Merc Sprinter conversion

nmk · 02-04-2008 9:52am

Hi,

I haven't posted much on this forum, am restoring a vintage t2 with my hubby. We bought a roll of triso-super 10 (extravagant even with a discount but I like my creature comforts

) to insulate ours. I can't imagine we'll need all of it for our little beast, lol, pm if you're interested in some, let me know how much. We'll be insulating in the next couple of weeks, when are you planning on doing yours?

N

samih · 02-04-2008 11:09am

cir287 wrote: »

Hi Samih,
its good to hear someone who is a few steps ahead of me. The photos are great, puts a bit of reality to it all.
What sort of insulation is that you are using on the roof, are you glueing it up in place ??? It looks very well.
What sort of windows are you going for ?
I intend to fit windows in the sliding door and the opposite side panel (Seitz, sliding type), I contacted Rainbow conversions in UK who told me, "We fit 900mm x 500mm windows into these panels, the side door one needs to be spaced away from the vehicle. You will not get larger double glazed windows into these panels"

sorry for all the questions but thats what you get for being ahead of me !

Regards
Ciaran.

Hi Ciaran, thanks for the feedback. It's really easy to create a flickr account for your pictures too ;-)

The insulation is from B&Q, sorry can't remember the name (will check later). It consists of three alu layers and two soft insulating ones. According to the manufacturer it's equivalent to a thick layer of glassfiber.

Originally I intended to go for kingspan but had difficulty in sourcing the 25mm variety. This chosen insulation was a bit of a dark horse, an impulse buy. With 20-20 hindsight I reckon it's pretty good stuff. 10 meter long roll (width 1.4 m?) was something like just over €100 so quite dear but not too bad.

I glued it on the roof with spray on contact adhesive. The idea here is move the condensation, if any, away from the "rusts like mad" Merc bodywork. The middle part of the ceiling got two layers of overlapping the insulation, feels pretty warm even with no wall insulation yet. Or maybe the weather just got warmer?

Windows will be Seitz, the bottom opening ones. I ordered 850x450 for the back, 500x300 kitchen, 750 x 450 front right. Your sizes sound like a comfortable fit. I decided to go for the slightly smaller ones as the child bed will be above the back windows. I will do try to do without the sliding door window for now. If the end result is too dark that can be added at later stage as the wall board won't need to be disturbed. I'm kind of happy hearing from the Rainbow conversions that this window would have needed to be spaced out.

I have already made a mistake with my build. With all the exitement about the insulation, I forgot to glue on supports for the overhead storage cupboards. I'm sure this won't be last one.

cir287 · 02-04-2008 3:51pm

am still unsure as to what way to insulate, I've read great things about spray-on and a few bad things too.

Thanks for your offer nmk but I will need about 28m sq for my conversion and unless you have bought a joblot I'm guessing you wont have that much spare.

I'll look a bit more into into the B&Q type stuff, triso super 10, thinsulate and spray-on.
as for the floor, I'll copy samih here.

samih · 03-04-2008 8:33am

FYI: The insulation I used for the ceiling is called ThermaWrap Top Up Quilt and is said to be equivalent of 100 mm of glass wool insulation. Ciaran, if you can find 25 mm PU board (e.g. kingspan) for you floor, it would be better than styrofoam for insulation. I have feeling my floor will be a bit cold in "extreme arctic conditions" :-)

cir287 · 03-04-2008 4:01pm

thanks Samih

hynesie · 07-04-2008 1:35pm

Quick question regarding vents.
Is it better to vent the gas from the van floor or from the side?
Is it necessary to have a vent at the back of the fridge?

Thanks,
Gearoid

peasant · 07-04-2008 7:01pm

Gas is heavier than air, so the vent has to be low down. Floor is ideal, if you can do it, just make sure the vent has a rim protruding downward so that water doesn't get inside when driving.

Low down vents in the side have the nasty habit of collecting water splashed up from the road, letting it in and distributing it evenly in all the unseen nooks and crannies of your sill and chassis menbers starting nasty rot there.

The same goes for fridge vents ..them and the condensation that can happen behind a fridge have broken the back (sill) of many a camper.

I would suggest to place your fridge on a bit of a pedestal, so that it can draw air from underneath (inside the van), seal the sides against the side wall of the vehicle, leaving a bit of a gap for a chimney effect and install some 12 volt fans at the top (in the worktop) so that you can get good air circulation behind your fridge. This way you get good cooling from your fridge (as the heat dissipates, no or very limited condensation and no holes in the vehicle other than for the fridge exhaust.

cir287 · 25-04-2008 2:00pm

thanks Peasant, might try that idea with the fridge, I hate cutting external holes in panels especially ones that are low down and hidden on the inside.
I havint done too much with my sprinter in the last couple of weeks, just tipping away at a few bits and pieces.
I did fit the reversing camera and visor mounted screen (nightvision camera with 7" colour screen, bought on ebay for €175 delivered.), I am quite impressed with it, hopefully it will earn its keep !!!

I also got 2 front renault espace swivel seats from a breakers yard in the UK, they worked out at £65 ea + £ 25 delivery ea, total in euros was about € 220, if you compare that with buying a single passanger seat, buying 2 sprinter swivels etc, it works out a lot cheaped plus I get to see if I can sell the original seats. I had been quoted €200 for a single sprinter seat !
I tried one of those breakers yard search engines, got a reply saying they wanted £300 for the seats, left it a week and then just rang them and asked if they had any ......... the phone call was obviously worth it ! I was surprised the freight wasnt more, they arrived in 2 days, very good service and the seats are very clean. Now I just have to munnt them, I'm hoping it will open up the space in the van a lot more.

Other than that I'm still plodding away at my list of all the bits I need (ye, its taking a while), hoping to finish the partition between the garage and living area this weekend, still have to do insulation and floor also but sure rome wasnt built in a day

samih · 06-05-2008 4:01pm

The windows finally arrived, fitted them yesterday. The conditions were just perfect for little bit out outside work. Now I should be able to continue with the conversion at full blast.

Since last time I wrote I have experimented with using the Sprinter's Eberspacher as a space heater but for some reason the thing wouldn't fire up unless the van engine was running. According to the manual from espar.com (the American importer) the unit should need constant 12V main supply and two additional pins connected to 12V to fire it up.

This problem may have something to do with the mickey mouse leisure battery I have at the moment (a portable 7Ah jobbie just for experimenting), but the setup needs a bit more work anyway. The air fan in the Eber sounds a bit sick, so will need to disassemble the unit "sometime" in the future.

I haven't even fitted any of the central heating components yet. Got to go to a breakers' to find an expansion/header tank from a suitable donor vehicle first.

Ciaran, isn't it nice trying to source all the components? I will have to sort out some extra seats for the van as well.

PS. Some more photos at the flickr link I posted earlier.

merc camper · 07-05-2008 5:01pm

Hi,

I am nearly finished my sprinter conversion. I am just wondering does anybody know where you can get the van weighed before bringing it to the VRT.
Have you mounted the seats yet cir287, i have a bouble seat aswell which i want to change for a single, did you have to make a plate to fit them on or did the existing holes fit?
Thanks

loobylou · 07-05-2008 6:32pm

Re getting the van weighed, your local dump is best. Just drive onto the weighbridge, get out and (nicely) ask the attendant what his screen says. they will never charge you for the information, provided you don't want a weigh docket. Also, now I think of it, your local Roadstone will also have the same weighing faciities, again most unlikely to charge you anything.

cir287 · 08-05-2008 11:57am

Samih, I'll take a look at those photos again, and yes it is lovely trying to get the list of all the bits and then get prices, so far I reckon it will be about €3,500 and thats on top of what I spent already, still, I knew all this before I started.
It seems that only the 311 sprinters have that seperate heater setup, We bought a 313 and it just has a conventional heater setup. We have a wabasto truck diesel night heater to go in, havint really looked at this yet.

merc camper, as for weighing, as Loobyloo said, the dumps are a good spot, mind you if you want it for VRT assessment you might be wise to get a reciept, they will charge you €20 or €30 for that.
I havint mounted the new seats yet, its something I've put off until I have about 1/2 of a day to start and finish it. I will be completely removing the "box" under the double seat and replacing this with a new one that I'll make up from box/angle steel. I'm not sure about the driver's side, the box here may do but I may have to cut it and reweld/bolt, that depend mainly on height differences between the existing and espace seat.

I should have my internal partition complete over the weekend, next up then are seats, insulation, floor, windows etc. must take a few photos too.

quick question, not that I'm too concerned but is there a grey area with regard to vrt while a van is being converted, as in you cant convert it over night but as soon as windows and seats go in then its no longer technically a van but you cant get it vrt'd etc until it is pretty much complete ??? Peasant ???

peasant · 08-05-2008 12:03pm

cir287 wrote: »

[quick question, not that I'm too concerned but is there a grey area with regard to vrt while a van is being converted, as in you cant convert it over night but as soon as windows and seats go in then its no longer technically a van but you cant get it vrt'd etc until it is pretty much complete ??? Peasant ???

To be honest ...haven't got the foggiest.
That's an issue that could go either way, depending on who stops you (if anyone at all). Reasonable people probably wouldn't see a problem with an ongoing conversion ...others might.

Just hurry up and drive it as little as possible

:D

cir287 · 08-05-2008 12:34pm

Cheers Peasant, that is of course what I should really do ...... speed up !

Samih, Nice photos, I need to get a wriggle on if I am to catch up at all. I can see you are a man who has wired stuff more than once or twice before, can I ask if you priced up purpose built camper elecs (Zig etc), are they much more expensive than getting proprietary domestic units, as in housings, rcd etc. Also did you build the split charge system or buy at setup off the shelf, am just curious which road to go down. If the camper specific wasn’t that much more expensive but saved time when sourcing & installing then I'll go that route, if its way more expensive, well then that’s a different story.

merc camper · 08-05-2008 2:07pm

Cir I used a sterling battery to battery charger (4 stage charger) as my split charger. All u have to do is connect it to your starter battery and it will charge your leisure battery when the starter battery is charged. It also forces your alternator to work at its maximum. You can then connect a cheap mains battery charger to the battery to battery charger which will then act as a 4 stage charger.
I have heard bad things about zig units, I just ran a cable from leisure bat to a piece of bus bar then small wire to blade fuse block for each appliance. Then inline switch if needed.
Everything i have runs of 12v and 700w inverter so mains only goes to battery charger which also works as power supply when hucked up. Will eventualy install a garage mains box.
Hope that helps

cir287 · 08-05-2008 3:55pm

merc camper, yes thanks for that, sounds like a good way of doing it without complicating things unnecessairly, will most likely copy.
What do you means when you say "garage mains box" ?

merc camper · 08-05-2008 9:40pm

What I meant to say was a consumer unit designed for a garage. Should have an RCD and 1 or 2 MCBs in it. Check out www.jgtech.com thats where I got my electrics.

samih · 09-05-2008 2:00pm

merc camper wrote: »

Cir I used a sterling battery to battery charger (4 stage charger) as my split charger. All u have to do is connect it to your starter battery and it will charge your leisure battery when the starter battery is charged. It also forces your alternator to work at its maximum. You can then connect a cheap mains battery charger to the battery to battery charger which will then act as a 4 stage charger.
I have heard bad things about zig units, I just ran a cable from leisure bat to a piece of bus bar then small wire to blade fuse block for each appliance. Then inline switch if needed.

Hi merc camper, your sterling charger sounds really good. I read about them before and they sound like a great unit.

Ciaran, I decided to go for a simple split charge relay. The relay is rated at 70 A max and it's triggered by the charge warning light output at the alternator. If this turns out to be inadequate I will have to think about acquiring sterling as well.

Thanks for the compliment about the wiring. It's a bit of a mess at the moment as I made sure to run enought cables for all the current and future power needs. It's bit of a learning exercise for me anyway. As merc camper suggested I will go for simple toggle switches for the electrical circuits and not Zig or equivalent. I will also have to fit a voltmeter and maybe an ammeter, but there are widely available from the web. I find a really good source is:

http://www.vehicle-wiring-products.eu

I got some of my heavier cables, the 70 amp relay, cigarette lighter sockets etc. from there.

Happy building for both, and good luck with your finishing stages merc camper.

samih · 09-06-2008 2:59pm

Upping the thread. How are you all doing?

Another month gone, more work done, more to do :-) Since last time I have finished all the internal walls and fitted an extra rear facing seat. Walls need to be wall papered (wall vinyl'ed?) next after which will begin to construct the kitchen.

Photos updated at flickr.

cir287 · 10-06-2008 9:23am

Hi Samih,
very little done at my end. I have all the steelwork pretty much complete and the wood cut to shape for the staggered internal partition, got some floor insulation and a few other bits, fitted one of the espace swivel seats for the driver (which worked out very well) but thats about it. Time is not my friend of late. For that matter neither are some of the suppliers for equipment, how hard is it to price up a list of stuff for me !

I'll have a look at your pics, keep up the good work.

samih · 23-10-2008 10:21am

Just thought I'll drag this up due to the sticky about self builds.

Had a quiet period in construction for a couple of months, but began to to build again in anger a couple of weeks ago. Gas locker is in, sofa frame is built and will be covered with ply this week.

Some new pictures added in:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/hentunen/sets/72157603993538976/

To do asap:
=========
Ply the sofa frame
Construct a rear collapsible table
Construct the rear wall and insulate gas locker, insulate wheel wells
Finish kitchen unit (just an empty shell at the moment
Doors for toilet/wardrobe (have curtains for now)
Five doors still missing from overhead lockers

Far away in the future:
==================
Construct a heating system. Have already built cases for the two VW Golf heater matrices but need fit them and hoses. Didn't bother doing that yet as I could not make the built in Eberspächer to operate without the engine running yet. It should be possible but didn't work for me.

cir287 · 31-10-2008 5:46pm

thanks samih, all looks like its coming on well. will try (again) to get a few pics myself. ours is coming along but a bit slower than yours I'm afraid.

hynesie · 06-11-2008 2:10pm

I've been meaning to post photos of our Sprinter conversion for sometime but have kept forgetting. We finished mid-August, about a week before we got on the ferry to France, so between VRT and all the last minute bits and pieces it was very tight time-wise.
Our conversion is very basic, just a kitchen with 2 hobs, a grill, sink & fridge. We have a massive double bed down the back and a rack for surfboards inside. It was great fun doing it and thanks to everybody here for their help in terms of answering a few questions and also for all the information ye have put online.
The next thing I have to do is a DIY paint job, as shown on a previous link on the forum, but I think I'll wait till next summer for that.

http://picasaweb.google.com/gearoidhynes/CamperVanConversion#

kraash57 · 26-02-2009 10:20pm

Can i ask you how much the vrt charges were? Isnt the weight based on unladen weight? e.g over 3 tonne is 50euro, below 3 tonne is 13.5%??
Can you let me know about this? my email is cross.damien@gmail.com
I am just about to convert my van vrt wise to a camper from a commercial van. gonna cost me i think..........

OuterBombie · 27-02-2009 10:55am

Yeah Hynsie,

Would also be interesting in finding out how much VRT you ended up paying? or what did they estimate the OSMP of the finished van to be?

I'l planning on a very similar conversion in the near future.

Ta,

Ray.

merc camper · 27-02-2009 11:24am

I just brought my van to the tax office in Clondalkin they had a quick look at it, taxed it and changed the log book. Payed no VRT.

kraash57 · 27-02-2009 1:15pm

merc camper wrote: »

I just brought my van to the tax office in Clondalkin they had a quick look at it, taxed it and changed the log book. Payed no VRT.

I think your definitely one of the lucky ones, lets hope i get the same luck!!
What forms did you have to fill out? RF111? Camper van declaration form?

mac500 · 08-03-2009 7:55pm

any updates on the costs of changing the registration of a van like this to be registered as a campervan?

hynesie · 08-03-2009 8:01pm

mac500 wrote: »

any updates on the costs of changing the registration of a van like this to be registered as a campervan?

Ours cost 850 euro in VRT

nailer8 · 18-03-2009 12:23am

I was wondering has anyone an idea what the Revenue might estimate the OSMP to be on a 1998 Sprinter MWB conversion.
It's a fairly high spec conversion recently done, with oven, hob, beds for 3, lcd TV, 2 windows, awning, shower and cassette toilet.

Merc Sprinter conversion

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