Campervan Build - Not My Work

[Druid]

Rather nice. To posh for me but happy new van day

Scum with class me. Scabby old convoy mixing it up with the posh kids

Very nice, but too posh for me too. Self built Crafter banished to the far corner of the campsite

[Felix]

Very nice, but too posh for me too. Self built Crafter banished to the far corner of the campsite

I joined the Caravan club and booked a few sites for last month in advanced. Got a few looks of disapproval when i turned up in my old banger

Ill give it a lick of paint next spring and clean it up a bit before the next outing.

[Taipan]

Wow! That's really nice! Happy travels...

[Yambo]

That's mighty impressive Pirahna, great job, superb workmanship. I hope you get loads of enjoyment out of the van and the travelling.

I appreciate your starting out way out west but if you eventually come this way, Turkey has some fantastic sights to see, great hospitality and free camping pretty much everywhere. I toured a bit a few years ago with my friend Mo in her Peugeot Boxer and we stopped wherever the mood took us. It would be great to see you here and you'd be very welcome.

Safe and enjoyable travels!

[Pirahna]

I appreciate your starting out way out west but if you eventually come this way, Turkey has some fantastic sights to see, great hospitality and free camping pretty much everywhere. I toured a bit a few years ago with my friend Mo in her Peugeot Boxer and we stopped wherever the mood took us. It would be great to see you here and you'd be very welcome.

Be careful what you wish for, Turkey is high up the list of places to visit.

[Count Steer]

I appreciate your starting out way out west but if you eventually come this way, Turkey has some fantastic sights to see, great hospitality and free camping pretty much everywhere. I toured a bit a few years ago with my friend Mo in her Peugeot Boxer and we stopped wherever the mood took us. It would be great to see you here and you'd be very welcome.

Be careful what you wish for, Turkey is high up the list of places to visit.

How is the design working out on the 'shakedown' trip?

Interested to hear what's worked or

Cheers.

[Pirahna]

How is the design working out on the 'shakedown' trip?

Interested to hear what's worked or

Cheers.

We've been full time in the van since the end of November. The first three weeks were spent getting ourselves sorted out and staying on the campsite in Hertford, then Ireland for a couple of weeks over Xmas and New Year then ferry from Roslare to Bilbao.

First off, what would I change? Not much is the answer. The first thing is the compromise around the seating layout. When I bought the van I specced the funky handbrake that falls back down when it's applied, this allows the drivers seat to clear it when turning around. However, the seats I wanted were not available with the factory swivel base so a decision was taken to go for the nice factory seats and use an aftermarket swivel. This then throws up the issue that seems to plague everyone using aftermarket bases on a Crafter, to clear the handbrake the drivers seat needs a few spacers underneath. Fine if you're driving an auto and have sensible length legs, not so good if you're a shorty. We're both OK driving it but an electric handbrake would have been so much easier.

Which brings me to the next seating compromise. When we discussed the design wifey wanted as much floor space as possible with a sofa so she could look out the door. This meant having no step around the front the seats which means that in practice legs dangle a bit when they're turned around. Wifey still likes the sofa but it wouldn't work with a step to level out the height discrepancy on the front seats, maybe it would by making a curved step and losing half the bottom drawer under the sofa. At the end of the worktop wifey had seen one with a tambur door and thought it looked good. It does look nice and suits the rounded end but is a pain to use, I'd change it out for a curved cupboard door that opened in the middle (maybe). The drawer and cupboard are good but the drawers could do with an extra handle.

What's good. Everything else is the short answer. Going with diesel for the hob and heating was an inspired choice. Here in Spain gas is everywhere, in the UK there seems to a shortage and people are driving miles to get bottles exchanged or for LPG. If I bought an off the shelf van I'd bin all the gas stuff and convert it to diesel. The lack of gas has left quite a few van and motorhome owners pondering their own fuel source. It does take a while for the hob to heat up but in use it's not a problem.

The solar/battery/inverter setup is working well. The van can last about three days under it's own power with wifey using the fridge, microwave, kettle, hairdryer etc. She's now sussed out that we can stay off grid for as long as we like if she doesn't treat the system like it's a domestic setup.

Would I do it again? Definitely. Given that the whole thing was done in lockdown I think it's worked remarkably well. You work around the compromises and none are so great that we've felt the need to rush back and have things modified.

[Count Steer]

Re the dangly legs. We have quite a light, plastic, fold flat step in a kitchen cupboard for those 'wife needs to get something from the back of the top shelf' moments (ie I'm not there to get it). A couple of those would do the trick and fold/store out of the way - and probably have other uses.