My (hopefully) quick and (hopefully) cheap conversion.

[d.e.hill]

So after many years of thinking about it, I finally took the plunge and have started on my own conversion! My plan is to keep this updated, so I have something to record what I've done, and of course, all comments are welcome!

After a couple of months of searching, I finally found a mk7 transit that suited my purposes, at the right price. She is a 56 plate, ex-Royal Mail T260. Pretty scruffy, but then that just adds to the charm for me, and a steal (I think) at £3k. Obviously full service history, one owner from new, etc. Pics below:




First step then, on this well trodden path, was windows. Pretty simple really! An order from Van Windows Direct took a day to arrive, then it was just a case of drill around the corners marked out in the inside of the van (around the lining structure), mark the shape to cut, cut carefully with a jigsaw and paint the newly exposed metal with a dab of hammerite (I used a cotton bud). Then prime the areas with the acid provided in the kit, add some window trim, then glue the windows in. Again, all this stuff is provided in a kit. Not bad for £235! Anyway, here are some photos of the progress:






Once the windows are aligned, a good push onto the adhesive and leave for a couple of hours to set. The end result looks like this (not too shabby if you ask me!):




Next comes insulation!

[d.e.hill]

First job today, was to remove the bulkhead. 20-odd T30 screws, took about 5 mins to remove. Happy times!



Next was wiring. I used twin core 7.5mm wire for all the runs, as current draw should be well within limits. I've wired for 4 LED spot lights (from ebay), and a whale pump for the sink. All cables were routed overhead, as the van already has a floor that I don't want to remove. So far the day is going well!

Then came insulation. This is more of a ball ache.

First I decided to use a layer of foil covered bubble wrap (from B&Q), glued on with high temp contact adhesive spray (from Mega Van Mats). Photos below.



Then came 25mm of expanded polystyrene. The issue here is that every-single-bit of the stuff has to be cut to size, then glued in with sikaflex. Anyway, I cracked on, and am about halfway done so far. Here's what she looks like as I left her tonight..

[Petest]

I'm planning to do one as well eventually so I'm going to follow your progress closely.

Thanks for the detailed info and pics - keep them coming [SMILING FACE WITH OPEN MOUTH AND TIGHTLY-CLOSED EYES]

[BigMonty]

Good work there matey.

[d.e.hill]

Thanks guys! I'm pretty happy for 1.5 days total work so far...

Having the weekend mostly off, but will be back in it from Monday.

[d.e.hill]

Progress Report - Day 3

Turned out to be quite a slow day, despite starting strongly, as I ended up breaking more than I fixed!

Job 1 was to finish off insulation. More of the same really, cutting Polystyrene to fit the gaps then gluing in with Silkaflex. It wasn't always the prettiest job, but it won't ever be seen, and as long as it's effective I don't mind. The whole family was put to work, including girlfriend and kitten!



After a couple of hours this was finished, and I moved on to the rear doors. Now they had wood panels covering the bottom panels, but no the top. I could have therefore made some to cover the top, but I think it's a neater option to have one large carpeted panel covering the whole door (less exposed paintwork on the final interior). To do this I gaffer taped some cardboard to the door and drew (roughly) round it. Then used this as a stencil on some plywood. Then I screwed the plywood to the door (it's deliberately a bit oversize at this stage). Then I closed the door and drew around the inner seal, leaving a couple of mm gap.



I could then remove the wood again, cut round the new drawn line, quick sand, and reattach it. Voila, ply panelling that doesn't interfere with the seals, ready for carpet.




I then spent a bit of time screwing the side panelling to the walls. It's Royal Mail spec white plastic sheet, which I see no reason to change, but it can be a bit wobbly. So I stuck plenty of screws round the outside to secure it as well as it will ever be. It's never going to be as rigid as a ply lined van, but hopefully this won't affect the final outcome too much!



This is where I tried to lock the van and realized the central locking had stopped working properly. Doh! I've out another post up in the technical forum, but needless to say I think I've put a screw through a wiring loom somewhere. Finding and repairing that is now the main effort before there can be any more progress...

[bigyellow]

first up great stuff, very well done,

the cables by the way do you mean 0.75mm2 rather than 7.5mm2 ??

get stuff keep going

[d.e.hill]

Yes! 0.75mm^2 - my mistake!

Day 5 - Progress report

In line with my "quick" conversion, today has been very productive (if I do say so myself!).

First off had a look at the central locking which I broke yesterday - after half an hour with a multimeter I came to conclusion it should all be working as it should so I reassembled it and it did! Wahey! God knows what was wrong, most likely a loose connection, but it's sorted now. Onwards...



I then finished fitting the vapour barrier. Now some people seem almost paranoid about this - seemed pretty simple to me unless I'm missing something? I bought a large sheet of B&Q's thick vinyl sheeting, cut it size and sealed it onto the roof and back doors using some roof and gutter repair sealant. This stuff sticks like s**t to a blanket, is designed to be wet all day and is very flexible, so seemed perfect. I didn't do anything to the walls (other than seal them with a bit of gaffer tape) as the Royal Mail "ply" lining is actually plastic sheet and will act as a vapour barrier on its own.



I then spent a few hours cutting, fitting and sanding the ceiling panel(s). The way I tackled this was propping some ply up with a brush handle and homemade supports, and marking and cutting templates. This was a trial and error process which took most of the morning. It takes about 1 and 1/4 sheets of ply to cover the ceiling properly. Once the main sheet was cut, I tacked it up with a couple of screws, and did the skinnier sheet. Once it was cut to shape, I tacked it up alongside the main sheet, tucking it below. I could then run a pen along the edge of the main sheet to mark where to cut the skinny sheet to get a exact match. Keeping in mind to leave a couple of spare mm for the thickness of the carpet (when fitted). Anyway, here was the main sheet during its marking and cutting phase and the finished article (note the holes for the lights - to be fitted later).




Whilst progress was strong, I cracked on and removed the racking strips that had been left in by the previous owner, to give the bulkheads/walls a cleaner line. Then I started carpeting! Only got the first wall completed today, but I don't think it looks too bad (considering I've never carpeted a thing in my life). First I cut the carpet to size (nicely oversized), then sprayed loads of spray glue on the walls, and the back of the carpet. Then started at the top, working down, smoothing and stretching as I went. Then it was a case of tucking the remainder behind the floor, trim and door seals. That was enough for today! Here's the carpet, and how I left the van this evening.

[Van Winkle]

Well done, your off like Billy Whizz

[d.e.hill]

Day 6

So today started with more of the same really - carpeting the other wall. This went on easy enough and was made much easier by the lack of need to go round the window! I then filled in the areas I missed (behind the seats and door panels). I don't think it looks too bad!




Then I carpeted the rear door panels. I'd read that the best way to reattach them was to cut a slit in the carpet where the screw head is, then tuck the screw head under the slit to hide it. I tried this at first, but it looked appalling, so I ended up just screwing them straight in. I'll probably order some screw head covers later to get the "factory" look. To attach the sliding door panel, I replaced the factory clips with longer fir tree fixings, then carpeted straight over the top of them, and banged the panel back onto the door - seems to have worked ok.




Then it was time to crack on with the ceiling! I've chosen a lighter colour, as this is what looks most natural (sky above, etc). In the end I went for 3 metres of stone coloured trim velour from MVM. When it came to covering the ceiling panel, however, I regretted this choice because its massively thick, inflexible and hard to work with. I should have stuck with the more flexible carpet! Anyway, after much struggling, I got it covered and then after even more struggling, got it up in the van single handed. I didn't have time to do the skinnier strip (that's day 7's job...), but just about had time to wire in my new lights. I'm pretty happy with the final look, although there's going to be more ply cutting required to the skinnier panel due to carpet thickness!

[aaron.d]

Looking great, do you have a break down of cost so far and your future plans.

[Brains_transit]

All the carpeting looks really good and those black plastic washers with the caps attached could be an idea for the screws

[bigyellow]

[jr71]

That looks mint, well done

[d.e.hill]

Thanks for the tips and encouraging comments. All really useful!

You'll see the master plan as it unfolds - don't worry, it won't be long. I'll also run through some approx. costs at the end. Anyway on to...

Day 7

I didn't get a huge amount achieved today as I started late due to an epic hangover. Anyway, first job was to re-measure mark and trim the skinny bit of the ceiling. Predictably, as the carpet was so f***ing thick I needed to trim quite a bit. Then it was covered in the remainder of the stone carpet and screwed up. I'm pretty satisfied with it.



Voila, stage 1 complete. I now have a quiet, dry, insulated van.



Next comes stage 2 - the fit out! Conveniently, there was a local chap on gumtree selling the entire contents of his campervan. As luck would have it, it was a transit (LWB, med roof). It had failed an MoT due to rust and was scrapped, and he'd salvaged the interior to sell. I bought the lot.

This means I have all ready to go:
sofa/bed
3 way fridge
cooker
sink
plumbing
wiring
cabinets
bike rack
table and chairs, etc.

First job was to put the fridge in place (behind the driver seat, where all the electrical gubbins will go too) and make a little cabinet to house it (and the 12V panels, etc). Now it doesn't have to be neat, as I'll end up carpeting the sides of it (the vaneer on the donor-van interior isn't the tidiest), so this is what I came up with.



Then came fitting the sofa/bed behind it. It took some modification, and this took the rest of the day. First I had to cut a section to fit round the wheel arch. Then I had to build some supports for it's back. It's designed to be screwed to the ply walls of a caravan, and the white plastic sheeting my walls are made from wouldn't support that, so I built some legs. I then placed it in position to see how it would look.



As I was adjusting the sofa, I noticed the plug wiring had a section wrapped in blue electricians' tape. I wondered what it was, as the chap who sold it to be assured me he was a qualified electrical engineer, and he'd given everything a full check over to make sure it was in tip-top condition. Unwrapping it revealed that the "expert" wiring was in fact some 16A cable running to a 13A socket (nothing wrong with that), which had 2 sections joined by twisting the bare wires and wrapping in tape (lots wrong with that!). Anyone in the market for a small fire?! Needless to say I will checking and wiring the whole thing from scratch!



Anyway, below is how she now looks. I'm pretty happy with it.