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Keith's Transit Van

Posted: June 16th, 2016, 5:02 pm
by keeflester
Kathy and myself have reached retirement and decided to invest in one more camping project to last us another ten years or so. It's likely that the Demountable would not last that long, being plywood over softwood frames, and we quite like the idea of a van conversion. The specifications were quite detailed. We need air conditioning so that we can take our wee dug into hot climates like the lavender fields of Provence etc. We need All Wheel Drive, because we like to wild camp off the beaten track. We need a reasonably compact vehicle for much the same reason, also it's easier on the pocket and easier to drive. It also needs to look nondescript and most definitely NOT like a campervan.

So the vehicle we eventually found is a Mk7 transit AWD 140ps 350. That's 135 brake horse power, six speed manual gearbox, one to one transfer box with all the toys, aircon, cruise control, automatic lights, automatic wipers etc etc. Being a double-cab-in-van version it had a bulkhead, now removed to the skip, three rear seats, bye-bye, and two great big smoked side windows. This removes the need to fit campervan Windows and maintains the exterior camouflage.

With Zildjian's approval and assistance, we're going to document the build process in this thread.

Re: Keith's Transit Van

Posted: June 16th, 2016, 8:15 pm
by mjb666
Now, now. Good on you Keith. Looking forward to watching the progress.

Re: Keith's Transit Van

Posted: June 23rd, 2016, 8:37 pm
by TruckCamper
I have converted a van or two before

Www.stealthcamper.Blogspot.com

Can't wait to see your take on the air-conditioning issue.

Andy

Re: Keith's Transit Van

Posted: June 23rd, 2016, 8:52 pm
by keeflester
TruckCamper wrote:I have converted a van or two before

http://Www.stealthcamper.Blogspot.com

Can't wait to see your take on the air-conditioning issue.

Andy
Hi Andy. I'm not sure what you're getting at re- air conditioning issue? It's got aircon already and it works great. The main reason for needing it is so we can travel in the heat without our wee dug getting overheated. We aren't so worried about it being too hot when we're parked up as we won't be out in the open on asphalt baking in the heat. We're more likely to be off the road under a shady tree and sat out under some kind of canopy or awning.

I'm holding off publication of the progress because most of the regulars are away to the Devon meet-up. I shall be getting Zildjian to host the pictures and I shall get in and use the moderator edit facility to caption the pics. Once everybody is back to normal I'll make a start.

I've been looking at your blog already. You've had a lot of mechanical issues to deal with. I'm hoping we have bought a solid van with a good deal of life left in it and won't have to do a shedload of repairs. Time will tell.

Re: Keith's Transit Van

Posted: June 23rd, 2016, 8:59 pm
by TruckCamper
OK I thought the air-conditioning was for while parked.

Looking forward to seeing it come together

Andy

Re: Keith's Transit Van

Posted: June 28th, 2016, 7:28 pm
by zildjian
Image

Image


hébergeur image gratuit
These two are upside down and out of sequence. They show the Kiravan supplied insulation applied to the upper rear wall sections and the joins taped to provide a completed vapour barrier. It's catalogued as 7mm self adhesive foil backed close cell foam. It looks more like 10mm but nobody's complaining. Lol

Re: Keith's Transit Van

Posted: June 28th, 2016, 7:29 pm
by zildjian
Imagephoto libre

This was the original advert on fleabay. We'd been looking for the exact combination for some months. It had to have a/c for driving in southern Europe with a dog in the van. It had to be AWD because we're not ready to give up our adventurous exploits, summer, winter, snow, forest roads etc etc. It had to be short wheelbase because there's nothing worse than trying to thread a giant van through twisty roads and forest tracks.

We scored a bonus or two. It has rear side windows so we don't need to fit any and can maintain the stealthy look. It has a 140PS engine, so it WILL pull the skin off a rice pudding. It also has cruise control, till you've had it, you'll never know how useful it can be.

It was a tad expensive, but you can't take it with you.

Re: Keith's Transit Van

Posted: June 28th, 2016, 7:29 pm
by zildjian
Image


Using the principle off mass damping, and because I had some, I applied Flashband to the major flat(ish) panels. This may or may not have been a good idea, but it seemed good at the time. I can report hearing a difference, but that's not very objective. YMMV.

Re: Keith's Transit Van

Posted: June 28th, 2016, 7:29 pm
by zildjian
Imagehebergeur image

picture of the Kingspan going in to the ceiling spaces. I also screwed a batten into each ✖-beam to provide a fixing for the ceiling.


Imagehebergeur image

Close cell foam matting sub-floor. I put some long battens at intervals to provide fixings for the floor. The foam was stuck down with spray adhesive. Most fiddly was cutting thin strips to stick into the gaps between the ripples in the metal floor so that the sub-floor would sit level.

Re: Keith's Transit Van

Posted: June 28th, 2016, 7:30 pm
by zildjian
ImageHébergeur d'images


Imageimage a telecharger gratuitement

Lower wall section, out of This is the Kiravan insulation applied and joins taped as before.

Wall coverings going in. 8mm V lining. AKA tongue and groove. From b and q. I got my Wednesday pensioners' discount and quite liked the price. I chose this because my design brief from Kathy was rustic and wood and NOT plywood. And it's very much lighter in weight than regular v lining from my builders supplier.