Converting Transit T350 Semi Hi Top LWB with £1k?! (1 Viewer)

[Mister Monster]

Hi folks, I just bought a transit and have a £1000 and the help of a friend to convert it - not a great deal I know - any advice?
I would like to be able to live in it for a few days at at time if poss
Insulation is obviously important -- how much do you think i will have to spend to full insulate such a van
I'm thinking of going to a caravan breakers soon to pick up some bits and pieces
Just thinking that with my tight budget I'm not sure what is going to be possible electrics wise and what not
With regards to sleeping - has anybody installed a sofa bed rather than self building?
thanks in advance for any help

 

[JJ]

I have done what you plan to do Mister Monster to two vans. One of them served me well for 10 years and the current one 12 years and still going... (both Ivecos)

I recommend skip hunting and buying second hand caravan equipment.

Check out www.caravanbreakers.net

I insulated mine with 8×4 sheets of polystyrene foam because the rolls of fibre glass roofing insulation make me itch really badly.

Very affordable but make sure you have a good fire extinguisher.



JJ :Cool:

PS. If you decide to join this site feel free to PM me or the other self builders for info on how they did theirs.

 

[Mister Monster]

thank you very much for your reply JJ, much appreciated.
What did you do bed/insulation/electrics wise?

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[Wissel]

I did my last van for £1000, as JJ said it just takes a little searching.

Insulation wise I would use the best you can find if you want to use the van over the colder months - not much chance of any sort of heating on that budget. Kingspan type stuff would probably be your best bet.

With regard to plywood and insulation it might be worth chucking a few adverts on freecycle - you might even be able to get a complete old caravan.

I would install a simple split charge system with a single 100ah battery and cheap LED lights which you should be able to do for about £150 ish, if you need a toilet a porta-potty type thing could also probably be picked up from Freecycle, windows I'd look second hand on Ebay, cheap second hand hob and your good to go

If your only using the van for 2 days at a time a 12v cool box, plugged in when your driving, with a few cool blocks should be fine.

 

[peter marshall]

Try looking to buy an old caravan with working bits you should be able to source all you require. Pete

Ps good luck :thumb::thumb:

 

[JJ]

Well... I built a fixed bed (and kitchen) from a big sheet of marine ply (12 mm?) We found floating down the Avon. I used a foam mattress first (with slats allowing vital air circulation underneath) but later, when funds allowed, I bought a super duper mattress.

I bought 12 volt wire for my electrics and used old fashioned copper pipes (with solder fittings) for the fresh water.

Check out CAK Tanks too. They have everything needed ( at a price)

Always remember you don't HAVE to do it all at once. The first weekend I spent in my current self build was on a Lilo blow up mattress, a porta potty, a camping cooker and a bucket for washing.

All the stuff I bought for the first van got transferred to the second one.

But you are right. Good insulation (and ventilation) is the correct place to start imo.

JJ :Cool:

PS. Please note my van has zero (or minus) status though. I never care what it looks like to others. It is warm and dry and has every facility a €50,000 has except, of course, resale value.

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[Spenders]

Your budget

Hello and welcome to Motorhome Fun.

I know nothing about building a motorhome, but you should set your budget at £990..... spend your first £10 on a subscription to this forum which will give you full access to all the help and advice that those members who do know about van conversions will be happy to help with!!

Hope it all goes well and look forward to seeing you around.

Simon

 

[Mister Monster]

Really apprecaite all your suggestions, some really good advice. And kingspan seems to keep coming up on all the forums I've been looking at so I'm thinking of going for that


Does anyone have any photos of vans they did out for £1000?


o right sorry SPenders, I didn't realise I had to subscribe to be on here, I will look into that shortly

Cheers guys - what a great forum with some friendly people

 

[mitzimad]

kingspan will eat a lot of your budget look at recyled plastic roof lagging in rolls from b and q etc often they have deals on several rolls
cheapest way to light the van will be a £10 roll of leds from ebay
most cheap brands of leisure batteries are just car batteries rebadged so look at getting a couple of second hand van batteries from a breakers yard i bought 2 transit batteries almost new from one for £50
a cheap battery charger will keep them topped up when on hook up
look out for a camping extension lead with circuit breakers and use that for mains power
plasic jerry cans work well for water and waste

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[Mikeco]

I will probably get barred but I suggest you join SBMC ( Self Build Motorcaravaners Club), thats what I did when I did my self build.

My budget was a bit different though as I bought a new van for £18k and then spend £9k on new materials but there are many on there who have done what you intend doing.

Mike

 

[Spenders]

Barred??

I will probably get barred but I suggest you join SBMC ( Self Build Motorcaravaners Club), thats what I did when I did my self build.

My budget was a bit different though as I bought a new van for £18k and then spend £9k on new materials but there are many on there who have done what you intend doing.

Mike

Nooooooo...... you don't get barred for being a member of another club; many folks on here are in both (not me, cos I ain't building my own... have you seen the level of DIY competency I can muster??).

We welcome anyone to Motorhome Fun.... (does that sound bad?) and as far as I'm aware the only criteria is a sense of....FUN!

Welcome to the forum Mike.

Simon

 

[Terry]

Hi do as Pm says and get an old caravan for around 500 quid and use it for as much as you can., windows seats loo etc etc,You can use rockwool for insulation but trap it in place or it settles to the bottom of the van :thumb:
Good luck
Terry

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[voyager 1]

self build

My first self build was back in the early 80`s it was on a vw type 2 transporter mini bus
I was fortunate to find a vw camper van that had been on fire at the back end, in and around the engine bay . I managed to salvage most of the interior which wasn`t to badly damaged and fit out my bus with it . It was an easy fit just taking the seats out of the bus and then fitting the interior from the doner camper in. I had the bus for around 3 yrs before i sold it nearly trebeling my money on it happy days. good luck with the build have fun you wont regret it. The total cost was £650 for the bus £25 for the doner campers interior .

Ron

 

[Mister Monster]

what form of rockwool are people using? as a roll or as slabs or what? does it matter? apparently this is cheaper stuff than kingspan but is it as good?
thanks again for all your replies
apparently there is a caravan breakers in maryport so gonna check that out soon
thanks for all the advice so far, it's helping a lot
please link me to any sub £1000 conversion galleries please
thanks

 

[Terry]

Hi any rockwool but yes kingspan is better but would cost around 200 quid as to a tenner for rockwool.
Do a search for a whole caravan circa 500 quid ish and strip that out
Terry

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