UKC

Hello

I'm buying a Peugeot expert or the Fiat citroen alternative.

I have a week to convert it for a summer in alps then a winter.

I'm crap at DIY fortunately my dad is helping.

I think I want a single bed platform. insulation, a heater? A stove maybe a sink a window and or a sky light.

I need lots of storage space. An ability to add an extra seat in the bag when necessary would be very handy.

Any advice and shared experiences very welcome. specialist forum wise camper van life looks good? any others I should know about?

Alternatively if anyone can find or wamts to sell a low mileage conversion with the above features get in touch!

In reply to alasdair19:

A week? Good luck!

I never came across wise camper van life, but joining the SBMCC was definitely the best £15 I spent on my conversion... some really helpful guys on the forum and loads of useful archived stuff.

http://sbmcc.co.uk/forum/index.php?act=idx

In reply to alasdair19:

The only way to get a camper van in a week is to spray it pink...

In reply to alasdair19:

As above, a week is not totally impossible but if you are asking questions like you are then I presume you don't know what you are doing.

Best look at you other option !!

http://www.ukclimbing.com/forums/t.php?t=616485

http://www.ukclimbing.com/forums/t.php?t=595223

http://www.ukclimbing.com/forums/t.php?t=616139

http://www.ukclimbing.com/forums/t.php?t=615282

In reply to alasdair19:

I spent a lot of time in the highlands living in the back of my transit connect van.(before kids ended that life) One of the most useful things I found was one of those big rubber builders tubs you get from B&Q. Its ideal for chucking everything into and for washing. I used to fill it with warm water at public toilets and used a pan to give myself a free shower. Handy thing. I eventually no longer needed it and threw into a skip only to find it being used by the guys on site mixing materials in.

In reply to alasdair19:

Check out the Boot Jump range of slide in campers.

http://www.amdro.co.uk/vehicles-c-20.html?osCsid=9kp6chac88btgq1f639rh92914

I dont know if they do one for the van you want to buy but you could just buy a different van.

In reply to Richard Wilson:

Good shout, looks like a good kit for the money, just insulate and carpet the van over a weekend then throw this in an you are good to go:

http://www.amdro.co.uk/boot-jump-camper-car/boot-jump-with-screens-water-bo...

In reply to alasdair19:

Having converted a Transit semi high and a LDV 400, now using a professinaly done Merc Sprinter loads of things to look at.,...

Plan lights elect cable points etc well before starting to line the back.
Think about putting a sun roof/ roof vent in off ebay. The bigger the better, of add more. Realy adds light/ sense of space in the back.
Easy to get seats that bolt in off ebay for the back.
Look at as many different conversions for what you would like. A seat that is also a bed makes more sense than just a bed.
Look for someone scrapping a caravan for internal bits, don't think you can salvage windows/roof vents though as they are buggers to strip out.
Check out the minium you need to do to convert to being a camper for insurance/log book purposes. Think it needs a sink now.
Insulation wise, roof insulation ok with plywood ontop. Have used bubble wrap, was easier and cleaner but potentialy not as warm.
Ventalation very important, condensation will be a major snag without really good vents, but then you need to be able to close for heat retention.
A cab heater is a luxery, nice but expense to buy and noisy to run. Better off buying a first class sleeping bag or additional duvet to throw ontop and use the vechicle heater or brew a cuppa for extra warmth.
Look at how you are going to shut the light out at the front. Use a external cover, a internal cover, curtains etc... Internal sheeting using velcro/poppers seems to be the least fuss.

Tim

In reply to mountain musher:

For insulation, I used a layer of camping mat and two layers of bubble wrap, it does a pretty decent job, but if I was going again I'd either use Kingspan/Celotex or (most likely) get it professionally foam sprayed.

If you're installing gas, then the propex heaters are much cheaper than the diesel. Can be pretty thirsty though, so best with refillable LPG tank rather than swappable bottles.

If you're going to be full-timing, I'd recommend the LPG anyway, it'll pay for itself. Rather than a fixed tank, I got a pump-refillable bottle from a company called safefill, which cost £200 including the three adapters for the various european pumps. It's a system that's worked fine, although it is sometimes a hassle to refill as most stations don't allow it. They have to notice what you're doing before you've done it though, and in France I never found it to be a problem - only Spain where it's not always self-service and LPG is not so widely available.

There are other bottle style arrangements available, with separate fill and exit valves, allowing you to install an external fill point, but I'll probably upgrade to an underslung tank when I'm working again - save hassle and free up more storage space inside the van. If I remember rightly, it would have cost around £400.

Are you going to be moving around a lot, or parking up in one place for extended periods? If the latter, you might also want to consider a solar panel for your leisure electrics. I got mine from Bimble solar, and I'd happily recommend them, although they have a once a week delivery so order well in advance.