Waste water tank

We aim to have fresh water stored inside the van so we can see that its clean and refill the container at a tap. The waste water from the sink however (smelly stuff) is to go to an outside tank. I bought a 203 waste tank from CAK and had to return it. Several hours were spent under the van trying to make the tank fit. It was a well engineered complex wedge shaped box that goes in front of the spare wheel. HOWEVER …. The water inlet pipe lines up with the bodywork holding the suspension … or if dropped a little to avoid that, it lines up with the exhaust. Calls to CAK resulted in loads of advice by phone and email but I just could not see how I could get water into the tank from my offside sink without 2 meters of waste pipe holding water as it dipped under the exhaust before entering the tank. That is of course if it did not foul the exhaust and melt as the pipe gets hot … in the end it had to go back. Full refund given. Two other CAK tanks that go under the off side step or skirt were not suitable in my mind as I did not want to chop away vast parts of my under tray to accommodate the tanks.














Plan B then kicks in …search GOOGLE for T5 water
tanks…… but nothing filled me with joy.

Plan C make my own from 5mm PVC sheet and pipe weld ( still an option )

But surprise surprise …. I spotted a possible solution … I am going to try a collapsible water carrier squashed into the bodywork void with tap through under tray. More on that later :)

Leaking windows and delay :(

Things have been rather quiet on the van front of late. I have spent most of my time with tape measures and pencil drawing out the positions for the units while the van was returned to the dealers to sort out the leaking window !.... Yes a T5 with a leaking window! The off side opener was letting in water. The dealer was very good about it and no quibbles they collected the van & filled the tank. First we had a new seal then waited for rain – make sure van parked facing up hill and oops! still coming in. So back goes the van and in goes a new window … wait for rain make sure van parked facing up hill and double ooops !… still coming in … heavy discussion in the house this time. The work could not progress to the first major conversion work …. i.e. cutting a hole in the roof till we were happy with everything & we were unsure if another window would sort it. So – decision made – forget the opener and let’s have a fixed window. We rarely opened that window in previous vans over 8 years so no huge loss. Again – no quibble from the dealer – job done and we are moving again.

While this was going on I applied MAJOR hammering on the credit card buying all sorts of bits and we also took a second trip out to Cannon's Forge at Scotland Farm in Worksop to take a closer look at their Rock ‘n Roll bed. Dave popped one in the van so I could take measurements. We want to put stuff between the drivers’ seat and the fridge so we agreed that we were to have a corner cut out of the foot of the bed (seat) so that we can open the fridge while the bed is pulled out …. Order placed …. And now ready for collection.

Sorting the leak delayed us getting the van to Drive Lodge for the high top roof to be installed. Any way once the window was fixed we had to wait for a slot at Drive Lodge but that’s where the van is right now and should be back in a week then straight off to Worksop for the bed installing and that’s when I need to really get cracking !

Leisure Battery Charger & Yoga

So this is the bit where I describe the installation of the Voltage Sensing Relay and other electrical gubbins.

Steve from Raw Components did a bit of electrical magic and combined a VSR and conventional 12v relay to run the fridge while driving. Connecting the bits supplied was a doddle as the instructions were quite clear. The challenge was getting the wires from the engine bay into the body of the van. VW kindly installed undertrays and heat shields under the van to protect the underbody and this served to make it quite a challenge. Non the less after 6 hours of scrabbling about on my back in the gutter, scraping most of the skin off my hands and establishing that the maximum waist size to work under the van without ramps is about 36", the job was almost done.

Bad light stopped play - thats the problem with doing a conversion this time of year, so the final fit comes later this weekend - all I need now is a battery to charge and a fridge to run !

But what about the yoga I hear you exclaim ..... forget yoga for a full budy workout ..... try threading 3x cables through a VW T5 undertray and you will find muscles (and language) you thought you might never need to use!!!

The van has arrived and work starts

17th Oct - shiny new van arrives at the 'ole homestead.



I guess I should have posted sooner - 9 days have passed and I have been very busy ....
Sat - pick up van ..... Sun - drool over van
Mon - started conversion by making a Ply window frame to take blinds - it took ages !
Tues - went shopping for a 10mm star bit for socket set so I can get the rubber floor up
















Wed .... work work till V late (thats not van work ...)
Thurs .... Ditto
Friday & Saturday - made templates for 4 other window frames out of foam card ... this will make it sooooo much easier to cut them out of ply. (Scrounge foam card from supermarkets when they are taking down the Easter, Christmas, special offers etc etc they use it for the big signs hanging from the ceilings - phone the manager first to arrange )

















Sunday - went out to play with Liz 'n Jack

Mon - did the floor ... used laminate floor fibreboard underlay as it claims to have both heat and sound insulative properties. Also its thin and spreads the load for the ply floor, and I want to be able to fit insulation, ply and carpet to fit with the step and boot trim without needing to remove/replace.

Rubber mat used as template so cutting ply & insulation was really quite straight forward.

Total hours on the job so far - 15 hours .... mostly on the first window frame !

Insurance – it pays to shop around

Campervan conversion insurance – oh what fun. I heard that it can be a challenge and it pays to shop around. And why CAMPERVAN insurance ? Well if you don’t make it clear that it’s a conversion and you have a claim then your £400 Fridge, £600 bed, and all those other lovely toys might not only be not covered but also may totally invalidate your claim as an unapproved modification.

.

Before ordering our new van for conversion we called several insurers but eventually settled on Adrian Flux – they also insure tanks and armoured cars if that your game. Why ? Well they not only were a good price at £314 but accept that it’s a van conversion project from day one and don’t have any limits on how long it will take. Whereas, Camping And Caravan Club insurance give you 120 days to get the van converted from the day you take out the policy.

Converted, to the C&C Club, means Windows, Bed, Seating other than cab, Cooking facility, Onboard water, Fire extinguisher and Fixed table and some Storage. No question of quality but all these boxes need to be ticked inside 120 days.

.

Anyway our van is due in a couple of days so we call Adrian Flux only to be told the price has gone up to £575 ! That’s £261 increase in 5 weeks ! So the ring round starts again – now this time C&C Club say yes 120 days but if you have problems or unavoidable delays just let us know and we will extend. The key thing is to send in regular photos to show progress is being made and the price of £340. Quite acceptable and a couple of days later the policy arrives …. Do you read your policy documents ? My wife does bless her thankfully….. Thatcham approved alarm – a requirement ?! There was no mention of that when we took out the policy so back on the phone …. “It has a factory fitted alarm ?? Oh that’s Ok then – I’ll make a note on the policy, no extra charge…” …. Then there is the No Business Use – but sometimes we may need to drive to work in it and that is Business Use, not domestic and leisure – “Oh that’s Ok I’ll add it to the policy – no extra charge ….” Amazing the stuff that excluded and all you have to do is ask.

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To close I have to tell the story of my wife requesting Insurance for Business Use for an earlier campervan….. The bewildered operator on the phone hesitantly asked …. “Er …. and er …. exactly what kind of business do you er, conduct in a campervan madam?”

Then the sun came out and the Electrical Gloom went away !

Thanks to Clive from Sargent and Steve from RAW Components we have a result !!

Voltage Sensing Relay with a conventional relay from RAW and some electro techi advice from Steve will give me a charged up leisure battery and the relay taking a trigger from the VSR lets the fridge operate while the engine is running. No mucking about in the fuse box or cofusticating the engine computer. That and confirmation from Clive that the same signal will do the business to give the engine running signal to the EC155 means it all knits together.

RESULT !!!

D-Day .... thats Delivery Day :) ... and electrical gloom.

So the fun starts on 17th Oct when the van is delivered.

I am currently tearing my hair out trying to decide which way to go on the electrics front.

I fancy the Sargent EC155 Power Supply Unit its neat and tidy all in one box with a nice control panel.

But the tech support line dude says that I cant run it with a Voltage Sensing Relay and I need a traditional relay for the split charge and as a trigger to the EC155 to isolate the camper 12v cuircuits while the engine is running. Now other folks say the traditional relay on a T5 is a pain needing connections to the alternator circuit and into the "engine running" trigger in the van fuse box or somewhere in the wiring loom. Get it wrong and the engine management computer starts to complain.

Roof and doors - Drivelodge & Jasmine

Well we went out for a drive today to visit a couple of the businesses that are going to be part of my conversion.

• Drivelodge
• Jasmine

Now I know I could just hand over the van to a company like Drivelodge for them to do the full bespoke conversion but there is just something special about getting in there and doing it for yourself. It gives you such a sense of involvement and ownership. Anyway - Drivelodge will be putting on the high top, roof light, side windows in the roof and Fiamma awning. The innards I will be doing.

And what about Jasmine ? Well my plan is for Vinyl Wrapped furniture in the van. I first came across this when I saw some pictures of a van with a contoured worktop with rolled edge that looked like granite and it was stunning. A bit more digging and I found these guys The Cutting Room and their prices seemed good but it’s a fair drag to travel from Yorkshire to Cambridge just to look at a door. Then Steve, a fellow converter (and joiner by trade) mentioned Jasmine near Wakefield.

Imagine my surprise as I explained my reason for visiting when Phil said "Oh yes we do them what kind of van? T5? Yes no problem we have a template right here. Would you like it in lightweight ply ?"

So we came away with a pack of swatches so we can choose the finish. First thought are platinum ash or pastel oak, both very pale timber effect with a bluey grey fleck in the grain to tone in with silver paint, and greys and blues in the upholstery department.

Putting your money where your mouth is ....

Well we've gone and done it !

After owning VW AutoSleepers Trident camper vans based on the T4 for over 6 years it was time to upgrade.


We just could not find the van that made us happy. First choice would have been an Auto Sleeper Trident on the T5 like this ....


Sure is smart :)


But we could not find one that was fault free. Leaking windows staining the sliding door fabric trim or the sliding door plastic window surround rubbing the paint work . We travelled miles and miles looking for one over 6 months and eventually decided to build our own.


Now that decision was not instant ... we jumped backwards and forwards (Trident or DIY) many times and while reading forums and many other blogs and build project sagas I slowly costed out the project. The van had to be nearly new (2 years old or 3 max) to make it worthwhile and eventually decided that a new van was the way to go.

So after much more soul searching and looking at more Tridents the order was placed. Currently we are waiting delivery and expect it early October .... then the fun starts !


This will be a record of the fun and games, triumphs and disasters ( for I am sure there will be some) of my camper van conversion project.


Project completion deadline is to holiday in May 2010. Brave I know to commit at such an early date for an out door DIY project just before the dark nights and winter months but hey .... if you dont know where you are going how will you know when you have arrived ?!

So follow me on my journey and who knows you might even give it a go yourself !