Sprinter 313

[Nick 313]

Hi Folks,
New to your great forum. Can`t find a intro section so I may as well just get on with my van build. Some work being done diy but the main fit out is being done by a firm local to me called Vanamize.

02 sprinter 313 MWB, low roof. hi/low range and difflock. It was an ex fire service mountain rescue vehicle so its had little use and for a 15 year old sprinter no more rust than you see on some 3 year old ones :Wow1:


Heres some pics as bought

 

[Sitec]

Hi there. Welcome too! Very clean looking van there for an 02. It does not look to have had a hard life.

 

[Nick 313]

I think it must have been used mostly for food runs to McDonalds.

Bit of rust under the wood floor and a bit in the step wells but none had gone through so some rust killer and paint and it was sorted. I did drill some extra drain holes in the front step wells as the factory drains are in the wrong place so I added 2x 7mm holes per side up front so they drain perfectly now.

Heres a few pics of what Ive done myself

Sprayed all panels with gravitex.



Added multi layer space blanket stuff to the roof and sides.



Added foil covered kingspan to sides



Insulated all ribs with recycled plastic insulation or expanding foam depending on access.



Added a rhino modular roof rack (swb length) More for fitting solar panels to than luggage.

 

[docka]

great looking van, look forward to seeing it progress

 

[Victorian]

Very clean!

 

[jostein]

Welcome, nice find!

 

[Nick 313]

Cheers for the welcomes

And this is how far Ive gotten to date.
Added window tints , matt black bonnet wrap and swapped the wheels and tyres to 245/70 16 kumho mt51`s . Had to swap to allys wheels as I couldn`t find any 16" steels, had to swap to 16`s as I couldn`t find any MT OR AT tyres with the right load rating on a 15" rim.








And the last few jobs I did last weekend were to fit new number plate lights, and led light bar to the back and some left and right flood lights to the roof rack. Not wired the lights up yet as the side lights want to be off the house batts and Ive not fitted the fuse box to power the reverse light yet.






The vans gone to be fitted out with furnature this week so about 6 weeks from now its should be back looking like a camper. I`m going to drop in through the build to take pictures of how its going so I`ll update as I get them.

Here are a few pics of a rough laylout.





The next job for me when it comes back will be welding up a swing away tyre carrier for the back. Got a rough plan for that but still deciding if I need 1 spare or 2 and things like jerry can mounts, recovery tool box etc. So a bit of thinking needed still there.

 

[Sitec]

If weight and space allow, run two complete spares.. There will be places where you won't want to be trying to get tyres repaired. Here in outback Oz, and when I was running trucks in Africa I've been glad of two spare wheels no more than one occasion.. Slightly different as I run duals on the rear, but still a must have in my opinion. Interested to see the interior as it comes together. Where's the planned first trip then?

 

[Nick 313]

2 spares is how I would like to go if possible. Like you say weight is going to come into it. I need to work out how little metal I can use to make a strong frame. I`m thinking 40mmx20mm 2mm wall should be strong enough as most off the shelf tyre carriers seam to be quite thin.

Ive not really planned my first outing. Unfortunately it won`t be anywhere exotic like Africa or Oz. This is my first camper so initially I`ll do a few weekends in the UK to work out the bugs. If I can avoid booking my month in Thailand holiday a months trip across Europe would be cool but thats somewhere down the line.

 

[Sitec]

Any trip sounds good! Africa was work for me... Overland trucks, and Oz was migration.. Herefordshire was my home. Re the wheel carrier, yup, I'd think light RHS would be the go.. 50 x 25 x 2mm would be my choice. If you end up doing twin wheels, try and have a catch that supports the weight when closed... Or a catch that links them together forming a bridge between the two.. I made a set for my 101 Land Rover when I still had it.. As usual, it was way over engineered, but the Cummins engine didn't care!!

 

[Nick 313]

Aye, any trip is good . And there is plenty of beautiful places to explore without leaving the UK. Work stops me taking great chunks of time off but the idea of the camper is make the most of the weekends and being able to just sod off at short notice.

101`s are cool. Thanks for the pic. I considered one as a project as well as older iveco dailys but decided in reality the better road manners of a sprinter would probably be a better all rounder as I`m unlikely to need outstanding off road performance when every trip will involve miles of tarmac to get there.

For the tyre carrier center support I think I`ll be coming off the towbar frame as sprinters are fairly soft in most areas. Its handy having no back doors as Ive got the old hinge mounts to come off up top. I`m thinking of a back bumper too but that would have to come off the towbar frame as well as the original bumper mounts with just 2 small bolts (not looked but guessing around m8 at the biggest) and a load of plastic clips.
Its a shame any fairly modern vehicle has no chassis anymore. And wish I had sticks on the floor for the 4wd rather than stupid buttons.

 

[Sitec]

Better road manners... You hit the nail on the head! The 101 was an awesome truck, especially with 5.9 litres of Cummins propelling it along at alarming speeds, but it had the manners of a tractor! I was sad to see it go, but the 12 tonne Merc I have now drives so nicely. My wife is also happy driving it, and as with all Merc's they make great platforms for builds. I'm following your build with interest.. and will probably steel some ideas for when I finally start to build the body for mine!

Re mounting your wheel carrier, I'd think there would be some fairly good structured steel in those door hinge points, but I'd avoid going all the way down to the tow bar as I'd think there would be movement between the body and chassis.. (Not that familiar with the Sprinters tho). Happy designing!

 

[Nick 313]

I think bracing off the towbar frame is my only choice. Its the only part of the van with any type of structure to attach off as sprinters are unibody and have no real chassis. I will pull the back bumper off before I start to get a final plan but I doubt I`m going to find anything worth bolting to more than thin body work. It will only be to stop sag in the center.

Somehow it will work

 

[Anton2k3]

Have you thought about one full spare, and one tyre only? There are some great videos about of how to use a set of tyre irons. They are light and easy to store. Means rack doesn't have to be as substantial.

 

[Nick 313]

Cheers for the suggestion Anton but I don`t think it will save me much. I`m planning on a pair of carriers like barn doors so each tyre would have its own hanger. The tyre is most of the weight and if I carried an extra tyre with no wheel it would have to live inside the van steeling valuable space. Being MWB I haven`t got a lot of room to start with

I may still go with 1 tyre and fill the other side up with tool box and fuel cans so I`ll make one side first with strong tack and see how good or bad it carries the spare. If its bad worse case I will have lost a weekend of time and £50 of steel box section