Renault Trafic Van Camper Conversion

Moving right along.... So after placing and taping a lot of insulation to the roof (duct tape to Dialls Loft Insulation in place, and then foil tape to cover that over with foil insulation, and seal the edges), we went back to B&Q, and bought some slim tongue and groove wood. We bought x5 packs of 2 metre stuff, and I still have 1.2 packs to spare! Due to the planks I installed on the roof previously, this didn't take very long at all and was very easy. Therefore I can move swiftly onto the LED Lights. These came from Amazon, cost about £15 for all 3. Again, having previously installed all the wiring through conduit, these just needed crimping together and screwing to the tongue and groove wood. Simple. And now to carpet, again very easy! Bought 5m squared of the stuff plus x4 bottles of adhesive as a kit from eBay for £45. Might have been easier with two people, but I seem to have managed just fine :) Below is also the time lapse of everything mentioned in this post:...

Next up! Is the bulkhead and the roof needed insulating. To start, I gave up on making a full size bulkhead. This is because of the seats. Where they have a backwards incline, and I wanted my bulkhead to be about an inch thick and filled with insulation to keep the heat in, this meant that the amount of space in the back of the van was getting considerably smaller, and the bulkhead was starting to poke out into the side door. Instead, I've made myself a 2 foot high mini bulkhead. For two reason: One, being that it would provide some storage at the bottom of the seats, and two, being I then have a panel to mount a USB, Switch and Volt Metre, and a car stereo. I'll be adding the car stereo in the future, but at least I have somewhere to put it! As you can see in the picture below, I have already installed some pallet wood onto to the roof, so I have something that isn't metal to screw the tongue and groove roofing into. Luckily with the Renault Trafic, there are raised...

So after paying an inordinate amount of money to keep the van going, it was time to buy insulation, strip the back out, clean and re assemble. We started off by sanding the scratched metal parts inside the rear doors with white hammerite, as it looked awful, and I realised they would remain on show once completed. The next bit was to remove the already installed ply lining. As well as the recent new clutch and engine, the pre installed ply lining was a huge factor in deciding it was the van for us, as that was a relatively big job that I didn't then have to do! All we had to do was remove, insulate and replace over the top, easy! Easier said than done, as it turns out... It had been sealed on the edges to stop rattling while driving. Awesome idea, but made removing them a nightmare. After considerable amounts of cutting with a stanley knife and scraping with a flat head screw driver, it was all off, as can be seen in the time lapse below: Once all was removed, all I had...

So, the van we decided on. We went for a Renault Trafic, to keep size down and ease of parking up. As its also the first conversion, we decided on short wheel base and low roof. Keeping it basic, we decided we could also buy an awning type thing to extend our home from home by the side door. You'll have to excuse the bad picture, my car was the victim of number plate cloning recently and I'm not taking any chances now! It's a nice size van to begin with, assuming we get it right, then maybe that opens up to a larger van eventually. We paid £1150 for it, but with very little history for it. Only came with a few invoices etc. The biggest reason we bought it was because of the new clutch and reconditioned engine, both put in recently, and with paperwork to go with it. Because of this, the first thing I set about doing was to service it completely. New oil, new oil filter, new fuel filter, new air filter, new pollen filter. We then had to spend a little more money on ...

Hi, and welcome to my van conversion blog.  The purpose of this is to provide simple, easy and just more information about van conversions! My girlfriend and I have just bought a Renault Trafic, and I've just started the conversion. Most of my ideas have come from two main sources on the internet, as there were simply no other sources. These were, and still are, Nate Murphy, and Vanlife.tv. These guys have some great videos, explaining each step of the van conversion process, from wood work, to the 12v electrics needed.  Despite still being mid process in my conversion, I've planned everything around the advice of Nate and Vanlife. This took several months, (November, December and January), and throughout all my research, the only advice worth listening too was from them. The rest of it is all from the US, and of course in Britain we have very different vans and ideas. Over the coming weeks, I will post videos, showing what I've been doing and how, pictures, and wi...