Part 1 covering day 1 to day 10 of progress
April 2023 - researching and searching for a potential van to convert.
April and May 2023 - registered on swapz and autotrader
Late May 2023 - I decided I wanted a Ford Transit H3 so I could stand up in the back and also either an H3L3 or L4, so it had plenty of space.
27th May 2023 - With a lot of saved leads and a lot of talking to different traders I found "Tybatha" 2007 Transit H3L4 in a dealers called JL vans in Warrington, I decided to go and see the van and test drive it and ended up leaving a deposit.
01 June 2023 - I agreed to collect the van, when I turned up following a predelivery inspection all seemed fine until I drove the van away to an instant warning light on the dashboard which turned out to be the air flow sensor. I turned around and drove it back and asked them to sort it.
03 June 2023 - The van was fixed, and I collected it. All was well, and I took the kids out in the sun in the van with a picnic.
04 June 2023 - Started stripping the van out (wooden panels and floor) to discover holes in the wheel arches. I ordered some body filler and mesh the same night.
amzn.eu/d/21CsQNO - £8.99 Drill sanding pad.
amzn.eu/d/ghyVxe9 - £11.29 x2 Big boy metal filler.
amzn.eu/d/cZfTlMg - £13.11 Johnsons White metal paint.
amzn.eu/d/hRJYlh6 - £3.79 x2 Bigboy aluminium mesh.
amzn.eu/d/iDSi1gE - £8.88 Hamerite Direct to rust metal.
Total spend £61.14
05 June 2023 - Removed the bulkhead and motorbike mounts opening the van right up to the cab. Tidied up the wiring to the reverse camera and drivers door seals.
06 June 2023 - Sanded off as much rust as I could from drivers side rear wheel arch, used bigboy aluminium mesh outside the wheel arch and used big boy filler inside wheel arch to cover the hole and then painted the wheel arch with Hammerite direct to rust metal paint.
07 June 2023 - Same as the day before but on the passenger side rear wheel arch and added a second coat of Johnsons metal paint to each side.
07 June 2023 - pulled away 2nd bit of roof panelling to open up the rest of the van right up to the cab. Found solar panel wiring that wasn't connected to anything, tested it to find it, was working and pulling in 18 to 19v, and tied up the cabling. Cleaned, hovered, and mopped the back of the can flooring. Painted all of the floor with Hammerite direct to rust paint.
Purchased:
750ml Hammerite direct to rust White £20
Wire scrub brush £4.00
Paint brushes £5.00
Total £29.00
08 June 2023 - Painted the floor and arches again with another coat.
9th to 11th June 2023 - Purchased
Rockwool sound insulation slab 100x400 x1200mm £52.00
Mineral wool silver foam roll £30
Wood sawn kiln dried 19x38 1
8m x10 £27.08
Kingsland tp10 roof insulation board 2400x1200 x25mm £36.00
Tigersealer £9.79
Nitromors Rust Armour 500ml £15.99
Foiling up the wheel arches with the thermal foil, and it rained outside and also started to rain inside the van too. Yes, I discovered the van leaks. Good job, my lovely girlfriend. Lally was with me to help me out and keep me calm. called it a night and the next morning got to work on the van roof. sealed it up and painted, started to work on 2 areas of the roof seams we're water was also getting in using tigerseal after using my drill and a wiremesh attachemt.. left it dry and while and used direct to rust White spray paint. Got back to work in the back, foiled the arches up, used all the rockwool on the walls which covered half of the van walls covered the wool over with foil. Started to make a sub frame for the floor using placing the wood at the loweat point on the floor side ways so it reaches the exact height of the roof insulation boards.
Total spend £203.16
June 12th, 2023 - Did some testing on the electrical cabling and figured out how to get a permanent live, ignition off timer live, doors locked power off switched live. Learning about the wiring, I fitted LED lights above the front cab and rear seats that trigger if the door opens or ignition is switched off on a timer. Fitted a permanent live for the rear view camera screen and routed it to where the rear view mirror would usually be. The screen switches on when the feed is sent from the reverse camera when selecting reverse gear.
June 13th, 2023 - Purchased an angle grinder for £35.00. Used it to remove all the filler and wood left behind on the side walls to make the surface flat. Moved the reverse camera screen directly onto the dash above the gear stick, routed power to it, and the camera feed through the dash so everything is tidy. Purchased more Hammerite direct to rust smooth white and painted over the exposed metal i grinded down in the van to potect the metal.
Total spend £55.00
June 14th, 2023, Day 10
My Dad popped round to help out. Did more on the flooring and repainted the seals on the roof because it still seems to be leaking slightly.
Total Spend £145 which was more wood for the subfloor,foilwrap, a saw, and wool.