Richy's T6 Panel Van to Camper DIY Conversion!

[T6Ollie]

Coming along very nicely, I really love a white T6 (that's what I wanted but spec was more important than colour in the end). Well done making your own furniture too. I really like that floor and you got it for a great price, I've just checked the base camp flooring website and can't see anymore so maybe you got the end of a run. Closest I can find is "washed oak" for about twice the price.

 

[JumpShip]

Firm blue makes a comfy bed almost abit too firm for a while but I'd much rather have that than too soft .
You may find dacron and stockingette make the cushions more full looking and easier to get in and out of their covers .

 

[RichyJ91]

Firm blue makes a comfy bed almost abit too firm for a while but I'd much rather have that than too soft .
You may find dacron and stockingette make the cushions more full looking and easier to get in and out of their covers .

Let's hope so! I did do a night on the bare foam in a sleeping bag at a mates wedding up near the Scottish border and slept pretty well, but it'll be nice to have it all properly finished. It's currently with a local company getting upholstered, including stockinette, so looking forward to seeing how that all turns out! I've just got garden furniture seating on them for the moment haha.

 

[RichyJ91]

Coming along very nicely, I really love a white T6 (that's what I wanted but spec was more important than colour in the end). Well done making your own furniture too. I really like that floor and you got it for a great price, I've just checked the base camp flooring website and can't see anymore so maybe you got the end of a run. Closest I can find is "washed oak" for about twice the price.

I don't mind the white too much, but would have preferred a darker colour as we're keen for just parking up and looking less obvious in natural landscapes. It had everything else we needed though so were happy to take the white!

Yeah I think you're right on the flooring as it seemed to disappear off their site within days of us buying it, so I was initially a little worried it wasn't actually going to arrive. Keep an eye out for what they do put online as I would definitely recommend their flooring.

 

[RichyJ91]

We've booked our first campsite trip for the end or the month so that's given me a bit more of a set deadline for needing certain things finished! Here's the latest progress...

As mentioned above, the foam is away getting upholstered and should be finished soon. In the mean time I've primarily been trying to build some functioning kitchen cabinets, including drawers. Again, learned a lot, made some mistakes, but overall we're pretty happy with how it's all coming together!







Today I'll be attempting to add the runners and maybe tackle making the fronts of the drawers themselves. I've left adequate room - I think/hope!

All the wood has been primed and then painted with a renovation paint, in Green Khaki, which we really like!

The unit itself has been built in 2 pieces, which will be joined together, but can be separated if needed. I'm still working out the best way as to how to add the wooden worktop, which comes from the same piece as the table - all matching.





(The current seating is from the garden, hence the marks and stains!)

After much research and thoughts on what we want out of our van, we went down the power station route with the Bluetti Elite 300. It has an XT90 output for 12v/30a so I bought a ready made adaptor and wiring, which were originally for an Ebike, but stripping and re-crimping the correctly sized o-ring terminals for my fuse box.





To be honest I'm more impressed with my attempt than how it looked originally with a short heat sleeve and generally shoddy workmanship!



I'm yet to decide where to mount the fuse box, probably in the section above the power station which is also where we'll hopefully one day mount the Charger 2 too. The position of all of this means we didn't waste the space in this part of the cabinet, and it can all still be access via tilting the front seat.

I want to add another secure strap to the front of the unit too just to ensure the 26kg power station stays put.





Hard work, but it's finally starting to actually look like a camper!

 

[Wickzter]

Looking great, I too went down the power station route, in many respects it is just easier to manager. Obvious limitations, but some advantages such as being able to use that expensive bit of kit in your house or other place.

 

[RichyJ91]

Yeah, it's all just personal preference really. I'm really pleased with our setup now.

Update!









Made more progress this morning but adding some ventilation holes to the bed frame, finishing the drawers (minus the front face and handles) and finally picking up the upholstered foam! The upholstering came in at £630, which seemed reasonable to us. It's 10cm foam with some awkward altered edges and cuts to fit the contours of the van.

The bed is 190cm and about 160cm wide so will be more than suitable for the two of us and the dog! So glad we opted to the LWB otherwise the cabinets behind the cab seats just wouldn't have been an option really.

Next up is to secure the units to the wall, then cut and add the worktop. We've also got some nice fabric to fashion some sort of roller blind for the sliding side window. I still need to find a way to stop the table wobbling so much when it's attached to the removable leg system, which hasn't been a great investment so far.

Counting down to when we go away on the 31st!

 

[RichyJ91]

Coming along very nicely, I really love a white T6 (that's what I wanted but spec was more important than colour in the end). Well done making your own furniture too. I really like that floor and you got it for a great price, I've just checked the base camp flooring website and can't see anymore so maybe you got the end of a run. Closest I can find is "washed oak" for about twice the price.

Not sure if you’re still in the market for vinyl , but Kiravans have just announced this morning their new Altro flooring which comes in wood effect.

Altro Wood Safety Flooring (2m Wide)

Altro Wood flooring vinyl is a tough, anti-slip floor covering available in a range of colours. Hard-wearing and versatile, it has been used in a wide variety of settings for over 30 years, making it a great choice for campervans, motorhomes and van conversions. This commercial-grade flooring is...

www.kiravans.co.uk

 

[T6Ollie]

Not sure if you’re still in the market for vinyl , but Kiravans have just announced this morning their new Altro flooring which comes in wood effect.

Altro Wood Safety Flooring (2m Wide)

Altro Wood flooring vinyl is a tough, anti-slip floor covering available in a range of colours. Hard-wearing and versatile, it has been used in a wide variety of settings for over 30 years, making it a great choice for campervans, motorhomes and van conversions. This commercial-grade flooring is...

www.kiravans.co.uk

Thanks for this. Just ordered, better price than I’ve seen anywhere else

 

[RichyJ91]

I’ve got some new updates coming soon as I’m (almost!) finished the cabinets and their worktops.

This morning however I spent over an hour trying to change the heat resistor pack as it had failed, resulting in the classic Transporter AC fault. What an absolute ball ache! Finally managed it with the help of my neighbour, and now it all works again! Total cost - a tenner! Check out how manky the old one is.