Well been looking for a T5 SWB ideally 2.5 130 with a tailgate, for about 18 months, lockdown kind of spurred me on, yet finding a good one at a decent price in between work and family was a bit more difficult than I imagined.....
Had a T5 SWB 05 plate 2.5 130 in 2005 and in 2012 had a T5.1 LWB 180 DSG as well..... Both were work vehicles and not campers......
So decided to buy a T5 and camperise it myself due to a. not being happy with some of the camper conversions I have seen and b. not wanting to shell out lots more £'s than I need to when I can do most things myself.....
So have just got a 2013 SWB T5.1 140 6 speed manual with a tailgate and twin side doors, it came on Ebay local to me on Saturday night, I was the first there Sunday morning with a queue of 20 behind me, needless to say I drove off with it.....
So here the list of whats going to happen to it over the next 5 months (not necessarily in the order below)
Rear completely stripped and any rust treated
Remove front seats and front roof lining - front seats to go away for stripping and new leather and heater pads
Electric Rock n Roll Frame to go away with front seats for foam and leather
Cut and fit Skyline Aurora Roof
Fit Planer heater externally under the vehicle and plumb ducting in
Fit Water and Waste tank under the vehicle and sort plumbing out
Silent Coat all the rear complete
Insulate and seal rear complete with Low-E and Low-E ultra insulation
Run out wiring and/or ducting for wiring
Insulate all large voids with Thermafleece (from Celtic Sustainables)
Either Ply but more than likely fit floor in 12mm Wedi Board and 4mm for the sides and roof
Vinyl and/or Suede the sides and roof
Electric Under floor heating under main floor area (not under kitchen units) - the missus loves underfloor heating
Latex screed the underfloor
Fit Vinyl / lino Floor
Trim everything as far as possible up
Fit & wire rock n roll bed probably on large machined spacers/spreaders so as not to compress the floor (unsure yet till I have the bed frame)
Fit front seats and swivels and finish heater ducting
Measure up for making kitchen units probably out of Valchromat all bespoke - Kitchen / Wardrobe style and should manage thin wardrobe on the passenger side as bed will be central to tailgate (unsure at present)
Kitchen to have Dometic fridge and Smev sink and hob
Not sure where its going to go yet but electrics will be Rolls 1 x 290AH Gel Battery, Victron Smart Inverter, Victron Smart Charger, Victron MPPT solar tracker 310Watt flex solar on the skyline roof, Victron battery monitor, 12VDC fuse board, 230Vac RCBO board, Various 230V and 12V outlets, 12V Lighting and dimmers, LED strip under Fiamma awning
Under bonnet, large fuse and cables and sterling pro ultra split charger, possible put the smart victron charger under the bonnet if room is available
Small 8/10/12 litre calorifier plumbed to both engine and 1200W immersion, not sure where this is going yet or if ill be able to squeeze it in
Wiring on the electric underfloor and immersion to be linked so as only to be used when plugged in on mains hook up......
Fit and plumb and wire Jabsco pressure pump and stainless steel accumulator (small) for hot and cold water
Fit Fiamma F45S awning
Probably missed a good few bits buts that the gist of it, read up on a good few camper builds on here and a lot look very neat indeed......
Wish me luck
GF
Had a T5 SWB 05 plate 2.5 130 in 2005 and in 2012 had a T5.1 LWB 180 DSG as well..... Both were work vehicles and not campers......
So decided to buy a T5 and camperise it myself due to a. not being happy with some of the camper conversions I have seen and b. not wanting to shell out lots more £'s than I need to when I can do most things myself.....
So have just got a 2013 SWB T5.1 140 6 speed manual with a tailgate and twin side doors, it came on Ebay local to me on Saturday night, I was the first there Sunday morning with a queue of 20 behind me, needless to say I drove off with it.....
So here the list of whats going to happen to it over the next 5 months (not necessarily in the order below)
Rear completely stripped and any rust treated
Remove front seats and front roof lining - front seats to go away for stripping and new leather and heater pads
Electric Rock n Roll Frame to go away with front seats for foam and leather
Cut and fit Skyline Aurora Roof
Fit Planer heater externally under the vehicle and plumb ducting in
Fit Water and Waste tank under the vehicle and sort plumbing out
Silent Coat all the rear complete
Insulate and seal rear complete with Low-E and Low-E ultra insulation
Run out wiring and/or ducting for wiring
Insulate all large voids with Thermafleece (from Celtic Sustainables)
Either Ply but more than likely fit floor in 12mm Wedi Board and 4mm for the sides and roof
Vinyl and/or Suede the sides and roof
Electric Under floor heating under main floor area (not under kitchen units) - the missus loves underfloor heating
Latex screed the underfloor
Fit Vinyl / lino Floor
Trim everything as far as possible up
Fit & wire rock n roll bed probably on large machined spacers/spreaders so as not to compress the floor (unsure yet till I have the bed frame)
Fit front seats and swivels and finish heater ducting
Measure up for making kitchen units probably out of Valchromat all bespoke - Kitchen / Wardrobe style and should manage thin wardrobe on the passenger side as bed will be central to tailgate (unsure at present)
Kitchen to have Dometic fridge and Smev sink and hob
Not sure where its going to go yet but electrics will be Rolls 1 x 290AH Gel Battery, Victron Smart Inverter, Victron Smart Charger, Victron MPPT solar tracker 310Watt flex solar on the skyline roof, Victron battery monitor, 12VDC fuse board, 230Vac RCBO board, Various 230V and 12V outlets, 12V Lighting and dimmers, LED strip under Fiamma awning
Under bonnet, large fuse and cables and sterling pro ultra split charger, possible put the smart victron charger under the bonnet if room is available
Small 8/10/12 litre calorifier plumbed to both engine and 1200W immersion, not sure where this is going yet or if ill be able to squeeze it in
Wiring on the electric underfloor and immersion to be linked so as only to be used when plugged in on mains hook up......
Fit and plumb and wire Jabsco pressure pump and stainless steel accumulator (small) for hot and cold water
Fit Fiamma F45S awning
Probably missed a good few bits buts that the gist of it, read up on a good few camper builds on here and a lot look very neat indeed......
Wish me luck
GF