Ford Transit camper build

colm_mcm

Myself and my friend are converting a SWB low roof Ford Transit to a campervan.
It's not going to be the biggest one out there, but will be ideal for festivals, beach trips and short trips away.

It started out as a minibus

colm_mcm

The first job is to completely strip out the interior of the rear. This wasn't a factory built minibus to start with, so it was pretty simple to get everything out.

Seats unbolted, stuck-on carpet round the windows taken off and side panels removed



Next job was to put some bubble wrap style foil insulation up

colm_mcm

The keen-eyed among you will have spotted the rust around the wheelarches. There was also patches underneath, the sills have held up pretty well though.




Neither myself or my friend can weld, so it was sent off to get fixed. Nice tidy job done.

colm_mcm

Next up is the socket for 230v




Electrical gubbins ready to go in



One socket and window-tint later

colm_mcm

Now for some mods!

The standard plastic wheel was a bit gacky so my friend pulled it out of the bag and covered it with an eBay special. Looks and feels a million times better now.

colm_mcm

Newer spec tail lights fitted.

Really freshens up the rear end, along with the tints.

colm_mcm

Next step is to run all the 230v wiring over the inside of the roof and to the various points where it'll be needed. There was also a lot of 12v wiring to be hidden too, for 12v sockets, lighting etc. The bubble insulation is added to with that scratchy fibreglass type stuff

The floor is getting bubble wrapped (cutting it out in this pic) and getting a sheet of thin corrugated plastic before getting the ply floor over that.
The floor is an off the shelf Transit floor.



The wall panels are also premade. In retrospect this is something we could have easily done ourselves. Test fitting one here.

Fitted a damp proof course (Dealz dust sheet)

colm_mcm

A couple of crashed Skodas were cannibalized for their interior lighting

colm_mcm

Cabling routed through the factory ducting, and then there was light

colm_mcm

Next job is to fit the other lights into the roof ply. The roof panel can be reused from the original minibus conversion but will have to be cut down a little to fit the new walls.

I made boxes for the lights just in case they came in contact with the insulation, which is conductive.




Test fit, all good.

colm_mcm

This was the most fiddly part.

In my infinite wisdom, I decided that it would be nice to completely box around the windows and have the ply come up to the roof, rather than the much easier gluing the wall material directly to the metal around the windows. Figured it would look more professional and neat, plus you'd have window ledges for putting stuff on, and it might make adding curtains or blinds easier.










The glass is curved too, which made this more of a pain. This will all be carpeted over. All edges smoothed off now. Same craic on the passenger side.

All cavities bubble wrapped with bubble wrap and filled with insulation. Roof bubble wrapped and insulated too. Wheel arches insulated and boxed off.


Screw holes starting to be filled and sanded. Roof partially up and wiring ran for the lights. (Will be connected to a leisure battery.)

polan

That's a savage build! Gonna wait for further updates.

Duke O Smiley

Nice work Colm. Love these threads and I'm looking forward to this.

My brother and I DOE'd my parents old Transporter camper last month after five years off the road and have been using it for the last couple of weekends for random jaunts around the place but they only went and sold it yesterday and now we're looking for something between us. Would love to start something like this but again we get around to finishing it and sorting legalities etc Summer well be dead and gone.

Another brother of mine only started converting a high rood Transit of the same vintage over the weekend!

Good luck & looking forward to updates

colm_mcm

Next job in is getting the 12V electrics working. This was another fiddly one, sourcing the right parts and getting everything to fit neatly. The fuse boxes came from The Range, the isolater switch and the leisure battery and one of the battery leads came from Halfords (thank you trade card!) the smaller bits like crimp connections and the cable going from the battery to the fuse box were got in Maplin. My friend got the split charge system online, the outer casing for the fuse box came from B&Q







We will have to make a bracket for holding in the second battery. The small square box is the split charger. This disconnects the leisure battery from the van battery when the engine is turned off so you don't run down the van battery. The isolater switch adds a layer of protection and should prevent the battery draining over time.

colm_mcm

Finally, a fun job!

You gotta have a reversing camera right? Hooray for eBay.

Specific fitment camera replaces one of the old number plate lights.
Handy place to mount the screen too.




It works, trigger for the reverse light done, just can't find a 12v ignition feed. Haven't checked the radio yet but the 2 cigarette lighter sockets are permanent live. Does anyone know if it's just a matter of swapping a fuse like it is on other Fords?

colm_mcm

Second half of the ceiling finally up tonight!



Bit of sanding to do so the carpet will be perfectly smooth. The dark patches are glue from before, looks like there's a leak but there isn't -thank gawd

colm_mcm

Ply around the window looks a bit strange in this pic, it's just black paint around the edge, looks completely crooked!

Another slightly unusual job. I am probably a bit too particular about how the carpet will sit. Time will tell if isopon was the right tool for the job here. I can't see it cracking as everything fits tightly.

Will sand it again tomorrow, but once it's the right shape for the carpet it'll be grand.

job seeker

This is unreal Colm. Keep up the good work.

colm_mcm

The sockets arrived today, nice neat jobs, they're specifically for campers and caravans.



My mate also got the carpet, so I messed around with fitting some of it. It's stretchy enough, so hopefully it will stretch into the corners of the window openings.

Duke O Smiley

https://www.donedeal.ie/campers-for-sale/westfalia-camper-for-sale/16097429



Bit of inspiration for you from this mornings classifieds!

colm_mcm

The pop top would be great but would nearly cost more than the van.

Duke O Smiley

colm_mcm wrote: »

The pop top would be great but would nearly cost more than the van.

Are you going to fit an awning? They're handy and can double the size of your ground space if you go full size with sides

spaceHopper

what about insurance, you may have issues. Also it would be worth investing in a M1 rated rock and roll bed you can always take it to the next van

colm_mcm

Insurance is looking to be sorted. Yeah an awning is on the plan. Priority now is to get it done and inspected.

James Bond Junior

colm_mcm wrote: »

Insurance is looking to be sorted. Yeah an awning is on the plan. Priority now is to get it done and inspected.

Are you hoping to use it before the season ends or to have it ready for next year?

colm_mcm

Hoping to have it ready in the next 2 weeks.

colm_mcm

Doing a bit more on the windows

colm_mcm

Ah windows!

mfceiling

Brilliant thread colm. Best of luck with it. Looks savage.

iwillhtfu

These are great for this type of camper.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Seat-Swivel-CTA-for-Ford-Transit-2004-2013-Left-Right-Hand-/282104919861?epid=27003031850&hash=item41aec37735:g:CgYAAOSwLnBX2-0J

Nice build Colm you're making short work of it. Also pick up some LED for the lamps they'll
give a better light.

colm_mcm

LED bulbs in this evening
Warm white so they look exactly like normal bulbs.

TheBeach

Looks class. Good luck

Leonard Hofstadter

Love threads like these, fair play Colm!

colm_mcm

Looks bumpy for some reason but isn't in real life.



My mate fabricobbled a battery clamp from a Corolla to make it fit.

Benbecul97

Savage job Colm - fair play!
What finish are you putting on the internal roof? The grey fabric or painted? I think it would look great painted and could be changed as needed to give it a new look and feel! Just a thought...;)
And the uncovered piece of wood on the wheel arch housing near the sliding door, are you covering it? Might be handy to hinge that piece of wood and use the free space around the housing for storage - every little helps!
Best of luck in completing it!:)

colm_mcm

There will be outer boxes for the seats, the outer board will be up against that uncarpeted piece. The outer boxes will be bigger, come out further (around 600mm) and go all the way to the back doors. They'll be hinged for storage inside and to form the base for the bed. Or something...

The ceiling will be the same as the walls. I don't want to have condensation on the ceiling so I think the carpet will keep the ceiling warm and prevent that.

colm_mcm

Battery clamp cleaned up, trimmed down and repainted



Drivers side trim nearly finished

SeamusG97

Excellent thread - Theres something to learn in nearly every post. Hope you have as much fun with the finished van as you seem to have in converting it.

colm_mcm

Did a bit more today. Floor down, more trim added, doors retrimmed.

colm_mcm

Didn't get to this till late this evening but next step today was making the kitchen cabinet. Picked up the worktop in the Ikea bargain corner. It's a table top originally but ideal for what we needed.
Made up the frame for the cabinet, the outer sheets will be fixed to this frame. This will house the gas bottle, waste and fresh water tanks, a cutlery drawer and general storage.

sogood

Re; insurance, I did a home conversion many years ago on a LWB high roof boxer van and after getting it re-classified as a camper, I got the insurance from a company called Dolmen Insurance. They specialise in camper vans and the like.

I also relined two boats and for the ceilings, I ran the wall covering up onto the ceiling first, just about 3" and the made my ceiling panels in ply and covered them, using spray glue and folding the fabric back around the panel and stapling it on at the edges. Then I fixed the panels in place, using screws with the little plastic caps and covers.

It's a lot easier than gluing above your head, overspray getting on the walls and then fighting with the fabric. It also means you can drop the panels for access at any time if needed. Just a thought. Looking good, keep up the good work.

colm_mcm

The cloth were using for the ceiling is very forgiving so it should be easy enough to get a clean line. Hopefully!


Shiney things arrived in the post today. More on that later

colm_mcm

Not much to report today

This arrived though


Better stock photo


Spent a good while cutting out for it, the worktop is hollow, so will be reinforcing the section around the cooker/sing with solid wood inside, basically filling in the gap. should make it cope better with possible heat and moisture.


Water cans came too.

Messed around with making the boxes at the back too, just seeing how things will line up etc.

Middle slips of timber are there just as spacers to keep things square

dense

colm_mcm wrote: »

The cloth were using for the ceiling is very forgiving so it should be easy enough to get a clean line. Hopefully!


Shiney things arrived in the post today. More on that later

Where did you get the cloth? I might need some.

colm_mcm

dense wrote: »

Where did you get the cloth? I might need some.

Here

colm_mcm

Did a bit more work on the rear seats tonight while my mate cut the hole in the floor for the gas vent. It's a bit more time consuming the way I'm doing it, but it should have a nicer finish with no visible screw holes. Filled in the gaps in the hollow worktop too so it'll be super solid now. Also slightly damaged the worktop in my haste. Should be able to repair it handy enough hopefully.





We did a lot of planning out for the kitchen unit too in terms of drawer and door sizes, location of gas box, water cans etc, so hopefully by the time I'm finished work tomorrow he'll have gotten the door openings cut out of the front panel and we can start fitting the drawer, securing the sink/hob etc.

StupidLikeAFox

This looks grear. Converted a transit lwb myself last year.

Insuring it might not be easy. You will prob have to go through the MCC for insurance, the guy there can be a pain to deal with and you have to use their engineer, get chatting to him regarding the process as soon as you can I'd say

colm_mcm

Bit more progress today.

shaunr68

StupidLikeAFox wrote: »

This looks grear. Converted a transit lwb myself last year.

Insuring it might not be easy. You will prob have to go through the MCC for insurance, the guy there can be a pain to deal with and you have to use their engineer, get chatting to him regarding the process as soon as you can I'd say

Just a couple of quick questions if that's ok, I won't derail the thread further.

1. Is the insurance issue due to limited headroom inside the living area on a low roof van?

2. Is the requirement to use their engineer part of the process to reclassify from commercial to motor caravan or is some sort of inspection needed for the insurance?

Reason I ask is I have a van over in the UK that we used to move all our stuff here. I'm pondering importing it here and doing a conversion but wondering whether I'd be better off converting it over there and reclassifying through DVLA before importing it here. Purpose would be to use for a year or so for day trips and then sell on.

Cheers

BTW brilliant build thread Colm, great work!

Top Dog

shaunr68 wrote: »

Reason I ask is I have a van over in the UK that we used to move all our stuff here. I'm pondering importing it here and doing a conversion but wondering whether I'd be better off converting it over there and reclassifying through DVLA before importing it here. Purpose would be to use for a year or so for day trips and then sell on.

Probably better off converting and re-classifying over there. If you have it long enough then it'll be VRT exempt. But if you bring it over as is, get your VRT exemption, and then convert it later you'll be liable for further VRT based on what they think the OMSP is on the day you show up.

colm_mcm

My mate got the front of the kitchen CNC routered out today. Lovely tidy job to be fair.
We fitted the panels to the kitchen frame. Forgot that the supplier had given us 18mm instead of 15mm and how that would make the unit wider than the worktop. Anyway, routered out the edge of one of the side panels which should fix that.