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.
Swivel seats
Hello, did you put swivel seats in Sherwood in the end? Which ones did you use?
Many thanks
Josh
Inspiring build
I decided to go down the Convoy route, and I will be referring to your guide along the way! Great job. Just starting it this weekend. Exciting. I am only working a few hours a week at the moment, so I’m eager (and naive?) enough to have said I’ll have it done in few weeks :S haha. I would really appreciate it also if I bounced ideas off you using your above email?
Your build
You’re welcome to e-mail me with your ideas, I hope I can be of some assistance to you! As you’ve already seen, the build I did is laid out fairly chronologically and I suppose things like the electrics, insulation, boarding, etc will have to be done in a certain order or you’ll be forever undoing your work! If you’re going the ‘carpet all over the walls’ route, one thing I’d advise right now is to get some decent adhesive. I still haven’t sorted that one and the panels on the back doors are looking particularly tatty now. The final solution for me was to screw little phosphorescent stars to the ceiling and walls just to keep the stuff held up! I do get a kind of child-like kick out of it when it’s dark though.. Anyway, do get in touch if you feel the need and good luck!
Ive decided not to carpet
Ive decided not to carpet line it, but instead leave the ply bare, i found some nice new 5.5mm ply. (I decided not to go for the 3mm ply, following your suggestion regarding fixings, which i thought was a rather good point) It’ll look alright with trim and a lick of paint. Although i may add some phosphorescent stars for the finish!
I must say, as “young vanbuilder” I definitely did underestimate the work at hand! I now realise I should take the time i think it takes to complete a task, and times it by three to compensate for the amount of time I spend stood scratching my head between each task!
Ive insulated and am currently working on the electrics along the length of the van, trying not to get ahead of myself with any wood work (the fun part!).
Ive realised, theres probably a tone of questions Id ask you about the build, but as you know each van and builder is very individual. And unless you were my neighbour and could pop round and point and gesture, your answers would most likely be “it depends what you want from it” no? haha. You pictures and commentary have been a good platform though, thanks!
That’s probably what I would say!
I used carpet to ‘soften’ the interior and add a bit more insulation but that’s just a matter of personal choice. Have you remembered to take pictures of your build? They’re useful as a future reference for locating wires and pipes should the need arise (hopefully not!) and anyway, I’d like to see what you’ve achieved.
I suppose, being a chippy, I found the build easy. There wasn’t too much of anything to do so that I got bored with it. I can appreciate that you may find it frustrating at times! The trick is to take it steady, so you’re going about it the right way. I could’ve done the job quicker but an agonisingly small budget and continual wait for parts put a stop to rapid progress. Then there was my brother messing me about with the paintwork…. I suppose patience really is a virtue!
I’m letting my house out from early September so will be full-timing in my van, which will be the ultimate test of my design I reckon. I’ll probably be heading off to Wales or Devon and Cornwall for some wild-camping, hopefully pick up some work then out to Europe for the winter! Watch it all go the way of most plans though.. Whereabouts do you live? I might find my way along to your place to check out your build and offer what advice I can, if you like. I’ll be taking my tools with me too!
Anyway, good luck with your continued build. I don’t look on this site very often so if you’d like to get in touch you can e-mail me at [email removed].
Amazing!!!
Wow, what a build. By far the best conversion i have seen to date on an ldv convoy. I have just started mine. First job being raising the low roof! Thanks for all the inspiration and detailed accounts of what you have achieved and the problems along the way too. Do you have any plans to the bed? Any suggestion for putting a bed above the driver seat?
well done, truly brilliant build.
Thanks Jase. Raising the roof
Thanks Jase. Raising the roof sounds like a mighty task! I don’t have any plans for the bed (or even the camper for that matter!)but you might be able to figure out what I’ve done from the photo’s. I briefly looked into using the space above the cab as a third bed for a child but preferred to go with storage for bedding, the table and other stuff. I did find out somewhere that there is a weight limit to what it will take but I figured it would still be fit for that purpose (do please check!). I suppose if you’re going down the route for an extra bed then as you’re raising the roof you could incorporate a couple of small windows too?
Great job!
Just had to say how awesome I think your van looks and how much I love all the pics and commentaries. I was up til 4 this morning reading them all!It’s gonna be another three years before I can head off on my travels but will be buying and converting an LDV in the meantime, and you’ve certainly inspired me. Cheers, and keep us updated!
Thanks Lesley
I’m certainly on the last leg of this project with only the solar panel, roof rack, an unexpected oil leak and a malfunctioning Zig unit to sort out…
campervan
Hello
I think you done a good job with what you had in the way of materials. Also you
exsplained in detail the work you were doing which is very important to the novice. I
would like to suggest to you that you should now buy maybe an old ambulance and show
them how its done ?
SD
Thanks for your kind comments
Thanks for your kind comments SD. I can’t deny that it’s been alot of fun to do this project and I’d like to do another one. I don’t think I’ll ask my brother to do the paintwork next time though! Where would I pick up an ambulance?
come on man has it been
come on man has it been painted? show us the pics> jolly good build. tell me about the bike.
I wish..
I can’t tell you how frustrating it is waiting for my brother to extract a digit and get on with it. If it had been up to me I’d be poring over road atlases and skiving off to go out and about. What do you do? That’s family for you. Never again… The bike is another project I did. Essentially a Triumph T110 engine in a BSA A7 frame that I hard-tailed. Custom made exhaust, 2″ overstock forks (front end from a Triumph T140), 16″ rear wheel, 21″ front wheel, billions of pounds worth of chrome. I don’t know if the apes are going to stay. Still, looks pretty huh? I’d like to take it with me on trips but I’ll need to source some more work to fund that. Maybe next year..?
lose the ape hangers.
lose the ape hangers. everything else is cool. i got a bandit 600 with some 750 bits inserted but i got a real hankering for something hard tailed and v-twinned. you must have itchy feet by now. i’m not doing my build for a few years and i’m already wishing i could get away for a bit.
great job there mate. just
great job there mate. just started looking into doing my own conversion. my vehicle of choice is the ldv convoy 2.4l so this info is just what i need. cheers.
yer van
Thanks Kev. It has been alot of fun doing this project and of course I get to travel about in it! It was my first time attempting anything like this and I found it totally absorbing. I think had things gone smoothly (When do they?) I could have had it all done in about 16 weeks. Don’t be put off by that! I’d suggest you get the engine looked at by a pro before you buy anything as I found that the Duratorq’s are prone to the timing chain problems I had with this build. Easy enough to sort out though. If you need any help with your build you can email me at [email removed]. Regards, Chris (truant)
your campervan conversion
your campervan conversion very good work & good ideas, thinking of converting my toyota hiace van I have had the van from new & used it for work since 2002 approaching 140,000 miles it has never let me down, so I figured that it would be a good retirement for it
Bob
many thanks
Thanks Bob. I guess if you’re
Thanks Bob. I guess if you’re going to convert it for holidays and such you’ll dramatically reduce the wear and tear on it so it should last for ages. I’ve finally got the beastie in the spray shop so hopefully won’t be long before I can get the solar panel, etc fitted. Stay tuned!
Build.
Like it fab well done,half way through mine at mow.Like the way you made all the doors match with the blue paint,i will have to do same.Must have every door different, are well back to the build.
Thanks for your comment.
Thanks for your comment. Looks like youv’e got a nice sized vehicle there. Good luck with your conversion!
Well done. Looks great
Well done. Looks great
Thanks Del. I can’t wait to
Thanks Del. I can’t wait to get the thing on the road. Just hope all that Gripfill holds or it’s back to the drawing board…