BoardinBob
New member
Inspired by all my mates having vans I took the plunge in March and replaced my car with a van. The only time I ever drive is for biking so I really didn't need a car. The van was a much more practical solution. Given I race a lot I also wanted a sleeping solution.
I was tempted by a slightly bigger van like a Vivaro. However the injector issues put me right off. Old Transits were a bit too industrial and the new ones are too expensive. VWs are just too expensive so they were out unless you wanted something with astronomical mileage which I didn't want, regardless of how reliable they are.
So I decided to opt for something smaller. I looked at Renaults, Citroens and the like but they were all a bit meh. A riding buddy then bought a Fiat Doblo. I've always been a Fiat fan having owned several over the years. A quick look over his made the decision for me. A few weeks later a really nice example popped up at a local dealer. 24,000 miles, 3 years old, 1 owner, full service history, nice "toys": aircon, start stop, bluetooth, steering wheel controls. Only thing missing was cruise control which would have been nice but I could live without. £7,000 later it was mine!
Clean enough inside and plylined
I stuck in a temporary bed/ bench as I had a race coming up
It was definitely cold and the condensation was unreal. The next step was to get the bulkhead out and get it insulated and carpeted. Got an insulation kit from Vanguard Conversions in Fort William. Fitting it was fairly easy. Silver insulation glued to the bare metal with a white foam insulation on top of that.
I've spent a lot of weekends at this workbench!
I also removed the floor, sikaflex'd batons to the metal floor then insulated in between the batons and fitted a new wooden floor on top of that. This would allow me to bolt things to the floor without fear of drilling through any fuel pipes etc! Covered that in black lino tiles from B&Q. The ply panels are all carpeted now as well. I was able to reuse the ones that were already there, trimming them slightly to get a better fit. I also had to make panels up from scratch for the roof. Again I sikaflex'd batons to the bare metal roof then screwed the panels into that.
With the carpeting done and the floor down it was time to build a proper bed.
As well as somewhere to sleep I wanted lighting and power sockets so I installed a leisure battery, USB sockets and a couple of spotlights
With the bed and electrics done I covered the bed in the same stuff I used for the floor. I thought about carpeting it but I figured this would be much easier to keep clean.
As it's a short wheelbase van the bed isn't quite long enough for me to lie out fully so I had to come up with a solution. Thanks to a recommendation on here I got folding spring loaded brackets with an extension for the bed area. Slide the drivers seat forward and fold the extension up. I wouldn't put my full weight on it but it'll hold my feet easily
In order to be able to access the battery area half of the bed top is removable. I thought about hinging it but it would be a pain so some blocks underneath keep it snug. I have space to get a 2nd bike in facing the opposite way, and I've had it that way already on various summer jaunts
The back half of the bed is storage space
To hold the bike in the van I've used a Seasucker mount. Keeps it really secure. Front wheel goes in a wheel bag and sits next to the bike
Oh, and I deserve some serious bonus points. I live in a 4th floor flat. I have a space in our communal car park. Unfortunately I have no power supply at this space so this entire conversion was done with hand tools! Only power tool I used was a cordless drill. I'm not sure if it made it harder because by only using hand tools I had to slow down and make sure everything fitted. It definitely made the job a lot longer though.
And that's pretty much it. I've got a couple of bits of carpeting to do on the rear and side door and I'm going to fit a curtain behind the seats to give me some privacy. I've made up thermal window shades using left over insulation which will make it warmer at night/ cooler in summer. I'm also going to fit some attachment points for "stuff" and some bungee netting to keep sleeping bags etc in
First proper weekend in the finished article this weekend at the final round of the Scottish Enduro series!
I was tempted by a slightly bigger van like a Vivaro. However the injector issues put me right off. Old Transits were a bit too industrial and the new ones are too expensive. VWs are just too expensive so they were out unless you wanted something with astronomical mileage which I didn't want, regardless of how reliable they are.
So I decided to opt for something smaller. I looked at Renaults, Citroens and the like but they were all a bit meh. A riding buddy then bought a Fiat Doblo. I've always been a Fiat fan having owned several over the years. A quick look over his made the decision for me. A few weeks later a really nice example popped up at a local dealer. 24,000 miles, 3 years old, 1 owner, full service history, nice "toys": aircon, start stop, bluetooth, steering wheel controls. Only thing missing was cruise control which would have been nice but I could live without. £7,000 later it was mine!
Clean enough inside and plylined
I stuck in a temporary bed/ bench as I had a race coming up
It was definitely cold and the condensation was unreal. The next step was to get the bulkhead out and get it insulated and carpeted. Got an insulation kit from Vanguard Conversions in Fort William. Fitting it was fairly easy. Silver insulation glued to the bare metal with a white foam insulation on top of that.
I've spent a lot of weekends at this workbench!
I also removed the floor, sikaflex'd batons to the metal floor then insulated in between the batons and fitted a new wooden floor on top of that. This would allow me to bolt things to the floor without fear of drilling through any fuel pipes etc! Covered that in black lino tiles from B&Q. The ply panels are all carpeted now as well. I was able to reuse the ones that were already there, trimming them slightly to get a better fit. I also had to make panels up from scratch for the roof. Again I sikaflex'd batons to the bare metal roof then screwed the panels into that.
With the carpeting done and the floor down it was time to build a proper bed.
As well as somewhere to sleep I wanted lighting and power sockets so I installed a leisure battery, USB sockets and a couple of spotlights
With the bed and electrics done I covered the bed in the same stuff I used for the floor. I thought about carpeting it but I figured this would be much easier to keep clean.
As it's a short wheelbase van the bed isn't quite long enough for me to lie out fully so I had to come up with a solution. Thanks to a recommendation on here I got folding spring loaded brackets with an extension for the bed area. Slide the drivers seat forward and fold the extension up. I wouldn't put my full weight on it but it'll hold my feet easily
In order to be able to access the battery area half of the bed top is removable. I thought about hinging it but it would be a pain so some blocks underneath keep it snug. I have space to get a 2nd bike in facing the opposite way, and I've had it that way already on various summer jaunts
The back half of the bed is storage space
To hold the bike in the van I've used a Seasucker mount. Keeps it really secure. Front wheel goes in a wheel bag and sits next to the bike
Oh, and I deserve some serious bonus points. I live in a 4th floor flat. I have a space in our communal car park. Unfortunately I have no power supply at this space so this entire conversion was done with hand tools! Only power tool I used was a cordless drill. I'm not sure if it made it harder because by only using hand tools I had to slow down and make sure everything fitted. It definitely made the job a lot longer though.
And that's pretty much it. I've got a couple of bits of carpeting to do on the rear and side door and I'm going to fit a curtain behind the seats to give me some privacy. I've made up thermal window shades using left over insulation which will make it warmer at night/ cooler in summer. I'm also going to fit some attachment points for "stuff" and some bungee netting to keep sleeping bags etc in
First proper weekend in the finished article this weekend at the final round of the Scottish Enduro series!
