I've Done it now

I'd pay the little bit extra and get a Shurflo pump, very reliable and you can use domestic taps
 
@bjh
There’s many ways to insulate there is no right or wrong way just your chosen way!
you may find this technique I used in part 19 of my crafter build helpful

personally I never use pir alone if there’s is a void above these need to be filled, a mix of dial type recycled bottle insulation and pir works well.

in one of his Videos Greg Virgoe mentioned stick pins be warned these are ok for temporary fitting but should not be relied on permanently the glue isnt heat proof

what I can advise is I and most commercial Ambulance converters rarely waste time money and most importantly, payload on pointless sound proofing, proper full contact insulation does exactly the same job.

I have recently bought another project, last week I ordered some of the flat Shield Autocare branded windows, I bought them via eBay as they were cheaper than direct from their web site.

on initial inspection the quality is very good.
I won’t be installing them for a few months though now is not the right time of year for adhesives to cure properly.

unless decent discounts are available don’t be tempted to buy too much random stuff in advance plans change, you will end up with stuff you don’t use that you need to store somewhere.

plan your storage, I have two large workshops these can rapidly fill with stuff from or for the vans I work on!

watch the weight, self builds can very easily go overweight even if you use lightweight materials like the absurdly overpriced so called lightweight ply (which is still quite heavy) especially over the rear axles plated weight.

Weigh the van now whilst empty, estimate the weight of you, passengers, water, food, pets, luggage, fuel, toys etc add that to the vans weight and what’s left minus say 100kg for contingency is the max your build can weigh!

hth
 
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All insulation will work if you follow the manufacturers instructions, so read those before spending any money, there are no shortcuts, many will require 100mm air gap, ignore that and you have wasted your money, you may still get some insulation but ALL use air as the insulator, but it's a very complex subject and what you need will depend on how you intend to use it, some people use camping mats, and it does insulate just not very well, it depends on if you just want to limit the coldness of the steel body or if you want to be warm without the heater going all the time.
 
Thanks for suggestions, all going into the memory bank. (trouble is trying to retrieve later!)
I now have all the PIR insulation and have taken note of filling all voids etc. I will be using self adhesive flexible foil faced insulation for all the curvy bits My next question is, what adhesive do you use to stick the PIR to the steel? Could I use "No Nails" or similar or maybe Sikaflex 522 which is probably a bit OTT or is there a more economical solution?
 
Make sure you tape all the joints too.
 
I was hoping this would be a progress report, but weather and Christmas and a few other distractions have meant that very little has been done. First it was too cold, then constantly wet and now too cold again!!
When weather was occasionally reasonable, I have managed to do the following:
  • Have cleaned and treated all rust on floor and painted.
  • Fitted batons and insulated floor and sealed all over.
  • Fitted new ply floor.
  • Fitted two side windows and roof vent/fan
  • Removed cab roof panel ready for insulating roof over cab.
I have also ordered a few things such as hob/sink, solar panels, MPPT controller and various other bits and bobs.
Still lots to do!

20231221A.jpg20231227B.jpg
 
bjh said:
I was hoping this would be a progress report, but weather and Christmas and a few other distractions have meant that very little has been done. First it was too cold, then constantly wet and now too cold again!!
When weather was occasionally reasonable, I have managed to do the following:
  • Have cleaned and treated all rust on floor and painted.
  • Fitted batons and insulated floor and sealed all over.
  • Fitted new ply floor.
  • Fitted two side windows and roof vent/fan
  • Removed cab roof panel ready for insulating roof over cab.
I have also ordered a few things such as hob/sink, solar panels, MPPT controller and various other bits and bobs.
Still lots to do!
Click to expand...
Use sinks and hob from a caravan, s steel is best.kitchen side.jpg
 
Very slow progress, other stuff and appointments keep getting in the way, plus the weather initially. All roof insulation and lining in. Including over the cab. It 'ay arf' difficult getting it down the front of the cab roof, but its done now. Rest of insulation is still slow work in progress, done as and when!
Second toilet has been trial fitted and cassette access door installed. No we don't have two toilets, the first one was a swivel one with a high back and flush water filler outside. Unfortunately it lined up with the main horizontal stiffener in the van. Sold it on ebay and made a profit and the second one was cheaper anyway:).
Have bought two swivel seats that came out of grey imports. Excellent quality but extremely complicated and heavy mechanism. I now need a seat base and slide rails as the ones that came with the seats require too much work to be worth it. Have removed all the bracketry from the seats. The swivel is incorporated in the base of the actual seat. With a couple of steel brackets the swivel will fit the original seat rails and they will work out about the same height as the existing seat. At present I do not want to modify the existing van slide rails. I will need a second seat box and rails anyway for the passenger seat. Have tried all the scrap yards I can find and nothing! Either Peugeot Boxers don't die or someone has a massive stock of them somewhere, any ideas?
Have run a 12V DC ring main around the van with connection boxes at strategic points. I will only have 2 or possibly 3 other dedicated supplies from the fuse box. Mains inlet connector fitted and consumer unit installed.
Two 170W solar panels are fitted. Bought Renogy 50A DC to DC charger with MPPT for the solar but no real instructions with it. Does anyone know if I need anything else to enable me to see what is happening on my phone when it is wired and running?Not wired in yet as I am delaying purchase of the batteries for as long as possible. No sense in the warranty period being used up for nothing.
Don't think I will make it for Easter:ROFLMAO:
 
I would not run a ring main on 12v round a van because the fused end would have to be high, better to instal a multi fuse box and run sep wires to places, and remember to fit cigy and usb sockets where required to charge phones etc.multi fuse box.png4 way panel.pngusb a.jpgvan front.png
 
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I did contact Renogy as the label on the unit itself did not agree with the label on the box it came in. They responded very quickly and after sending them photos they apologised and said I had the correct unit, the label that had been put on in their warehouse was the wrong one and they gave me a voucher for money off my next purchase. They gave also gave me the link to the manual which Pudsey had also posted. Thanks for that. I promptly put the voucher towards the cost of the blue tooth unit I need to see the data from the unit. I am now getting on with the mods to the seat swivel and runners. Hope it all work.
 
I forget which van you have, but when I converted mine (07 Relay) to two single cab seats the bases were the same, just remove the seat, not the base, the dual seat had extra frame tubing to bridge the gap, the only difference was that there was extra seat belt wiring that needed a small resistor putting in to stop it illuminating a light on the dash.

Using a driver seat on the passenger side can be done but it's a bit dodgy as the seat belt tensioner is on the wrong side as is the receptacle for the belt buckle.
 
My base van is a peugeot boxer, basicall same as yours. The major problem I am having with the seat is getting hold of another seat base and runners. I've tried all dismantlers I can find within about 50 miles, plus a few further afield, but to no avail.
Your other point about the seat belt tensioner had crossed my mind. I was thinking maybe leave the original seat buckle underneath the seat and plugged in. Do you know exactly what was done to get rid of the seat belt warning?
 
Here's a base, (I paid less that that for a seat) https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/276371281608?itmmeta=01HRW2FTZ123WGH6TN46HP1DNS&hash=item40590316c8:g:ei4AAOSwN~Fl4hKr&itmprp=enc:AQAIAAABAFWd4LDdFTEh1HEOxqra/3euMtDSZm5vyYzkTrZVOjHWrrVFl4/tr5KnnZ9ZQ0rmkRR1z36W0R17my+on/E9EctfV8/wJHK3QsNhKCGJ3FsyXfaqhZwWu30uo8TCYQ1kGWpETMp7qufPQS4M9zzgQvNl9opMJ+NSKFGM/qk3mrOzfLfNxB06pTA+bIyT4u0YMut2Qem69+UJJGk3bHM36X22ox02t3pFNLJeXYLsZBITpYOM2IIk3DDepEruVwmbhP78/HIUTHnNuxbLizofL5xAU1162Dhr+hSJum99R61RknSlBURU7i5db7/OfIAAzrMYsIih5PiMZ3KaxUEzY+w=|tkp:Bk9SR-Svv4LHYw

The sliding rails should come with the seat as the bolts go through them to mount to the bases.

It's a resistor to turn of the light on the dash , 5ohm I think, but get onto the sister site www.motorhomebuilder.com and ask on there, you may get more helpful replies.
 
I have finally found a van dismantlers with the complete seat. I did not want the seat itself but the base and rails are included and cost less than the seat base link Pudsey pasted. The guy said he sends all the Boxer seats he gets to someone in Spain who does conversions. Maybe that is why there are so few about! They hadn't got round to removing this one yet. Seat is grubby but rest is excellent. Have already managed to fit my swivel seat to the rails. At last I can continue with the rest. Anyone out there want a double passenger seat?
 
Just to be clear.

My link wasn't a suggestion to buy only to show that the rails are not part of the base, I think my single seat cost £75 but that was 12 years ago, and I couldn't give the dual away at any price so it went to the tip.
 
I still have my front Jumper/Relay seats. I made the swivel bases myself and installed a pair of Renault Coupe front seats. May original driver's base has a weight controlled shock absorber which I kept. The adjustment of this seat is at ground level and I kept it that way. For the passenger, I used a scissor like height adjustable base that had no back and forwards adjustment so I used the one that came from the Renault seat. The driver side adjustment I removed because it wasn't necessary.

The double seat that people reuse for the rear passengers had an awkward shape so I found some better looking ones online that came from a Citroen Jumpy.
 
Those standard dual seats are as uncomfortable as hell, too vertical for long distance use.
 
Pudsey Bear said:
Just to be clear.

My link wasn't a suggestion to buy only to show that the rails are not part of the base, I think my single seat cost £75 but that was 12 years ago, and I couldn't give the dual away at any price so it went to the tip.
Click to expand...
There is a conversion company near me which I use for servicing of MH and Car. They had a skip which is usually full of double cab seats.

I've never converted a Ducato type van but when I have done the VWs, the seat bases haven't been too bad if you shop around. I bought an Drivers seat base for the passenger side as it was half the price but still did the job perfectly.

Also worth looking at different seats rather than assuming you need ducato seats if you have a ducato, etc. I fitted Ford Galaxy seats to my VW LT (aka Sprinter). fitted with no adjustments needed and cost £120 for the pair and they had integral swivels as well, so better than the add-on swivel plates as well.
 
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