Once you have your van and have a plan, it is time to clear it out and start with a fresh slate. When removing items such as the ply, assess it and see if it can be reused.
If you've just driven your van out of the dealership then this will not take too long. If you've just bought your van from a builder or gardener then be prepared for this stage to take a little longer.
Usually, a good sweep and hot soapy water will do the trick, the aim is to eliminate odours and have the van clean and grease-free, ready for the next stage.
It is ideal to start working on the cab early on, as there is a chance this area will need a clean too. If you are going to require the vehicle during the conversion we would say to leave the cab alone until the end.
However, for most getting the cab started now will allow a route to the engine bay to be assessed before any electrics are run and to give the area a good clean.
The first conversion job is to sound deaden and insulate the van. We recommend covering the sides, ceiling and doors with the appropriate products. If you don't know what products or quantities you need, you can check out this blogor our sound deadening bundles.
We recommend leaving the floor as you will likely ruin the insulation on the next step if it is already fitted. Put it to the side for now and we will let you know when to fit it.
The ply mock-up stage is very important for a couple of reasons. Firstly, you can make any modifications to the ply; cutting holes for electrics and second, making sure your fixing points are adequate.
This stage is longer if you are making your ply panels from scratch, as this requires a lot of taking panels in and out to make sure they are 100%. We recommend buying pre-cut panels or using old ones as templates to save time.
You are now at the stage to start running your electrical cables. Make sure you do not connect anything up until everything is safely terminated, also we do not recommend electrics to be fitted with no prior experience or understanding.
The electrics won't be able to be finished at this stage, however, this is the best time to run the right cables to the desired locations.
We recommend carpeting the ply panels and remaining metalwork separately for most applications. There are two reasons why. The first being, it is easier to fit and secondly for future-proofing the van, as you will be able to remove the panels if access is required.
Firstly, carpet line the metalwork that will be exposed once the ply is fitted. Once this area is carpet lined you can then cut away any spare and use this to carpet smaller panels.
Carpet line all the ply panels and then fit them using either trim clips or screws that you have pre-drilled at the mock-up stage. (Make sure to poke your wiring out so these can be terminated later.)
Once you have carpet lined the sides, ceiling and wheel arches, your attention can turn back to the floor. Install the insulation and sound deadening on the floor and then fit the ply floor either by screwing it into the floor of the van or by bonding in battens.
Leave your floor covering for a moment as it could get damaged if it's fitted too early.
If you are building a camper please skip this step!
If you are building a day van you can mock fit any seating, fit the floor covering, final fit the seating, terminate the electrics and connect them to the system. Once the system and seating are safe and tested, your day van is ready. You can now add any additional items such as curtains and styling pieces.
Before you start fitting your interior, make sure to fit any splash panels or curtains and blinds.
You can now start mock fitting your interior units in the van. You want to make sure it is scribed to the van and also mock fit the bed to make sure it all fits before it's installed. Test everything opens and operates as it should.
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Now that the majority of bed and furniture moving has been done, we can fit our floor covering. Most campervan flooring is fairly hard-wearing, however, we leave it until later on in the process, to give it the best chance.
Make sure to sweep the ply before fitting the floor covering.
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Once you know that the furniture fits and everything is going to operate as it should you can look to bolt down and fix the interior.
Once the interior is fitted you can route cables and pipes through the furniture and start final fitting the electrics and appliances such as fridges, hobs, sinks and heating.
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The final job is to fit the Rock 'n' Roll bed. Once this is done there may be additional jobs like adding a cupboard under the bed or turning your attention back to the cab; you could fit a swivel base to increase space or fit a cab carpet to make the space feel more comfortable.
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If you have any further questions, please join Leigh every Sunday at 8pm for his YouTube LIVE on our YouTube channel, where you can ask as many questions as you need about your build and chat with other subscribers
about their conversions.
