When my daughter returns to the UK next year she fancies kitting out a van with a bed and bits and pieces.She will also need this van for a certain amount of commuting.I have suggested to her that it might be easier and cheaper to buy one already converted,perhaps a VW or similar. I have pointed out that this could be quite a costly exercise either self converted or ready bought. I will be looking on line to see what is what,but feedback from anyone who has done a similar conversion or is well up on campervans would be much appreciated,thankyou. The more info I can send my daughter the more she can understand what she might be getting into. Forgot to mention thaat she has a house in London-the van would be for leisure and a bit of commuting.
there's a thread going on this merv. i recently made inquires myself about a conversion, talking to a company in Gourock, they would do the full conversion for around 10k if you provided the van. i think for me that would be the best way to go
There are rules and regs about what you need for it to be a camper van. Where dos she want to commute from/to? If London is involved, on the assumption it's a diesel van, she'll get hammered by the LEZ. without wishing to sound all olde-farty, wouldn't she be better off investing in non-depreciating assets towards buying a house at some point?
From a friend who has done this "The only things that I paid any real money for were: Seat foam (with a polyfibre wrap and stockinette cover) :£130ish (from http://www.efoam.co.uk ) hob/sink combo unit : £250 gas fittings : £20 ish table fittings : £30 (I had a table top I could use, this was just for the leg fittings) headlining material : £24 (2m X 1.4m) Water pump, tank and waste tank : £60 Domestic RM122 fridge : £329 (but you could probably get away with an electric coolbox) Rainbow Conversions/Grasshopper leisure ( http://www.grasshopperleisure.co.uk/ ) is a GREAT resource and will dispatch stuff for next-day delivery. All of the above came from them. Stainless steel sheeting (which I'm using for lining the area around the hob) was about £70, but stainless isn't cheap. You could probbaly get alu or steel from B&Q in smaller quantities, but I wanted to cut out a 'worktop' surround for the hob/sink as well as line the area where my fridge is going (as it's 12v and gas powered so can get hot at the back). Fabric for the seat base and back which is used as a mattress when the seat's folded out was about £140. However, I got some specialist fabric from Agua ( http://www.aguafabrics.com/ ) which is a water, mold and rot-resistant soft-touch polyester, but it's not cheap. You could use a polycotton upholstery fabric for about £10-£15 a meter but it MAY end up with mildew or rot in a few years. The bed/seat frame I made up using wood and bits and pieces I got from B&Q, I'm not sure how much I spent on that as I had a design in mind and just built it as I went along, buying stuff as needed. If you just want to make a van more comfy, that's cool. If you want to re-register the van as a camper, then you need to ensure it has at least the following: Permanent seating area for at least 2 people A bed of at least 180cm long (can be converted from the seating area) Storage area or cupboard (can be under the seating area) Permanent table (can be demountable, but the fittings must be permanent) Cooking area with either microwave or (minimum) 2 ring hob which are permanently fitted and suitably powered/fuelled. Minimum 25litres of water storage." the chap in question knows what he is talking about
Thankyou bikermike for this post and your comprehensive follow up of fitting out details.My daughter already has a house in London-this is another project she is thinking of.I will send the details you have provided-and I am very grateful for you putting down such a raft of information.
If you are handy, it’s not that difficult but it’s finish vs cost argument (as per most things!) You can buy a robes kit from eBay for less than a grand, and they come up used quite a bit, if you don’t fancy measuring and cutting ply or whatever material Loads of guides on YouTube too.
Yep Mr C is the man with the van. I 'invested' in one a couple of years ago, bought a VW t5 donor van and had the conversion carried out by Leisure Drive in north Mcr Whilst the term investment is in inverted commas, it's true return is found in ownership and use. Bit like having a bike, only different and slower, a lot slower!
I am the VW camper van man! As it goes I am on the cusp of finishing this bad boy. It should have been complete yesterday which would have been an exact four week turn around but an unforeseen circumstance means its looking at being complete by Wednesday (So long as my delivery land on Tuesday) Its as equally fancy pants on the inside, I will post some pics next week when its finished. We are talking leather seats on Crash tested swivels, M1 crash tested bed with detail stitching. Lightweight ply furniture, some creative lighting. Even the pop top is M1 crash tested and has a nice feature of being able to unzip the canvas all round to creative a "Panoramic" Area. Feel free to PM me https://www.facebook.com/freedomcon...fwtv5djRq7pbitsjIMiuGLf2OgA3uMr8qV9NVz00ShaHI www.freedomconversions.co.uk
The ultra lez is coming into central london soon so this might be worth a look https://tfl.gov.uk/modes/driving/low-emission-zone
Are they a simple like for like replacement? I'd like to replace my standard ones without lowering or having to use spacers.
