Welcome to a series of pics showing my Convoy conversion. I used an old caravan (only because I owned one) as a donor as it had all sorts of usable goodies in it. I’ve always liked to travel, both for fun and gainful employment and after a few years in the same place going nowhere (in more than one sense), I found myself yearning to be out and about. Perhaps in a camper? After alot of daydreaming and a little serious research and deliberation, I decided to do an LDV Convoy conversion.
I’ve owned an LDV 200 series van for work over the past 12 years or so and found them to be no better or worse than anything else on the market. A little more ‘spartan’ than most perhaps but hey, it’s a van, right? Besides, any vehicle will give you some grief sooner or later. The advantages of this van, as far as I’m concerned, are that it has a rugged construction and sports a 2.4l Ford engine. Plenty big enough for what I’ve got planned. Ok, it doesn’t look all modern and pretty but from a purely practical point of view it pushes all the right buttons for me.
The van was bought in December ’10 for £800 as a non-runner from a local dealer. It had 47,000 miles on the clock and the reason the engine was stripped down was due to “a rattling in the engine”. Ah. Oh well. Work was started and continued over the winter (-6 deg. some days!) on a seriously tight budget! Fortunately, when I’m working I’m a carpenter so have all the tools I need. Also, my brother owns and runs his own bodywork business here in Wiltshire and allowed me to park the van behind his workshop.
A note to you, young Vanbuilder. I started out with a rough idea of what I wanted to install. Bed, fridge, cooker, storage et al., and loosely planned from there. The style and character of the build was partly dictated by what the caravan would yield in terms of fittings, etc. Bearing in mind that this has been upsetting following drivers since the early eighties, I settled on a retro/hippy/cosy look in the end.
Of course, each custom-built van, which is what we’re about, is going to be just that-built for the user of it. I knew I wanted a bed at the front and it had to be 6 feet long. It could only fit behind the drivers seat. The cooker and fridge were housed in a unit that couldn’t be made any smaller, etc. In essence, after a time, the van designed itself. Apparently, officionado’s of the craft would have it that you start with a drawing and get it all planned out before you start. All well and fine but when I tried it I lost the crayon and the bit of paper blew away somewhere. However, I hope you get some enjoyment/tips/inspiration from my efforts but I take no responsibility whatsoever for any mishaps that you may incur.
Oh yeah, I’ve provisionally called it ‘Sherwood’ because of all the different ‘oaks’ in it! Har de har. Still, that’s budget building for you…enjoy.
Click on the pictures for the info that goes with them.
