Glazing Ahead

A major update this week as we had the windows and bed fitted.  Thanks to T4 Transformations in Wakefield who fitted four side and a tailgate window all in a limo tint, they are fixed windows except the one behind the driver's seat which slides open.







Also thanks to JDS Metaltech in Sheffield who fitted one of their Rock and Roll style beds.  Their space saving design means that when the bed is in an upright sofa configuration, it sits further back than most units providing more living space in the van.  In fact you are sat virtually up against the back door.







We had a mains hookup inlet fitted too, visible on the offside behind the rear wheel.   In black so as to be a bit less conspicuous.  I thought that while T4 were having fun cutting holes in our van they might as well install one of these to save me the hassle.  I will have to wire it up to the consumer unit at some stage, at the moment it simply runs a length of three core cable inside the van.






We bought a combined hob, grill and sink unit from EBay which should arrive this week.  We have more or less finalised our water supply arrangements which will be a cheap submersible pump inside a portable 25 litre water container, all housed in the rear cupboards and accessed from the tailgate.  I did consider a fixed tank or even an under chassis unit but freezing and contamination are a concern.  The advantage of a portable container is that you don't have to drive the van to the water supply in order to fill it up!

I have been reading up about fridges, as we need to have a fridge or at least know the dimensions of a likely modelbefore building our wall units.  The common three way (12v/240v/gas) caravan fridges require vent and flue holes cutting in the side of the van if they are to be used on gas, I'm not enthusiastic about having more holes cut in the van and even less keen on the safety implications of having gas appliances running all day.  The Calor bottle supplying our double hob and grill will be switched off at the valve when not in use, and will have a drop-out hole in the floor in case of leaks.  Ultimately I want to buy one of the new compressor fridges which run from the leisure battery and are extremely efficient consuming around 1 Ah, however they are ridiculously expensive at over £400 new, I wouldn't pay that much for a domestic fridge never mind one for a camper van!  So for the moment we will probably build the units to fit either a Waeco CR50 or a Vitrifrigo fridge to be bought at a future date, and until then use our cheapo Asda portable unit and do without when not on electric hookup.

Insulation is finished and carpet lining well under way.  Mains and lighting cable routing is done.  Note the jazzy deck chair fabric on our sliding door!

We should hopefully have another update next week with some progress constructing the furniture.

Vanfest

Thanks to some last minute negotiations on Jude's part we managed to get some tickets to Vanfest last weekend, this was our first weekend "camping" in the van.  The living accommodation was a bit sparse to say the least, comprising a mattress in the back and a small camping stove but we had a good time at Vanfest and I'm sure that our facilities will be much better on our next weekend away.

Anyway we picked up some bargains including a roll end of Lino, 4 slightly bent pieces of Silent Gliss curtain rail and an aluminium folding table for the awning - the awning that we don't have yet, just one of many things still on the shopping list.  Oh, and we bought a bandana for Harvey which says "Air cooled dog" and very cool he looks too!

 

Most useful though was having the opportunity to view the professional conversions, getting a close look at how they are constructed and we came away with plenty of ideas and lots of pictures of the insides of cupboards!

On Monday we will be taking the van to T4 Transformations in Wakefield to have five windows fitted, then on to JDS Metaltech in Sheffield who will be fitting the Rock and Roll bed.  I am not brave enough to cut holes in the van myself so it makes sense to have the windows professionally fitted, and the bed comes with free fitting anyway!  We are really looking forward to seeing the van take shape, in particular once the bed is fixed in place we will know exactly what space we have to work with.

In preparation for all this work, this week we have been preparing the van, in particular making sure the floor is solid and level before the bed goes down.

The insides of the body panels got a treatment of Waxoyl with underseal applied to the upper and more accessible areas.  Then a layer of loft insulation was added, this is made from recycled plastic bottles.  And to complete the sandwich a layer of airtec foil insulation on top.  The roof panels have also now had a second layer of airtec.

 

The driver's side rear panel has not been insulated yet as this is where the mains inlet will be so there is some wiring to be installed there yet.  I have also made a start on routing mains and 12v cables including a 10mm cable from the starter battery through the bulkhead and to where the relay and leisure battery will be.

The Lino was a bargain at Vanfest, a 3m x 2m piece reduced from £45 to £20 on the Sunday when everyone was packing up.  I am impressed with the quality, it is really heavy duty stuff but very tough to cut as a result.

Finally a rear view mirror from a Passat and an interior light unit from a Golf, £6 and £10 from the local scrappy.

Starting on the Insulation

Remaining pieces of bulkhead frame removed at the weekend, these had to be drilled out and the bottom piece cut out with an angle grinder.  Jude doesn't trust me with dangerous tools because I'm such a clumsy oaf, but we counted the fingers out and we counted them all back in again and I'm happy to confirm that all digits are accounted for.


















Our eBay purchases have started to arrive daily now, from seat fabric to fuse box and a 140 amp split charge relay.  We also bought some funky multi coloured LED strip lights from B&Q, marked as "low voltage" and as expected they run on 12 volts without the mains transformer.






Tonight we made a start on the insulation.  The plan is to insulate and carpet line at least the passenger side rear quarter before the bed goes down, as fitting insulation and lining with the bed in place would be awkward.













One layer of Airtec foil lined bubble wrap insulation stuff on the floor and we then screwed the floor ply back down.  A section along the driver's side wall will have to be removed at some point to drill holes in the floor for waste water, 10mm feed from starter battery to leisure battery, and the gas drop-out.





Flashing tape to deaden vibrations followed by the first layer of Airtec on the ceiling, the plan is to add another layer and then construct a lightweight foamex board headliner.

Now the Hard Work Begins

We drove over to Stockport today to pick the van up and brought it back to Sheffield over the Woodhead Pass.  I was pleasantly surprised at how responsive it is, hit 80 at one stretch on the M1 without even realising it.  Anyway we got home without a hitch, even managing to find the fuel filler and remember that it uses diesel not unleaded!

Our drive is quite narrow, but I managed to reverse it down towards the garage without ripping the wing mirrors off.  Job done.  The twin passenger seats may have to be removed for easy access between cab and rear.  I have read that 2001-2006 Mini Cooper seats are almost a perfect fit on the VW seat frame.

The first job was to remove the factory fitted bulkhead, that was easy enough but the mounting frame is welded to the floor and bolted to the sides of the cab near to the seat belt mounts.  We will take the angle grinder to these tomorrow.  Note the ingenious use of sponges to prevent the tailgate hitting the garage door frame!









Jude has been researching cabinet construction and seat materials, apparently we are to have a Suffolk beach hut theme which should be unique and look great.  We had toyed with the idea of doing an "Ikea Conversion" but more or less shelved that one now in favour of building a wooden framework which will allow a more flexible design.


Harvey helping
















Bulkhead and all ply lining removed, and floor cleaned up nicely.  That's all for today.

Taking the Plunge

Over the years we have longed to own another camper, a small-ish one that we could use as a daily vehicle, our commute is only 3 miles. The new VW T2s imported from Mexico are beautiful but as with all modern camper conversions they are soooo bloody expensive so we decided on a self build project. We have a Golf GTI at the moment, ten years old and still looks and drives like new.  Obviously we are quite enthusiastic about Volkswagen build quality and the T5 vans look great but we also considered the Renault Master, Vauxhall Vivaro and Merc rustbu...erm "Vito"

After looking at a few we found a 2007 LWB T5 panel van with a semi high top and tailgate, a great combination for a camper and quite cheap at £5995 plus VAT.  Down went the deposit and the balance should clear this week.

I initially discounted the long wheelbase models but the VW T5 LWB is only 40cm longer than the SWB and in a camper that 40cm is all extra living space and will make a big difference.

There are a couple of stone chips on the front, nothing that a quick touch up won't fix.  The passenger door also has some minor cosmetic marks but overall the vehicle is solid.  I want a van that will be usable as a daily vehicle not something that looks like it just rolled out of a showroom and we are scared to drive in case it gets rained on!

The van has covered 115,000 miles which sounds a lot but isn't really on a modern diesel.  To have clocked that in 4 years the bulk of the mileage will have been long motorway journeys, ie less wear and tear compared to urban driving.  It has had regular servicing and the cam belt was done at the correct interval.

It has a tailgate rather than opening barn doors.  Ideal for a camper. It has a "semi high roof" providing more head room inside.  Not quite enough to stand up in, but also not so high that it negatively impacts fuel economy.

We pick it up at the end of the week.  Jude chose the name Gerty inspired by the last letters of the registration, GTY.

We will have the windows fitted professionally as I don't like the prospect of cutting holes in the side of the van.  We might have the bed fitted too, as many suppliers offer free fitting on their Rock and roll beds.  The rest of the conversion will be done on a DIY basis.  I intend to keep a running total of our expenditure and will update this blog with any significant developments.

We have spent a good part of the past week clearing and partitioning the back half of the garage to
use as a workshop.  The front half of the garage adjoins the rabbit run and is where our three
bunnies live!



Once the windows are in we can work on insulation, wiring, boarding and carpet lining.  I have joined the Self Build Motor Caravanners Club and will most likely be active on the forums there.  I also find the T5 Forums site to be invaluable in particular the Conversion sub-forum.

Heidi

In 1995 we purchased "Heidi", a 1972 VW Camper, one of the rare Devon Conversions models. It was bought locally from a family who used it to travel to nudist campsites, we soon gave the seats a good clean after imagining all the sweaty arses that had been sat on them! We spent that summer travelling around Western and Central Europe getting as far as Budapest before making the long trip home via Austria, Italy, Germany and the Netherlands.





Over the next 6 years we travelled the length of the UK with many visits to Suffolk and North Wales as well as a trip to Scotland and our annual pilgrimage to Glastonbury. I spent a small fortune having the van restored and resprayed.

We also made some improvements in terms of new heat exchangers, imported rust-free doors from California, electronic ignition and Webber carbs as well as adding some extra cupboard space inside. I also ran a car for daily use, and eventually came to the conclusion that I could no longer justify keeping a vehicle on the road for 3-4 camping trips a year. So off she went, sold to a couple in Nottingham. She is still on the road somewhere, still chugging along at 39 years of age.

Since then we have had two caravans, a trailer tent and a (now perished and in the bin) leaky dome tent but nothing quite beats a camper for convenience.