Mercedes Sprinter DIY Camper

[fooby]

After deciding that my girlfriend's Fiat Doblo isn't really big enough for the amount of camping trips we do these days, we decided that it would be a good idea to get something bigger. I work away from home all week with a company vehicle so it seemed like a good time to have a massive van as my only personal vehicle.

Pre-built campers are insanely expensive - even high mileage ones and they never seem to fit my needs. I want it to be homely, have a full size bed and have room for bikes underneath the bed.

This is the van I decided to go with. Good service history, owned by the last three years by a family who did a partial (day van?) conversion. It came with a bed and bench installed and has also been fully insulated with 25mm Celotex sheets, fresh ply on top, which will make my life a lot easier. The bad bits? Rust. It's a Sprinter. My garage gave it a clean bill of health structurally, but it has the inevitable rust around the bottom of the doors, and the rear door looks to have had a chunk taken out of it at some point. The nearside mirror also had a smashed indicator lamp and was pretty scratched up.

The plans are to extend the bed as it's currently aligned wall to wall. Whilst we both fit fine, it feels a little cramped and only needs a few inches added to be able to sleep long ways. Then wood laminate flooring, cladding for the walls, kitchen unit install, swivel seats, electrics and plumbing.

Here's the van after I got it home and gave it a clean


Wing mirror replaced. Also gave the wheels a sand and lick of rustoleum.


The interior as I bought it.

Edited by fooby on Thursday 19th December 09:44

[bungz]

Watch with interest.

I too find the price of campers baffling when a stock van of the same age is usually 1/3 of the price of a converted one.

[fooby]

I took a bit of a gamble having only had the van a week and decided to use the van to drive from Newcastle to Cornwall for a week with some mates in our vans. We came across this insane corner in the dark whilst the rain was coming down hard. Poo came out as I spun my way up. Really didn't think I was making it up for a few seconds.


Unfortunately, the gamble bit me in the arse. Leaving Bristol the battery light came on. Made it to Cornwall but when I tested the battery with my multimeter, it was showing around 11.5v with the engine running.

The road trip turned into more of a camp in one spot and pile into the back of my friend's van to go and explore Cornwall. Anyway, I was sensible enough to take out recovery so it made it's way back to Newcastle a week after I arrived back in a Peugeot 5008 courtesy car (very strange experience).

The wire from the alternator to battery was testing fine, so I decided to pull the alternator and check the voltage regulator brushes for wear. One of them was pretty much gone and commutator was also very worn. Not surprising that it stopped working.


Made the most of Euro Car Parts 40% off sale and picked up a new alt for £150. Interestingly my battery light was still on, despite good readings on the multimeter. I suspect this is to do with the new alternator being slightly different. I'll have to do some poking around to try and figure out what's going on. In the meantime, I picked up this USB / Voltmeter socket so I can keep an eye on the battery whilst charging my phone. There's a switched 12v socket in the centre console area so I expanded the hole a little and it fit right in.

[mikal83]

Whats the differance between ....
Buying a fully fitted out campervan ready to go, say a 2005-8 sprinter/relay V
Buying said sprinter/relay and then fitting it out yourself.

[fooby]

mikal83 said:

Whats the differance between ....
Buying a fully fitted out campervan ready to go, say a 2005-8 sprinter/relay V
Buying said sprinter/relay and then fitting it out yourself.

Firstly because the price of buying a pre-built one that's been done well is pretty insane, secondly because I love fiddling with stuff and it gives me a project to work on that will leave me with exactly what I want.

[Darren1101]

fooby said:

I took a bit of a gamble having only had the van a week and decided to use the van to drive from Newcastle to Cornwall for a week with some mates in our vans. We came across this insane corner in the dark whilst the rain was coming down hard. Poo came out as I spun my way up. Really didn't think I was making it up for a few seconds.

Ah. Millook. Try cycling up there! I live in North Cornwall, one of my favourite spots is the other side of the cove looking back at Widemouth as the sun sets.

You're definitely doing the right thing with the camper. A T5, etc is just too small. Did you hit any MTB spots whilst you were down?

[mikal83]

fooby said:

mikal83 said:

Whats the differance between ....
Buying a fully fitted out campervan ready to go, say a 2005-8 sprinter/relay V
Buying said sprinter/relay and then fitting it out yourself.

Firstly because the price of buying a pre-built one that's been done well is pretty insane, secondly because I love fiddling with stuff and it gives me a project to work on that will leave me with exactly what I want.

Errrrrrm didnt really answer the ? did you, hey ho.

[mikal83]

Ah. Millook. Try cycling up there! I live in North Cornwall, one of my favourite spots is the other side of the cove looking back at Widemouth as the sun sets.

You're definitely doing the right thing with the camper. A T5, etc is just too small. Did you hit any MTB spots whilst you were down?
[/quote]

A LOT of my family are all from around there. Millook, Crackington, Wainhouse etc etc.

[IAche]

This is exactly the kind of thing i want to do with a LWB Hi top sprinter. Preferably with a V6 and autobox.

With the garage something like this but for MTBs not MX.

[Mark Benson]

I did a Transit a few years back (documented somewhere on here) - we used it constantly for 3 years until we sold it (for more than we paid for it).

I wish I'd fitted a heater in mine, it would have meant we could have used it for more of the year, despite insulation they get cold in the night in the spring and autumn, even if they days are warm - if I did another one (and I might), I'd splash out and get one of these https://www.campervanheating.co.uk/

[HumanSteamroller]

mikal83 said:

fooby said:

mikal83 said:

Whats the differance between ....
Buying a fully fitted out campervan ready to go, say a 2005-8 sprinter/relay V
Buying said sprinter/relay and then fitting it out yourself.

Firstly because the price of buying a pre-built one that's been done well is pretty insane, secondly because I love fiddling with stuff and it gives me a project to work on that will leave me with exactly what I want.

Errrrrrm didnt really answer the ? did you, hey ho.

Well, judging by his answer, safe to assume a large amount of money?

[Jack Mansfield]

Love these camper van projects! How much did you pay for the Sprinter if you don't mind me asking?

Would like to do something like this in the future when I have a bit more space.

[a11y_m]

HumanSteamroller said:

mikal83 said:

fooby said:

mikal83 said:

Whats the differance between ....
Buying a fully fitted out campervan ready to go, say a 2005-8 sprinter/relay V
Buying said sprinter/relay and then fitting it out yourself.

Firstly because the price of buying a pre-built one that's been done well is pretty insane, secondly because I love fiddling with stuff and it gives me a project to work on that will leave me with exactly what I want.

Errrrrrm didnt really answer the ? did you, hey ho.

Well, judging by his answer, safe to assume a large amount of money?

Nah, the difference isn't a large amount of money. The correct answer is a VERY large amount of money

Following.

This size of van or slightly bigger - XLWB version - are ideal for camper conversions. We had a VW T5 van we had converted to a full camper and was fine for 2 folk but too small as soon as kids arrived. Miss it for MTBing trips. Would love to have a big van to do my own conversion on but we've gone down the caravan route instead...

[samj2014]

a11y_m said:

Nah, the difference isn't a large amount of money. The correct answer is a VERY large amount of money

Following.

This size of van or slightly bigger - XLWB version - are ideal for camper conversions. We had a VW T5 van we had converted to a full camper and was fine for 2 folk but too small as soon as kids arrived. Miss it for MTBing trips. Would love to have a big van to do my own conversion on but we've gone down the caravan route instead...

My biggest problem with pre-converted campers is that nothing is done the way I'd want it and everything is made using nasty cheap-looking materials. I've only ever done my own conversions. Last one was a jumbo transit with bike garage. Loved that thing, super practical and comfy.

[jjwilde]

Some amazing space saving van conversions on youtube. Best to watch as many videos as possible to learn all the tricks and decide on what suits you best.

I really liked this one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N1-bCj4InD0

[helix402]

IAche said:

This is exactly the kind of thing i want to do with a LWB Hi top sprinter. Preferably with a V6 and autobox.

With the garage something like this but for MTBs not MX.

Try an ex-police one. These tend to be 3.0l autos.

[a11y_m]

samj2014 said:

My biggest problem with pre-converted campers is that nothing is done the way I'd want it and everything is made using nasty cheap-looking materials. I've only ever done my own conversions. Last one was a jumbo transit with bike garage. Loved that thing, super practical and comfy.

Completely agree. Although I didn't personally do most of the hard work on our T5 conversion, it was done to our requirements, our choice of materials and finish, to our design. We got to do things like lengthen the bed cos we're both tall, include an enclosure fo a 10" sub behind the seat, adapt the roof bed in the pop-top to take a baby cot... Nothing off the shelf will ever compare quality-wise (a factory T5 California looks nice but durability ain't there IMO) or meet what our needs were.

I'd love a BIG van with a bike garage. Currently only got a Transit Custom dual-cab where the entire cargo area is 'bike garage'

[fooby]

The LWB and XLWB I'm sure would be amazing campers, but just too large for me to drive on tight country lanes and park outside the house. I'm planning to exchange a fixed seating arrangement with a table for swivel seats with a table that can be easily put between the seats.

I started on the electrics last weekend. The van came with a 105Ah Gel leisure battery installed under the passenger seat from when it was a commercial vehicle with all sorts of trailer hitch electronics wired to it. At first I thought the battery or voltage sensing relay were fried as it wouldn't charge while the engine was running and the leisure battery was flat. Turns out a fuse between the main battery and relay had blown. Replaced it and it charged up no problem and seems to hold charge fine.

Next job was ripping out the trailer hitch electronics as I don't ever plan to use them and I don't want to risk any phantom drain on the leisure battery. I picked up a fuse box, wired it in to the leisure battery and also installed four of the six spot lights that I picked up. They make a huge difference. Nice bright warm light. Could probably do with a dimmer switch. I plan to install a switch panel and then add two more spot lights over the bed on a separate circuit and switch. The compartment is filthy. Hopefully I can steal a battery powered hoover and clean it out soon.

Battery compartment as I got it.


After removing trailer hitch wiring / wiring in fusebox and lights. Just a rough fit for now, I'll tidy it all up when all the cables are run.


Living area spotlights in.


The switch panel to be wired in. I've removed all of the pre-configured fused wires and configured the voltmeter, USB and 12v sockets to come on with one of the switches. I know it's a little overkill having a fusebox and the switchboard when I could just use the pre-configured fused cables that came with the switch board, but I want each appliance to be on it's own fused circuit so that if there's an issue, I can isolate it easily without everything going down and repair it efficiently.

[Dr G]

Darren1101 said:

fooby said:

I took a bit of a gamble having only had the van a week and decided to use the van to drive from Newcastle to Cornwall for a week with some mates in our vans. We came across this insane corner in the dark whilst the rain was coming down hard. Poo came out as I spun my way up. Really didn't think I was making it up for a few seconds.

Ah. Millook. Try cycling up there! I live in North Cornwall, one of my favourite spots is the other side of the cove looking back at Widemouth as the sun sets.

You're definitely doing the right thing with the camper. A T5, etc is just too small. Did you hit any MTB spots whilst you were down?

My first time up said hill was a couple of years ago, was just approaching the apex and a very nervous looking lady in a LHD Mercedes GL coming the other way panicked and promptly drove into the hedge on the outside of the bend. We luckily were going slow enough to be able to stop dead.

The view just a little further on is indeed spectacular!



...and I'm enjoying the thread; keep us updated.

[fooby]

Switch panel wired in. Bit rough around the edges but it's getting clad around. At the moment only two are wired up, one for the leisure battery voltmeter, 12v socket and USB, the other for the living area lights.