Hello, newbie interested in a mini camper van conversion

Hello,

My name is Rich I'm 27 and from West Yorkshire and I've recently started doing research into the possibility of acquiring/converting a mini van into a weekend camper. My girlfriend and I enjoy camping (tents) and have done for the past 8 years, so I think a little Suzuiki Carry or Daihatsu Hijet would be a quirky little thing for us to enjoy on a budget (I hope it would be big enough for us). We also have a Border Terrier who will be joining us on our next trip. I'm a keen mountain biker so generally enjoy the great outdoors. I work as a computer programmer so enjoy any escape from the desk life that I can get! (If anyone needs any free computer assistance feel free to PM me, I've already learnt so much on this forum over the past few days, I feel I should give something back.)

I think the idea is probably a little crazy as other than changing brakes, induction and basic maintenance on my current car I don't know a great deal about engines.. although I am very willing to learn. We currently own a 2002 Honda CRV and a 2006 Honda Civic. I've modified the civic quite a bit internally (general electrics, camera installations, video input boxes etc) and externally (full honda body kit) and I'm comfortable woodworking as I'm always doing something to the house, so hope some the skills learnt would help with a mini van conversion. My father is very good with cars but I don't think the prospect interests him although I'm sure he would lend a hand if I was to get myself into a mess.

Am I absolutely crazy even thinking of doing this given my lack of knowledge? (I guess we all have to start somewhere). I just feel before I have any kids (probably a few years off yet) I should at least give the project a try. If I don't do it now I probably never will.

Do you think the Carry Van or Hijet are good choices? Which would you choose? how much realistically should I look to pay for a starter Van? I'm not sure which of the Hijet and Carry van are cheaper and easier to maintain? Which is better on fuel economy?

Like most these days I have limited funds so I am happy to start with something very basic, hence why I would be looking to start with a basic van and convert it myself.

Thanks for reading my ramblings.

Rich

Welcome
I reckon folks on here will recommend the Hijet.....
Go for it, whats the worst that can happen........?

Hijets can sleep 2. Though not if youre just friends. Its cosy.
Buy the best Hijet you can, there are some shitters out there but good ones are available. May even be worth looking out for a factory conversion( or do as I do and just chuck an airbed in the back.!


By the way, who is Steamy Dave and Alan Birt?
Am i.missing summat?

thanks for the welcome.
which is the best engine variant of the hijet?

Logi wrote:
By the way, who is Steamy Dave and Alan Birt?
Am i.missing summat?

sorry that was a bit of a fail, they were posts from users I was reading on the suzuiki4u forum ... I've edited my original post to avoid further confusion

Being extremely biased towards Romahomes if you dont have a lot of time or practical experience then a Demountable Romahome body on a Hi- Jet ( Suzuki or Bedford is a swear word on this site ) is the answer.

You will need a Hi-Jet Pick up and look for an ex Honda Romahome body which can be bought for as little as£250 usually .

Once you have made the fitting alterations ( which is pretty easy ) the Body can be taken off of the pick-up in ten minutes and put back on in 15mins.
they have a sink and water system in them. gas cooker and often a 3 way Fridge. two single beds or a double bed, 12volt lighting and a mains hook-up, and LOADS of storage under the seats too.
Basically everything you need for a weekend or a week away and when you get home ten minutes and you have your pick up back for normal transport.
so long as you can manage with a pickup ---- or leave the body on.
I wouldnt want to be without my Romahomes.
I have just sold an 04 plate one but have got 5 more left and a large stock of spares too; I love them to bits.

It may be the way forward for you if you dont have a lot of spare time.

Also there is plenty of room in the Luton above the cab for living quarters for your Pooch to.

Thanks for the detailed response woody, I do like the idea of the romahome. The problem would be be not having anywhere to store the body once removed off the van and I think it may be too high to leave on and parked on my driveway space as its in front of the house.

As you can see I am a BIT biased about Roma's having worked for them for two years and got completely hooked on them.
They are like a TARDIS inside but Barry Stimson who has designed every model of the Romahomes you see on the road didnt quite get to grips with the concept of making the Demountable bodies the size of a Police Box on the outside so you could park it it your Garden.

I had the privelige of work along side Barry about 6 years ago. The guy is a Genius. Some of the Toys he has built are amazing. I do have some pictures to put on this site --- but thats a standing joke at the moment--- I cant get the hang of uploading the piccies. I hate getting old. Mind you you will find that Dear Old Logi at 77 is a great wit and has the computer skills of a 21 year old.

Anyway, we have a fantastic crowd of our own Genius's on this site with great ideas for building campers so be advised by them and also share your ideas with all of us.

And sorry-- very rude of me ---Welcome to the Micro Van Owners Club.
Should have done that first. See old age again. The rust has well and truly set in -- big end are knocking and the oil -pump aint working too well either. Regards Woody.

woody50 wrote:As you can see I am a BIT biased about Roma's having worked for them for two years and got completely hooked on them.
They are like a TARDIS inside but Barry Stimson who has designed every model of the Romahomes you see on the road didnt quite get to grips with the concept of making the Demountable bodies the size of a Police Box on the outside so you could park it it your Garden.

I had the privelige of work along side Barry about 6 years ago. The guy is a Genius. Some of the Toys he has built are amazing. I do have some pictures to put on this site --- but thats a standing joke at the moment--- I cant get the hang of uploading the piccies. I hate getting old. Mind you you will find that Dear Old Logi at 77 is a great wit and has the computer skills of a 21 year old.

Anyway, we have a fantastic crowd of our own Genius's on this site with great ideas for building campers so be advised by them and also share your ideas with all of us.

And sorry-- very rude of me ---Welcome to the Micro Van Owners Club.
Should have done that first. See old age again. The rust has well and truly set in -- big end are knocking and the oil -pump aint working too well either. Regards Woody.

thanks for the welcome woody! sounds like you've got a nice collection! would love to see the pics, you can always e-mail them to me and I'll upload them if you if you like?

can I ask what the general feedback on the LPG vans are? where is the extra tank located? ie. will it use up valuable camper conversion space?

I've just see a van come up that I'm interested in and it happens to be LPG, I know its a nice cost saving on fuel but at the same time I don't want to loose loads of space and add an extra complication to the engine if its not worth the benefits..

thanks

I have got six Hi-jets with LPG and they are all the Prins system. The tank is located on the drivers side midway on the chassis on the Pickups and at the rear on the vans and MPV's which means you lose the spare wheel storage.

You dont lose any storage space on the pickups as spare is in the normal place but on the vans it means you have to find room inside for the spare.

I run on LPG most of the time as it saves dosh but there are only three garages on the whole of the Isle of Wight that sell it and they are at the top of the Island and I live at the bottom of the Island so I only top up if I am heading to Newport or Ryde.

The only drawback is finding anyone on the Island that knows anything about LPG systems. I would imagine on the mainland the situation would be a lot better.
As far as I am concerned I would buy an LPG every time-- but everyone has different experience to tell so obviously it up to you which to go for.

If the LPG does give problems --you can still use the petrol.
For me its a no contest--- LPG every time and they always fetch more money and sell quicker in my experience.

Thank you also for the kind offer of emailing my pictures. Logi has very kindly bowed to my request to do the same. It takes so damn long to download the piccies on here for some reason-- but I will get round to it very soon especially as I am in such a good mood as I sold an 04 plate Hi-Jet Romahome on Wednesday for stupendous money. Regards Woody.

Hi, I have a romahome body on a hijet pick up... once mounted on the flat bed they are 7ft 3 tall.. well mine is to the highest point anyway...

and once mounted I only take it off if I have to ..

Hi Rich,

I picked up my Hijet last month for exactly the same reason as you, as a querky weekend camper I took it out at the weekend round the yorkshire dales and it was fantastic. Mines the petrol MPV but I took the seats out to make room for a mattress in the back (which was just enough for me and my girlfriend (6ft and 5ft).

I'm going to be building a rock and roll bed in the back (I luckily have a mate whos going to teach me how to weld), which folds back up into a seat so I can still give mates lifts etc. but could also fold flat to load bikes into. I'm also probably going to build a removable kitchen unit for the back but doubt I'm going to go for a full on camper (fixed gas/water supply etc), though I have found an awesome pop up tent that acts as an awning/living space/kitchen for the van


I'm going to be uploading more pics of the van once I get some more stuff done to it but I'm happy to discuss ideas etc, also I'm also in West Yorks (Leeds) so your welcome to have a gander at the van if you like

Hi Matt,
Sounds great, I've continued to do research and was starting to think the hijet might not be big enough for me as I'd often want to have a few mates and bikes in the van so I'd be interested to see how you get on with the folding bed etc. my concern is it getting really grubby when it's used to carry the bikes etc. the rack on our Honda crv is such a pain to secure the bikes to. Maybe there is something easier for the hijet.

I'm just not sure how easy it will be able to switch the hijet from camper to bike transporter without it getting into a state if that makes sense.. Although this will probably be a problem for most vans... I'm just thinking out loud here..

Cheers

My good friend is into down hilling big time, spends every free moment outside of work either digging/building runs or riding. All year round, in snow, rain, wind - the lot. Even goes on biking holidays to places than run uplift services. Proper healthy machine of a guy - fearless too when it comes to mountain bikes (maybe just stupid actually)

He quite often drives all over the country with him plus two mates and 3 serious bikes in his motor.

He's been using a Seat Alhambra / Ford Galaxy / VW Sharan people carrier with all but one seat in the back removed. Comfy on long runs, plenty of space, good on fuel.

Really its 2 bikes max in a hijet unless you want to loosen the handle bars and have them rubbing against each other. You could pack more in but you couldn't get any more than two of you in the front anyway.

Bike racks etc just aren't secure enough for expensive mountain bikes as they have a nasty habit of getting pinched, even just while you go for a quick pee at service station. They need to be inside the vehicle or a box trailer.

Welcome Brungle you can get three bikes in comfortably if you take the front wheels off two first in the back of a MPV with one seat left in so carrying three to ride said bikes with plenty of room for your gear last year the Missus and me with the child went off for a week away like that although not camping. However a bit of inginuity goes a long way in camper conversions and you won't sleep three unless your very lucky and/or very good friends.

Cheers Rich useful to know

well we ended up stumbling across a Nissan Serena MPV and are underway with the conversion, I've started a blog about it. click here to read it

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Good choice! I will follow your blog.

Hi Rich. Just joined this site a while ago as im going to be purchasing a hijet or some such in the next few weeks and building it into a camper/ surf wagon. Had a look at your blog  and wanted to say what a great job youve done so far! Ive been thinking for a while about all of the work ill have to do to convert either a van or mpv into a comfortable and practical sleeper. Its nice to see someone document and explain the process as they convert their own van. Will be looking for tips off your blog in the upcoming weeks. Also, wondered if you could maybe do a post or page with links to all of the website or companies you bought carpet etc off. Cheers!

thanks mate. I've been suprised really, I've had loads of good feedback from everyone I've shown it to. I've enjoyed the project so far although be warned it does take up a lot of time.

Regarding the Hijets they look like a great little van but having started the build on our Serena I'd say a Hijet is probably too small for more than 1 person if you want some storage too. You are best getting inside the back of a few and seeing what you think.  

Regarding materials, the bubble foil is available from wickers/b&q and is about £15 a roll, same with the recycled bottle stuff. We are currently on our 2nd roll of the foil.

The high temp adhesive came with the carpet which is from a company called MegavanMats
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/170683200176?var=470036899659&ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1439.l2649
ebay worked out cheaper than their own website at the time. This was just the correct amount for our van. There will be cheaper carpet available but trust me its a fiddly job with decent stuff so I can't imagine doing it with the cheapo material and crap adhesive.

Good luck finding something though.

I've been thinking a lot lately about mounting the chair bed to the floor and its a bit of a headache. Ideally I'd like to somehow utilise the factory anchor points but I'm not sure how I'm going to do that I can't weld either...If I want to simply bolt it through the floor I believe I should be using somekind of spreader plate so it doesn't just rip through the floor in a smash.
I'm going to stick the chair/bed back in tonight and see what I can do.. I'll post some pics up of the dilemma perhaps someone on here will have a solution.

Rich

Failed miserably today trying to fix the chair bed into the van... I knew the brackets were a little lightweight but still surprised they bent after putting the bed up and down less than a dozen times. Really depressing day on the van as zero progress made. It took ages to thread these bolts through with the xhaust heat shield getting in the way etc. didn't even get chance to do the front 2 legs as zero access under one of them as fuel tank is there! Major fail.

Help... Where can I buy some heavy duty brackets? Or plates to bodge some together. It's going to be blocks of wood at this rate

Looking at the way you have done the bracket you need to buy a small length of 50 x 50 mm L section angle iron that would be best and cut it into 50mm long bits and offset two holes in the base bit for the floor and invest in a set of rivnuts you can get them off fleabay if you want to use the steel ones you will probably need the setting tool but you may get away with using the nut and stud method of setting I use the alloy ones to repair my wifes market stall and I modified a old pop riviter as it was naff at doing that job but works well as a setter I can post a pick up if you want but it won't be tonight, you can add to the floor strength by putting a plate underneath that way over the fuel tank you only need to drop it far enough to get your hand through to pop it into position.

Thanks mate ill try find some angle iron now. I've read up on rivnuts recently as it happens but was put off with the price of the tool, but after todays headache I think I'll just buy one. This is what I found the other day http://pages.ebay.com/link/?nav=item.view&id=380629010721 as its suitable for steel.

I made this type out of the pop riviter http://www.specialtauto.com/delorean-parts/images/rivnut-tool-kit.jpg
however you can make your own version like these https://www.google.co.uk/search?hl=en&site=imghp&tbm=isch&source=hp&biw=1012&bih=481&q=homemade+rivnut+tool&oq=home+made+rivnut&gs_l=img.1.0.0i10i24.3067.8991.0.10578.16.16.0.0.0.0.410.3756.0j6j4j5j1.16.0...0.0...1ac.1.17.img.Z5urnKgla6g if you use the things regular then a tool for the job is essential but for a one off sometimes a lashed up tool is all thats needed.

Rivnuts all the way baby - treat yourself to a tool and some bolts to suit the rivnuts etc.

Then you could put rivnuts in the legs, and the floor.

An I would personally put my "L" brackets on the front and back faces of the legs, not the sides. You will have to alter the right angled bends slightly.

I'd go for a normal rivnut gun, thats what I've always used and they are fast and easy.

You'll use it again.

I agree about the L bracket positioning. The reason I had the L bracket to the side was due to access underneath as I was threading a bolt through. Something that wont be an issue with the rivnuts.

time for some online shopping! Where can I get this 50mm iron from?

Cheers all

Although less than ideal, your little L brackets will work okay as long as there is two on every leg and your fixings and placement is all properly lined up.

Ive managed to find a local supplier of 5mm angle steel.
free cutting and they sell offcuts good times

http://www.themetalstore.co.uk/products/metal-offcuts-mild-steel-angle

my dad has managed to get me some 5mm angle steel from work.  (I didn't even know he could get this stuff... shows how much we talk! )

I've ordered by rivnut tool and hopefully will get the bed secured in nicely one night this week. will let you know how it goes 

thanks again all.

A VERY WORTHWHILE TOOL TO GET RICHARD. I WOULD BE LOST WITHOUT MINE. 
IT WILL TAKE A LITTLE BIT OF GETTING USED TO TURNING RATCHET THE RIGHT WAY AND SELECTING THE RIGHT BITS IF ITS THE SAME AS MINE. 
IT WAS PRETTY EXPENSIVE BUT I NEVER BUY CHEAP TOOLS AND THEY LAST
. ONCE YOU HAVE GOT USED TO USING IT YOU WILL FIND LOADS OF USES FOR IT AND WONDER HOW THE HELL YOU MANAGED WITHOUT IT ---- BIT LIKE A MOBILE PHONE REALLY--- HOW THE HELL DID WE MANAGE ? I HAVE HAD ONE SINCE 1997 --A MOTOROLA HOUSEBRICK FIRST OFF AND NOW HAVE 5 DIFFERENT PHONES AND NUMBERS. BE TOTALLY LOST WITHOUT THEM.

I must admit I'm not a fan of using the angle grinder especially without a proper vice to secure the steel... anyway we got there in the end with some help from the old man.
The hole on the right bracket is in that position as I re-used the hole from attempt 1. I couldn't mount a bracket at the rear as the bed leg is not vertical.

I'm liking rivnuts  

Bit of black paint over them and they will be sweet!

Well done on your DIY fabrication skills