VW Bus Camperconversion

[TheBlueBus]

Even though this might be a bit of an "exotic" in a northern american-based forum, I thought i still might present my conversion. It could still be interesting for Eurovan owners, people with similar sized vans or pretty much the entire rest of the world.
It's a 2004 Volkswagen T5, the successor of the Eurovan (or T4). 2.5L turbo diesel, get's awesome mpg if you can behave yourself.



It started as a good looking 9-seater with a nice-ish interior, and then I came around lol.
Fiddled with sketchup to find a good layout and came up with this. Interior space is about 2.5m x 1.6m aka 8.2ft x 5.2ft



First step was to rip out the interior to get a blanc canvas.



Next was insulation. There are a lot of weird shapes in the van and there's still plenty of bare metal left, but it's better than nothing plus it helps to keep the noise down. The stuff is called Armaflex and is a little less than an inch thick.



With insulation done, i could turn it into a proper van again. That meant jig-sawing a floor and lining the new interior panels with fabric. The floor isn't too fancy, but it's waterproof, which has proven to be very useful multiple times.



With that sorted, it was time for the built out. The german law doesn't require a fixed stove or running water for a motorhome registration, so I decided to ditch that, to keep the cost down. No solar or for now, it does however have a second battery from factory.

And since ExPo doesn't allow me to attach more pictures, I'll continue in part 2.

 

[TheBlueBus]

Finally the build could start! First was the platform. Together with the box up front it's sort of an L-shape.



Two more cabinets needed. Also added a bottle opener, very important!



The little railing on the cabinet is for a panel to turn the L into a sleeping platform. The big box on the driver side has got one as well. Sleeps two people quite comfortably and is actually a bit bigger than what you get with many professional T5 conversions. Both the cover of the box and in the platform have little magnets to reduce rattling.

 

[TheBlueBus]

With covers for cushions and some more paint it's starting to look nice. And even better loaded up






First trip could have been worse.



I'm no carpenter and all of this happened in the driveway, so I'm happy how it turned out. There's still lot's to do, there's room for improvement, but's it's all part of the process and for my first car, therefore my first conversion I'm really satisfied. Let's see what version two might bring.

Cheers!

 

[vintageracer]

Looks GREAT!

Thanks for posting. Always like to see vans that are "Different" from what we have available here in the USA.

 

[b. rock]

Way to make us totally jealous of the van offerings over the pond. I liked the size of our Vanagon, but not that it was from the 80's. Nice work. Syncro conversion??

 

[TheBlueBus]

A few more years and you could get your hands on a european syncro. Syncro is no longer a thing, the new 4x4 is called 4Motion and is more of an AWD, not a 4WD. Distributes between front and rear axle.
Mine's 2WD unfortunately, if I had known where i wanted to go with the build I could have gotten one, but I didn't...