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tee_cee

Member

Registered: 2016-03-18

Posts: 574

New van - old conversion

Well I managed a find an ATV and set about moving the old conversion into the new van.
So here's the result.

OAT

Member

From: Borders/Dales

Registered: 2017-01-03

Posts: 909

Re: New van - old conversion

Looks like a good fit.  I bet it was a lot of work though.

I did consider getting a later van and swapping my conversion over.  But mine being an early model it has the curved in walls.  All the later ones being more vertical and square.

vaz2121

Member

From: Glasgow Living:~ SW. Scotland

Registered: 2015-08-31

Posts: 1,311

Re: New van - old conversion

I'm going to make the assumption that using the "Old Conversion" was for two or more fold reasons.............
That it pretty much worked for you..........
To save time and cost of doing it all again..............

My question is: Is this van in SWB mode a close size match or was there much modifying for it to fit and of course what little Upgrades did you do.............

I must say Congratulations it too is Very Smart and I'm Sure your not finished yet with the finer details.............

Again as the "Season" is starting to unfold..........
I've as per have thought of a change .....
{We haven't been really been able to use ours lately in the manner that we were} (Health constraints)

But always bigger ....................
There are many Advantages of sticking to this size of van...............

However Seeing this has made me think  again is it time to change? ..............

Is it the 2.0ltr............. MPG? is it better.............if youv'e got a figure............ And is it physically larger............ (Obviously not by a great deal .... if so)

tee_cee

Member

Registered: 2016-03-18

Posts: 574

Re: New van - old conversion

The old van was looking a bit shabby on the outside, which I'm ok with - but I could see that that would set a ceiling on the added value of the conversion. Seeing as most people go for simple & cheap, I reckoned that the bits I took off were of more value to me. So I stripped everything out, and sold it as a partial conversion - carpet lining, swivels seats, leisure battery with charging, tinted sliding windows, curtains and blinds.
As it turned out I was only able to reuse 4 bits of the wood, all the rest had to be recut and profiled. However the basic design was there - and last time it took almost as long to sort that out as build it. The 12V/5V fuse board was easy to do, and everything worked as before. Costwise, the lightweight ply, bed, fridge & solar controller saved about £1300.
Sizewise, it's a bit longer, 45cm inc towbar (very noticable in car parks). This means that I get a bit extra vertical space behind the bed to use, and a little extra space behind the seats which allowed my to fit one of the leisure batteries. The biggest difference is the extra internal width at the ceiling - makes the inside almost seem roomy, although I've lost a couple of cm of headspace.
The old van was perfect for our purposes and at the time I thought after 6 years that we would probably move on to a larger more comfortable motorhome. So I now think we have have another 5 years doing the same stuff, so I wanted to fix some of the small niggles, and do some upgrades. So the ATV will give a liitle bit help on dirt tracks, air con and 130bhp to get over the alpine passes. Also now have sietz windows with blinds and flyscreen that can be opened in light rain,  2 x 95AH batteies (was 1 x 72AH) and 160W solar (was 100W), and underslung waste & fresh water tanks. Gone is the old grey carpet - now beige, to stop mosquitoes hiding.
One thing I know is it's the last conversion I will do myself - took the best part of 3 months, and I've had enough.
Don't know about mpg yet, trying to figure out how all the Euro5 trickery is supposed to work first.

vaz2121

Member

From: Glasgow Living:~ SW. Scotland

Registered: 2015-08-31

Posts: 1,311

Re: New van - old conversion

Couple interesting points you make
My van has been looking tired to me .........
Although I think it's just a desire for a new toy .........
Funny thing Ive got couple vehicles Ive had for 10 and 30 years and a strong desire to keep..........

Had the van 4 years but it's done very little in last 18 months and so when it went for test last year and told that  the very end(rear) of the sill was getting thin and blisters that I thought had been attended to had returned with avengence I decided rather than patch ........"Fit new sills".... I told them No great hurry...........
(Appears the blisters were coming from the inside out)

That was last Nov........
The van spent almost 2 months there in the back of their prep shop .......... was out the way of a lot the poor weather but on a couple of visits it was covered  with a good layer of dust

Since then I think It's used no more than a couple tank Diesel and needs a dam good polish...... I'm convinced I've aquired a little over spray of body schutz or the likes it just looks dull and feels rough to the touch.............
Could be that as it never got the paint cut back in our time and could be a bit of road tar and traffic film........
It did get a few washes with TFR and a quick polish after ........ ( TFR can be hard on paint)

I digress ....... Our van was coverted from New  by a company I can find no real history on but seems well put together and must have cost a pretty penny to do..... {Not done 100,000 miles yet}

At ten yrs old when we got it .... It felt like beggers can't be choosers but want a half decent van.........
This fitted the bill nicely and we've added our own few bits and bobs as we've gone along.............. So

I agree about having it built or as in our case bought already done If you can afford it But Ive always felt were working to someone else's idea all be it better than rolling about on the floor with a tent.......... {That might just be an age thing catching me up}
And the time it takes and keeping going through to fruition .......... (Used many a roughly converted van with an old top bunk for a bed........ but that was for work)

Again maybe it spoiled us or there has been a shift in expectation but the cost of even a more basic Campervan than we've got to replace this one is frightening .... (thought I was done with a mortgage)
Plus I'm not a fan of the latest technology (Luddite obviously) and my only complaint with this van up to now ...It lacked a bit of power going over the pyrenees ....... (Still we got there and back)....
MPG could be better ........... Still everything is a compromise

Pay yer money .... Make your choice

Looks like I just talked myself into and decided it's here for another year.................. Famous last words!!

tee_cee

Member

Registered: 2016-03-18

Posts: 574

Re: New van - old conversion

We used the van a lot for extended trips, so comfort, amenity and reliability is important. The old van did very well, over the last 6 years, and we felt we had the value out of it. With maintenance and depreciation, it cost less than £5 a night and we covered 60,000 miles. So if we upgraded, I thought we could spend a bit more money since the old one was cheap. Time will tell if it was the right move. Regarding the professional conversions - all the ones I've seen are designed to look good, with very little thought given to space saving. Hence the decision to do the conversion myself.