Transit t280 swb cheap cheap conversion! (Making it up as I

[Tranny_136]

I've just bought a cheap 51 plate mk6 transit on 120,000 miles FSH MOT until December, some poor previous welds and a small hole or two!
Needs some work but hoping it'll serve me well over the summer at least!

I will be living in it for 2-3 days a week at times so I need it to be fairly comfortable, but I've made no real plans besides sort out rust and giving it a service.

Will definitely need advice on the way and I've been scanning through threads on here and got some good ideas already so thanks in advance!

Pics to follow!

[Tranny_136]

The van as I got her!

[Tranny_136]

Works started!



I'm afraid I didn't get a picture of the arch before, but I cleared away the scabby bits, the arch was separating from the bed, and that's just one side!



As this is a cheap build I decided to use bits I had in the shed left over from precious projects, for insulation I used household loft foam insulation board on the lower half of the van as it's a perfect thickness, already getting results in terms of warmth and soundproofing!

[Tranny_136]

Started making frames to line the side of the van, these will contain cupboards at the front and hatches at the back, still trying to work out what to do for a bed!



And the other side, as you can see in the picture for the top half of the van I've used bubblewrap foil, not super thick but found it cheap to buy, £16 off eBay for 5m and still got spare for the floor. I used sound deadening pads on all the panels which were easy to apply and make a big differance to the rattle!

This is where I'm at now, cupboard frames are made, tops and doors are made but not fitted, and I've now got a floor! Had to take the cargo harness Loops out to get it all to fit properly, now I need to finish the welding on the bed so I can get it in!

[stuvy]

Would the lower insulation not fit at the top?

Did you use flash banding as a sound deadener?

[Tranny_136]

I haven't used flash banding, just the foil and the adhesive rubber sheets, is it something you think is worth doing? This is the first time I've done something like this so suggestions are definitely welcome especially in the early stages!

[Tranny_136]

And the lower insulation is about 2.5 inches thick, which is precisely (near enough) the depth between the outside panel and inside paneling it would be too intrusive at the top!

[stevo]

Did you do the welding around the rear arches yourself? The rear floors are a massive problem for rust on these.

[Tranny_136]

I did it's a bit of a messy job but still on a learning curve when it comes to welding, also can only have a go when my mate is kind enough to let me use his. Yeah most I've seen of this age are all going in familiar places! sorting the other arch out today and there's a small patch in the middle of the bed, as well as the seam on the roof by the rear doors!

Starter motor started playing up last night, hoping it's a bad earth or something easy!

[Tranny_136]

Yesterday I treated and primed the tow bar and towing eyes as they were a nice rust coulour only had red oxide primer but I'll paint It black over the next few days!


Repaired other arch and a small patch for a hole in the floor... Ready to start bolting the furniture in!



Cleaned up the starter motor and seems to be working fine again now!

[Tranny_136]

UPDATE ~ been living in my van 4 days a week for the past month and a half and done a bit more to him in that time!
Insulated the floor properly using left over bits from the roof and sides so a bit meat but nobody will see it!
~ before
~ after!

Covering the hardboard and arches was easy enough as the material was super stretchy and able to mould nicely, I'm doing graphite grey around the bottom of the van and a sand colour on the sides and roof to make it a bit lighter! Cost me £47 from eBay for 5m with 5 cans of adhesive spray, and they sent me the wrong colour so got a free roll (get in!)

At the moment I'm living in it whilst I'm working away from home got a single/double bed that pulls out, floors in and cupboard tops are on, next stage is cupboard doors and flooring to go in!

Today was the first time in a while I got to do anything to the van and it's been rainin on and off so tried to restore the black bumpers using the ole heat gun trick, still needs another going over and some back to black and it'll be perfect!
Before:

After:


Also had the starter motor, flywheel, clutch, and slave cylinder replaced last week, just in time I reckon the flywheel was destroyed! Van drives beautifully now!

Parking sensors and new bulbs, as well as service bits in the post to me hopefully get some more done this week.

Hope everyone's been a bit more productive with their motors recently!

[Tranny_136]

Update ~ cabinet doors made and on!

Also tried fitting parking sensors to stop
Me reversing into walls, trees, children and the like, I'm not very clever and I drilled 2 of the holes for sensors in the wrong place, also, got them working however when I'm driving the buzzer sounds with braking and indicating!!! Would this be an earthing problem? Looking at it tomorrow anyway..

[Tranny_136]

Got my hands on some leftover vinyl floorboards to use in the van, JUST had enough! Haven't done much else besides cleaning a egr valve that packed in!

[steviebee]

Your doing a good job there, did you take the bumpers off when you used the heat gun?