Day Van/Support Van project recommendations

[Hudson1984]

Hi all, new here and just after a little help.

The wife and I...and the Dog, get up to the peak district a few times a year for walking. We don't camp (the mrs hates camping) so we generally drive to the start/finish of long circular walks, then drive back to the cottage we rent.

Trouble we have is that the boot of the car is full of the dog and the backseats don't really hold much, which for a week away is a pain.

We're going to have an addition to the family too which means we're looking into a bit of a project.

I was thinking of getting an older minibus and converting it to a day van of sorts, main reason i'm thinking minibus is they're generally cheaper and have more windows.

So, minibus, rip the seats out all bar the last row. Keep a rear bench seat and remove the middle, make an area for the dog in the middle (always hate having the dog in the boot - a rear ender and he's gone. The rear behind the seats i'd put up a bulkhead to allow for all bags and stuff in there, few shelves so we can put boxes of stuff ontop of suitcases. Potentially a fridge in there too (nothing worse than warm water at the end of a walk) I'll change the front seats so they're both captains style (bit more comfy and don't need a bench front seat)

I've also considered chaging the rear bench into two further captains chairs but still working on that.

So, the question is, what base model? I don't want to spend £40,000 on a newer Caravelle, it's an occassional vehicle just no need - I have a company car and my wife has her car so it'll only be used for holidays or day trips. We want to stretch our legs a bit too and start adding scotland and wales to the mix perhaps even europe so we want it to be comfortable for all occupants.

I definitely won't be needing a bed in there - we like hotels and a toilet that doesn't need emptying! so it really is just going to be a support vehicle to carry all the gear and keep us comfy enroute and at pit stops.

On the list at the mo:

Caravelle T4
Viano
Tourneo

I want something reliable, something that's fairly cheap to work on and something where parts are available. I'll be intending to keep the van for YEARS and will probably take 18 months to get it to how I want it anyway.

my main desires are Aircon and cruise control but think the latter is pushing it abit.

Any thoughts?? anyone done something similar?

[Al U]

If you don't want to sleep in it have you considered a connect?

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/FORD-TOURNEO-CONNECT-L1...

[Shakermaker]

Probably a fair number of helpful people here

https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/forum.asp?h=0&...

But otherwise, the Vauxhall Movana and its Renault and Nissan siblings all seem quite popular and cheap for this kind of conversion, there are lots of suppliers for parts also

[Hudson1984]

Al U said:

If you don't want to sleep in it have you considered a connect?

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/FORD-TOURNEO-CONNECT-L1...

If it was just us two and the hound it'd be ideal but trying to look ahead abit so will need to take 4

[Toaster Pilot]

What kind of budget are we talking about?

A Trafic/Vivaro/etc could be a good cheap starting point - you can get into a much newer one for the kind of money a T4/T5 costs

[snowandrocks]

A smaller Ducato/Relay/Boxer is worth a look - slighter bigger than what you’ve suggested but cheap, not bad to drive, economical and most importantly - they don’t rust.

All three of your choices will rot if kept for any length of time

[Hudson1984]

cheers I'll copy the thread to there too.

Ideally in absolute total I want to be around £10k - Now that won't be the money off the cuff, it'd be total. I recently rebuild my old CBR and that cost me £5,000, so alot of that budget will be spent over the project to get it done. Ideally I'd imagine spending around £5,000 for the base, potentially more depending on the works cost i.e. paintwork, etc.

[geeks]

Plenty of us on here have done similar but not exact to what you are doing but where would the fun be if we were all doing the the same thing?

Head over here and have a flick through: https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/forum.asp?h=0&...

My thread can be found here: https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...

Search out Tampons original build thread too as it is very useful (he still hasn't put the new one up yet, I will badger him over whatsapp and see if I can bully him into putting some updates up )

Another good resource is http://deepredmotorhome.com/

Basically look at what others have done and how then steal all the good ideas and mismatch into a shape that fits what you want

In terms of vans Relays, Ducatos and AN other than escapes me right now are all pretty much the same however the 2.2 HDi you get in these is a Transit engine (no bad thing they are pretty reliable) the 3.0 is a beast but also a Fiat engine from memory and may not be as reliable.

VWs are ok but attract a big "scene tax" and if i am honest over priced for what they are

That should be enough for you to be getting on with for now, enjoy!

[JM]

Hudson1984 said:

make an area for the dog in the middle (always hate having the dog in the boot - a rear ender and he's gone.

Hopefully you will have the dog in a suitable cage or restrained in some way. Better that than it flying through the windscreen/front seat passengers in the event of a hard frontal impact.

[Shakermaker]

of course, for that kind of money you can probably buy a van that has already been converted into the general spec you want anyway...

[Hudson1984]

JM said:

Hopefully you will have the dog in a suitable cage or restrained in some way. Better that than it flying through the windscreen/front seat passengers in the event of a hard frontal impact.

of course, he's in a proper area at the moment in the boot but there's obviously no crumple zone in a boot. So if i'm building something would prefer to ensure everyone is safe - including him. So that's what led me to an area for him in the middle - a cage/restraint/box who knows. Just needs to be considered as I don't want to put a cage behind the rear seats if I can help it.

[Toaster Pilot]

Cat C damaged 65 plate Relay 2.2 L2H1 panel van any good to you? 30k on the clock, FSH, runs and drives superbly. Main damage is to the OSR quarter.

You’d cut out most of the damage to fit windows...

Edited by Toaster Pilot on Tuesday 10th July 14:11

[Hudson1984]

snowandrocks said:

A smaller Ducato/Relay/Boxer is worth a look - slighter bigger than what you’ve suggested but cheap, not bad to drive, economical and most importantly - they don’t rust.

All three of your choices will rot if kept for any length of time

worth noting for sure - I defintely want to keep it. Don't want to be finished and then need to replace it. So rot is certainly something for me to consider

[RizzoTheRat]

No idea what they're called, but a lot of companies that do outdoor works like rail and road maintenance have vans with a second row of seats and additional windows. I used to know a guy had a ex railways Sherpa with an extra window in the sliding door and one the other side, with I think 2 seats in the back and 3 in the front, and then a work bench behind the seats. I still see modern equivalents at roadworks so they must sell them on.

[InitialDave]

A Japanese market MPV/day van may do everything you want, plus they are often available with 4wd. Spec tends to be high with stuff like AC too.

Something like a Mitsubishi Delia or Mazda Bongo Friendee (no, seriously, that's what it's called).

[Hudson1984]

RizzoTheRat said:

No idea what they're called, but a lot of companies that do outdoor works like rail and road maintenance have vans with a second row of seats and additional windows. I used to know a guy had a ex railways Sherpa with an extra window in the sliding door and one the other side, with I think 2 seats in the back and 3 in the front, and then a work bench behind the seats. I still see modern equivalents at roadworks so they must sell them on.

Ah yes welfare vans. A Kombi is pretty similar, or crew van. My only issue there is that the middle row is too far forward to fit the pooch lol.

I'm imagining, having a decent cage/box for the dog behind the driver/passenger seat. Then behind this have the rear seats. Behind them have the "boot" area. So the "middle" row will be further back than normal but further forward than a "rear" row

[Hudson1984]

InitialDave said:

A Japanese market MPV/day van may do everything you want, plus they are often available with 4wd. Spec tends to be high with stuff like AC too.

Something like a Mitsubishi Delia or Mazda Bongo Friendee (no, seriously, that's what it's called).

had a delica before and it was great little van. And yes exactly what i'm after - just a bit small for what i'm after this time around.

But yes - that's what i'm going for just one size up. If anything I might look for a scrap one and steal the interior. all moves about, all adjustable they are pretty perfect just that little bit too small (not to mention bloody ugly)

[donkmeister]

Have you considered some of the JDM-only options? A Nissan Elgrand or Toyota Alphard may be close to your end goal, for similar money. Plus 4wd would be useful in wet muddy car parks.

ETA similar ideas above!

[Bomberharris]

Mercedes Vianos very good and stopped making them 2014 so you can get a good clean one £20000

[Challo]

Nextdoor neighbor just did something similar. Bought a older transit minibus (LWB) and then ripped out all the seats and converted it into a mini camper van.

I'll try and get some photo's as I think its nearly finished. Looks good from the outside with the tinted windows etc.