[Closed] My official van conversion thread.

Yes! But well worth it to be toasty!! I hope to get a bigger van in the next couple of years, can transfer the lights, heater and bed over to a new van if I don't manage to sell it as a stealth camper! 🙂

I have the same jetwash, make sure you put a socket for it in easy reach, mine was up too high and I slipped on the step and shoved the pug through the socket, so replacing that one with a double usb for charging things and putting a socket for the jetwash on the battery box itself. 🙂

Nice looking van Mac - stealthy 8)
Its a bit of a ball ache plying the sides of Vivaro's because they aren't anywhere near flat, there's a sticky out bit where the struts cross so you'll have to batten the rest out to get it flush - a bosh with a stout hammer helps 🙂 This is definitely worth doing if you plan to fit seating or cupboards, it will give you something to screw to.
Have you sussed out the black art of electrickery yet? My battery and split charger 'thing' arrived today but, pfff, no idea tbh - looking forward to your in depth, pic heavy post on that one... keep em coming 🙂

[quote=twang ]Its a bit of a ball ache plying the sides of Vivaro's because they aren't anywhere near flat, there's a sticky out bit where the struts cross so you'll have to batten the rest out to get it flush - a bosh with a stout hammer helps I managed no problem, without battens.

Any more progress mactheknife?

I manage to successfully install my split charger without any explosions or dead starter batteries/kittens..
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Took the cable under the van externally and came in through a convenient hole in the little step behind drivers seat..
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its box section so the internal hole in the pic I had to drill, robbed the grommet from next to the starter battery.
Found the clips in BnQ which are perfect for the conduit diameter.Tip - pull the cable through the conduit before threading it in and around your chassis nooks and crannies, its right a bugger to get on!

Thanks to Mike D and Sazter I now 'need' a pull out bed
a start...
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Your wiring's a lot tidier than mine 🙂

Early days, I'll soon spaghettify it when I get the fuse box wired 😀

Glad I'm not the only one who has used an old belt as a battery clamp!

van envy 🙁

Hey twang, nope i have been offshore for the last few weeks. Home tonight and have ordered a plywood lining set. Need to give megavanmats a call tomorrow and order the carpet and floor lining.

I have the lights and switches and all that gubbins ready to roll. Just got to spend a few days getting my mitts dirty.

Infact if anybody could tell me how to wire this switch i would be grateful 🙂 3 clips and no instructions 🙂

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Been looking at switches today, seems the three prongs are for live, neutral(earth) and the third is the earth for the illumination on the switch itself so its permanently lit. If its not marked though?.. a bit of trial and error made be called for 🙂

iS that a switch or a lamp? If its a switch it is a double throw switch. Totally normal to leave one do the sides disconnected.

SPDT (single pole, double throw) on this image. the unused position acts as "off", the common pole is the centre spade.

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If a lamp, it could be that one of the leads is for manual operation, and the other is for courtesy light operation.

Get a multimeter across it and work out what connects to what

My guess is live feed, load, earth for internal indicator light.

Cheers guys. I have just ordered all the electrics for the van so before i fit i will have a play and see what works and what doesnt.

Multimeter - good shout 🙂

Oh its a switch, i got it to wire the LED lights up to.

I've bitten the bullet and I have ordered and fitted the split charge relay. The instructions are very easy to follow. It helps if you mark all the cables up to their corresponding letters on the diagram. I ordered the 3 metre kit then discovered the main battery is in the passenger footwell and the leisure is going under the passenger seat. Total length of cable needed ...... 65cm! Used the rest to go through the bulkhead and onto the the fuse board in the back. Finally fitted it all last night. Il get some pics up later. I actually really enjoyed the process and it has got me over my fear of electrickery. Must say I feel very proud that Iv done it all myself. Iv just got one question left for [b]sazter[/b][u], how much draw does the ceramic heater take on your battery? I've got a 85amp battery. Iv reserved a place for it on the board.

Sorry there has been little progress. I have ply-lined the back and wired in the led lights and 12v cigarette lighter currently. I have actually managed to get a fair bit of riding done but not much van work.

I had to get my father-i-law (the shame) to show me how to crimp the connections and make sure all my wiring was safe 🙂 but as he is a sparky it made the pain easier.

Oh got a stealth window on the sliding door. Just needs some privacy curtains as you can still see through.

But i will continue to plod along next time i am home and i aim to have the rear floor and walls/roof all covered. I got stretchy carpet for the roof and sides and vinyl flooring for the floor. And the sparky side finished as well.

[i]EDIT; Ignore bump, slow typing and uploading of pics took longer than it did for you to reply - 1 hour![/i]

Interested in the heater battery draw too in you're about sazter?? Have you connected it direct to battery and what size fuse have you got in there?
I'm considering sticking in a woodburner 😛

I've made a 'bit' of progress (hope you don't mind me sticking these up here mactheknife, no hijack intended)

Pull out bed thing;

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A lot of effort for a 200mm extension 🙂
The infill bit will be from the back rest that will hook on the er... back rest bit, needs foam obviously 😉

It's my 'control panel';

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Aaargh my eye!...needs a smiley mouth and a cupholder hat 🙂

Nice set up twang, and put up as many pics as you can upload. Gotta spread this van love 🙂

I like your control panel. Might steal that idea for a few chargers. Have you got an inverter in there yet?

No inverter, don't think I really need one tbh. Don't they drink your battery dry in no time?
I've got a portable compressor fridge that'll plug into the lighter socket and a couple of usb charger ports, can't think of anything else I'll need...

I was talking to a mate at the weekend who has an inverter wired into his van and he was quite surprised how little power it drew from the battery.

I wired up a 12v lighter near to the rear door yesterday for my dirtworker. A couple of USB sockets and ill be reet i reckon.

Solar panels haha nearly bought one at the weekend. Had to have a serious word with myself. My finances have taken a mullering.

Ha! I know what you mean, I've spent, (from a self confessed tight arse) a stupid amount on all this interior shizzle considering the van is getting desperate for new shocks and clutch and..etc 😕

Next; over-garage, flip-up double bed 😀

Any more progress Mactheknife?

I've bitten the bullet and splashed out on shiny things..

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carcass built (out of off-cuts)

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doors made (out of off-cuts 🙂 )

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Aluminium corners scrounged from a skip.
It took more than a few days tbh but I've enjoyed it - a labour of love. 😀
what handles for...

Hey twang, my van has been in the garage for the last few weeks as Vauxhall are finally replacing all the injectors. Its been an absolute epic getting to this stage.
I got one side carpeted and the roof ready to roll. Hopefully when I get home I'll get stuck in. I have had one problem after another with the engine but hopefully that's sorted now.
Keep the updates coming, keeps me motivated to get stuck in

Oof, sounds like you've had a bit of a mare. What happened with the injectors and how did you get Vauxhall to pay?

There is a known fault with some models of Vivaro where water can get into the engine bay and sit on top, corroding the injectors. I already paid £800 to get one changed before the others went. But hopefully I can make some headway now 8)

Heard about the fault, it was on Watchdog apparently. Renault and Nissan admitted they were liable but Vauxhall dug their heels in and were only paying for repairs on certain models and vans no more than seven years old I think and then only as a good will gesture 🙄

Anyway,(trying to ignore potential injector woes) my first night out with the new kitchen and pull out bed last night and apart from the chill factor, it all worked rather splendidly 8)

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Massive problem with condensation though.
There's a small exposed strip down the middle of my roof where the lighting will eventually go, the bare metal AND the insulation stuck to the roof was covered in a heavy frost this morning which started to drip out of every joint in my ply lining!..needs completely redoing 🙁
Do it right do it once eh..

Splendid kitchen unit 🙂

Hey twang, that van is looking fantastic 🙂

Well done 🙂

@Twang. Excellent ideas with the kitchen unit. Where did you source the sink/burner unit?

Cheers chaps 🙂
Did you have to set such a high standard Mike D? I was perfectly happy with my stacking boxes and camping bed before your thread 😉
Felo, combi sinks a smev 911, the narrowest I could find. £150ish from loads of places.
Come on Mac, lets have some more piccies... 🙂

twang, i would love to mate but i am being completely messed about by Vauxhall. They have had it for 4 weeks now and apparently the injectors are getting removed today 😕

They are either very incompetent or there is something i don't know about that has caused all these delays.

I have all the carpet, lights flooring and extras ready to fit so i need the van back 8)

There have been problems with injector removal. So.much so that some folk make a living from doing little else. They've invested in kit that your local dealer won't have and do it on a contract basis. Could be they've had to call on one after trying everything else.

Re: condensation, as a user of vans for years, I wouldn't bother ripping everything out, you can't stop it, people produce a lot of moisture. I'd just increase the ventilation.

Good tip is to pick up some window deflectors
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and always leave both window cracked an inch when camping. You can't stop condensation, all you can do is chase it somewhere else.

Looks like a cold night too, that will make it worse, you'll find you barely get it in the summer.

Scotroutes, yep thats what they said they were going to do 2 weeks ago. Bring a company in to do it. Every time i call it seems to be the same excuses over and over.

I am a very patient guy but this is getting beyond a joke

Did you have to set such a high standard Mike D? I was perfectly happy with my stacking boxes and camping bed before your thread

STW: Raising the van conversion bar 🙂

And +1 for ventilation to combat condensation.

Sorry Mactheknife, hadn't realised your van was still with Vauxhall. At least its in while the weathers rubbish - sorted for summer! 8)

I did sleep with windows slightly open but it was a very cold and still night so not a lot of air exchange going off.
Ive got a rotary ventilator to go in which should help (if there's a breeze)
Other than installing a powered fan I can't think how I could improve ventilation?
May just take your advise Pictonroad and ignore it 😀

Wee update twang, finally got the van back on friday with 4 new injectors fitted. It now runs like a dream.

I managed to get the roof and the main side carpeted and fitted today along with 3 LED spotlights on the roof wired into the leisure battery.

Next job is getting the floor vinyl fitted. Then it might start to look like a decent van 🙂

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The roof looks a lot worse in that picture but i am going to put a wooden batten down the join to smarten it up.

Oh and by far the worst part of this is trying to get the self tappers to go through thin metal. I thought it would be a doddle but i have been having a right epic. I have tried various different ones. Had to resort to pre drilling them which put the wind right up me 🙂

I used drywall screws. Probably a 75% success rate, if it doesn't go in quickly it'll blunt.

Yay! looking tidy Mac. Got to be a huge relief getting it back and sorted.
Stretchy carpet looks wicked, is it tricky to do?
What's the plan after the flooring, any units going in?
Re fixings, tech screws is what I used, they're a drywall screw same as spookys but with a drill bit point, straight in no messing (probably a bit late with that info...)
Any windows going in or you keeping the stealthy look?

Yea it was a proper relief 🙂 It drives really well now.

I had a window fitted on the passenger side sliding door which will need a black-out curtain but i wanted it more for a bit of ventilation while overnighting.

The stretchy carpet is pretty easy to use with spray adhesive. Quite easy to cut with scissors, not so much with a stanley knife.

I am going to knock a fold out bed up next to go along the drivers side wall like this one. Ill put the leisure battery and storage in there to keep the rest of the van clutter free 🙂
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I don't have any other plans apart from that really. For now 🙂

Those latted(is that a word?) beds look quite intricate, measure twice cut once etc
Happy vanicating (definitely a word) 😀

This is a great thread 🙂

Oddly enough, I looked for a long time at T4 and T5's before thinking the other week how smart a van the Trafic/Vivaro is, and as I've managed to convince the missus of this too, we're in the market for a used one very soon.

I *might* get it converted by a company though, as I want a pop-top roof added in, and don't fancy fitting one myself.

How well does the van run when laden? Quick and economical enough? I've an eye on a 115.

[quote=codybrennan ]How well does the van run when laden? Quick and economical enough? I've an eye on a 115.There's never a problem getting to, and maintaining, van speed limits. I regularly get 40+ mpg.

The vivaro and trafics are quite easy to kit out as they are quite square and boxed shaped.

I wanted to do most of the work myself, not just to keep the costs down but as a project to get stuck into. I have got a few things wrong but its been an enjoyable project.

But if you don't have the time then getting a company to strip it out and refit it for you will save you so much hassle.

Twang, had to look up vanicating 🙂

Oh yea and if your engine actually works then the 115 is actually a bit of a beast, i was really surprised how powerful the engine is.

Excellent, thanks guys. Will post some pics up when I get it.

One thing that's sprung to mind, if anyone can answer- most of the vans I see have a bulkhead between the passenger and load compartment. Is this removable?