Chestnut Brown Panel Van to Stealth Workvan/overnight camper (Stitches + Steel)

[LukeAziz86]

Hi Guys & Girls, 1st post introing my lockdown conversion. Purchased May '20 as an ex builders run around with the plan to turn it into a van to haul around my work gear (Im a Freelance Sound Engineer) and also act as a weekend warrior overnighter with Stitches + Steel conversion. The SS conversion has 3 draws that will carry mic stands, microphone flight cases and cable trunks, then the load space will hold 19" Flightcase trunks & instrument cases.

1st Pic the day we collected her in Somerset. 150ps SWB Tailgate.





Soon after Wheel's are swapped for 20" Steels with 255/35's on 9J and a de-chrome with accompanying Black Badges & Sidelights.




The Side window was installed by the chaps at Unique Vans.


Next Step was a full Dodomat & Thermo lining & accompanying carpet fir out and custom 1 peice ceiling & LED Lights. Followed by the wonderful guys at Stitches + Steel installing their full rear conversion.

















Hidden in the recesses between the draws are the Lesiure Battery & 2000w Inverter powering the Nespresso machine!

This week's Job is to install this pair of Nappa Leather Recaro Trendlines into the cabin, with swivel base on the passenger side.



Jobs to do next:

Late September I've got a booking with Transporter HQ to install a set of SoLow's with shaved Top Mounts & rear deletes to get this lower than a snake's belly. If in stock then LED DRL's will also be installed, and then the following day a set of rear 6.1 LED lights are being installed with Professionalretrofits.

I think at that point it's a rest then an Audio overhaul but that will have to wait a little longer!

Would love to know your thoughts so far, but its been a busy few months getting it this far.

 

[coullstar]

Nice, needs lowered for sure. What make of steels are they?

 

[LukeAziz86]

Yeah, the ride height is giving me anxiety every time I look at it, but will be sorted in about a month; and should be a dramatic improvement both visually and for the handling.

wheels are Tuff Torque ET45 5x120 20” 9J’s for Landrover fitment, so just needed a spigot ring to correctly mount them. Tyres are 255/35’s but will have to probably go skinnier to get the ride height I’m after.

 

[dood]

Awesome! Very interested in the Stitches and Steel conversion. How do you find it? Anything you'd change? How much did it set you back? (If you don't mind me asking).

 

[LukeAziz86]

Awesome! Very interested in the Stitches and Steel conversion. How do you find it? Anything you'd change? How much did it set you back? (If you don't mind me asking).

I had a custom build with extra draws and bits so for an accurate cost it’s best to give Oli @ S+S a shout and he can walk you though everything, but the cost is far from unreasonable for such high quality work and components.

So far we’ve had the van out on 3 excursions and with the van loaded with all our camping essentials hidden in the draws there is still the entire load space empty which means zero rattling and movement which makes driving around a very comfortable experience.

There are also a plethora of little pockets and chubby holes which are great for things like the battery’s, power inverter and also coffee machine and we’re weather gear grabable at a moment notice.

over all I’ve got no negatives and very pleased with the van. The idea of dragging round a small house of kit was against the idea of traveling light so the S+S conversion was ideal in every respect.

 

[SENTINEL]

I had a custom build with extra draws and bits so for an accurate cost it’s best to give Oli @ S+S a shout and he can walk you though everything, but the cost is far from unreasonable for such high quality work and components.

So far we’ve had the van out on 3 excursions and with the van loaded with all our camping essentials hidden in the draws there is still the entire load space empty which means zero rattling and movement which makes driving around a very comfortable experience.

There are also a plethora of little pockets and chubby holes which are great for things like the battery’s, power inverter and also coffee machine and we’re weather gear grabable at a moment notice.

over all I’ve got no negatives and very pleased with the van. The idea of dragging round a small house of kit was against the idea of traveling light so the S+S conversion was ideal in every respect.

Does the drop down bed work well? Presumably sitting in the van when camping is restricted to sitting on the front edge of the floor storage unit, how is that working out?

 

[dood]

I had a custom build with extra draws and bits so for an accurate cost it’s best to give Oli @ S+S a shout and he can walk you though everything, but the cost is far from unreasonable for such high quality work and components.

So far we’ve had the van out on 3 excursions and with the van loaded with all our camping essentials hidden in the draws there is still the entire load space empty which means zero rattling and movement which makes driving around a very comfortable experience.

There are also a plethora of little pockets and chubby holes which are great for things like the battery’s, power inverter and also coffee machine and we’re weather gear grabable at a moment notice.

over all I’ve got no negatives and very pleased with the van. The idea of dragging round a small house of kit was against the idea of traveling light so the S+S conversion was ideal in every respect.

Thanks! Sounds perfect for my needs too!

 

[LukeAziz86]

Does the drop down bed work well? Presumably sitting in the van when camping is restricted to sitting on the front edge of the floor storage unit, how is that working out?

Yeah I've got the bed installed and works great. We swapped the mattress that S+S provided with it for a Small Double memory foam as I'm a light sleeper and the original was quite thin, but the original mattress fit very discreetly in the ceiling, so when sitting on the tailgate me at 6' tall was easily comfortable and wasn't hitting my head. With the new mattress being about 6" deeper its a little close, but unless you're sitting upright its fine.

I'll take some photos in a bit and of the newly installed Recaro's, which was a lifesaver this weekend as we covered about 400 miles and last time I did that on the original interior I was in agony.

 

[LukeAziz86]

+1 more note about the bed, I retrimed the rear before the installation from S+S and all of 6 ceiling lights in the rear are now covered by the bed when not in use, so If you go ahead with the conversion make sure you're happy with that or install some lights on the sides. I will do this eventually but as I've only just done the carpet lining I don't want to hack it to bits, so instead I bought some magnetising loop Snow Peak LED candles that hang of the mattress frame and they are doing the job fine; all be it with manual operation.

 

[LukeAziz86]

As promised, here are a few more photos of the S+S Bed (with the deep mattress) and also a few of the Recaro's installed and a few exterior tweaks.

 

[LukeAziz86]

Update time! Finally got my slot at Transporter HQ to get my SoLow's installed. Along with this I've upgraded the fronts lights to THQ V3 'all black' headlights & Red Rear smoked LED rear tail lights, tinted the rear repeater and tailgate breaklight and upgraded the fog's to LED's also.

SoLow's are wound down to their lowest setting along with skimmed top mounts & stage 1 hub though mod. The original plan was to install the rear deletes for another 20-30mm drop but the tyres were in the way and also the subframe so to get any lower I'll need a subframe raise!