need a bit of help convert my van to a camper

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never though of doing it that way back to the darwing board

I don't like the windows on the back doors on my van as they look odd and out of place but may put a small one in

I was going to fit a skylight and side windows behind the driver seat and on the sliding door

[whitemice]

Black or mirror filmed rear windows would look cool i reckon, or even a couple of porthole ones, it's about getting natural light in and being able to see out.

On the ambulance the floor is plywood about 3/4"-1" thick which is countersunk with stainless steel self tappers/bolts and bonded to the metal floor, no batons, it has a blue plasticised non-slip membrane about 3mm thick with bit's of ally? embedded in it bonded to the top surface of the ply, i just put a bit of carpet on top after construction. The ply/metal gives a good surface to fix to. Wheel arches are a natural for being under seating/bed, they are fibreglass in amby.

I would use a rubberised bonder over all of the metal floor/walls/roof to moisture seal it and fix the rot treated marine ply with stainless countersunk screws/bolts and a waterproof flooring vynyl on top in your motor.

Use small air circulation vents in all seating/cupboard spaces, that's why i like cut-out cupboard doors as the gap gives the circulation.

On mine the yellow painted wood is all 12mm furniture grade ply and the varnished stuff is 6mm Birch.

Keep the colours and wood( i like satin varnished birch and Dulux satinwood light yellow and matt white surface laminates) inside light and simple unless you are into beige and other dark geriatric stuff.

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i am getting a sheet of perspex to make windows i was going to make round ones

so i need this type of plywood for the floor 3/4"-1 i think i will add a a small bit of insulation to keep noise down from the road

Going to get all my plywood next weekend and insulation as i have not been payed this week

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Got a cooker and skylight of a renault trafic t100 1989 today for free picking up next weekend got them of my grilfriends borther

[whitemice]

Consider having a layout that does not cover spring hanger areas in case these ever need welding up if you plan on keeping it for ages.

That way you won't need to rip it all down, another reason why the bench seat/across van bed works well as you can hinge the tops for storage and also create open space over spring hangers for easier future welding. You can do the same for front rear hangers in yours which will probably be about where i would put a fridge above small pan cupboard on one side and cooker/sink above cupboards on the other running gas pipes underneath van floor on outside.

If you are just using a two burner and grill this could go on a ledge above a fridge on nearside, i lined my cooker/oven locations with ally lithoplate small stainless screws and bonded to ply for fireproofing, the pictured ally trim covers the edges of the litho and matt white surface laminate and is fixed last, and after any painting, with small round-headed stainless screws and top quality white silicone.

Use 12mm 5 ply formers for structural uprights fixing with 25mm sq batons, pva glue and self tappers and 6mm 5 or 7 ply birch for cupboards/doors/overhead lockers etc.

Travis Perkins do a good deal on 3m x 1.5m x 6-7mm birch ply sheet, i used two of these in the amby and scored the 12mm and boxes of screws from them also, their trade pack screws are still completely rust free in mine.

Best to use stainless screws/bolts for floor stuff from a good and friendly local architectural/building supplier or on-line.

Specialist fixings could be used to get a few lengthways structural fixing batons down/up the sides/roof. Or strategically welded fixings?

On-board water is on floor beneath oven/sink on mine but it's a big tank and you may as well keep it simple with a drop in 12v electric pump into an ordinary 25l water carrier which can be sited both in or out of van for use with a waterproof (boat chandlers) fag lighter type 12v socket outside under van combined with simple (cheap) grey coloured cover flapped water inlet from caravan supplier.

I store a 25l water carrier and waste carrier under each of the bench seats, ie' four containers, the seats have three compartments with 12mm ply formers and because of the angled fronts give seated foot room and allow a black waste with a fresh water on top in the rear compartment of each, the seat facings are 6mm.

Fitting a basic 2 socket mains kit will allow use of a micro type electric heater blower (charity shop £3, caravan shop 20 quid) and a small catalytic is handy if no mains.

http://www.mmleisure.co.uk/cgi-bin/site ... =mmleisure

one of these is handy too if you're at home or on a mates drive!

http://www.mmleisure.co.uk/cgi-bin/site ... =mmleisure

A simple but decent quality lekky drop in water pump in the boat chandlers round here is @ 10 quid.

Don't get hooked into water heaters, cassette bogs etc. keep it simple.

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Whitemice
I have done alot of welding to the back of the van already so boxing the back in won't be a problem
I have looked for a water tank but i can't find any here in ireland at a good price
I have the power sort my dad is going to wire it for so i can hook up in to a camp site
I may not use a toilit as i can't find any at a good price
I hope to get sheets of chip board and plywood for free this weekend
and i have loads of stainless screwsi have about 30 box of them don't ask why i have so many as i don't know why i have so many

And don't worry i will be keeping it simple

Thanks for all the help

I start work on the van
I started to day on the van frist thing to do was sort out the front as i had to holes to weld so i removed the seats spent well over 3 hours removing the drive seat as the torx bolt where all round off so i end up drilling each one out i removed the plastic floor mat and cleand up the rust and paint it red oxid which was a tad bit hard as the van is red to i made up some plates for the holes in the floor but could weld them as my welder stop working again will try and post up picture later on

[whitemice]

Something like this

http://www.sutterton-camping.co.uk/products/440

or this

http://www.discover.co.uk/vehicle-acces ... get-toilet

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now thats a better price so now i may have a toilet in my van
and as there smaller they will take up less space in the van and leave more room in the van oh wait campervan
I will get the Kampa Khazi Economy Portable Toilet as its small

Just wonder can i use car batteries for my camper van or do i need a leisure batteries also would a Solar Panel be a good idea as i plan to camp a lot outside camp sites

and to make you laugh my girlfriend as nicknamed my van a Big red rotting campervan don't know why i do know she hates the van

[whitemice]

Once the Wendy house sink, cooker and fridge are in they change their tune!

I've seen the ultra cheapo khazi at @18 notes which can't be bad,it is nice and compact too, it's well worth having one! The Oxford is a great design and mine is still going strong after nearly 20 years, cost less than 20 notes back then.

Solar stuff is a waste of space until you go over @200w i use a 15watter to keep batts up whilst sitting around on drive, no good for hoping to run stuff though. i scored a woolworths generator 650w for 25 notes when they had a sale on and it's ok. about 50-55 notes at garden centres.

Car batts are ok if you've got one already but don't discharge it below 11+v, even ordinary leisure one's are best not discharged too deep, i scored a good quality 85a leisure one local on ebay for a tenner last year that had been used just for charging r/c cars, i don't go below 11v under load on it.

These blue illumination lcd digi volt gauges are cool for monitoring stuff, £3.29inc. out of hk and arrive in 5 days, got two up front, pictured idling and leisure on right is switched so i can monitor it from up front when static and i've got another switched in rear.



I don't bother with mat's they just rot your floor, binned mine when i got motor 19 years ago, this was brushed with 2 coats of white single can polyurethane for second time 8 years back, real easy to sweep and wipe clean with Milton sterilising fluid.

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i will not get a solar panel then i may get one of the cheap ones to keep my main batt top up though i have loads of car batts and gauges around the place so i will use two 12v car batts which i will hook up to volt gauges to each to keep an eye on them

I'm going to keep the mats up front as i will be using the van every day and i do alot of work in scrap yards and my boot get cover in stones which will scrap the floor i know that from my last car

[whitemice]

Cool, i drive in my socks.

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Cool, i drive in my socks.

I did that once and ended up with 6 stich in my foot right at the heal could drive for 5 weeks i had to let my grilfriend drive me around in my car she crashed so i think i'll keep my shoes on

Getting some polystyrene insulation board tommorow or thursday i think its 25mm so i may use it on the floor to keep noise down getting it for free so not sure how much i'm getting yet

[whitemice]

25mm is basically an inch less headroom, ply/carpet/structures will reduce any 'noise'??//

Polystyrene burns nicely toxic too and will muck up structural fix integrity?. I would not bung it on the floor the plywood won't breathe.

Mentioned before but have a look at 3mm or 6mm depron or that other stuff that dude was on about for any wall/roof heat insulation, you could do the whole thing with @15-20 sheets of white depron or @10-15 of grey. B&Q do/did an own brand too but it ain't 'GENUINE' depron.

[go_slow]

These blue illumination lcd digi volt gauges are cool for monitoring stuff, £3.29inc. out of hk and arrive in 5 days, got two up front, pictured idling and leisure on right is switched so i can monitor it from up front when static and i've got another switched in rear.

Nice dash setup mate - whats the various dials and switches?

[whitemice]

Which ones?