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My first build / conversion

21K views 39 replies 14 participants last post by  bryanb 
#1 ·
Warning...the interior scheme which appears later in this thread may cause viewers to suffer headache or nausea and is probably unsafe to be viewed by anyone who suffers with Epilepsy.

(shamelessly copied over from the Conversions section of the forum)

Bought my van about three years back, been working on it off and on for a while, and I'm finally getting to the point where it's shaping up and looking nearly finished T: Taken a few snaps along the way so thought I'd bung them on here for ya's :ILU:

Been looking at buying or building a camper for years, and was getting a bit tired of looking at overpriced bay window rotboxes, so thought I'd take a look at T4's. Went up to Newport auctions after hearing there were a couple of AA t4's being sold off. Arrived to find about 50 for sale! sat through a couple of hours of being outbid, and took a gamble on the last van to go through, as it had no MOT, and was a bit shocked when i won it :eek: LOL:

Here we are, just got back from auctions..





the usual greasy toolbox interior fitted..



interior stripped out, rug fitted, conversion nearly complete LOL:

 
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#2 ·
rebuilt the tool boxes and put them in the garage, very handy as a workbench and tool store :)



wish my garage was still looking this tidy



stripping the van continued, took the light bar off the roof, then tackled the electrics...pulled a lot of it out, floodlights, sat nav gubbins, bits of comms system...but decided in the end to leave most of the cables where they were in case i could use them later (and i dint want to blow myself up!). I took the aerials off the roof and replaced them with bolts/rubber washers through the holes.

not a good place ...



floor and roof panels out..

 
#3 ·
used the van like this for quite a while, very nippy with all the gear out of the back T:

Next up decided to improve the look a bit, and get some new rims and sort the stance out... bought some audi copies off here, (yeah i know thier cheap and common, but they look a whole lot better than the old steels!) picked them up in mint condition for £300. put new tyres on about six months ago which cost me £400!! :eek:

new wheels..lookin better already. front end lowered



remember folks, get your tracking adjusted after..i forgot and burned through a set of front tyres in no time...they looked like slicks on the inside edge after a drive up to north wales and back I:

time to drop the back end to match, i went with springs and a full set of dampers all round from T4's RUS




sorted :D

 
#4 ·
didnt get much done for quite a while, then got back to it....a couple of obligatory insulation pics I:

Put Celotex in the sides, orrible job but worth it in the end



put all the panels back and went on hols to north wales... LOL:

had the green strip painted out by this point



camping interior sorted I:

 
#5 ·
I came to a bit of a halt at this stage, after sourcing carpet and glue I decided it was a bit beyond my skills...so decided to have a local company do it ..I got the carpet from db autotrim (I think) off eBay. And cut new ply panels using the old plastic ones as templates.



most of the carpet came off again later, not sure why as I had bought the proper high temp stuff from cmc, think they weren't used to using it where I got it carpeted. They had a pig of a job to fit it apparently..didn't notice till I got home that they hadn't done the b pillars doh!


Next got to work on sorting the roof out...after Reading all the info on here about insulation and flashing tape etc..I decided to buck the trend and use some automotive soundproofing material on the roof panels, to cut the noise from rain drumming on the roof (I also had a load left over from soundproofing the floor in my bug).




After fixing it up with spray glue, I covered it in two layers of the bubble wrap foil, for heat insulation and hopefully to form a barrier to condensation. If I do a van again, I would avoid covering the roof ribs as it was a nightmare to get the roof panels back on.



next I covered the roof trim panels with material my sister gave me for van curtains..it's a bit psychedelic, but nice n cheerful. I then fixed a set of ikea lights to the panels and wired them up ready to connect to the interior light circuit. I had also put a layer of the bubble wrap on the back of the boards.
 
#6 ·
Roof panels in, and trial fit of vinyl flooring :) I wired the lights to a 'centre off' switch from maplins, so they would have the same function as before ( on/off/on with doors open). I might change this as I want to run the lights off a leisure battery when I have one set up.

Interior shaping up, it's a bit psychadelic! chucked the vinyl flooring in to see how it looks




next job was to make up some trims to cover the long sides of the roof edges, as the carpet needed trimming back to get the roof panels back in.
 
#7 ·
fixed some 'StikUp' brackets to the roof cross members, so i can carry a board inside the van, and keep it fairly out of the way. basically thier metal bean shaped jobs, which you thread straps through. works pretty well.



heres my 'mal trial fitted, i use a longboard mostly and it fits in quite well, so long as the passengers dont mind it bumpin on their head LOL: also trial fitted the Ikea units in this pic, to get an idea how it will look



I spent a fair while trying to come up with an interior layout that could incorporate my AA Crew seats, as they're removable, and are fitted with belts etc.. was going to have a small unit on the nearside, with fold out bench seat on the offside, combined with some kind of bed folding back from the seat when its flat. In the end i decided to go with a tried and tested set up as its my first attempt at camper building.

After boxing in the arches, the next job to sort was the bed. Went for an Autobeds 3/4 width frame in the end..great piece of kit, and the fella who builds them is very helpful. Cut four mm ply for the boads, then I bought the foam off the net, came to about £90 for top end stuff. Decided against memory foam, as i read that it breaks down after a while, so bought a memory foam mattress topper instead to go on top later. Had the vinyl covers done by a local company called Auto Leather upholsterers in Swansea, they made a tidy job of it, and it only cost £125 including the vinyl...BARGAIN!! T:

here it is before bolting in..



 
#8 ·
Next up I got the floor stuck down with more spray adhesive...and polished up the old AA edging strips before refitting. The floor overhangs the step a bit at the sides, but this is cool as it gives you more usable floor space.



once the bed was in, i started work on the Ikea units. Probably the wrong way to go about it, as fitting them with the bed in place was a bit of a pain, but was useful as i could judge where to put the units better, and it gave me something comfy to sit on while i was at it!

Rear units, cut for the wheel arch boxes, and curved at the top to accomodate the side wall of the van leaning in.







I fixed some baton to the side of the van, to keep the units out a little, and give space if i need to run cables behind the units. measuring and fitting was a real fiddly job, must have taken them in and out of the van ten times, but worth it in the end!

 
#9 ·
i got on with fitting the front units, bolted it all together, and screwed the cupboards to the floor and the baton at the rear using L brackets. The worktop is an Ikea end cover panel, but may replace it later with something a bit more hard wearing. I had picked up a Smev 9222 with a mixer tap from T5 Strauss on here, top bloke T: and spent a whole day just measuring and cutting the hole to fit it!...much easier if they just put a paper template in with it or printed it on the box even :confused:

got there in the end tho :D



Cupboard doors and catches were fitted last weekend ...



smev unit to be plumbed in..



Decided to cut the rear cupboard doors at the height of the bed...and use piano hinge, not ideal, but looks fairly tidy i thought.





will be using the lower half of the rear cupboards to store the electrics, no idea where to put the gas bottle yet, but probably the cupboard under the sink. Most people seem to have them in the back, but i dont have the room for it there.

And thats progress so far...next jobs will be fitting the electrics and getting the gas supply sorted out. I've bought the switches i think im going to need, and have a hook up unit to bring in 240v. Need to get a leisure battery next, mainly to run the lights and a cool box, as i dont want to be worrying about running the main battery flat. will try and fit the main components, and then get it wired in by someone who knows what thier doing. Same with the gas really...any ideas where the best place to store it would be? I'll need to put in some drop out vents too.

thanks for lookin peeps, feel free to give suggestions or ask questions, will try and answer them I:

one thing i would say...converting a van really screws up your garage!! (if your messy like me anyway!)



:ILU::)
 
#13 ·
cheers dude! yeah, looked a lot tidier once the green was painted out, was thinking of colour coding the bumpers and mirrors sometime in the future, but that will be last on the list of stuff to sort. been fitting curtain track for last couple of days, fiddly business but worth the effort, will get some pics up in a bit
 
#17 ·
well finally got curtains sorted! my days of sticking landscape fabric up with bits of velcro are over A:

Bought tracking and a few packets of hooks from a stall at vanfest, was a bit dubious about it as the track isnt the usual Silent Gliss one, but a more basic C section track...figured it would work ok as the guys selling it use it on thier own conversions, and it is grey anodised ali so blends in quite well. Got four lengths of 2.4m, only used three, and had a few offcuts, so plenty to spare. fitting around the cab was a pain in the butt, but it was worth doing, and anyone could do it if they took theyre time about it i guess.

before bending i cut a piece of pvc filler strip to slide into the track, to try and stop it folding/kinking, then used a 4.5kg gas bottle to shape the track around T: . put the track in the cab and pencil marked it for the approx start / end of the bends. the track goes from vertical to horizontal as it goes round the bend, which nearly sent me round the bend LOL: lot of trial fitting and twisting and eventually got it in...heres some pics..

cab tracks





sliding door track, screwed to the gutter bit



drivers side



rear doors

 
#18 ·
used bog standard screws from B&Q for most of the track, above the rear doors the steel is heavier guage, so had to use self tappers to cut a thread. My sister works at a fabrics factory, and has been promising to make a set of curtains for me since i started on the van, and once the track was up she measured up and got them made from the same stuff I used to cover the roof...awesome job too!! very tidy and lined. I tried them with the hooks that came with the track, but they hung below the track, so decided to attach the slider parts to the curtains with cable ties...now that was a fun job, the cat was ed off too lol...cable ties and cats = trouble!



here are the gliders and hooks...ditched the hooks tho.



I ran out of the gliders after doing just two of the curtains, so the hunt was on for more...tried every shop i could find but no luck...one place said they could order them but would cost £43 for 80 gliders...No thanks :eek: bought some in the end from here:

http://www.fittingservices.com/

very handy site, seem to do a lot of silent gliss bits if you need extras, and only £16 for the ones to fit my track instead of £43 !

anyways, spent today putting them up...heres some pics (if anyones read this far without falling asleep!)







 
#19 ·
hi, loving your interior, bright and cheerful, fab

i'm after some curtain hooks that go onto the glist rails, mine keep coming out

of the curtains, those hooks look like they will fix more firmly, which ones are they on

that website? can't seem to see them :* blind ay?

did you not use them then?

thanks
dawn
 
#20 ·
Thanks, yeah wanted to make it bright and cheerful, my van is one big antidepressant :) thier on there someplace, or similar ones, can send u the leftovers if u want, got about fifty of em, I would attach the gliders with cable ties tho, nice and easy, and won't come off without help from pliers!
 
#26 ·
Stopped a night at Shell Island, then went up to Snowdonia for a few days...camped at the bottom of llanberis pass...just love it in the mountains up there. After that I went right over to the end of llyn and stayed at a stunning place up by Bardsey island. Such an awesome part of the world!
 
#29 ·
Hi mate fantastic job!!!! Just starting out with SWB T5 have windows in side, other than that a blank canvas Spending time trying to cut down on noise, what thickness celotex did you use and can you remember where you got the automotive soundproofing from?

Cheers Baggin
 
#32 ·
Used two thicknesses, thick stuff for the bottom panels (think its about 50mm) and thin for the upper panels (about 25mm) picked it up in Wickes, not cheap stuff, but easy to use T: I got the soundproofing stuff from a local motor factors called Zenith's but you can pick it up all over id have thought...some on fleabay here

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Jute-Car-Carp...CarParts_SM&hash=item3efeaa3f21#ht_1344wt_669

good luck with the build dude T:
 
#33 ·
cheers! yeah, Mark is a sound guy, very helpful, and really pleased with the bed :D

WWOO you stayed in some nice places there,, i love it around Snowdon to, there loads of place to pull up and spend the night, and one or two ok camp sites.

I use to go out on a trawler fishing and on the way in to harbor go passed Bardsey.A:
usually stay at Gwern Gof Isaf farm, on the A5, near Tryfan, cheap n cheerful, only a fiver, and an awesome spot :D where's good to pull up? was going to try stayin by LLyn Ogwen just up the road, loads of laybys up there. was such a great trip, saw dolphins at shell island, climbed snowdon horseshoe, just awesome, wish i lived up there T:
 
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