# Progress sofar (lots of pics)



## nutshot (Jun 24, 2017)

Ive not put this in self build because I`m only doing some bits then its off to a van convertor to do all the real fitting out.

Spayed all panels with gravitex chassis under seal. 




Added space blanket type stuff to roof and on side panels, filled all ribs with recycled insulation from B+Q. topped the sides of with foil covered kingspan .

















Fitted a SWB rhino modular rack so solar panels don`t have to be glued or screwed to the van roof 











Today had the windows tinted, fitted new wheels and tyres and had the bonnet matt black wrapped.































A few more small jobs to do like fitting a light bar etc then a week on Monday its off to be kitted out with furniture with this as a rough idea of the layout :cool1:


----------



## The laird (Jun 24, 2017)

Great if you will keep us up to date esp with pics ,well done mate


----------



## nutshot (Jun 24, 2017)

The laird said:


> Great if you will keep us up to date esp with pics ,well done mate



I`ll be visiting the builder several times a week while the conversion is being done to take pictures so I`ll update the thread in a couple of weeks with how its going


----------



## phillybarbour (Jun 28, 2017)

Coming along nicely, great pics.


----------



## trevskoda (Jun 28, 2017)

Looks good ,i would remove the rear shuter door and panel in with a steel frame and glass fibre panel to which a window could be fitted,good luck with conversion.


----------



## Byronic (Jun 28, 2017)

trevskoda said:


> Looks good ,i would remove the rear shuter door and panel in with a steel frame and glass fibre panel to which a window could be fitted,good luck with conversion.



Just my prefence, no window, (a rear view camera perhaps). Panel in with. just a full width hatch door for under bed access.


----------



## Musketeer (Jun 28, 2017)

great pics is this a 4x4 cant wait to see the finished project :banana:


----------



## nutshot (Jun 28, 2017)

trevskoda said:


> Looks good ,i would remove the rear shuter door and panel in with a steel frame and glass fibre panel to which a window could be fitted,good luck with conversion.



I thought about removing the roller door but its grown on me. I`m having a garage area in the back to store lumpy / dirty things. 
Where the old door hinges attached I`m going to use those holes as mounting points to make a swing out tyre carrier / jerry can rack. That will have to happen at the end of the conversion though as Ive got a lot of working out to do to choose what steel. Needs to be very strong but Ive also got to not go too industrial on the weight. Probably make a steel back bumper too.


----------



## nutshot (Jun 28, 2017)

Musketeer said:


> great pics is this a 4x4 cant wait to see the finished project :banana:



Yes its a 4x4. Should look quite beefy when its done


----------



## Byronic (Jun 28, 2017)

How are you going to insulate the roller shutter particularly in the bed area? If you fit a pair of  the original barn door hinges you could mount your spare wheel frame from that, it would be a bit tricky to fix the latch/lock point to a roller door though.


----------



## brucews (Jun 28, 2017)

Hi Nutshot, looks good and we will be keen to see how you progress with the roller shutter back end, it's an interesting concept.  Looks like you have the long or medium length wing mirrors, and I would suggest that the short version are less vulnerable and still give a good view on a PVC.
Keep us posted.:cool1:


----------



## nutshot (Jun 28, 2017)

Byronic said:


> How are you going to insulate the roller shutter particularly in the bed area? If you fit a pair of  the original barn door hinges you could mount your spare wheel frame from that, it would be a bit tricky to fix the latch/lock point to a roller door though.



The back door isn`t going to be insulated. The insulation will go into the bed frame boarding so hopefully a warm living area and the garage bit I don`t care if its cold.

I`m going to make hinges from scratch. I think it will be easier than trying to adapt original door hinges as they are cast so won`t be as easy to weld to as mild steel, Plus if I make them I can do them how I want with travel stops etc.


----------



## nutshot (Jun 28, 2017)

brucews said:


> Hi Nutshot, looks good and we will be keen to see how you progress with the roller shutter back end, it's an interesting concept.  Looks like you have the long or medium length wing mirrors, and I would suggest that the short version are less vulnerable and still give a good view on a PVC.
> Keep us posted.:cool1:



I think the roller will make it look different. Originally the van was a fire service mountain rescue vehicle so the door is industrial quality. Should look different at leased and by the time the tyre rack is made not a lot will be visible.
I`ll have a look for alternate wing mirrors. I didn`t know there were different types.


----------



## Debs (Jun 28, 2017)

Fantastic, another one to join the RED brigade....proper colour for a van, just curious about the bonnet wrap, how will it stand up to stone chips etc, wouldn't mind doing that to my van.:goodluck:


----------



## Wooie1958 (Jun 28, 2017)

Debs said:


> just curious about the bonnet wrap, how will it stand up to stone chips etc, wouldn't mind doing that to my van.:goodluck:




I was just thinking exactly the same     :idea:      the bonnet on mine needs something as it`s riddled with stone chips and starting to show it`s age      :mad2:


----------



## nutshot (Jun 28, 2017)

Debs said:


> Fantastic, another one to join the RED brigade....proper colour for a van, just curious about the bonnet wrap, how will it stand up to stone chips etc, wouldn't mind doing that to my van.:goodluck:



I had the wrap just for that reason. The wrapper said it will help protect the paint but if I still find it an issue there is some more rubbery clear stuff he can add which is designed just for that purpose. He said its very expensive compared to a colour wrap and can ether go straight over paintwork or on top of a colour wrap. See how this lasts and if its not tough enough I`ll get it re done with the clear on top. 

Wooie, one thing to remember with wrapping is it will show all defects the bonnet may have. So if you have a lot of deep chips you would have to fill them first if you want it to look great


----------



## nutshot (Jul 9, 2017)

Added led light bar to the back , some number plate lights and some side lights to the roof rack. 

I also swapped all the pics off my first post from photobucket to imgur as photobucket are knobs and locked all my linked pics unless I pay . Ball bags 
















Van was dropped off at Vanamize last Tuesday . They ordered some of the stuff to fill it so hopefully thats arrived now and I can get some pics of the conversion in progress this week


----------



## harrow (Jul 9, 2017)

nutshot said:


> I think the roller will make it look different. Originally the van was a fire service mountain rescue vehicle so the door is industrial quality. Should look different at leased and by the time the tyre rack is made not a lot will be visible.
> I`ll have a look for alternate wing mirrors. I didn`t know there were different types.



I did think that it was an ex royal mail van, but then it did not have enough dents in it :lol-049::lol-049::lol-049:


----------



## nutshot (Jul 9, 2017)

harrow said:


> I did think that it was an ex royal mail van, but then it did not have enough dents in it :lol-049::lol-049::lol-049:



I have a daily royal mail collection so hat made me laugh :lol-049: I think to be a royal mail driver they only employ people who took 20 goes to pass there test :lol-053:


----------



## nutshot (Jul 13, 2017)

Not super exciting but work has started.

Some wiring run and some paneling attached.


----------



## Wooie1958 (Jul 13, 2017)

nutshot said:


> Wooie, one thing to remember with wrapping is it will show all defects the bonnet may have. So if you have a lot of deep chips you would have to fill them first if you want it to look great




I suspected that might be the case     :hammer:      there`s nothing major and no rust anywhere just quite a lot of tiny stone chips     :sad:

Does it cut and seal around the windscreen washers OK ?


----------



## nutshot (Jul 13, 2017)

Wooie1958 said:


> I suspected that might be the case     :hammer:      there`s nothing major and no rust anywhere just quite a lot of tiny stone chips     :sad:
> 
> Does it cut and seal around the windscreen washers OK ?



I`d just blob some paint into the chips and wet and dry them flat first. If you go to a decent motor factor/paint shop they can mix you some colour matching touch up for cheap. Then it won`t look a balls up if you remove the wrap later on.

On my bonnet they removed the plastic grill and went behind it. For the bonnet badge it was a pain to get it off so they cut round it and it looks perfect. I suppose results can vary depending on who you use. Best to check reviews or get recommendations for someone as I could start a wrapping business tomorrow as its low outlay but I havn`t got a clue how to do it so my work would be crap  I guess there will be loads of cowboys who see it as easy money. 

I used this place Auto Tinting . Came recommended and they were good and fair prices for the tints and the wrapping.


----------



## nutshot (Jul 29, 2017)

Still not at the exciting stage yet , Wood for furniture is hopefully arriving next week so it should start to take shape fairly quickly then 

Floor fitted and walls carpeted







Ceiling boarded with 9mm ply and carpeted . Roof vent also fitted.






Floor has also been covered in hospital grade vinyl but I forgot to take a picture as I was too busy talking about other details.


----------



## nutshot (Aug 2, 2017)

Woods arrived 

Rick from Vanomize has just sent me these pictures mocking up the furniture layout.


----------



## nutshot (Aug 23, 2017)

Pics so far. 


























Had a phone call this afternoon to say progress is moving quickly now and should be a lot more to see by Friday


----------



## nutshot (Aug 25, 2017)

Its starting to look like a camper van now 

They have done a great job stepping and angling the cabinets to leave as big a gangway as possible. Feels quite roomy


----------



## The laird (Aug 25, 2017)

Looking very nice indeed!


----------



## nutshot (Aug 25, 2017)

Cheers 
I`m super pleased hows its turning out. Just want to get my hands on it now :tongue:


----------



## The laird (Aug 25, 2017)

nutshot said:


> Cheers
> I`m super pleased hows its turning out. Just want to get my hands on it now :tongue:



Yeah you must be gagging to get the use out of it .will be worth it I'm sure and enjoy!


----------



## nutshot (Aug 25, 2017)

My first camper van :dance::dance:


----------



## Deleted member 5816 (Aug 25, 2017)

First Class job keep the photo's coming

Alf


----------



## Debs (Aug 25, 2017)

nutshot said:


> Some nice artwork there, and I don't mean the van.  :bow:


----------



## Deadsfo (Aug 25, 2017)

Spent some time around roller shutters ,my main concern would be noise ,they are the most rattley clanging contraption ,just walk past a closed up one on a shop and give it a bit of a shove and push,very noisey


----------



## Liquidroofrv (Aug 30, 2017)

Great pics! I really enjoy your sharing. Thanks


----------



## slider (Sep 18, 2017)

Great to see a conversion from start to finish. Thanks for posting Nutshot you must be so pleased loverly job. Also thanks for advise given on the bonnet wrap "fill in chips" will come in handy if I get mine done, will do a bit more research first.


----------



## brucews (Sep 19, 2017)

Impressive so far.....


----------

