My Second Conversion
In April 2014 we sold our dearly loved Ford Transit, Noe, our first home and first van conversion. We had owned her for 6 years and travelled and lived in her for 4 years. We sold her in Portugal where we had been staying on some friends land as the tax, MOT and insurance had long since run out. So back to the UK we came in a car with our stuff and 2 dogs. Needless to say we had to leave a lot of our stuff out in Portugal for collection at a later date! Click HERE for the page showing that conversion :)
In May 2014 we bought a 2002 Mercedes Sprinter, we weighed up the pros and cons of spending a little more on a Mercedes if you compare like for like with different makes and in the end decided to go for the Sprinter as our mechanic friend recommended them. They hold their value really well, our budget was £3000 - 3500 and some of the ones we looked at in this price range were right old rust buckets with doors falling off or not opening. In the end we settled for our Silver Rizla as she is now named due to her colour and registration number. Below is a breakdown of how much we have spent on buying her, the conversion and the mechanical costs.
Van:
£3500
Conversion:
Chimney flashing - £30
Paint - £22.50
Plywood - £82
Battening - £27
Brackets - £7.50
Screws - £29
Silicone - £11.50
Fire cement - £5
Tongue and Groove - £122
6 x LED ceiling lights - £55
Sink - £70
Sockets and switches - £16
Varnish - £62
Gas pipe - £9
Cooker - £250
Chain - £4
Hand pumping tap and pipe - £50
Floor - £20
Table top - £15.50
Roof vent - £45
Window - £200
Conversion total = £1133
Maintenance:
Front brake discs, pads and service - £300
Metal brake hoses, flexi brake hoses, suspension ball joints, 4 new tyres, bulbs for brake light, fog light, number plate light - £750
MOT 2015 - £50
Wiper blade - £6
Rear brake disc and pads - £50
MOT 2016 - £35
Maintenance total (so far) = £1191
See the photos below of the van conversion taking shape:
 First job, fit the burner.We took the burner and chimney from our last van. |  Second job, put the kettle on! |  Making the bed. |
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 Walls Tongue and Groove.Plenty of insulation behind that T&G! |  Insulating the roof. |  Building the kitchen units. |
 Electrics on an old skateboard!We have got an inverter so can have 240v power but we run all our things off 12v, much more economical on power and as we only have a 50w solar panel we need to be careful! |  Plug sockets over the bed. |  Varnishing the Tongue and Groove. |
 New cooker in.Time for pizza! |  New sink in. |  Hand pump tap.We decided to go for a hand pumping tap rather than a 12v one as in the winter we don't have much power. |
 Painted the bulkhead wall.Blackboard paint is a great invention! |  Table for over the bed.Made with drawings, flyers and tickets from the past 4 years on the road. |  Laminate flooring down. |
 Bench seats built.Lots of storage in them! |  Shelves built around sink. |  Window through to cab. |
 Plylined the back doors. |  Closed off the bed from the back.We didn't want to close it right off but this with a curtain just prevents drafts. |  The back doors from inside. |
 The roof vent and solar panel.We took the solar set up from our last van so that didn't cost anything just a bit of time fixing the panel and wiring everything up. The roof vents helps prevent condensation. |  Table fitted. |  Cushions made for seats. |
 Filled up the shelves. |  Pretty much done now :) |  Home sweet home :) |
 Finally got the window fitted :)After 5 years of living in vans with no windows this is amazing! |  Put a couple more small shelves up. |  Cut down the partition.After the window was fitted we decided to cut down the partition to let more light through into the kitchen area. It has opened the space up nicely :) |
 So here she is all finished!Well I say all finished, there is always something that can be made better, things that need fixing or things to add! |  |  |
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We have been to lots of different places in the UK and down through France, Portugal and Spain and back up again, here is the van parked up in a few different places :)
 Barranco, Portugal. |  Punta Paloma, Spain. |  Nerja, Spain. |
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 Bolnuevo, Spain. |  Los Lances, Spain. |  Odeciexe, Portugal. |
 Gouveia, Portugal. |  Bonneval, France. |  Luxe, France. |
 Arguedas, Spain. |  Barrow wake, Gloucester, UK. |  Newent site, UK. |
 Milk Hill, Wiltshire, UK. |  Hungerford common, UK. |  Standish woods, Stroud, UK. |
 Pumphrey wood, Wiltshire, UK. |  The Ridgeway near Avebury, UK. |
If you have any questions about my conversions, materials or suppliers used please feel free to email me using the button below and I will do my best to help.
