Is it ok to ask about recommended conversion companies here?

[Earth Demon]

I am looking for a rock solid conpany to do a 'stage1' conversion to a late model second hand LWB sprinter.

Budget limited for now so was thinking just do insulation, fit diesel heater, composting bog and a sink. No shower required.

I am based in the South but could travel anywhere in UK to get a great job for a great price.

Winterised van is a must.

Thanks

 

[Minisorella]

Hello and welcome to the forum

I can't help at all but I'm sure someone will be along with some recommendations soon. I know a lot of members do their own conversions, so there might be some really good layout and build ideas on here to help the project along.
You'd likely also find some good info on our sister site - https://www.motorhomebuilder.com/

Good luck with the project!

 

[Millie Master]

I am looking for a rock solid conpany to do a 'stage1' conversion to a late model second hand LWB sprinter.

Thanks

Hello and welcome.

Sorry I can't give you a name of a reputable conversion company as I am very much a self builder/converter.

However there is one very important matter I feel I ought to bring to you attention with regards to the mechanically excellent Merc. Sprinter, it being that truly excellent they are mechanically but they are very well known for their ability to simply melt away into a massive pile of rust right before your very eyes, I kid you not!!
So before you start to undertake any kind of conversion you are very well advised to thoroughly check out the entire undersides of the body and then very thoroughly check down into the hidden depths of the sills and door bottoms (all 5 of them). Then cure whatever rust you will almost certainly find before then thoroughly treating it with something like Waxoyl or better still Bilt Hamber.

Good luck

 

[Earth Demon]

Hello and welcome.

Sorry I can't give you a name of a reputable conversion company as I am very much a self builder/converter.

However there is one very important matter I feel I ought to bring to you attention with regards to the mechanically excellent Merc. Sprinter, it being that truly excellent they are mechanically but they are very well known for their ability to simply melt away into a massive pile of rust right before your very eyes, I kid you not!!
So before you start to undertake any kind of conversion you are very well advised to thoroughly check out the entire undersides of the body and then very thoroughly check down into the hidden depths of the sills and door bottoms (all 5 of them). Then cure whatever rust you will almost certainly find before then thoroughly treating it with something like Waxoyl or better still Bilt Hamber.

Good luck

Thanks - I heard somewhere that Sprinters got radically less rusty after a certain date - any thoughts? What about Crafters?

 

[Millie Master]

Thanks - I heard somewhere that Sprinters got radically less rusty after a certain date - any thoughts? What about Crafters?

The very early Sprinters were apparently far better built, however then the Mercedes penny pinchers, who had gone out their way to ruin the reputation of the car division by down-grading most components turned their attention to the van division................ or so it would seem!

Some time this year when the brand spanking new design of Sprinter came out they finally at very long and overdue last changed the production process and have finally started to fully galvanise dip the bodies in the same way that Renault did way back in 2004 which in turn resulted in the Sevel vans (Peugeot Boxer, Citroen Relay, Fiat Ducato) becoming fully galvanised from the 2007 model year onwards and then IVECO did with their Daily's from 2016/17.
I have heard that the VW Crafter have a better body, but I can't see how that can be the case as they are built on the same production line? And finally that leaves the mechanically brilliant Ford Transit that are known to dissolve in front of your eyes, but Ford don't appear to care!!

If you haven't actually bought yourself a Sprinter yet, it might be worth your while taking a good long hard look at the L4 H2 Sevel vans as they are by far and away the easiest vans to convert and they are also the widest so you can easily have a transverse bed fitted and there are a goodly few specialist companies who can convert them for you.

Good luck

 

[Earth Demon]

No I haven't bought anything yet. That's incredibly useful information thank you.

Plus I found a very funny thread at autoshite - http://autoshite.com/topic/19594-rusty-vans/

Definitely food for thought.

 

[guerdeval]

Crafter is equally bad, and, the warranty isn't worth the paper it's written on. My crafter developed a lot of rust inside the side sliding door but the factory warranty manager said it was 'impact damage'! totally bo___cks but I couldn't bother to argue with an idiot, chose Citroen for my next one.

 

[Earth Demon]

In the autoshite thread there was reference to the possibility of spending £400 treating a van to prevent rust and corrosion - could that be the answer? Then you could get whatever you fancy.

 

[Millie Master]

In the autoshite thread there was reference to the possibility of spending £400 treating a van to prevent rust and corrosion - could that be the answer? Then you could get whatever you fancy.

I had a look at that site................. for the first time ever and never again although I did wholeheartedly agree with the owner of a VW Crafter who had been on the receiving end of terrible service from VW themselves over a badly rusting sliding side door, I too was on the receiving end of similar service from VW which resulted in me taking them to court and eventually to the County court. The long drawn out case took almost exactly 3 years and if I had lost the combined legal costs would have come to well in excess of £120k! As a direct result |I built up anenormous knowledge about paint!

But @Earth Demon back to your quest.

Of course, depending on what your budget, it might be worth your while approaching all the manufacturers of the Sevel vans (Peugeot, Citroen, Fiat), as they can at times offer truly massive discounts on new vans and by massive, I have heard of discounts being as much as the mid 40's% !!!! Some people have been able to buy brand new vans to their exact specifications, including single passenger seats, long range fuel tanks, no bulkhead (which results in the all important 'B' pillar trims not being cut), an extra leaf in the rear springs etc., yes all this and sometimes for less than a second hand van............. mad!!

Sometimes also, people have also bought brand new but pre-registered vans at similarly stupid prices, but of course then they will almost always have the bulkhead and twin passenger seats.

Worth a thought?

 

[Earth Demon]

I had a look at that site................. for the first time ever and never again although I did wholeheartedly agree with the owner of a VW Crafter who had been on the receiving end of terrible service from VW themselves over a badly rusting sliding side door, I too was on the receiving end of similar service from VW which resulted in me taking them to court and eventually to the County court. The long drawn out case took almost exactly 3 years and if I had lost the combined legal costs would have come to well in excess of £120k! As a direct result |I built up anenormous knowledge about paint!

But @Earth Demon back to your quest.

Of course, depending on what your budget, it might be worth your while approaching all the manufacturers of the Sevel vans (Peugeot, Citroen, Fiat), as they can at times offer truly massive discounts on new vans and by massive, I have heard of discounts being as much as the mid 40's% !!!! Some people have been able to buy brand new vans to their exact specifications, including single passenger seats, long range fuel tanks, no bulkhead (which results in the all important 'B' pillar trims not being cut), an extra leaf in the rear springs etc., yes all this and sometimes for less than a second hand van............. mad!!

Sometimes also, people have also bought brand new but pre-registered vans at similarly stupid prices, but of course then they will almost always have the bulkhead and twin passenger seats.

Worth a thought?

Hmm you are a veritable minefield of information, and stubborn bugger too by the sound of it - gambling £120K to not lose 4 or 5.

The impression I have gained from reading a few threads here and there over a period of time is you choose between useful space & bad engines (Sevel) OR rust bucket with less useful space and great engines (Ford and the Germans), and never the twain shall meet???

Presumably that's an oversimplification... your view would be mighty appreciated.

 

[wildebus]

I'd be more wary on the engines rather than the bodywork of later models Sprinters. All the emissions stuff can really be a nightmare and it seems to affect German vans (both VW and MB) more than others for some reason. At least with the body you can see exactly what's going on before you buy.

I always have a chat with the delivery drivers how their vans are going to get a picture and almost universally the story is that the Sprinters are a money pit and disliked for their downtime; the new Crafters seem to be loved (bear in mind also that until very recently the sprinter and crafter were the same basic shell, but the mechanicals are different); and the Masters are well regarded (not heard anyone talk about the Movano though. Maybe the Master is the better option price/spec wise?).
If buying new, the Transit looks very good and you could get a full rust protection application done for very little money form day 1 (as you could with any of them of course). The Renault Master should be on the list to evaluate. The MAN version of the Crafter should be checked out as well I think.
When I was looking I could have bought a much newer Crafter for what I paid for the LT, but I didn't fancy dealing with the forward cost of the adblue, the DPF, and all the other crap newer vans have, so I stayed basic emissions and a solid chassis.

 

[Millie Master]

Very unfortunately there is a load of totally unsubstantiated crud written and talked about mechanical reliability when it comes to vans. It is also amazing how one single models poor performance or problems can be blown up out of all proportions and end up tarnishing the entire brand for many years to come!!

The NHS throughout the UK and most other countries throughout Europe & Scandinavia all use Sevel built vans as well as also Renault Masters and Vauxhall/Opel Movano's, rest assured they wouldn't do so if their engines and gearboxes were known to go pooooop!

I know for a fact that there are numerous NHS trusts that have some of these vans that have done close to 500,000 miles with their vehicles only requiring regular servicing.
As always, as with any engine, be that petrol or diesel, irregular use or cold to cold short journeys are not good for them which is why some people in very cold climates fit engine oil heaters.
The engine fitted to my own Renault Master has now done 120,000 and she runs so sweetly, but mind you I almost never do short journeys.

 

[Earth Demon]

That rings completely true - I have been looking at Sevels with newfound respect. I live in among the windy lanes of Wessex - any thoughts about how an L4H3 would fare in those there parts?

I found this clip
youtube.com forwardslash watch?v=TvErxvjiP6Y
of a self build which although no doubt imperfect in many ways has the kind of vibe I am looking for - light, spacious and very usable.... love the bucket!

 

[Earth Demon]

I'd be more wary on the engines rather than the bodywork of later models Sprinters. All the emissions stuff can really be a nightmare and it seems to affect German vans (both VW and MB) more than others for some reason. At least with the body you can see exactly what's going on before you buy.

I always have a chat with the delivery drivers how their vans are going to get a picture and almost universally the story is that the Sprinters are a money pit and disliked for their downtime; the new Crafters seem to be loved (bear in mind also that until very recently the sprinter and crafter were the same basic shell, but the mechanicals are different); and the Masters are well regarded (not heard anyone talk about the Movano though. Maybe the Master is the better option price/spec wise?).
If buying new, the Transit looks very good and you could get a full rust protection application done for very little money form day 1 (as you could with any of them of course). The Renault Master should be on the list to evaluate. The MAN version of the Crafter should be checked out as well I think.
When I was looking I could have bought a much newer Crafter for what I paid for the LT, but I didn't fancy dealing with the forward cost of the adblue, the DPF, and all the other crap newer vans have, so I stayed basic emissions and a solid chassis.

MAN eh? Sounds extremely cool. Don't think I've ever seen one.

 

[Millie Master]

That rings completely true - I have been looking at Sevels with newfound respect. I live in among the windy lanes of Wessex - any thoughts about how an L4H3 would fare in those there parts?

Blimey I haven't heard of Wessex in many a long year....

But with regards to the thought of an L4 H3 van, they do become rather cumbersome when driving into built up areas with height barriers and parking can present more than somewhat of a problem as they are too long for most normal parking places.

Unless you are very tall, why would you need have such a high van as a standard H2 has more than enough headroom for people up to 6' (ish), furthermore the H3 versions have quite a noticeable tumble home of their body sides towards the top which makes fitting exactly fitted cupboards somewhat more of a problem. My van is a H2 Renault Master that is fitted with 25mm of spray foam insulation throughout the interior and it has headroom for people of 6'.
Oh and if you are still thinking of buying either a new or nearly new van, surely it is best practice to use the best possible kind of insulation which is without any doubt, sprayfoam and I have never read or heard of any professional converter who uses this excellent product!

 

[Trotter]

When I was thinking of the self build route, I had a talk to Young’s Conversions, Bletchley Milton Keynes. Very helpful,no nonsense. The best bit of advice was, don’t buy “caravan hardware” ,go to Screwfix.

 

[mr brown]

That rings completely true - I have been looking at Sevels with newfound respect. I live in among the windy lanes of Wessex - any thoughts about how an L4H3 would fare in those there parts?

I found this clip
youtube.com forwardslash watch?v=TvErxvjiP6Y
of a self build which although no doubt imperfect in many ways has the kind of vibe I am looking for - light, spacious and very usable.... love the bucket!

can you do another link , this one's not doing it ta

 

[wildebus]

Be careful of the "L3H2" type designations. They have different meanings to different manufacturers.
For example, a MWB Sprinter (so an L2 in terms of the sprinter options) is actually the same length as a LWB Ducato (an L3?).
And heights are another one... Heights are quoted externally. And Typically a FWD van will be lower than a RWD van but give the same internal height. And just to add even more confusion into the mix, the same height designated van IN THE SAME MODEL can vary. E.G. a High Roof Crafter will have around 4" or so different in Internal Floor to Ceiling height depending on if the van is FWD or RWD/4WD, as the EXTERNAL height is the same for both - they don't raise the van to fit in the drivetrain, but raise the floor.

So best to convert "L3H3" or whatever to actual dimensions of all vehicles if planning on comparisons.

 

[edina]

can you do another link , this one's not doing it ta

Nigel, I think it is this one