cheap citroen relay stealth camper conversion (ongoing)

[Fugg]

Hi folks ill start off by saying i love this forum it has a brilliant friendly community of people here and a wealth of knowledge where rookies like myself can learn a lot!!!



I discovered this site a long time ago when i developed an interest in self build motorhomes gaining tips and ideas about my own self build from the vast gallery of campers here, i was always too busy working and never found enough spare time to commit to a self build instead camping under canvas, however the idea of a conversion has been considered for at least 4 or 5 years now.

Im quite a young lad.... now bored skint and jobless thanks to numbskull bankers who secured my unemployment for 2010! So time is on my side but cash flow is not!
I lack ANY type of diy skills, some of the bigger jobs i was more concerned about and not looking forward to doing have been completed and ive learned a hell of a lot, thanks to wildcamping and other similar sites. No way would this have been possible without all this information, Its only fair that i stake my offering in return.


The van i chose to buy was a citroen relay, (similar to ducato and boxer) ideally a transit wouldve been top choice but the citroen has too many benefits with the design i.e 6ft inside width, dash mounted gear lever, handbrake on the wrong side perfect for swivels etc... I drove many rental citroen relays many years ago when doing delivery work and wasnt a fan of them when comparing to the alternative mk6 transit, the 1.9 without turbo was particularly sluggish.

What i want from my tin tent is space for 2 and a comfy bed, tv, fridge and somewhere to cook, i want it to be stealthy enough that no one knows its a campervan, i want to be able to use as a standard van too, dumping rubbish, b&q runs etc.... i need good fuel economy as it will be used daily for commuting.




on a T plate with 113k it was a cheap one getting change back from £270. it has the elderly but efficent 1.9xud.

shes an old bird whos had a really hard life mainly as a self drive rental van and shes rotting away fast but mechanically A1, mint runner taking me 36 miles per gallon over the last 1200 miles.
the mot is next june so she has a few more tricks up her sleeve yet

Me and the missus have been discussing replacing the van come june with a rust free 2.8, life in the slow lane sucks when you're not touring!!! Because of this, everything i put in the van will need to come out easy i.e carpet lining the van is a no go until we decide whether to save her or scrap her! This van needs quite a bit of welding to the sills, arches and wells


Heres the inside on day 1




like a bomb had went off!!!

and the back, pic was taken as i took on the first 2 jobs, replacing the wiper motor and a broken side door handle (very common with these vans)

cleaning out the back minor rust repair to screwholes on the floor and the wheel well painted the floor with some ronseal radiator paint i had lying around.

Then for insulation i used camping mats on the floor £2 a roll and bagged up rockwool for the sides.

replacement seats come from a 2005 ducato, a snip at £50 for the pair, straight fit. also all the broken plastic bits on the dash replaced with ones from scrapped vans.

 

[Fugg]

The van came ply lined but under the ply discovered a couple clean bits of oem ply, ill make use of these.

I want a fixed widthways bed to maximise the 2.5 metres length i have in the back, being an hgv driver you cant beat the conveniance of pulling into a quiet layby and jumping into a ready made bed. Under the bed will be ample storage accessible from both outside and inside with a door into a crawl space.


These timbers are 70x70 i think off memory

Then the crossbeams are 62x38 timbers, secured with 7 inch long frame screws. I recommend Wickes for wood and advise to steer clear of b&q, i struggled to find a single piece of quality straight timber at b&q on a number of visits

12mm mdf on top, i was going to use 6mm ply but the mdf works out less than half the price and not much heavier, just screwed down for now but may hinge and use gas struts to make a large but shallow storage area in future.

Thanks to wildcamping member Firefox for the tips on building the bed its not identical to his design but the fundamentals are the same when it comes to fixing to the van walls. YouTube - 5. More construction details including bed and lowering of the spare tyre.




Then for the mattress i gave ikea a go but when compared to what i can get online or ebay its quite expensive, I bought a standard double memory foam mattress, measuring 190x140 and 4 inches depth with a density of 65kg/cu.m for £63 on ebay, i cut it down to 182x130 with a breadknive, very easy to cut. It came with a feeble looking white protector sheet so the missus adapted a duvet cover to improve the look a bit! It is very comfortable.

The cabinet construction with 62x38s again, held together with L shaped brakets and long wood screws at each joint.

purchased this 12v fridge online at a place called 'singers outdoors' for 21 quid, holds 5 big bottles of your liking.

incorperated into the cabinet.

Then my best attempt at flush fitting doors using 12mm mdf.

 

[Fugg]

To finish these off i have push button locks to fit and will probably use gloss black vinyl wrap for the doors and fascia.





An ebay auction appeared for a pair of fasp swivels to fit the ducato 94-06, the going rate for these is around £120 each fortunately i got both for £110. (marks caused by gaffer tape)

To fit these swivels to post 02 seats requires a certain amount of modification



These 2 lugs jabbing out need to be cut off and 2 new holes drilled into the runner

Best place for information on fitting these can be found here YouTube - Fiat Ducato Seat Swivel it is an excellent guide!

Next up was some open roof surgery to fit the sky light, On all ducatos and relays theres a sunroof marker just behind the cab, probably the best place for it as the rest of the roof is ribbed, I originally wanted a sunroof to retain the stealthyness factor but found it tough to find one SMALL enough to fit the space, i believe the sunroof is a minibus option.



I chose a fiamma crystal roof vent 40x40 costing £52 on ebay new, The reason i went for this is its transparent allowing some well needed light in.


This job is 10 times easier than i feared, straight cuts arent necessary, with the fiamma vent as long as the hole is somewhere between 39x39 and 43x43 its a winner!





After the cut i glued 4 bits of timber around the opening each measuring about 25 mm thick to the roof.

hahaha yeah the clamps are a set of jump leads!





Then dropped in the top half and sealed up using the same glue stuff i used on the wood frame.

From the inside... 4 screws the inner frame attaches to the outer.

heres the glue/sealant i used, not sikaflex but it has worked just fine.

 

[Fugg]

None of the dashboard lights worked so i checked through all the wiring, still no joy i tried the test lamp on the bulb socket for the headlight switch and it had power going to it, so a little research matching the blown bulbs with ones online resulted in me buying '286' code bulbs and for the clock a single '509t' bulb. 2 bulbs in centre dash, 2 in the o/s dash, 5 in the speedo and 1 for the cig lighter.

The dash bulbs illuminate when the ignition is switched on, probably the reason they had all popped!




I went for blue leds, 10x 286 bulbs cost £3 on ebay and 99p for a couple 509t bulbs.

hardly blazing with light but better than darkness!!!

Also worth a mention is these 2 items i got from justkampers.




thermal screen to fit a ducato 94-02. £25 and Very effective.

Looks silver on the outside.

cup holder shaped to fit the dash, owners of these vans will know how little storage there is in the cab so this is a bonus.

The project is still ongoing and ill update as progress is made. Any questions im more than happy to answer.

 

[ALLERDALECHEF]

looks great .....where's the sea view at?

 

[Admin]

It is nice see self builds and have loads of pictures, I am going to make your first posts articles.

 

[Fugg]

It is nice see self builds and have loads of pictures, I am going to make your first posts articles.

wow! thanks I don't know whether I should be flattered or embarrassed!!!?

Theres loads more pics from the build i've taken some are near duplicates some are pointless! Its kinda trimmed down a little to the interesting bits!

looks great .....where's the sea view at?

Thanks Allerdalechef, some of the pics above were taken in port william, galloway forest and the isle of mull over the last 6 weeks, the one with the beach in the background is on mull near Iona. Lovely island but costs a bomb to get there!

 

[Delboy]

hi
I hope to going to see a Relay campervan tomorrow can you offer any advice what I should be looking for? And how do you get on with been so stealthy and keeping insurance etc happy?

 

[Fugg]

hi
I hope to going to see a Relay campervan tomorrow can you offer any advice what I should be looking for? And how do you get on with been so stealthy and keeping insurance etc happy?

Assuming it is a panel van conversion you are going to look at I would say the top priorities would be to ensure the gearbox changes are smooth (these vans come with notchy gear changes, thats to be expected).
Any crunching, locking in gear or slipping out I would walk away or factor it in to the price, I think its around 400 quid for a recon gearbox for these vans and 200 for the clutch kit.

Give the steering a work out during a test drive aim for a couple 'small' potholes listening out for a clunk from the front end, it is loud and unmistakable, the top strut bearings are good at seizing up on these vans which will get you an mot fail and a costly repair £200+.


check the locks all operate both the pin on the inside and key outside, check the sliding door to see if it shuts flush, if not the runner on the door rail is worn and its a £20 part from the dealer, easy to change though, The sliding door handle is flimsy check its not broke, i paid £30 for a replacement out a scrap yard, I imagine main dealer prices would be that or higher.

Check the wipers and the washers, ive driven several vans with one or the other not working!


And of course give the sills and rear arches a once over for holes.





Well the insurance.......

I got in touch with Adrian Flux and accurately described exactly what i had (a van) and what i wanted to convert to (camper), i described everything im going to install in the build and got a price of £290 with either 3 or 4 months allowed to complete the conversion.

The girl on the phone was REAL pushy with the sell and i said, ''can i phone back tomorrow i need to talk to the lady friend about this'', ''nope this deal needs to be done now'' was her reply. I left it at that as i dont like pushy sales people. Phoned the next day after deciding to go for it, her colleague told me that the quote on my file given the day before was for a motorhome! not for a conversion like i was told!!! I got a new quote of £600 which WAS accurate and i refused! What a shambles!!!

Short of options I went down the route of normal van cover and got covered for £300 fully comp on a second policy paying in monthly instalments, far from ideal but this means the van is legal to drive which is all im after for the moment. If that changes then I can cancel the remainder of the policy for £50 and get more relevant cover.

Beware of Adrian Flux!

i think its insurance group 16 for the 1.9 not sure about the others.

 

[Alzi1967]

Some of them pics look like Mull to me pic 4 looks like fishnish picnic site to me !

 

[Delboy]

I went down the route of normal van cover

What about getting the V5 changed to LGP (light goods personal), I assume that would be OK?

 

[Fugg]

What about getting the V5 changed to LGP (light goods personal), I assume that would be OK?

Currently on the log book it is PLG and was like that when i bought it, If it were a different category i.e LCV, I would wait until the conversion is finished then send off pics of the conversion to dvla to reclassify the body type to motorhome, I am assuming that would change the tax band to PLG. In my case it might be a waste of time for me to go that route until i know what the future plans are for this van.

Of course there are more knowledgeable folks around who can give more informed advice about reclassifying

Some of them pics look like Mull to me pic 4 looks like fishnish picnic site to me !

Spot on! Nice quiet place to go if you can fit under the barrier!



Not far from there....

 

[Firefox]

Thanks for the mention!

I thought I recognised those brackets

It looks a great job so far, you're progressing really well.

 

[LilacStar]

Hi Fugg,

Nice pics of the van. We have the same van converted to a camper and want to do the same with the front bench seat - take it out and replace with a single swivel seat. Where did you get your two seats for £50? that sounds really cheap.

Thanks & good luck with the ongoing conversion.

 

[Firefox]

That is really cheap for swivel seats. It took me ages to find a good condition single seat for my Movano. Cost me over £100 as I remember and another £150 for the swivel.

The problem is the VW are much more popular conversion vehicles than the Master/Movano so there are many less swivels made.

I tried really hard at scrapyards/ebay, but you have to get lucky, as every place I phoned had sold it already so in the end I had to pay a higher price, as it was holding me up waiting around for a cheap one.

 

[Fugg]

Sorry for the delay in responding, Ive spent the last few weeks touring Lewis and Uist.

Thanks for the mention!

I thought I recognised those brackets

It looks a great job so far, you're progressing really well.

cheers Firefox. and thanks for the vids you uploaded. They have provided me with a lot of inspiration for my project.

Hi Fugg,

Nice pics of the van. We have the same van converted to a camper and want to do the same with the front bench seat - take it out and replace with a single swivel seat. Where did you get your two seats for £50? that sounds really cheap.

Thanks & good luck with the ongoing conversion.

I got lucky with the seats, I was getting parts for the van from a local van hire company one of the staff told me they had a ducato delivered with a single passenger seat which they werent happy with, Fiat then delivered a bench seat without taking the single seat away.
I told him i'd be interested if he threw in a matching driver seat. I struggled to hold a straight face when he asked for £50 for the pair. I would've easily paid 3 times that amount taking into account the 'average' condition of the drivers seat.

I think it is possible to use a driver seat on the passenger side the only part you would require would be an r/h armrest, The seat belt clasp is easily interchangable between left and right by removing a couple bolts.


E2A: This website is a useful resource for pricing parts and getting part numbers...

http://eper.fiatforum.com/eper/navi?KEY=STARTUP&WINDOW_ID=1&GUI_LANG=3&LANGUAGE=3&COUNTRY=012&DRIVE=D&RMODE=

 

[Randonneur]

For anyone looking for swivel seats try ebay or breakers for people carrier seats. We got ours from a chap who was breaking his peugeot 806. Driver and passenger swivel seats with electric adjustment and heaters in them for £75 off ebay.

Most peugeot/citroen and I think ford/volkswagen people carriers have swivel seats in them and they tend to be lower than standard van swivels fitted as extras.

 

[Firefox]

Actually I just used the driver's side seat on the passenger seat with armrest as is on the "wrong side"

I could swap the armrest over but it requires some welding/mods and it swivels fine with the armrest on the left. So it's a low priority task for me.

You then have a double armrest when facing the front, but you can fold the seat one up out the way, and then use the door mounted one.

 

[hillwalker]

Cracking post mate , it's amazing what you can do with a van , if you know how ..
i like ur bed set up ..

 

[Fugg]

Cracking post mate , it's amazing what you can do with a van , if you know how ..
i like ur bed set up ..

cheers mate, to be honest i know very little when it comes to any kind of diy work, most of the stuff i done on the van i seen online.


Little update to the conversion seeing as a year has passed since starting. I got so far with the van then came to the stark realisation that quite a bit of welding was needed for its 2011 mot. we decided in the spring that rather than spend 500 plus getting rid of the corrosion it would be wiser to buy a clean looking van. Thats what ive done, the new van is a 2001 citroen relay white and swb, much like the other van but looks the business. a few little dinks and dents but only 50k miles and cost 800 quid. came with a short mot and little tax but after 3 months of looking for the right van this one is as good as i can get up here. passed the mot first time no advisories and drives like its just out the wrapper.

at the mo im camping near glentrool loving the glorious weather, the net connection is poor, ill post up pics later in the week when i get back home.