Normally we go camping , which now have a large 8 man 6m x 4m tent, though as I want to get back into my photography especially landscape photography I though i would get a car that could be converted into a small camper van, just for those 1 or 2 nights away.
As this is a idea and dint want to spend that much i brought Peugeot partner, Quicksilver model. That’s the one with the sunroofs so lets in lots of light also some compartments at the top. The car is a 2003 model though It’s got a fair bit of miles on it 142,000 buts its 2.0 litre diesel they can run for absolutely ages. Mechanically it’s fine I’ve got a slight problem with power steering I’ve just got a soft but other than that it’s a nice little car. It only cost me 750 quid. As im doing all the work myself i don’t expect to get over 1500 with everything in.
This article is to accompany the youtube videos i will be putting on showing the progress, as i have a spinal problem I can’t do all the work straight off . but the first video and this articl;e is just about the background and installing the floor and what ideas i have, so either carry on reading or checkout the video below and like, subscribe etc so you don’t miss the follow up videos.
The car was absolutely filthy when I bought it, Basically it was from a cheap garage, they just shift cars which is why I got it cheap. So basically it had to be all cleaned out with all sorts of spray, literally everything to get it cleaned. But was worth it as looks great now.
After it had been cleaned. The first thing I did was got up the old carpet, while the seats had come out first, as we was cleaning it, After getting the carpet up, I then taken out any of the fixings that were on the floor pan of the back of the car. I will be keeping the smaller back seat so this can be fitted back in if need 3 seats . It did take me a while to get it because unfortunately, I have problems with my hands. And as you may see through this video I have trouble gripping things and everything else I mean the whole lot took me a day or two to actually get done.
The one thing I wanted to make sure was about insulation to keep it warm, whether it’s cold, or in the winter, as at the moment would probably go a diesel heater in the end, but not at the moment it is just a basic thing so the main thing was is on the floor plan there’s ridges in there, and underneath the old carpet there was the foam. SoI cut that down to strips that would then go between the actual metal ridges, So then just use a bit of spray adhesive to fix those down. So then it gives it a bit more insulation, the thing that will be going on top as well, is the silver insulation roll that you can get, which I bought a massive roll of. So that was then rolled out, and then cut to the size that just goes just by the back seats, the new floor that I’m putting in does go a lot longer than that, but is was the metal that I wanted to make sure I get insulated. Eventually the ceiling, and then the sides will be insulated.
As around the wheel arches it is uneven shapes I though i would have a go at scribing on scrap bit of wood for a template the for the plywood floor. Now a lot of other vans were using thicker plywood, because of the height and the main thing that we want to get in is actually a portable toilet, that’s permanent in there so the height of the seats is going to be a bit higher. So, I’ve only used 11mm ply, but because it’s on the solid base, you’ve got the foam and everything else, it should be okay. The new floor was actually too wide, so I had to keep going back and chopping a bit off and doing another bit then do another bit. It did take a while, but then the flooring is down. I’ve got the holes where the actual fixings where I can actually bolt down the new floor to the base now so it shouldn’t move.
After i installed the new floor it was then working out the available space for seats and also the kitchen unit which was the hard bit as want to get the size right as others i have seen the kitchen side is large but i want to be able to have a larger bed to sleep 2 if needed. Well will save that for the next video / article i should be posting updates every week or so. Hope you enjoyed reading and watching the videos, and would appreciate if you like, share, subscribe etc.