Not many self-builders attempt their own pop-up roofs or high tops, so needless to say I was very impressed – all the more so as David reports that it has been in use for a year now without any problems at all. I’ve included the story of the roof below for anyone who is interested in building their own pop-up roof.

Cutting a hole in the roof of a van is definitely scarier than cutting window holes...

How To Build A DIY Pop-Up Roof

Here’s the story of the roof, in David’s own words.

“The roof gave me a few sleepless nights!

I had to start from scratch here, because I couldn’t find a manufactured pop-up the size I wanted. The Hiace has three roof panel on its interior and the space I thought would be most useful for a pop-up happened to be the exact size of the middle panel.

I left the supporting bars in , which made things neater on the finish and acted as my template for the hole that I would cut in the roof.

Every surface on the Toyota seems to be curved…………………I LIKE curves, but it made the cardboard templates I used for cutting the woodwork a bit of a challenge.

Stiff grey card and masking tape was the only answer for the arc of the roof (across the van) but was worth the effort. Once the curves were cut, from 4×1 tanalised timber (wood that’s been treated to resist rot) the rest was on a flat playing field. I made a frame that sat outside the hole in the roof and this acted as base for the pop-up section, which was a combination of twin-wall polycarbon and double-glazing fascia (to keep down the weight).

The roof from the inside, before completion

This skylight sat over the frame on the van roof and was held up by four gas struts.
I used awning material ( waterproof and UV proof ) to box in the sides, which folded up when the roof was collapsed.

The underside of the twin-wall has two solid cross pieces with handles that you close/open it with and fasteners to secure it down to the inside of the van….so it doesn’t fly off when you drive away.

The fitted roof, closed down for travel (flooring and upholstery are still to be fitted)

It’s been up and down a fair bit over the last year and doesn’t leak and hasn’t blown off………….yet!”

Find Out More

If you are planning your own pop-up roof and would like more information, I’m sure David wouldn’t mind you contacting him via his website.

I’ve included some more pictures of David’s conversion below – after completing it last year, he spent two months touring France. You can read about David’s travels here.

That’s why I was interested to learn about Terra Camper via the Stone174 blog. Terra Camper is a German firm that provides modular and customisable conversions that can be fitted into Volkswagen Caddy and Transporter vans and a variety of large 4x4s – the company’s products have a definite off-road bias, although they are suitable for general camper use, too.

The Terra Camper conversion units appear to be available separately or as part of one of the company’s two factory conversions – the Terock (based on a VW Transporter) and the Temax (based on a VW Caddy). Both look high quality and cleverly designed and the ‘double popup‘ roof on the Terock is very neat, providing extra headroom and a the equivalent of a large sunroof if opened fully (it can be flipped back to lie flat on the main roof).

Removable, modular units like these offer several benefits – they are quick to fit, several different configurations are possible and they can be removed to allow the van to be used as a van again.

Terra Camper isn’t unique in offering such units – Amdro has a different take on the idea and SwissRoomBox offers a solution that’s aimed at cars. All of these offerings are eminently suitable for DIY converters – fitting these  units is much simpler than building your own!

Here are a few pictures of the Terra Camper Terock (images copyright Terra Camper):

The Terra Camper Terock - this version uses a 4x4 Transporter 4Motion as the base vehicle, giving it some off-road capability

Inside the Terock - the interior units are available in a variety of combinations and can be configured in several ways

The roof provides a good-sized double bed and a single can be made up for a child below

For more pictures, prices and information, visit www.terracamper.de.

The whole conversion is documented here, but to provide a quick and fun introduction, I’ve now produced a video photo diary of the whole conversion, starting with the van as I bought it and ending with the finished result.

In less than 2 minutes, you can see all the stages of the conversion in progress, from start to finish. Of course, it took a bit longer than that in reality but this video should give you a good idea of the process we went through in converting the van:

If you would like more detail about each stage of the conversion (plus my thoughts on it now we’ve used it for 2 years), then click here for my DIY Motorhome Conversion guide.

The conversion is being undertaken in Australia by Jurassic Nev and the videos are well worth a look if you’re curious or just fancy a (motorhome-related) laugh. Nev knows what he’s doing and there will eventually be a whole series of clips documenting the complete conversion of his Toyota Coaster into a proper motorhome.

So far, he’s released parts 1-5, plus an overview of the whole series. Here’s a taster:

It’s worth noting that these are promotional videos for Ozco Campers, a motorhome conversion company on Australia’s Gold Coast. However, the videos show Nev converting the bus DIY-style – the videos are aimed at DIYers and so far I’ve seen nothing that an average DIY converter couldn’t do easily on a driveway.

It’s a problem I have an interest in as my van conversion is my sole vehicle and there are times when I wish it was a car, not a van.

Although there are motorhome conversions based on people carriers – most obviously the Mazda Bongo conversions pioneered by Wellhouse Leisure and others – these are usually permanent and reduce the vehicle’s car-like qualities. In addition, they require you to own a rather odd Japanese import vehicle – not everyone’s cup of tea.

One alternative solution I came accross recently is the SwissRoomBox. It requires no permanent installation but transforms a medium-sized car into a capable small motorhome in just a few minutes:

SwissRoomBox in cooking mode

The SwissRoomBox includes portable table and chairs - ideal for picnics and alfresco dining

As you can see, the SwissRoomBox is packaged into a number of cleverly designed boxes that hinge, fold, slide and come apart to create a sink, fridge compartment, table, seating and even a shower. At the end of the day, it’s then possible to create a double bed within the car that’s big enough for two:

It's even possible to create a double bed from your SwissRoomBox!

I have to admit that I’m quite impressed. It isn’t a motorhome – you have to cook, wash and eat outide – but it will fit into a wide range of cars with almost no installation required (presumably the fridge is powered from the cigarette lighter) and is pretty flexible for weekends away, campsite use and days out. It doesn’t require that you own a van or a second vehicle and can be lifted out of your car and stored in a garage or shed when not in use.

The SwissRoomBox is being launched in Europe next month – as yet, there doesn’t seem to be any price information available on the company’s website. It will be interesting to see how much it costs, though.

In the meantime, here is a surprisingly entertaining video showing the SwissRoomBox in use in all its combinations in the back of a Skoda Yeti:

(Found via CaravaningBlog.es)

Although I’d like to expand this area of the site more often than I do, unfortunately converting a van isn’t something I can do very often!

What I’ve done instead is to produce two new pages that provide detailed information on my DIY conversion with the benefit of hindsight, after 18 months use as a daily vehicle and 13 weeks travelling, on trips of up to 4 weeks at a time:

• A detailed review of my DIY motorhome conversion
• A guide to all of the parts I used in my conversion, including comments on performance and reliability

I hope these will be useful to anyone who is in the process of planning or carrying out a conversion – choosing and assembling all the necessary parts can be a big job, even for a small conversion.

As always, any feedback will be more than welcome – just leave a comment below.

I thought it might be interesting for anyway planning their own conversion to read about our experiences with ours. To keep things simple, I’ve divided this article up into a number of sections, reflecting the different elements of the conversion.

I’ve also written a guide to all of the parts used in the conversion, which you can find here.

1. Furniture and Storage
2. Windows, Carpet Lining and Insulation
3. Seating and Bed
4. Electrics
5. Water, Toilet and Washing
6. Cooking and Gas
7. Base Vehicle
8. Final Thoughts

Furniture & Storage

Classic VW-style layout, but benefiting from the 10cm or so extra width of the Transit to make the cupboards deeper!

The basic design for our van was the classic VW side conversion – that is, furniture units down the offside of the van with a sofa that converts to a bed on the nearside and a demountable foldaway table.

The furniture was built for us by Scott at Convert Your Van, who I’d recommend. He used high quality Vohringer board and Reimo trim to create a lightweight, smart and functional setup with a fair amount of storage. He has standard designs for common base vehicles but is also happy to build to custom designs.

After 25,000 miles (the van is our ‘car’, as well) and 18 months, everything is still working well and in one piece. The Vohringer board still looks smart and wipes clean easily, and the push-button catches work well and look good too. Storage wise, there is plenty of space, although the large rear cupboard is hard to use effectively. It has a shelf in it (at the same height as the counter top) but no other subdivision of space. This means that stuff at the back is hard to reach from inside the van, although we have improved this with a hanging canvas storage unit that we use for underwear, etc (we tend to go away for weeks at a time, so clothes storage is important as often encounter a wide variety of weather conditions and cannot wash clothes too regularly).

The other change we would make is for the rear cupboard not to go right up to the roof of the van – instead, for it to be closed off a few inches below the roof, so the top of the cupboard would function as a large shelf, with a barrier around the edge. This would mean that small items, such as books, could be kept there when we’re away. This was actually suggested to us by Scott but we chose to have the cupboard built right up to the roof instead! Our mistake, but not a big deal.

In addition to the storage provided by the furniture, we have a considerable amount of space under the bed, where we keep food, spare kitchen/toilet rolls, walking boots and all sorts of other things in plastic crates (like wine purchased when in France!). This is indispensable for long trips away.

Additional storage for odd items is provided by a large cargo net type storage pocket that is fastened across the top half of the tailgate.

Windows, Carpet Lining & Insulation

Although it’s a fairly small van, I was determined to make it well insulated and ventilated, especially since we don’t have heating – so good insulation is the next best thing! Here’s a recap of what I did:

1. Used 2″x1″ wooden battens to raise the floor by an inch and filled the void with natural wool type loft insulation.
2. Filled the space behind the wall and ceiling panels with loft insulation.
3. Fitted Seitz S4 windows (double glazed, with integral fly screens and heat-reflective blinds) to both sides of the van
4. Carpet lined the walls and ceiling, used lino to cover the floor.
5. Since I did the conversion, I’ve added a Dometic GY20 roof vent which works well, was cheap and doesn’t let insects in (except the occasional Scottish midge…). I might now choose the GY11, however, which is the same but has an electric fan in it. This would really be useful sometimes.

Overall, we are very happy with the way all of this works. We have slept comfortably without heating in fairly cold weather (down to low single digits C) without being too cold. Likewise in hot weather – the insulation and double-glazed windows mean that the temperature in the back of the van is far more stable than the temperature in the (uninsulated) cab section, which gets much hotter/colder, depending on external conditions. We have curtains to seperate the cab off but also have a set of insulated internal silver screens for the cab which help a lot and are recommended.

The Seitz windows are worthy of individual mention – they are easy to fit (click here for my fitting guide) and are infinitely superior to single-glazed glass vehicle windows (e.g. bonded windows), although with hindsight I would try to fit slightly larger ones.

Seitz S4 window, from L-R: Closed, open with fly screen down and closed with blind up (on the outside these blinds are silver so are heat reflective).

I cannot understand why supposedly upmarket converters like Auto-Sleepers sell panel van conversions with single-glazed glass windows all round rather than proper double-glazed caravan/motorhome windows like our Seitz units. Single-glazed windows don’t help to insulate the van, they suffer badly from condensation and are generally not suited for accommodation use (our last van had a single-glazed window in the rear, so I speak from experience).

Seating and Bed

The seat in seating mode with the table setup (it mounts on a rail above the cupboard and unhooks and folds away when not in use)

The van’s layout meant that our only option was a pull-out sofa/bed, of the type known as a rock and roll bed. If you are looking at buying one of these, they fall into two main categories:

1. Sophisticated items that convert to a bed very easily and are suitable for use as travel seats (when correctly installed with seat belts). The best examples of these are made by RIB and they are amazingly expensive (£2,000+). They are excellent, however.

2. Cheap welded constructions that concertina to make a sofa and then slide out to make a bed. These generally cost upwards of £200 and vary considerably in easy of use and quality. Better ones have special hinges that make it easier to fold up the bed. They are NOT always suitable for use as travel seats.

Ours is not very easy to use and wasn’t especially well made.

In bed mode - it occupies all the length of the van except for around 50cm, which provides space for the toilet box and allows the toilet to be used when the bed's out

When we tried to fit it, we discovered that one leg was in the wrong place. Luckily, my brother-in-law had a welder and was able to rectify this. Earlier this year, we found that one of the (welded-on) hinges had broken. Looking at it, I don’t think it was fitted quite straight when made. I’ve replaced it with a new hinge that I’ve bolted on. So far, so good.

The other problem with our design is that while it pulls out into bed mode easily, folding it up into sofa mode requires considerable strength. I’ve improved this by fitting a strap that enables me to lift up the back to start the process more easily, but it still is awkward to do.

One final complication for us was that this type of bed is generally made to fit in VW Transporter vans. When fitted, it sits against the nearside of the van and straddles the nearside rear wheel arch. It turns out that the rear wheel arches of a front-wheel drive Transit are much higher than those of a VW Transporter – so our bed had to be made with longer legs in order to fit over the wheel arch. This has made it slightly too high to sit on comfortably, but it is our fault really for not researching/planning this more carefully. (Rear-wheel drive Transits have lower arches, due to the higher floor necessitated by the drive shaft.)

Overall, the bed was a cost-effective budget solution but seriously lacks sophistication or ease of use. If I did it again, I wouldn’t buy one of these cheap units, I’d make something myself from wood, even though it would take longer.

For cushions, we bought a foam futon mattress from Ikea and trimmed some of the foam off the edge to make it the right width. My mother-in-law was then kind enough to re-sew the covers so they fitted properly. It’s very comfy indeed and didn’t cost much more than buying the foam on its own – recommended!

Electrics

Our aim when away in this van was to mostly use aires and wild camp for overnight accommodation – not to use campsites. I therefore wanted a solution that would keep the leisure battery charged without using electric hookup regularly.

At this point, I have to confess that I was a bit too clever for my own good… Read on and you’ll see what I mean.

First of all, the good points:

1. Good quality 12V LED lights throughout – expensive, but worth it. They hardly use any power (ours are 2W each) and never make a dent on the battery. You can use them as much as you like on dark evenings without worrying about power consumption.

2. Sterling 600W inverter. Good quality piece of kit that charges almost everything without a problem. We keep it switched off when not in use as it has a quiescent (idle) current of 0.4A.

3. 110Ah leisure battery. Good battery life once we took the fridge out of the equation (read on…)

Bad points:

Having followed the extensive debates in the SBMCC forums over whether a small 240V domestic fridge could be used, with an inverter, to provide a cheaper alternative to a 12V compressor fridge, I decided to give it a try with my single 110Ah battery. To keep it all optimally charged, I fitted a Sterling Battery to Battery Charger.

This was a mistake. I’m sure that B2B charger is a great bit of kit but I would have needed at least twice the battery capacity for this setup to work, I think. The charger was always working overtime and I fried one inverter (a cheaper, 350W unit), due to the power surge required when the 240V compressor in the fridge started up.

After some trial and error and collateral damage (the van battery also failed, I think because of the B2B charger constantly running at maximum load), I gave up. We now only switch the fridge on when we have mains hookup. I have also sold the B2B charger and replaced it with a simple voltage-sensing relay, which seems to work well. The battery is now only used for lights, water pump and laptop/phone charging and the whole setup is kept adequately charged by daily driving. We have no fridge (surprisingly manageable) but have achieved our goal of not needing electric hookup. If money was no object, I’d now buy a Waeco 12V compressor fridge, but at £400-£500 each, money is an objection!

Lesson learned: Motorhome fridges (whether 12V compressor or 3-way 12V/gas/240V models) are expensive for a reason – they are actually suitable for continuous use in a motorhome. We’d be better off with a 12V coolbox than our 240V fridge, as at least we could run that easily when we are driving each day, just switching it off at night.

Water, Toilet and Washing

Since we wanted to be self sufficient and use aires/wild camp extensively, we needed basic washing facilities and a toilet. I’ve written about our toilet solution here and it remains an excellent setup that can even be used when the bed is out. Although privacy is minimal, capacity is excellent (our Porta Potti 365 has the maximum size 21l waste tank) and so far, quality and durability has been excellent, too. Housing the toilet in a large box provides an extra seat and looks much more attractive, too.

The downside of having the tanks like this is that they do take a lot of cupboard space and the water is more awkward to fill than with an external filler. On the other hand, the waste water can be carried to an emptying point where necessary.

I decided against fitting underbody fresh or waste water tanks to the van and went for internal, removable water containers. It could be argued that this wastes internal storage space but it did make installing the water simpler. In the cupboard under the sink, we have a 25l fresh water container, into which a standard caravan-style 12v submersible pump goes. We also have a 25l waste water container, into which the sink drains. Naturally the sink (with cold tap only) serves for both personal washing and culinary washing up – there ain’t room for two sinks!

The fresh water can be filled in situ, thanks to a funnel/pipe arrangement, and the waste water can be unstrapped and lifted out in a few seconds for emptying. This does mean you can be a bit more flexible with emptying – you don’t need to be able to drive over a drain.

We also carry two 10l water carriers under the bed at the rear of the van which we use to store additional fresh water and to collect fresh water when filling the main water container. All of this works quite well and is reasonably satisfactory – although perhaps I should have fitted a proper grey or fresh water tank, if only to free up more cupboard space.

Cooking and Gas

Screwed down through the base, this isn't bad for £10 and doesn't require bottled gas

We didn’t want to have a full gas installation in our van so had a fairly narrow choice of cooking setups. Having considered the fantastically expensive, marine-style Origo sprit-burning stoves, we decided that we could manage with a single burner and got a Camping Gaz stove of the type that uses aerosol-sized disposable gas canisters. By putting a screw through each of the feet of this ‘portable’ stove, it was permanently fixed to the worktop! This is a cheap and cheerful setup but we find it adequate – and we self cater almost all the time, so do give it a fair amount of use.

Obviously this setup can also provide hot water for washing, when we need it.

Base vehicle

Last, but by no means least, is the vehicle itself – our short wheelbase Ford Transit 100T280. I’ve been very happy with this. It’s good to drive and averages 35mpg (with the 2.0TDDI engine).

It’s small enough to use as a car in day-to-day life, but the extra width (compared to a VW Transporter) makes a big difference in terms of space in the accommodation section. Being a Ford, it’s been pretty reliable and is cheap enough to service and repair when necessary.

Although I lust after a Mercedes Sprinter, I’d be happy to have another Transit (this one is my second, anyway!).

Final Thoughts

Our conversion was done on a budget and overall, I’m very happy with it. While there are a few things I’d change, none of them are show-stoppers and we’ve already had a lot of use out of the van, which enables us to travel to all sorts of places independently and quite cheaply. It’s also great fun.

Although it isn’t a typical motorhome, it is self-contained and does everything it needs to do – in a vehicle that’s hardly any bigger than a large 4×4.

If you’re working on a conversion (or you’ve already completed one), I’d love to hear about it and to see a photo of the end result – if you’re happy for me to do so, I’ll publish pictures and details of your vans on this site for others to learn from, too!

As always, leave a comment below if you’ve got any questions or would like to comment on my simple van conversion!

To be fair, he does have a slight advantage over some of us – for his day job, he deals in classic car parts and tools as well as providing equipment for the fishing industry (he’s based in Lowestoft).

Over the years, he has converted an old Mercedes 307D van into a motorhome, restored a Mk 1 Ford Transit coachbuilt motorhome and, more recently, restored an old London Taxi (yes, I know it’s not a motorhome). His empirical know-how and years of experience with old vehicles are very educational for mechanically clueless people like me and his conversion stories make good reading.

Incidentally, Mr. B’s tale of woe about the plight of the UK’s fishing industry and its suppliers is hilarious and well worth a read, too.

An ageing but well-specified caravan - perfect as the donor for a new motorhome conversion

While converting a van yourself can be very satisfying and allow you to create exactly the layout you want, some aspects can be quite difficult, too. Most obviously, creating high quality, well fitted and finished furniture. That’s why I paid for furniture to be built for my van – to get the professional look and finish I wanted.

However, there is another way, as a well-known high street bank likes to boast!

The answer is – a caravan. Second-hand caravans, particularly if they have minor crash damage or are over 10 years old, are very cheap to buy. Yet they tend to contain almost everything you will need for a comprehensive motorhome conversion – especially expensive heating, cooking and refrigeration equipment. They also contain professionally-made cupboards, foam cushions, beds and tables.

A full kitchen, all of which could be transferred to a motorhome build

For example, I owned a caravan for a short while a few years ago. It was bought from a small dealer who had taken in part-exchange. Although it was 12 years old, it had been very expensively specified when new and was top of the range for its size (about 15ft). It contained:

• Gas/240V blown-air heating
• Gas fire
• Gas/240v hot water
• Three-way fridge
• Thetford cassette toilet with electric flush
• Shower and basin
• Hob, grill and cooker
• Numerous double-glazed windows and two rooflights
• Well-made furniture, including a double sofa/double bed and good quality foam cushions (these are expensive)
• Folding table
• Kitchen sink & taps
• Twin gas bottles
• Leisure battery (less than one year old)

A heater and some useful cupboard doors...

The price I paid for this was £1,400 – everything was in excellent condition and full working order, there was no damp and no leaks and the tyres were good. It had lots of life left in it and is still in use by the person I sold it to. If you can’t fine one locally, eBay is a good place to find a cheap caravan.

However, had I been inclined to, I could have stripped out the interior and reused most of it to form the basis of a smart motorhome that would still be well specified by today’s standards. Although windows, rooflights and cupboard carcasses may not all have been reusable, pretty much everything else would, including the cupboard doors, which would have helped provide a professional look.

Some adaptation is required when reusing caravan furniture in a van conversion, but it is possible at a relatively low cost. For an example of a well-executed and smart van conversion using a donor caravan, have a look at VanToCampervan.co.uk. This guy has done it and provided a well-illustrated account of the whole conversion on his website. Well worth a read, even if you don’t fancy the donor caravan approach.

Today, however, I came across this link which links to this page, which provides a detailed description of how to repaint your van using Rustoleum paint and get a smooth, shiny finish. It is a little labour intensive but is a much cheaper, more practical and less anti-social option than spraying – most of us don’t have a suitable area in which to respray an entire van.

The cost of the Rustoleum method is very low and no expensive equipment is required – just paint, some rollers, wet and dry paper and a healthy measure of elbow grease!

If your van is in need of a makeover and you are interested in doing it yourself, then check out this guide.