Panel van conversion

izwozral

izwozral

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Been looking at various MH's and have come to the conclusion that one does not exist that ticks all our boxes so now thinking of a conversion, however, we don't want a sliding door and whatever van we bought must have access from the front to the hab area. Does such a van exist? We are not interested in a box van or a library bus type vehicle, just a regular Sprinter, Crafter type van at around 21'.
 
When looking at getting a larger van, one thing that we don't like is lack of sliding door, still that aside, for the Ducato you can get a hinged door conversion, but have no idea how well it works. I used to have a link but can't find it now.
 
izwozral said:
Been looking at various MH's and have come to the conclusion that one does not exist that ticks all our boxes so now thinking of a conversion, however, we don't want a sliding door and whatever van we bought must have access from the front to the hab area. Does such a van exist? We are not interested in a box van or a library bus type vehicle, just a regular Sprinter, Crafter type van at around 21'.
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Love my whoosh bang door. I have one on each side of my van and in the warm weather it makes the van very airy when parked up and the breeze blowing through. Compared to a motorhome with a flimsy narrow door I know which I prefer. 👍
 
Ah, if it's no door at all, then you could just permanently fix the side door. Sprinters are a little narrower than our Ducato, but we have no problem moving from front ot rear, often times we get in SLD to enter cab.
 
Vantage motorhomes in Leeds do a Hartal Lux Motorhome Door option on their pvc’s and charge a hefty £4950 for the privilege.
Not 100% sure but I think it involves no sliding door which is replaced with a normal motorhome type door. Bear in mind their range is priced from approx £55,000 to £78,000 so you would need deep pockets !
 
izwozral said:
Been looking at various MH's and have come to the conclusion that one does not exist that ticks all our boxes so now thinking of a conversion, however, we don't want a sliding door and whatever van we bought must have access from the front to the hab area. Does such a van exist? We are not interested in a box van or a library bus type vehicle, just a regular Sprinter, Crafter type van at around 21'.
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I'm in the [slow] process of converting a Ducato L3H2, and I have got SO much useful stuff from this guy:-
www.youtube.com

Van Conversion - FULL BUILD SERIES - Mercedes Sprinter

We are converting a 2008 Mercedes Sprinter into a fully fitted out luxury camper van. Will be covering every aspect of this home build and providing in-depth...
www.youtube.com www.youtube.com
If you take out the bulkhead and swap the double passenger seat for a single I would think access from the cab to the rear would be easy.
 
Whoosh bang on both sides too. As already said, great when it's hot, and when it's really hot I often sleep with both sides and rear door open.

Plenty of options to do away with side sliding door, but they all look a bit strange. Easy enough job to restrict how far the sliding door opens too.

With two single seats in cab, easy enough to walk through.
 
mark61 said:
Whoosh bang on both sides too. As already said, great when it's hot, and when it's really hot I often sleep with both sides and rear door open.

Plenty of options to do away with side sliding door, but they all look a bit strange. Easy enough job to restrict how far the sliding door opens too.

With two single seats in cab, easy enough to walk through.
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Do you ever feel tempted to go out one side (whoosh bang)shut the door . Then back in the other side and repeat ?
Only when people park up close of course
 
You may not be able to do a conversion on a small van anymore,have a look on motorhome builder,the regulations have been changes,it must be high roof 2 windows on one side,sep entrance door ,and awning & rail fitted,it must also look like a camper from outside,ie all dicked up.
So in short the log book may not be changed but only to a van with windows which will have a insurance hike,and boat or channel trip may cost you same as com van.
 
alcam said:
Do you ever feel tempted to go out one side (whoosh bang)shut the door . Then back in the other side and repeat ?
Only when people park up close of course
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Fortunately, I rarely have the problem of people parking to close. 🤣
 
trevskoda said:
You may not be able to do a conversion on a small van anymore,have a look on motorhome builder,the regulations have been changes,it must be high roof 2 windows on one side,sep entrance door ,and awning & rail fitted,it must also look like a camper from outside,ie all dicked up.
So in short the log book may not be changed but only to a van with windows which will have a insurance hike,and boat or channel trip may cost you same as com van.
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Nothing to stop you converting a van (so far) though. Who cares what class they put it in, I certainly couldn't care less. I have also never been charged com rates on a channel crossing, either boat or train, and I've done plenty of crossings. As for insurance, I'm in a high risk "F" area, so all my policies are ridiculous, but my van is cheaper to insure as a camper than it was before/during the conversion, not that there's much in it.
 
I think it would be a nuisance climbing around seats, even when they are facing into hab space. Another thing, have you considered the rust problems on Sprinters/Crafters unless new. Ducato/Boxer/Relay in XLWB are really nice (and square) and the newer models (well from 2006) just don't suffer from rust. More like driving a car than a van. All three makes servicing/parts much cheaper than the legendary costs of Merc/VW. I had an XLWB professionally fitted out Relay - great van, no problems over many 1000's of miles. Prefer my Chausson mh for our purposes now though. my tuppence worth lol Bob
 
bobj808 said:
I think it would be a nuisance climbing around seats, even when they are facing into hab space. Another thing, have you considered the rust problems on Sprinters/Crafters unless new. Ducato/Boxer/Relay in XLWB are really nice (and square) and the newer models (well from 2006) just don't suffer from rust. More like driving a car than a van. All three makes servicing/parts much cheaper than the legendary costs of Merc/VW. I had an XLWB professionally fitted out Relay - great van, no problems over many 1000's of miles. Prefer my Chausson mh for our purposes now though. my tuppence worth lol Bob
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I have two single seats in my T5 and getting into the hab area isn’t an issue. Mercs and VWs are more reliable and hold their value better than Sevel vans. Rust isn’t a problem if maintained properly and if second hand purchase buy with caution as with any van. It’s worth paying a wee bit more for German build quality. IMO.
 
mark61 said:
Nothing to stop you converting a van (so far) though. Who cares what class they put it in, I certainly couldn't care less. I have also never been charged com rates on a channel crossing, either boat or train, and I've done plenty of crossings. As for insurance, I'm in a high risk "F" area, so all my policies are ridiculous, but my van is cheaper to insure as a camper than it was before/during the conversion, not that there's much in it.
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We used to have to show books to what biz we ran to get ins for com van,few years back ,camper £200 , com van £700,things may have changed since i last made a inquiry,hence i bought a big bus which was reged as a camper
 
Could you set it up so that the door is boarded over on the inside such that it forms a shallow (or deep) externally accessed cupboard/locker?

In terms of the front can you just swap the double seat for a single. Remember that even with big thick external covers, the cabs tend to be fairly poor at preventing heat loss.
 
German built quality - don't get me started lol. I bought a 6 month old Crafter with low miles which rotted away in front of my eyes. What a heap of junk. it was only used privately to go to motocross. The plastic rubbing panels vibrate and break the paint causing lot of rust and the rear doors rusted. I look after my motors and when I looked at other rusty German heaps (didn't make me feel better) I realised I was in the same boat. The turbo, alternator and prop shaft bearing carriers had to be replaced under warranty, The only way out, sort of, is to get a metallic one, at least the paint is more than a few microns thick. I spoke to a couple of guys with new Sprinter day vans and they had actually removed the rubbing strips, to be replaced at sale time. The only reason they appear to hold their value is the Main dealers are so greedy. The PSA group vans are way better in my humble opinion. I sold my Relay with over 100,000 miles on it and only had to replace the alternator which was gummed up with stour, probs from dusty mx paddocks. Bob
 
bobj808 said:
German built quality - don't get me started lol. I bought a 6 month old Crafter with low miles which rotted away in front of my eyes. What a heap of junk. it was only used privately to go to motocross. The plastic rubbing panels vibrate and break the paint causing lot of rust and the rear doors rusted. I look after my motors and when I looked at other rusty German heaps (didn't make me feel better) I realised I was in the same boat. The turbo, alternator and prop shaft bearing carriers had to be replaced under warranty, The only way out, sort of, is to get a metallic one, at least the paint is more than a few microns thick. I spoke to a couple of guys with new Sprinter day vans and they had actually removed the rubbing strips, to be replaced at sale time. The only reason they appear to hold their value is the Main dealers are so greedy. The PSA group vans are way better in my humble opinion. I sold my Relay with over 100,000 miles on it and only had to replace the alternator which was gummed up with stour, probs from dusty mx paddocks. Bob
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The van of choice for the majority of race vans are German. As I said if looked after it doesn’t seem to be a problem.
 
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