Our new van - build coming on nicely (1 Viewer)

[BillandHelen]

So, our new IH now has its replacement rear and side grp panels in place and has just returned from the paint shop, panels, bumpers and aircon all colour coordinated! Roof starting to look nicely busy, solar, iboost, aircon and heki's all installed, just the sat system to go on now. Underneath just as busy, with water and gas tanks plus the sealed boxes for the levellers and rear air. Levellers look to be good, lots of clearance.

Second level build inside now well underway, lots of the toys being installed, Hopefully all on track for pick up mid-may, we had hoped to have it for our Easter Spanish trip, but last trip in our current IH.

Getting excited now!

 

[klaatu]

Looks great - do IH let you go along any time you want, to see how things are progressing?

 

[CazPaul]

Looks good

Are you having the water tanks heated, if I was having one built from new bespoke like this I would be having a pipe from the blown air down to the waste tank, with all water pipes inside if possible.

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[Riverbankannie]

That's a good list of extras. Are you going to try to keep to 3500kg?

 

[BillandHelen]

Yes, if that's what you want. For us, we like to get to know who will build our van. In our case it's Martin, the most experienced craftsman at IH , he also built one of our previous vans and we know he will do a terrific job.

Tiggy, who dies admin, keeps us up to date, sent us pics when it arrived from SAP, to show us the remotes and installation and now the progress on paint, roof and underneath!

Seats are currently over with Regal for upholstering and heated seats, van soon to go off for tow bar installation at armitages, then Mark from AMS to do all our electrical toys, 360 cameras, sat nav, upgraded speakers, tv's, invertor, tracker etc, so all looking good so far!

Wish I had Ralph's or Lennie's skills to do it myself but IH, for us, is next best thing to get exactly what we want.

Bill

 

[BillandHelen]

Caroline, yes tanks are heated, pipes all well lagged, we use the van all year round in all weathers, though to be fair not in skiing altitude! We have never had any problems down to minus 10 here in Scotland! Have a combi 4 in conjunction with silver screens, keeps as toasty, rear grp panel helps!

Annie, no chance at 3500kg, especially on axle weights, we are building on heavy chassis at 4250kg which will give us sufficient axle and total capacity given our spec and usage. Once you go over 3500kg, might as well go as high as you can!!

Bill

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[Ralph-n-Bev]

WOW.....Bill you really are having all the toys on it

I had the pleasure of viewing your air suspension and levellers at SAP, It looked the Biz
IH look to be doing a great job so far. I also like the proper door instead of the slider.

What type of heating are you having ?

Have you considered Lithium iron phosphate for the battery ? Something from Victron would be a good choice.

www.es-store.co.uk/product_details.php?product=BAT-LI-VIC-12V-160AH-BMS&description=Victron-lithium-ion-energy-battery.-160ah-12.8v-requires-BMS-Interface&cat_desc=Victron-Lithium-LiFePO4&cat_id=86&show_menu=39

Yes expensive but you will only do it once Hoping to have one on the Pug this year.

Please keep us updated, Following with great interest.

Ralph

 

[BillandHelen]

Ralph, yes we decided to have it all this time, getting ready for early retirement next year! We had looked at both Carthago 138 and merc Hymer 540, both the same length, but we are campervanners at heart, drive is v important to us.

Hoping that the 180bhp engine and auto will get as good as current 3 litre, but no chain this time only a belt.

Great that you have seen our levellers and air at SAP, you are one up on me! We are going to have a 2 day handover, one at IH and the down to see Mick at SAP.

We thought long and hard about the side panel and door, pro's and con's against sliding door, just fancied a change this time and we hope to get more use during winter.

Our heating is a combi 4, thought about a 6, but seemed overkill, insulation is sufficient especially with heating on gas.

Our van is coming with a 100w solar, 140amp battery and 1800 w inverter, following discussion with Iain (Hartley) we will give it 6 months to see how we go and then look at lithium ion or b to b charger depending on our usage.

Will post more pictures when we get them, black mid side panels and legless electric colour coordinated awning still to be fitted!!

Best, Bill

 

[StitchesnFluff]

Looks great

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[skylinersi]

Looking fantastic

 

[mikebeaches]

Wow, you are going to town! Looks and sounds as though you will have an amazing bespoke van. You'll be ready to take on the world.

We only changed from a coachbuilt to a van conversion last summer - Rapido V68 - and can't believe how much more enjoyable the travelling is. So relaxing, and a lot faster and comfort on the motorway too...

 

[BillandHelen]

Hope that you enjoy your new Rapido. Agree on the drive, with us living up in Edinburgh, we tend to have long drives to the ferry then through Europe, so comfort,speed and ease of drive v important. We like our van specced to same standard as our cars!

This is our 5th IH, so know exactly what we want, they are terrific at making whatever changes you want (at a price of course lol,).

Bill

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[Popeye]

Getting excited now!

Not bleddy surprised, looks great, you chose the right colour too'

minus 10 here in Scotland! Have a combi 4 in conjunction with silver screens, keeps as toasty, rear grp panel helps!

You really have thought this through. Love the door which must give you a more permanent layout inside, what I mean is, I have seen some sliding door models with fold down worktops or pull out units.

Have you considered Lithium iron phosphate for the battery ?

Thanks for that Ralph, I didn't know they were even available, a lot of money though, but of course when you knock the price down by the cost of GOOD lead acid it's not so extravagant.

 

[BillandHelen]

Popeye, we thought long and hard about sliding v fixed door, you are right that it changes the feel of the van significantly inside. With the fixed panel you get a more spacious feel at the front, mini a class like especially with the additional led lighting we have, less drafts and warmer in winter. You do lose the outside in of the big slider and convenience of sliding door on tight aires! So compromises either way, not better but different! We think we have made the right choice for our usage.

Will try and post later the installation of all the electrical and fuse panel etc, all conveniently located in an easily accessible cupboard close to battery and inverter to aid short wire runs.

Bill

 

[lorger]

Van looks lovely, we changed to a PVC just over a year ago and love it.

Like you we have a long drive to ferry ports from Dumfries so drive is important and Lorraine feels comfortable driving the van on her own up to Edinburgh to spend time with Sophie who's studying at Napier.

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[Ralph-n-Bev]

You probably have already thought about this but just in case....
I fitted some USB charging ports above our heads in the u shaped rear,and also in the cupboards above our heads.

They are so handy positioned here and get used every time we are out for I pads and phones

Ralph

 

[Popeye]

So compromises either way, not better but different! We think we have made the right choice for our usage.

Lorraine feels comfortable driving the van on her own

They are all a compromise Bill, my van has absolutely everything I could want and space to do it in; the compromise is that it's almost 9 metres long and whilst it is not as wide as the Bailey it doesn't like narrow and winding lanes and Jackie is NOT comfortable driving it.

By the way Bill I've had a good look around Gerry's van ( @lorger ) and an even better look around @Ralph-n-Bev 's van, and they are both corkers, and as you are aware those nice little touches are easier to include when you build it yourself which is what Ralph has done probably the best I have ever seen.

You are doing the next best thing in having it built entirely to your spec and keeping an eye on it and trusting the builder to do it through past experience.

Marvelous, I'd really like to see it. All the best Griff

 

[Kingham]

@dicksob Lovely looking van and I think you've made the right choice with the door. If Auto-Sleeper offered that as an option, I would have chosen it over the sliding door.

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[Nirvanauk]

Wish I'd seen this thread yesterday as I was there picking up my new van and I could have had a poke around. Every one is so helpful there and Tiggy is an absolute star.

 

[BillandHelen]

Which model have you chosen? Agree, Tiggy is just great to deal with, always cheerful, helpful and does what she says, gives you huge trust in the brand. Martin and Jacko who do the warranty and after sales are also fab, nothing they don't know about how the van is built.

You might want to check your van vin number against a list on a thread on Out and About, there is a recall on camshafts in Australia, but affects all vans worldwide, not on the Fiat U.K site yet, mine had been built just before the problem occurred.

Bill

 

[BillandHelen]

Morning Ralph, must get a chance to see your van in the flesh, really is fantastic! We are having a couple of USB points, almost same as yours, installed in the locker just beside the kitchen, agree they are always used every time we go away.

I'm just going over to pick our van up from storage today, staying on the Edinburgh CC site, only a mile from home lol!! We are packing the van up ready for off to Spain next Thursday for two and a half weeks, then hopefully pick the new one up.

Bill

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[Nirvanauk]

Which model have you chosen? Agree, Tiggy is just great to deal with, always cheerful, helpful and does what she says, gives you huge trust in the brand. Martin and Jacko who do the warranty and after sales are also fab, nothing they don't know about how the van is built.

You might want to check your van vin number against a list on a thread on Out and About, there is a recall on camshafts in Australia, but affects all vans worldwide, not on the Fiat U.K site yet, mine had been built just before the problem occurred.

Bill

Thanks Bill, I bought a Tio 630 RL. It's not new but it's immaculate. It's nice to have a garage to store stuff in after my Timberland. We are now stocking it for our first trip tomorrow. Only going for a couple of days, we went to the Harrogate show when it opened at 09:30 said to each other that we are not buying anything and at 09:45 my wife was putting a deposit down!!

 

[Popeye]

we went to the Harrogate show when it opened at 09:30 said to each other that we are not buying anything and at 09:45 my wife was putting a deposit down!!

Oh yeah! Like you weren't a dog with two Doodah's; nice though when the wife likes it so much you get your own way..... I love it when a plan comes together..... now who was it that said that?

Your starter for 10...

 

[138go]

Surprising what you can do with a hammer and a few bits of shuttering ply ..

Looks really good ..

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[BillandHelen]

Nirvanauk, that sounds great, we have the same van just now. A couple of changes we got made at the front which transformed how we used it. Touch sensitive spotlights above the seats, and twin power points on side unit, great for the nespresso maker. Also we have a small 10 inch TVs there as well as a 21 inch at the back. Neither was that expensive from IH. Oh and we got them to do us a 12 inch round table top to use for drinks etc, saves bringing the big table out.

Bill

 

[Ralph-n-Bev]

I'm just going over to pick our van up from storage today, staying on the Edinburgh CC site, only a mile from home lol!! We are packing the van up ready for off to Spain next Thursday for two and a half weeks, then hopefully pick the new one up.

Bet you cant wait.... I am excited for you

Enjoy the holiday, looking forward to seeing the pics of your new van

Has it got a name yet ??

Ralph

 

[CazPaul]

Its going to be a beauty by the looks of it, if I had the money I would be designing my own bespoke panel van and getting someone to convert it.

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[BillandHelen]

Caroline, you should think about the one we are trading in then!!
Huge spec, fabulous condition, someone is going to get a great van at a great price.

 

[BillandHelen]

Ralph, I'll ask Tiggy to send me some more pictures later this week and post before we set off. Gorgeous weather in Edinburgh today, van all packed, bikes on back, few days at work and then we are off!

Bill