My Mk5 Semi High Conversion

[weseeyou]

nice work ....really well done .

If I had a single piece of advice to give you it would be to clean out the back of the lip of your arches and red oxide and underseal them. Once they start to rust the whole van looks tatty and they cost a lot of dosh to put right .
Ask me how I know that gerrrrrrrrr

[suffolkboi]

Thanks, i will have a look at them.
The van itself is going to get a bit of love now anyway - oil, filter and wiper blades. Cambelt soon.

So another little update.
Hopefullt solved my problem with the water bottle lid. I want it to undo without twisting the pipes, but still be water tight with the pipes poking out.

Just made a rubber seal, and the cap will work as a lock nut.

[suffolkboi]

I also continued to butcher the remains of the wardrobe.
Made some locker doors







Also ditched the rattly blue cooker frame. Made a simple one out of galvanised steel. Think it looks better than blue.

[suffolkboi]

I also tidied up the bed frame with some angled ally.

[weseeyou]

thats looking excellent !

A fixed bed /seat is always the most comfortable and practical in the end. I think its all too common to see too much space given over to the kitchen unit and toilet/shower when you only spend less than 2 hours there a day .

When you think about it ,you probably spend 8x hours sleeping and probably the same sitting on the bed/seat so it should be the priority space.

The drivers seat looks like a really comfortable armchair ! does it revolve ?

We made our seats revolve so that we can sit in comfort in the evenings watching tv /vids etc . Its so much more comfortable to relax in reclining seats with armrests . The added bonus is that it adds the whole redundant cab area into the living accommodation together with 2x extra seats so it frees up some more seating space for other things

[suffolkboi]

As far as i know, its a standard front seat Apart from the duct tape on it. Fairly comfortable, but no arm rest or swivel.

I will probably be making a a partition to go behind the passenger seat, and have a fold down table from it. This will add a bit of privacy and save having to blank out the cab windows.

A revolving chair would be nice tho..

Any links to your build?

[weseeyou]

We bought an Horizons unlimited coach built LWB but I have been gradually upgrading it .

First thing I did was to buy a pair of Toyota Lavidia revolving seats from the back of a people carrier. They cost less that £100 shipped and have a neat revolving mechanism built into the seat with dual armrests. Transits have lots of alternative seat fixing positions in the cab floor.

if you don't use the cab area you are losing a huge potential living area to add to the interior.
By using revolving seats you get a dual purpose space.

its easy to screw a simple plastic curtain track to the lining and use some plastic pop studs for a curtain.

Then you can screen off the whole cab area and use it to sit in with 2x really comfortable reclining seats with double armrests.

Scuse the rubbish pics they are 2x years old and I have rebuilt all the beds now.

I cannot tell yo what an improvement that has made. the van seems huge now and to sit in real comfort at night watching the box ,sipping your ale .....magic!

[suffolkboi]

Looks good. Im actually really sold on the revolving chair idea now (especially the image of drinking ale in it).

Need to find some MPV's that i can scavenge from..

[weseeyou]

Looks good. .

well its looking old tired and chinzy but the layout is brilliant and it has the full monty, c heating, water heater, shower, 4xring hob, full size fridge etc so it suits us especially as we usually go on site with EH rather than wilding.

A lot of seats in the 15-17 seater buses and people carriers have built in revolving plates . Revolving plates are too expensive to buy seperately typically £100 each !. You could probably recoup half the cost by selling your db pass seat .

Hey look at this ! a swivel captains seat for a Transit ! it will bolt right in without any modifications and welding frames etc.

Looks like its going to sell for £0.99phttp://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Single-captai ... 338320462d
[url]
[b]Heres a cracking pair
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/CAMPER-VAN-CA ... 46105fab37

heres the ultimate swivel captains chairs
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2-x-Sliding-C ... 257f375c99

[screechowl]

My water tank had a connection like that & it always spilled over when I parked on the curb, which I have to do once a week to let the bin wagons past. Tried to seal it with balloons (!) & it worked for a while, then started leeking again. Any ideas on this?

[suffolkboi]

I haven't put my idea through any vigorous testing, but it should be ok.
Just cut a thin piece of rubber to snugly fit within the lid, then two holes that are very tight for the pipes to go through. This should allow the lid to turn, but not twist the pipes, whilst all being water tight.

You can then use your balloons for something else

[Kedishen]

Conversion is looking pretty swish mate.

I think you made the right choice with the rear end of the unit, with the angled corner. Not sure about the metal section on the front side near sliding door. I always tend to catch my clothes on that sorta thing, but time will tell.

Interesting idea with the drain pipe down through the wheel arch. FYI its illegal to dump grey waste water onto floor on public roads and campsites tend to take a dim view of it - on the contintent the cops will fine you for it. And make sure the other half understands that chip fat and bits of food do not go down the drain.. wouldn't want to go sliding round any roundabouts eh? I find a 10 litre bucket (and a pipe to reach it) is a good addition to any camper. You can empty your sink into it and do your washing in it too after you give it a rinse. Don't forget a little screw on cap to cover the waste pipe under arch when you are driving. All sorts of crap and noise and smells like the inside of a camper - and a drain plug!

As for the locks mate.. sadly the locks are worn on the inside. Mine do exactly the same thing. I bought a new set off of ebay and went to fit them.. only to find a bit of metal is pop riveted over the mechanism (for security i spose). I read on here the rivets can be drilled and the metal comes away. Locks = replaced. If you got one, you could probably even rivet the metal back if you like.

[suffolkboi]

Bit of an update.

Ive actually used the van! A few days at Deepdale campsite on the Norfolk coast with the misses, and it all went great. Pleasantly surprised by the positioning of the sink and comfort of the bed etc

Need to get the noise down though. Can barely hear the radio above 40mph..

Ive had some bargains building this, but the latest tops it all. LCD TV £15 at a boot fair, with a 12v digi box The TV is actually 19.6v, but ive had it on for a few hours now, and no probs on 12v.
Even got hold of a 12v amplified arial at the same bootfair for a few quid!

Just need to sort the curtains, and tidied the back doors as the main jobs remaining.

Re the waste pipe. I carry a bucket and stand that under the van. No mess.
Locks - new key cut, all sorted.

Also the lights - those LED rolls on ebay are great. Bright as fook, just incase anyone was debating getting them. Also nice as you can hardly see them until you turn them on.





Arial in the wardrobe (great pic)


All fixed down

[redsquirrel]

Looks impressive lots of useful info.

[Jay_today]

Great thread thanks