My home brew vivaro camper.
Discussion
Afternoon!
I just thought I would stick my camper conversion in here as it's very nearly finished.
I did the usual research on various vans and found that they all have various problems no matter which one you choose, from Ford and Mercedes rust, to vauxhall and renault gearbox and injector issues, I knew I wanted a short wheelbase due to tight parking at home, and there will only ever be myself and the Mrs and our small dog using it.
So, after pondering the pitfalls I went for this vivaro, an ex parcel force van that had done airport duties for 10 years before being passed on.
The aim was to get a usable camper for 5k, including the van so that obviously meant doing it all myself.
After lots of thought, I decided against the standard "rock & roll" bed, i wanted to be able to lounge around a bit and not sit upright in the middle of the van.
So I chose an U shaped seating area with a small table in the middle that can convert to an almost 6ft long bed easily.
So far we have -
Tinted side windows fitted, drivers side opens.
Sound deadening on all panels.
Insulated floor and walls / roof.
Fully carpet lined.
Ply floor with vinyl flooring.
12v electrics- downlights, usb charging, water pump for sink.
Split charge system for 130ah leisure battery.
Small kitchen unit with sink and twin gas hob, clean and grey water tanks and gas bottle in cupboard underneath.
U shaped upholstered seating with storage underneath and carbon fibre centre column table.
Roof bars to fit a pull out canopy onto.
And just for the sake of it some X5 wheels with correct load rated tyres.
Still bits to do like carpet the seat benches etc but it's entirely usable now.
All in for £5150.
Any constructive criticism please fire away!
![](https://thumbsnap.com/sc/25MiKA1Z.jpg[/img]</a> <a href="https://thumbsnap.com/A3WoDk4A" Target="_blank" rel="nofollow">[img]https://thumbsnap.com/sc/A3WoDk4A.jpg[/img]</a> <a href="https://thumbsnap.com/fNs4Cfsc" Target="_blank" rel="nofollow">[img]https://thumbsnap.com/sc/fNs4Cfsc.jpg[/img]</a> <a href="https://thumbsnap.com/RSKVNHnC" Target="_blank" rel="nofollow">[img]https://thumbsnap.com/sc/RSKVNHnC.jpg)
I just thought I would stick my camper conversion in here as it's very nearly finished.
I did the usual research on various vans and found that they all have various problems no matter which one you choose, from Ford and Mercedes rust, to vauxhall and renault gearbox and injector issues, I knew I wanted a short wheelbase due to tight parking at home, and there will only ever be myself and the Mrs and our small dog using it.
So, after pondering the pitfalls I went for this vivaro, an ex parcel force van that had done airport duties for 10 years before being passed on.
The aim was to get a usable camper for 5k, including the van so that obviously meant doing it all myself.
After lots of thought, I decided against the standard "rock & roll" bed, i wanted to be able to lounge around a bit and not sit upright in the middle of the van.
So I chose an U shaped seating area with a small table in the middle that can convert to an almost 6ft long bed easily.
So far we have -
Tinted side windows fitted, drivers side opens.
Sound deadening on all panels.
Insulated floor and walls / roof.
Fully carpet lined.
Ply floor with vinyl flooring.
12v electrics- downlights, usb charging, water pump for sink.
Split charge system for 130ah leisure battery.
Small kitchen unit with sink and twin gas hob, clean and grey water tanks and gas bottle in cupboard underneath.
U shaped upholstered seating with storage underneath and carbon fibre centre column table.
Roof bars to fit a pull out canopy onto.
And just for the sake of it some X5 wheels with correct load rated tyres.
Still bits to do like carpet the seat benches etc but it's entirely usable now.
All in for £5150.
Any constructive criticism please fire away!
Looks great, did you add any insulation on the build? Get yourself a diesel heater, I love mine and means I can pretty much doss in it year round. I’m off to see a mate tomorrow who lives about 30 miles away and we’ll be on the beer so I’ll be kipping in the van with an empty Lucozade bottle for emergencies 
Thanks guys, the van is completely insulated, even the cab area, and it's curtained off with double lined curtains to the cab and windows.
A diesel heater is on the cards soon, then we don't need any electric hookup really.
I don't have many pics of the process, I tend to just get on with the next part and forget to take photos!
I have a couple before the furniture.
A diesel heater is on the cards soon, then we don't need any electric hookup really.
I don't have many pics of the process, I tend to just get on with the next part and forget to take photos!
I have a couple before the furniture.
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