Thought I'd start a build thread on our camper conversion, currently we're building the interior. This is our progress so far!
We acquired the van in April 2017. It had 2 weeks MOT left and absolutely no chance of passing it! There was nothing that could be considered structural left of the rear outriggers & leaf spring mounts, the driverside step consisted mostly of rust, the front end panels not faring much better... Initially we estimated about 4-6 weeks of work, but things escalated and that ended up being almost 5 months of evenings and weekends spent cutting, welding & fabricating bits of van.
The first thing we did was remove all the ply lining and chop the rear section of floor out. The chassis rails had rusted through above the bump stops and we wanted to be sure the rest was ok. This also made it much easier to cut out the old & weld in the new out riggers & leaf spring hangers that we'd made.
With that work complete we moved onto the offside rear door...the bottom of the outer had pretty much rusted away, but thankfully the inner was in really good condition. This was definitely one of the more satisfying jobs to complete on the van!
With the rear end done and back together complete with new leaf springs we started on the front. We did the driver side first as this required the most amount of work. New step (this was a nightmare because the inner sill was actually welded on in the wrong place, so that was cut off and welded back on in the right place...which only took a whole day!!) new inner arche & inner wing, as well as new outers. We also fabricated a new front outrigger but didn't take any pictures.
The passenger side was in much better condition and the step was repairable. But it still had new inner arch, inner wing & outers.
The van passed it's MOT in September, and the following Saturday we chucked a blow up bed in the back and headed to santa pod for transitmania for our first night in the van!
Before heading to Santa Pod
Between then and December we insulated it, got the flooring down, made a good start on the wooden cladding and installed a mini log burner!
Our first proper trip in the van was to the Brecon Beacons for our anniversary before Christmas. At this stage it was fully insulated, about half the van was cladded and the log burner installed and working.
A few shots from around Wales
we passed through Herefordshire on the way home, this was taken on the journey back. Looking rather grubby! (yes, I painted the rear door in the wrong shade of white!)
Absolutely stunning place and if you haven't been I would definitely recommend it! We're hoping to do another trip.
For anyone who has instagram, you can see a few more pictures: @moose_in_transit
https://www.instagram.com/moose_in_transit/?hl=enThe aim of this is just a little bit of fun, weekends away and doing something a little different. So far we love it!
I'll get a few more pictures and keep this updated with the build progress