VW T4 Van to Camper

[Craig-o]

Quite a few things being done to it quite quickly so figured I'd open up a project thread! Thread on Pugnet but thought I'd stick it on here too!

It's my brothers and it's a 1994 1.9D Transporter, 138k, insulated, lino'd and carpeted rear, recent full respray, and already has had a side window fitted!







And one with Oz and my dad in the back:



First thing he did was lose the shitty mudflaps on the back that were poorly painted. The fuel guage was also a bit dodgy so that was sorted with a bit of solder. Next up was changing the numberplates front and back as the old ones were a bit skanky:



REPRESENTING THE WELSHIES!!! (also changed the screws for new stainless steel ones as the old ones were rusty and fitted new screw caps)

And he also added the obligotary Lei (chosen by his missus):



He's on the lookout for wheels and was bidding on some 19 inch X5 wheels which were cheap until the seller pulled the plug on the listing with 24h to go (they were only on £62 with like a handful of bids so probably thought they weren't going to go for much!)

And he's also purchased a sofabed from Argos to go in the back (lightweight and more easily removable should he need to)....not sure which one he's going to get as he wanted a black one but his missus ordered it and she wanted the zebra effect one lol....we'll see which one she ordered when it arrives!

Next on the list was freshening up the plastics with some satin black paint. The rear handle was more grey than black so that had a quick coat of satin black along with the rear badge:



And he also painted the grills on the front satin black (the bonnet one is on the to do list):



I think it looks better as it breaks the colour up a bit as it was a bit too much with everything white.

Also the exhaust was a bit skanky so he got a cheap chrome tip from Halfords that was on sale which to be fair looks great!:



Next up was a new step protector:



And the headlining trimmed by his missus (not perfect as the pattern doesnt line up well) but looks funkier than the boring plain black he was planning

[4WayDiablo]

People spend far too much money on these things lol
What is a lei?
Looks good though! Cool roof lining

[Craig-o]

A Lei is the Hawaiian flower thing hanging from the mirror. Yeah he's hoping not to spend too much it, its had the expensive stuff done really already when he bought it (respray, window fitted, insulated, plylined and carpeted, etc) so it's just a case of little tidying up bits and kitting the back out

[Dan!]

Good to see the grills black again, deffinately looked odd with everything white. Should be a cool van when its done.

[Craig-o]

Yeah fingers crossed. Although it's developed a problem with the battery now. My brother has rewired a few things up like the clifford alarm and the interior lights, so I think he may have a constant drain on the battery somewhere that he hasn't done properly. So I've disconnected everything he's done while he's in work (lol) and stuck his battery on charge...leave it like that for a bit to see if the battery still keeps draining

[Craig-o]

Started to make the interior units for the back of the van. These are just progress pics and not the finished products obviously...

Bench seat - The lid will lift up and have storage underneath...they seem to be going for a black/red theme inside now as they have made red curtains and got red pillows and what not, so the unit will be painted black and have a red padded seat on top:



He's also fitting cupbaords on the side - basic framework set up (and also his sofa bed which goes up against the back door):



He plans to turn the top half into two cupboard doors and paint the cupboard black, drill the VW symbol in holes in the doors and fit some red leds behind. Still not keen on the idea as I think it will make the van look and feel smaller in the back, especially painted black, but it's his van after all.

Also took the wheel trims off as they looks poop to be fair, and actually looks better just on steel wheels lol:



He's also in 2 minds about taking the decals off the sides of the van.

TO be continued!

[D@wson]

Looks wicked will be defo watching this thread!

[THE_Liam]

Always wanted to do this myself, I love driving vans for some reason. I'd never do it on a T4 though, scene tax on VW vans is shocking! I'd probably just go for an old LDV or Transit

[Craig-o]

Right, bit more work has been done today. Got the benchseat almost finished off...all painted now and we've chucked the seat covers from the dining room chairs on it until he gets the proper foam seat made up and trimmed:



It's actually really comfy when you sit sideways on it and use the side of the van as the back rest, I'm a bit too tall to sit on it normally due to the shape of the bit between the cab and the rear.

And these are the cushions they made for the sofabed....cushions were plain red ones from Ikea but they took the padding out, used tshirt prints to put the VW Symbols on them and filled them with feathers and sewed them back up. Look pretty good to be fair! As you can see the wall unit is still in progress.



That's all for today folks!

[Craig-o]

Always wanted to do this myself, I love driving vans for some reason. I'd never do it on a T4 though, scene tax on VW vans is shocking! I'd probably just go for an old LDV or Transit

You just have to be sensible in how you spend your money. For example, everything he's done so far has only cost him £130 (excluding the cost of the van obviously). He's quite lucky it was lined and insulated in a way and has teh window fitted as it keeps his costs down. He estimates that the van should have cost him well under £3000 altogether by the time its done (van was £2300 and he's only spent £130) He's looking to fit the cupboard and finish it off, get some tidy wheels for it and just little finishing touches then. (Oh, and the new alternator he's had to buy lol)....so not too bad altogether, and once finished I know if he wanted he'd be able to sell it for well over the £3000 he would have spent.

[THE_Liam]

It's not the price of the conversion mate, it's the price of the van itself, T4's are hugely expensive compared to a Transit for example...

What's the plan for kitchen units?

[Craig-o]

It's not the price of the conversion mate, it's the price of the van itself, T4's are hugely expensive compared to a Transit for example...

What's the plan for kitchen units?

Yeah the van itself was quite expenisve, but its in tip top condition with no rust at all...and it would have probably cost more to buy a transit and get rid of the rust, respray it, plyline it, insulate it and stick a window in than what he paid for the T4. He's not sure about any cooking units yet, he's thinking about just taking a camping gas stove and using that or good ol' BBQs as he doesn't want a sink or anything in it, just wants to keep it simple

[Craig-o]

Bit more progress on the cupboard today, bit awkward when we both work full time so only have the evenings to do anything really. As he is so set on the furniture being black (which I dont like) I managed to convince him to paint the inside of it red for a bit of a contrast. This was it just after being painted in the house:



I HATE the fact the hinges are chrome and on the outside of the unit....would have looked so much better hidden internally, but, it's his van ultimately and he thought they looked pretty cool that way. We still havn't done the detailing on the doors yet or fitted the handles but fitted back into the van anyway for now so (a) it wont be in the middle of the living room anymore and (b) the doors can just be removed to do that. This is it back in the van:





(those bloody hinges!!! lol)



And the bench seat/storage box....and don't worry he will be painting all the framework inside too!:



It's coming together well, and looks pretty good considering it's all home made from scratch (not that I'm biased or anything being I helped build it lol :whistling: ) P

C+C welcome

[THE_Liam]

That's neat work mate. Is your brother a joiner?

[Craig-o]

Nope he works in Bums and Queers, and I used to work for Focus DIY, so we're both used to having to build displays and crap like that which helps. We've been doing it together and just basically been measuring everything properly and taking our time, not rushing (getting the the side panels to shape to the side of the van were a nightmare, but worth the effort IMO). He wants to put a matching cupboard on the other side of the van but I don't think there's any need because between the bench seat and the cupboard (which goes down to the wheel arch inside btw so quite deep) there's plenty of storage space. Will just make the back of the van look small then I reckon.

Next plans on the list are to obviously do the detailing on the doors, we're getting some plain black cargo netting from an Army surplus store (much stronger) and attach it to the wall of the van between the bench seat and the cupboard to hold the table top in place and he's got some white LED strips to fit along the roof inside width ways.

Cheers for the positive comments so far

[samass]

looking good! i want a van, ever since i first hired one, always loved driving it. atick a matress in the back and its a camper!!
anyhoo, kudos on the inside, tidy build!

alos, i currently work for Bums & Queers, i LOVE it there! (sarcasm)

[Craig-o]

alos, i currently work for Bums & Queers, i LOVE it there! (sarcasm)

Haha Unlucky.....you'll be there for life! Yeah the sofabed folds out to a 3/4 bed (6 feet by 4 feet iirc)...so not far off a full size double to be fair, which thanks to our super awesome measuring skills falls about 3 inches short of the bench seat when opened out! Should all be tidy for him and his missus to use when it's all done

[Craig-o]

alos, i currently work for Bums & Queers, i LOVE it there! (sarcasm)

Haha Unlucky.....you'll be there for life! Yeah the sofabed folds out to a 3/4 bed (6 feet by 4 feet iirc)...so not far off a full size double to be fair, which thanks to our super awesome measuring skills falls about 3 inches short of the bench seat when opened out! Should all be tidy for him and his missus to use when it's all done

[samass]

alos, i currently work for Bums & Queers, i LOVE it there! (sarcasm)

Haha Unlucky.....you'll be there for life! Yeah the sofabed folds out to a 3/4 bed (6 feet by 4 feet iirc)...so not far off a full size double to be fair, which thanks to our super awesome measuring skills falls about 3 inches short of the bench seat when opened out! Should all be tidy for him and his missus to use when it's all done

i bloody well hope not! i hope to quit as soon as i graduate and get a proper job haha

nice! that so rarely happens to me, getting it all to fit properly!

[Craig-o]

Matching cupboard now fitted to the other side with handles fitted, still needs some finishing off as you can see (touch ups, another coat of paint, magnetic catches for the doors, etc):



He's proud of this but IMO the most POINTLESS "table" in the world lol as it's farrrrr too low, although the rug underneath is pretty funky and matches the headlining in the cab (it's a bathmat lol):



Improvisation is the key!!

Then he's fitted his JD sign and a funky Cocacola bottle opener underneath:



Further plans are to fit two optics on the rears of the cupboards, one of each side for his JD on one side and his missus' vodka on the otherside.

Also arrive today was his LED strip lights for the roof, quite subtle when off as they fit in the joins:



And then in the night, it does actually look really good and lights the back of the van up well at night, but my cameras phone is poop:



Getting there!!

[Craig-o]

Well we diagnosed what we thought was the an alternator fault as the battery just wouldnt hold its charge, turns out there was a broken wire thats all....so tis sorted now and the van is finally in a useable state

[Craig-o]

Little update:

Alternator fault turned out to be a snapped wire. Van now has curtains all round in the back in red and interior is finished, and has been fitted with aeroflats

Also fitted wind deflectors:



And this is what it looks like at the minute after a wash and tcut:





still crying out for some alloys and I've ordered these for his birthday as a surprise which should look great on the front when the bonnet grill has been painted black too:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/VW-T4-TRANSPO ... 4d00964024

[silverzx]

This is really cool mate. Would love to have something like this to bum about in!

[Poodle]

Agreed about it being worth getting one of these over a transit, they really do rust like mad. Looks like a tidy little build, is he going to do something about those wing mirrors?

[Pete]

Big fan of T4's. Needs lows though

[Craig-o]

Yeah lowering is definitely on the cards too, but he doesn't want to go too low as he wants to keep it as useable and practical as possible. And as much as I try, he actually likes the wingmirrors, I imagine that unfortunately they will be staying. I'm dying to get another T4 now....missed one on ebay a few weeks back with a £995 buy it now

[Craig-o]

Little update. Have given the cabin a bit of modernisation and a bit of a freshen up. He's painted all the dash, doorcards and pillars in satin black instead of the usual grey colour, and also did some gloss white highlights. No before pictures but what all the plastics DID look like before (pic is random T4 off Ebay to give you an idea of comparison):




and the finished product in his van:



I love it (apart from the window winder handle) as I think it just really modernises the interior....new carpets help too and you can see the 8ball gearknob. The white handles tie in with the black and white seat colour combo too!

:mrgreen:

[THE_Liam]

Looks well does that! Now VR6 it