I've Done it now

I fitted the drivers seat today and then found the seat belt buckle would not fit :(. It would not fit the passenger seat one either. Have refitted the original exploding one ( pre tensioner) to the slide rails, I could not bolt it to the seat!! it just means I have to bend it down when rotating the seat. Its probably better in the long term as it is back to what Peugeot fitted originally and no problems with the warning light on the dash. The passenger side will not be a problem as I will use the one off the passenger seat as that one will bolt direct to the seat.
 
I tried looking at alternatives but the prices are ridiculous. You did very well getting a pair of Galaxy seats at that price. The seats I am now fitting came out of 'grey' imports that are converted into small campers. Very complicated sliding mechanism, but the swivels are integrated into the base of the seats and fairly low profile, so just mounted the seats onto the original Peugeot seat rails. They seem quite comfortable, but not been tried on a long journey yet.
 
Don't know if you're at the stage of looking at interior boarding yet but Magnum had pallets of formica type sheet (8x4) think £30 sheet,great for showers, worktops tables etc,cut/trim with palm router spray adhesive.
Also had black 1 side 3 or 4mm ply £10 sheet
As well as light ply 15mm they do identical finish wall board(standalone or spray glue to
standard ply. Much cheaper than l w ply
and if carefully framed or backed similar weight(only faced one side)
 
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I bought one of those sheets back in 2011, brilliant stuff great quality.

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Don't seem to have progressed much with the van. Family been with us for a few weeks now as all services disconnected while their place is being rebuilt! Just for 2 weeks! 7 weeks later maybe another two weeks or so. Can't blame them as they lived in appalling conditions since the rebuild started.
  • So far both swivel seats fitted. Seem to work okay and kept original seat buckle with the pre tensioner, so no problems with fault lights.
  • Have bought a Cookology 83litre AC compressor fridge. It works well and just right for the family at present. It is quiet and seems to be low power consumption. Makes very little difference to the power meter display. Fitted a vent and fan level with where the fridge compressor will be. I will fit an actuator and temp controller to operate the fan and shutter.
  • Fitted two 110Ah carbon lead batteries from Alpha, one behind each front seat and boxed in to make a platform for ones feet when seats swivelled round. System looking after itself very well, but the phone app is a bit lacking and clunky. Fitted my 1300W inverter. It runs well on the ac lead light, but a bit noisy on the FM radio. Tried a 750W heater and I thought it was running well, but the indicated input voltage on the inverter display started to decay, eventually dropping out. Tried an 850W toaster, same thing, ran for a short time and then tripped out. Voltage at batteries was holding up at about 12.7V. Had used a 25mm2 cable to the inverter, but it was getting warmish. I thought 25mm2 would be plenty, but apparently not. Not sure why the voltage would drop slowly when the battery voltage was holding up? Any ideas?
  • Framework up for the washroom. Could not get a ready made shower tray to fit so am going to make one using a tanking kit. Anyone else done this? Just trying to find where to cut hole in floor and where to mount the waste tank. Autocraft were excellent with the tanks. The original waste tank would not fit where it was supposed to go. I was the second person that day to raise this and they had another one the next day. Seems that the Adblue system on the Boxer messes things up. They very quickly provided a return label for the original tank and delivered a slightly smaller tank to fit further back, plus a refund for the price difference. Excellent service.
  • Beds and slats received from Ikea. Framework for top bunk ready to go in, but will get in the way for now.
  • Have decided to go for a Chinese diesel heater. Very unsure at first, but the feedback seems to be pretty good. Have worked out how to get hot water and space heating from one unit, using two air diverter valves. When only need hot water the air will go through a boiler and be diverted outside. If only need heating, the hot air is diverted away from the boiler and if need both, air through the boiler and back into the main line. Suggestions from people with experience of these heaters, re reliability and temperature control would be much appreciated.
 
The Chinese night heaters are fine I've fitted a few now,if buying new try and get one that comes with a small (around 16 mm from memory) nut on the pick up pipe not the larger plate with 3 or 4 screws the nut type fits the boxer tank easily.Brave idea to try water heating as well ,I thought about that but decided too much hassle and not likely to be good enough..being tight I went with a carver( actually bought 3 in the end for circa £200 so plenty of spares although most are still available) 240v/ lpg combined with a Chinese digital temp controller (under £10 fleabay £5 temu) beware some lose settings if power removed,left normal carver system in placejust put digital in main feed to carver control.End result..cheap compact proven simple controllable within 1 degree.
I have Renogy b2b mppt...simple very well built and keeps all batteries topped up when van idle.renogy app is ok,but you may want to add a battery meter ( shunt) plenty Chinese around £20/30 see utube..you will then know state of charge,also how about charging from hook up( buil in a ytandard smart charge ( mines 50amp .again £30/40 Ali/temu( lithium profile)I have 400w solar pluss rigid folding 220w and l/a 220ah, but going to upgrade to 300ah lithium (£300) with BT monitoring.Go sureflo and pressure vessel and domestic fittings,longer term you will find air assist almost essential my van is 2020 24 K miles and sits low at the back but is not overweight air assist vast improvement only mentioned as you. May want to add pipe wire now in readiness( mine compressor under bonnet dual digital gauge and 2 (up/down l/R) switches on dash,control pack (4 s/v) under bonnet 2 air pressure sensors top of fuel tank.
I used 2 leather bmw seats all singing each has built in compressor £75 the pair modified drivers and double passenger seat bases from van( sold drivers original £300 ..a y one want half a passenger base:).
Good luck with your project!
 
Landyseverywhere said:
The Chinese night heaters are fine I've fitted a few now,if buying new try and get one that comes with a small (around 16 mm from memory) nut on the pick up pipe not the larger plate with 3 or 4 screws the nut type fits the boxer tank easily.Brave idea to try water heating as well ,I thought about that but decided too much hassle and not likely to be good enough..being tight I went with a carver( actually bought 3 in the end for circa £200 so plenty of spares although most are still available) 240v/ lpg combined with a Chinese digital temp controller (under £10 fleabay £5 temu) beware some lose settings if power removed,left normal carver system in placejust put digital in main feed to carver control.End result..cheap compact proven simple controllable within 1 degree.
I have Renogy b2b mppt...simple very well built and keeps all batteries topped up when van idle.renogy app is ok,but you may want to add a battery meter ( shunt) plenty Chinese around £20/30 see utube..you will then know state of charge,also how about charging from hook up( buil in a ytandard smart charge ( mines 50amp .again £30/40 Ali/temu( lithium profile)I have 400w solar pluss rigid folding 220w and l/a 220ah, but going to upgrade to 300ah lithium (£300) with BT monitoring.Go sureflo and pressure vessel and domestic fittings,longer term you will find air assist almost essential my van is 2020 24 K miles and sits low at the back but is not overweight air assist vast improvement only mentioned as you. May want to add pipe wire now in readiness( mine compressor under bonnet dual digital gauge and 2 (up/down l/R) switches on dash,control pack (4 s/v) under bonnet 2 air pressure sensors top of fuel tank.
I used 2 leather bmw seats all singing each has built in compressor £75 the pair modified drivers and double passenger seat bases from van( sold drivers original £300 ..a y one want half a passenger base:).
Good luck with your project!
Click to expand...
I am reading the thread any images of the installation as you go through the build. . Will I am sure assist others when they start a build .
 
Sonar said:
I am reading the thread any images of the installation as you go through the build. . Will I am sure assist others when they start a build .
Click to expand...
I didn't take photos,but essentially mine is toilet/shower opposite whoos bang door,sink hob opposite m wave under 1. 1/2 cupboard other half.next to WC tower with oven on top of fridge shelved cupboard over then table/ seating/bed (double)floor to roof dividing wall wit TV on .inback seperate floor to roof garage
with full width and circa600 mm deep shelf ,bottom houses 2 folding(Ali 20") self built ebikes,chargers,outdoor 2 Börner hob ,refillable gas bottle( in cupboard exterior fill).
Top. 2 4'x2' folding tables,2 sun loungers 2 X 25 ltr water containers(90 ltr tank under van)
1 X 6 kg calor bottle ,1 large compressor cool box use as deep freeze,1 X 1 KW inverter generator..multiple side air vents and 2 fan mushroom roof vents,and levelling chocks.
Should have said 2 X fan wall vents behind fridge/oven
 
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Landyseverywhere said:
The Chinese night heaters are fine I've fitted a few now,if buying new try and get one that comes with a small (around 16 mm from memory) nut on the pick up pipe not the larger plate with 3 or 4 screws the nut type fits the boxer tank easily.Brave idea to try water heating as well ,I thought about that but decided too much hassle and not likely to be good enough..being tight I went with a carver( actually bought 3 in the end for circa £200 so plenty of spares although most are still available) 240v/ lpg combined with a Chinese digital temp controller (under £10 fleabay £5 temu) beware some lose settings if power removed,left normal carver system in placejust put digital in main feed to carver control.End result..cheap compact proven simple controllable within 1 degree.
I have Renogy b2b mppt...simple very well built and keeps all batteries topped up when van idle.renogy app is ok,but you may want to add a battery meter ( shunt) plenty Chinese around £20/30 see utube..you will then know state of charge,also how about charging from hook up( buil in a ytandard smart charge ( mines 50amp .again £30/40 Ali/temu( lithium profile)I have 400w solar pluss rigid folding 220w and l/a 220ah, but going to upgrade to 300ah lithium (£300) with BT monitoring.Go sureflo and pressure vessel and domestic fittings,longer term you will find air assist almost essential my van is 2020 24 K miles and sits low at the back but is not overweight air assist vast improvement only mentioned as you. May want to add pipe wire now in readiness( mine compressor under bonnet dual digital gauge and 2 (up/down l/R) switches on dash,control pack (4 s/v) under bonnet 2 air pressure sensors top of fuel tank.
I used 2 leather bmw seats all singing each has built in compressor £75 the pair modified drivers and double passenger seat bases from van( sold drivers original £300 ..a y one want half a passenger base:).
Good luck with your project!
Click to expand...
Thanks for the info, much appreciated. For now I have decided to go with the diesel heater and maybe use a trumaTT2 boiler. I can play about with diverter valves etc later. Will be carrying a separate battery just in case for electric hook ups. I want to be able to use the van soonish, so improvements will come later. Cheers.
 
Sonar said:
I am reading the thread any images of the installation as you go through the build. . Will I am sure assist others when they start a build .
Click to expand...
I keep forgetting but have taken a few photos and will try and put the occassional ones on as I get time.
 
Well that took a lot longer than I expected! Van still not completely finished, but it's now useable. We've been away for a few short breaks, in October and November. So far all on campsites, but I did use it off sites for three days at the end of July when running on events in Wales. I had a bed, a camp stove and cold water. It was good enough for me.
Bit of a refresh on progress and changes:
The seats worked, turned out to be quite comfortable, just awkward to turn round.
For the water system I bought a Sureflo water pump, but the pressure was too high for the water heater. So I now have a submersible pump and it works great. I had big problems with water leaks on the system. The first was simple, I hadn't pushed a fitting in far enough. Annoying because I had to remove part of the shower flooring to fix it and dry out. On our first proper outing, started to get the occasional click click from the water pump. Checked all the piping couldn't find the leak. A couple of weeks later found it was not a leak as such, the non return valve on the pressure switch had a bit of fluff in it. Very annoying and lots of wasted time.
I fitted the diesel heater and when I first used it came up with error code E-07 (bad). The operating instructions with it were useless. I tried the supplier and he said he would send me some new instructions. That was not much use either, but next time I tried it away it went? The controls still did not work as described, but I could get some control from it and plenty of heat. Have just found out that the remote control and the control panel itself were not synchronised correctly. Remove power from it all to reroute the wires and had to resync after. All now works as it should.
I had looked at how some people heat the water from a diesel heater and most seemed a bit amateurish, so I did my own thing. I bought a Truma TTL water heater, the one with a tube through the middle of it to blow hot air down (it also has a 300W 240V element inside). I also bought a diverter valve. I now have the best of both worlds with either electric heating or diesel. It works well. Pic attached showing the basic layout before it was boxed in.
I will update and add more photos later.20240829_172559.jpg
 
I was a bit premature singing the praises of the diesel heater! The heater failed the day before we were due to pay a surprise visit to family in South Devon. I did not want to risk not having a working heater so we did not go. (I haven't told family about the planned visit so they are none the wiser).
I checked everything I could, including the dip tube into the fuel tank, flow through the pump etc. The only thing left was the glow plug so I bought a new one. When it arrived I decided it would be better to take the heater out and do everything on the bench. More rolling around on the floor under the van!! When opened up the firing tube and the heat exchanger fins were clogged up with carbon, almost as much soot as I got from my chimney after 12 months. After cleaning it all out and refitting, it fired up on the old glow plug and is now running well again.

It was obviously burning very rich and I am not sure how to stop that happening again. I had fitted a better air filter which could possible have limited the air flow a little and also a better and longer exhaust pipe. It really needs a bit lower oil flow or higher air flow. It had not had many hours running. Has anyone else come across this problem and is there any way of changing the air/fuel ratio? All suggestions appreciated.
 
bjh said:
I was a bit premature singing the praises of the diesel heater! The heater failed the day before we were due to pay a surprise visit to family in South Devon. I did not want to risk not having a working heater so we did not go. (I haven't told family about the planned visit so they are none the wiser).
I checked everything I could, including the dip tube into the fuel tank, flow through the pump etc. The only thing left was the glow plug so I bought a new one. When it arrived I decided it would be better to take the heater out and do everything on the bench. More rolling around on the floor under the van!! When opened up the firing tube and the heat exchanger fins were clogged up with carbon, almost as much soot as I got from my chimney after 12 months. After cleaning it all out and refitting, it fired up on the old glow plug and is now running well again.

It was obviously burning very rich and I am not sure how to stop that happening again. I had fitted a better air filter which could possible have limited the air flow a little and also a better and longer exhaust pipe. It really needs a bit lower oil flow or higher air flow. It had not had many hours running. Has anyone else come across this problem and is there any way of changing the air/fuel ratio? All suggestions appreciated.
Click to expand...
Hope someone comes back with an answer very interested....as they are sold with different outputs would assume nozzle changeable and fuel pressure/air adjustable???
I've just ordered a complete kit with remote control £44 plus vat shipped from UK via Ali express...mines fine at the moment but got for spare os spares or for next van or workshop.... decisions, decisions!
 
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