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A new camper conversion wot I did
#1
Hi All,

We've had a Berlingo for about 10 years and I've always fancied turning it into a camper truck. So when we got a new(ish) one I thought I'd have a go. Here's a YouTube video of how my attempt works. https://youtu.be/d4NQqU_y0vQ

The bed's 1.9m long, 1.2m wide at one end, 900mm or so at the other. There's a 'kitchen' with a sink, water via a hand pump, a 2 ring Calor Gas cooker, a fridge and storage for pans, crockery and food. There's storage under the bunk seat and extra storage over and between the front seats, which can also be removed easily.

The chemical bog, under a wee table, can be accessed with the bed made, should we be caught short. Not sure I'd fancy using it as a long term pooing solution, but it's there in case of emergency. The kitchen, including the fridge, can also be used in night mode with the bed made.

The whole lot comes out in a few minutes so you can use the thing as a car or a van. Disconnecting the services to the 'kitchen' takes only a couple of minutes, but you can carry most loads with the kitchen still in.

I was keen that I'd be able to use both side and rear doors with the vehicle in camper mode, unlike a lot of other designs. So we can still take rubbish to the dump and collect more rubbish from IKEA without decamping, so to speak.

Total cost about £400. Total holes drilled or permanent changes to the car, zero. I've also invested in a new vannexe from Khayam, which stows next to the water and gas.

(PS. The logo on the video is just a piece of silliness. It's not actually a commercial operation, as I'm sure you can tell).

Here's a few pics...            
[-] The following 4 users say Thank You to Martin Edge for this post:
  • eveglendinning, fcamp, knownowt, ron
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#2
Looks a good job,
[-] The following 1 user says Thank You to Johny555 for this post:
  • knownowt
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#3
Hi martin that looks a professional job well done you should be very pleased with how its turned out.
Are we there yet????? Huh
Ex 1.6hdi van now 3 seater 1.4 multispace
[-] The following 1 user says Thank You to Tomcat3 for this post:
  • knownowt
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#4
Hi Martin, one of the best conversions I've seen yet!! Can I ask how you keep the kitchen in place? Smile
[-] The following 1 user says Thank You to eveglendinning for this post:
  • knownowt
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#5
(04-08-2016, 02:07 PM)eveglendinning Wrote:  Hi Martin, one of the best conversions I've seen yet!! Can I ask how you keep the kitchen in place? Smile

Hi Eve,

Thanks for the email and apologies for the delay in replying. Round Europe in a Berlingo camper on graduating sounds like a good plan.

I'm afraid I've not got any plans. The exact details of the design evolved as I did it. The trick was to make the kitchen unit as narrow as possible (275mm for the bottom 450mm), then the 2 halves of the hinged lower bed base can each measure half what's left of the width (2x about 460mm) the front part of the bed is cut to fit the shape of the rear side doors.

The kitchen, bed base, bog cupboard and front box are all made from 2 sheets of 12mm exterior grade plywood, each 1200x2400mm and some 33x18mm planed softwood, all from B&Q.

The sink and hob unit was just about the smallest I could find, a 320x800mm unit by Smev. It was the most expensive part of the job at about £150. I got a whale hand pump for water, the smallest Fiamma bog I could find and a cheap fridge from Go Outdoors.

My other half made a natty job of sewing the cushion covers. We used 65mm thick foam which I THINK is deep enough for comfort, especially if you're using sleeping bags. I wanted the mattresses to be as thin as possible so that they can stack on the daytime settee without filling the whole back of the van. I made the bed base as low as I could for the ply sheets to go over the front seats. It's 265mm high, plus the two sheets of 12mm ply hinged with a piano hinge. In retrospect I might have made it an inch or so lower to give me a bit more sitting headroom. I think that the folded down front seats are enough support for the plywood sheets, but if they start bending with continued use I'll make a couple more supports for the front end.

You asked how the kitchen unit is fixed. I used bolts cut from long threaded rod, again from B&Q and wing nuts. I bent one bolt into a hook which fits over the 'D' bracket for fixing the rear seat. The other is 'L' shaped and slots into an existing slot in the plastic panelling lining the rear compartment. The same type of bolts fix the bed base in place, through existing holes in the floor for the rear seats.

I've taken some more photos and may well remake the 'video', so I'll let you know if I stick anything else on Youtube.

Cheers

Martin
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  • eveglendinning, knownowt, ron
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#6
That is incredibly good looking,quite professional.Well done & thanks for sharing.
Strawberry flavoured windows  Dodgy
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  • knownowt
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#7
Congratulations on an excellent build and a useful video too.
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  • knownowt
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#8
Hi All,

Thanks for the positive comments. There's now what I hope is a slightly better and clearer video, with a few more details of fixings etc, at https://youtu.be/WgCa-4ElHmY

Someone commented that the previous video was a bit rapid, but I was anxious not to exceed short YouTube attention spans!

Martin
[-] The following 2 users say Thank You to Martin Edge for this post:
  • eveglendinning, knownowt
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#9
Hi martin!
I cant wait however where i go depends how much i can make the berlingo fit the needs of a road trip in europe! haha. I love the idea of being able to have a small kitchen and portaloo inside the van incase its bad weather! Most other conversions Ive seen have the kitchen as a pull out at the back which means the tailgate has to be open Sad Thanks so much for all the help! The new video has been really useful in planning my own conversion too. Thanks for re-making it!
[-] The following 1 user says Thank You to eveglendinning for this post:
  • knownowt
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#10
That looks sweet!!!

How much bigger is the new one in the back compared to the M49?? My bed is also 1.9m x 1.23m but i have to slide the seats forwards and tilt them and use a folding hinged "bed" to achieve that size.
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  • knownowt
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