first campervan

[BIG-DAVE02]

Hey guys i thought i would start a project thread of what will become a home for the mrs and i over thr summer. We bought it a couple of weeks ago and are going to revamp the whole interior so it suits our needs. We have until the end of may to finish it as we are moving out of our home and into this until September. We are working music festivals and events all over the uk for the summer saving money up before embarking on a 2 year round the world trip the plans are as follows:-
Gut it
Insulate
chequered floor
Then start to build the side units and seat/ bed.
It already has a fridge and sink all plumbed in plus leisure battery and lighting. I will pop some pics up for you all

A few questions;-
Are there any dimensions/floorplans of a LWB hightop mk5
Best way to have 2 leisure batteries
And any tips and advice would be grateful. Also we are trying to do as cheap as possible for obvious reasons so without further adieu here is Tranny our Transit (the mrs named it)

[mymorph]

Great plan . I got a Ford 6 birth motor home . Ditch the idea of 2 leisure batteries, get 1 from varta & decent solar panel instead. About 60watt should do. Saves space, weight & long term cost. Full led lighting.don't skimp on fridge, or heating.

[mymorph]

Keep a close eye on weight, it's your enemy. Youll probably end up near maximum load so consider upgrading shocks & tyres. Insulation also needs to be addressed & attention to detail here will pay off.

[BIG-DAVE02]

Hey guys thanks for your input i will be changing the lights to LED ones i found a few pics of what we want it to end up looking like. As for the insulation the roof and that has been done by the previous owner so we arent touching that part but will be removing from the top of the side panels down as well as floor insulation. We are wanting to do this as cheaply as possible so any tips or advice is gratefully appreciated. Here are the pics....

[Kedishen]

Energy is a interesting subject:

Ask yourself, do you want to charge your laptop (in the van)?
Will you be watching television?

a 60W panel will be sufficient if the only things that use electric in the van are

LED Lights
Water pump
Toilet flush
Phone charger



If you want to start using a laptop or TV or any such thing, 60W will not adequately charge your battery - especially if you plan on using any blown air heaters. Think of it this way, in winter there are about 5 good hours of sun in England, and the panel will be lucky to input about 0.3-0.5amps an hour (in winter)... so basically u can use/charge 2.5 amps per day...

In summer, ull be lucky to get about 2.5-3amps per hour from your panel..

I recommend regardlessly of what size panel you get, that you also split charge from alternator to leisure battery AND trickle charge engine battery whilst you are parked.

I use this to keep my engine battery full:

https://www.kemo-electronic.de/en/Car/M ... 4-V-DC.php

Maplins used to sell it for £5.. can't find it on their website now but possible its still available.

You could also just use a dual battery solar regulator. There are many cheap ones available.

[BIG-DAVE02]

Cheers for the reply and info buddy the camper already has a leisure battery and 24v hookup built into it. I was just enquiring if i could somehow connect up a second leisure battery as i have a spare one lying around. We are only going to be using the camper from may until September then possibly selling it as we are travelling around the world for 2 years. But it depends how much we fall inlove with tranny whether it goes to a fsmily member until we are back we are starting tomorrow to gut it out and see what needs fixing and doing. We are soo excited.

How much vinyl would i need to cover the floor on it as its a LWB and also how would i fix high level cupboards? .
Thanks in advance.

[BIG-DAVE02]

So today the stripout began whoever built the campervan conversion before us didnt think of weight and definitely didnt want anyone to take it apart. Soo many screws and they where either rusted or filled with glue. Absolute ball ache to diamantle. But for today we got half the stripout done before going and collecting our new sink/hob so here are the pics

[BIG-DAVE02]

Hey guys so today we finished stripping out the campervan. We pulled out the sink and fridge then insulated behind the panels then recarpeted. Took out the rubber flooring under the front seats as tit was soaking wet underneath. If anyone knows why it would be a great help. Theres no obvious signs of leakage. Didnt take many pics tho.

[derv23]

I'd guess the leak could be from either the windscreen or somewhere on the front bulkhead.
An old van of mine leaked from top corner of screen. Evident when rubber trim pulled off for a look-see.

[BIG-DAVE02]

Right guys finally go some more progress finally stripped it out fully and got the flooring down

[cocksocks]

Looks loads better without the shed at the back!! Is that Lino on the floor?

[whitemice]

now an 'illuminati camper van conversions' site search will get at least two results, nicely masonic greyman.
give the gas storage some thought dude.

[BIG-DAVE02]

Looks loads better without the shed at the back!! Is that Lino on the floor?

Yeah its vinyl from carpet right. 60 quid it cost but definitely worth the money

[BIG-DAVE02]

Hey guys been progressing well on the conversion. Ive only got a xouple of pics on my phone as i used the camera to take more as we progressed so will upload them as soon as i can. But here is the start of the sofas/bed

[Wongo]

Looking good.

I have 2x85 amp leisure batteries wired in series, they are fed from a split charger as well as an Amperor mains charger that's installed and plugs into the hook up. Just to be on the cautious side I also keep the vehicle battery on a trickle charger (CTEK).

I looked at Solar But the output in sunny U.K. Is poor especially as they are fixed on the van and can't track the sun.

I have plenty of capacity to run the Propax Heater and the water pump, all lighting is LED.

If weight is an real issue and you have a few bob, have a look at Relion leisure batteries, 10 year warranty, massive capacity and lightweight.

I will also be posting about Gaslow LPG today, worth a look.