]

Ah, wind screen cover.

I want something to block up the windows - which actually is the opposite of what most 'campers' want, thinking about it - ideally add some insulation and stop light (I'm a light sleeper and prefer the dark - also better for 'stealth'.)