Camping conversions!

Just an update about the slats, the design is coming together slowly. The 53mm x 8mm sprung slats were chosen as they are light and work in beds so they must be strong enough. The end caps are screwed in each side rail but the entire middle rail or 'join/zip' is a series of wooden blocks that keeps the slats spaced nicely so the slats just rest in the slots there - no screws.

This makes it easy to add/remove slats as required. The large width is the single mode, the thinner fill in zone to the left is the double conversion, which is made simply by slotting in the slats. It's not a super trendy folding system, but it's simple, light and faster than putting up a tent....

The front area around the electrical system was going to be quite different and complex, but that area is changing so simply a temporary middle support will be used and the same slat arrangement as you can see will simply extend forward another 60cm or so for a 185cm total.  With around 5cm to the rear door that's the 190cm length bed.







The electrical area + toilet will then be lowered with front-to-back slats grazing the toilet at 30cm off the floor so the seat there will have more headroom (so effectively the bed slats arch over the top of the longitudinal seat like a bridge).. This simplifies the mattress cutting and also solves the issue of resting the slats on the electrical panel as that now is not a supporting feature.

Looking carefully in the 2nd picture you can see the 80W solar panel slipped under the slats onto the little 10mm wood frame (visible in pic 1) for easy storage, and below the storage boxes in pic 3. There's space to put a tube in for an umbrella so I may use a drainpipe and put in one for a parasol, as I actually have a parasol and a fold-up camping table/chairs which would be useful to access.

Carole likes big vehicles; her car is a BMW728i which is quite long and is the entire width of carpark spaces wide so she always uses one and a half parks. She even has a heavy transport licence although the Coaster (or similar) doesn't need that. As you state the use case is for rather more facilities than we could cram into the Hiace and she really did rush in too soon without doing any homework, partly because she loved the colour! We do have room for a Coaster on our section, they aren't really a lot longer than the Hiace with all its fibreglass extension mouldings which are decorative but a huge waste of space.
Further on the radiator, our original one is not repairable, the radiator specialist says it is good that we caught it when we did as there is so much rust it could have failed catastrophically and caused the well-known cracked head etc, so we're waiting on the wrecker to deliver a correct one to the mechanic, failing that the mechanic says he can source an aftermarket one that is correct for our van, but the cost will be a lot more although not as bad as a new one from Toyota.

@Agatha, are you talking about this model of Toyota Coaster? There's been one for sale on Craigslist in Seattle, Washington  for a few months (link).

Yes like that or similar but we need it to be in New Zealand (oh and cheap and in good condition, don't want much do we?)! They seem a good vehicle to fit out, they're only a little longer than our Hiace with all its pretty but impractical fibreglass additions, but the Coaster is shaped such that so much better use can be made of the interior space. That one looks nice, but with the exchange rate and whatever it would cost to import it and do all the compliance (if in fact it would pass our new emissions regulations for imports) it would be way out of our reach. Thanks for the thought anyway!
Meantime we just have to get the Hiace back on the road so we can sell it before anything else goes wrong with it, it's presently inconveniencing our mechanic as he can't use the hoist it's on while we try to find a radiator of the correct type. That Mr. Murphy fellow is really playing us up at every step.

In Europe the best choice for a panel van conversion is the Fiat Ducato or equivalent Peugeot/Citroen. The taller MWB and LWB ones are good as people can sleep across at the back (unlike the Sprinter) and have great square spaces for the conversion.
Economy is not bad either and they are quite tough as they are a commercial van.

@Agatha, yeah the US importers mark up the vehicles a bit. Was just curious if that was the model you were referring to.

How about this one from the Japanese auction system? Starting price 500,000JPY, about 6,800 NZ$. You'd probably be around $10k delivered, I'm guessing.

Interesting, that green Camping Saloon looks like a regularly made thing:

https://www.beforward.jp/toyota/coaster/bg170999/id/1235629/

Quite civilised inside except I can't see a toilet and shower. Is the black one the same? There's no link for that.

The black one is on a site that requires logging on to access, so I can't provide a direct link. They do have a guest account you can use to search auctions that have completed (link). There weren't any other photos, which is often the case with auction vehicles. You are lucky if you get 1 or 2 photos of the interior!

Ah ok, that's a shame as i wanted to see what they'd done with the interior!

There's a youtube channel about mini japanese campers:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCNcYJ83UnhHYj3rewV3_2mg

Maybe a good source of ideas, campervanning is waning in popularity in Japan I've heard (there was a bit of a bubble) so it may be a good source of mini campers too!

@djathens that one would be in our reach price-wise provided there weren't any awful surprises in the compliancing and if we are still allowed to import a vehicle that old. I wanted to import a later model of the car I drive but got a firm NO as they don't comply with our recently amended emission regulations, despite that they can still be imported into England where I would have thought the emissions regulations should have been more strict than here! (Our Government is a funny lot and the Greens have far too much sway due to the coalition).
Anyway maybe the idea is to ask an importer, that's something we hadn't considered, thanks for the idea.
@GPW there would be a shower and toilet in there somewhere I'm sure.

Edit: By the way folks my name is Tony, please feel free to call me by that, and I must look to see if I can put that on my profile somehow.

Hi Tony,

I'm not convinced they have a toilet and/or shower area, I think it is a large cupboard. I've never ever seen a photo of a toilet in there despite looking quite hard!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f1qREmhnz8I
https://bringatrailer.com/2018/04/03/camping-saloon-1992-toyota-coaster-in-seattle/

Not seen a stove either, perhaps the philosphy is no tea = no need for a toilet!
One can add these things but as it stands the 'camping saloon' isn't much of a camper.
Engine looks a nice 6 cylinder but 0-100kmh looks heavy so it could be thirsty.

In contrast this is what they are building in the LWB Ducato these days, check out the bathroom and shower - the doors lock across into an ensuite.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FItb3egyQH0

I would recommend you reach out to the boys at Pacific Coast Auto in Japan. info@pacificcoastjdm.com
You can search their site for what is available at the Japanese auto auctions and they ship all over the world.  They will be able to let you know what you can and can't bring in I'm sure.

They have a good Youtube channel as well...  I am partial to this video.

@Tony, I find it amusing that your country can't import vehicles older than a certain age, and in the United States it's the opposite. Your laws are probably there to protect the natural environment, while ours are probably to protect the bottom line of domestic auto manufacturers and the US arm of foreign manufacturers.

I didn't realise how lucky we were in the UK to have no restrictions. Even for modifying, which is forbidden in some parts of europe I'm tending to modify my mods though .

@djathens yes the irony of that has not been lost, for sure!

I did some quick research after leaving this forum last night and it seems that if the purchase price, converted by the exchange rate is added to the freight charge and the cost of any shipping insurance then we get charged customs duty on that total, and then goods and services tax at 15% is charged as well. After that the vehicle has to be fumigated for biosecurity and then it has to be checked and if necessary modified for compliance with our regulations and finally if everything passes it then has to be registered for the first time here. If you can hear the cash register ringing at each step of that you're hearing what I'm hearing. Carole rang some importers here and they were unanimous that they won't import buses (which includes converted ones). Anyway I suspect any vehicle in Japan that is young enough to be allowed into here will be priced well out of our reach. I may check that site but I think everything is stacked against us. It may also be that if we got a bus and modified it there would be a need of re-certification so that would be a further cost.

We are going to look at something tomorrow that she has found, but it is currently more for interest as she needs her van back and needs to sell it and put the money in the bank before she can consider purchasing anything else. We're still waiting for that damned radiator, it's now an entire week our mechanic hasn't been able to use that hoist because our van is on it; luckily he has two, but the inconvenience to his business must be substantial. He's a one-man-band so anything that reduces his productivity will be hurting.

Same in the UK, they added the duty to the total price including shipping which ended up adding around 40% to the bill (Mine was quite a reasonable price so the shipping was quite a big percentage of the total).

Importing like this is swimming against the current, as always when doing this it's useful occasionally to look at the deals in the direction of the flow. I.e. a lot of these restrictions are hurdles are put in place by lobby groups of the big makers, but when they get their captive market they find that they still need to offer some good deals in to get the volume turnover they need. Which is a long way of saying: Check the prices of buying a brand new van too as some of them can be good value, often a maker won't make much money on a sale.

For instance a decent campervan in the UK of a reasonable age is around £10 - 25k, new they are about £40 - 65k but I can get a good deal on a brand new 2019 Renault Trafic panel van for £16-20k, with oodles of help to help me afford it. This new van is not only clean but has new tyres, exhaust, clutch, brakes, fluids but also a multi-year warranty so one swaps the constant trickle of 'keeping it going' money for the upfront costs or repayments. here even a brand new base hitop LWB Ducato is £20k, a figure easy to reach for a van that size trying to save money!

Then without the mechanics to worry about one can concentrate on a frugal, elegant custom fitout as a rolling project. In the UK this affects insurance so you get 3 months to convert it to DVLA approved campervan spec, else you have to pay regular (high) van insurance rates.

Something to consider anyway to guard against spending more on an import solution than you'd spend on being in a new economical van .... being able to spend most of your time on the road driving it..

@Tony, I guess that is the side benefit of the vehicles having to be older than 25 years in the US, you don't have to federalize them. I can see that getting expensive quickly! There were a number of costs associated with getting the vehicle exported, shipped, and through customs, which for me ended up being roughly the same cost as the van itself, thankfully I got a good auction price!

Hey guys thanks for all the comments and suggestions.
We looked today at a Toyota Dyna as part of collecting ideas. I didn't like it and it was priced above our range anyway but Carole will be storing up all the things she sees for later recall.
Anyway I seem to have hijacked this thread, for which I totally apologize, so I'll shut up for a while and let you folks get on with what you're doing with your vans since many of you are in the Northern Hemisphere where you actually have some summer weather to make your tasks easier. I'll sit back and watch / learn from you.

Please don't worry about thread hijacking, we're discussing campers and it's a discussion thread, I think of it like a pub chat
Summer here is a bit variable currently .

Currently I'm waiting for some removable pin hinges for my bed extension leg. I found a couple for the stabiliser bar - an 8" bit of wood that will be able to lock/drop in with some small square corner hinges that are like a peg+hole.


The removable slat-base-rail itself will be attached (to the rest of the bed) by a 40mm x 75mm hinge which makes a secure way of fixing it, but the floor is in the way of it folding so I'll take the hinge pin out of it and use a pin with a loop for ease of use.


Then the leg will hinge down on another one to contact the floor. The hinge on the leg to rail is simply a handy way to get a secure join and has the benefit that it will hinge to the rail to keep it together. Then I'll need a space to keep the spare rail+leg, stabiliser and slats for when it needs converting!

I totally agree with GPW, hijack all you like, we like talking about vans and especially campers!

Thanks guys!

Finally our radiator arrived (yes actually the correct one and undamaged) at our mechanic's place yesterday and he installed it so we're off soon to collect the van and take it for its Warrant-of-Fitness which fell due while it was at the mechanic's place then finally it will be back home.
Carole wants to take it for a last trip before she sells it, but she has lost confidence in it so that may not happen.

Sounds good!!

One thing you could look at is if a local custom shop could trim down the front and back extensions to keep the character but make it a little more usable in everyday life.

@GPW yes we have thought about that and it would be do-able but she really has lost confidence in the van now and she really does want something just a little roomier. It did pass its WoF fortunately and with a little more coolant added this morning to make up for some trapped air I think the cooling system is now good but there are so many other things that could fail on such an old vehicle; we're just on the pension now so we can't keep throwing $500 or more at it each time something else wants to play up, and no repair is ever under that kind of money now.

Hi Tony, sorry I didn't mean you should keep it, I just thought that while you are waiting to sell it a few mods may help the sale and the van more usable in the meantime.

All too familiar with the danger of perfecting something at great expense for only the next person to enjoy - always a hazard!

The next van I buy will be new, for some vehicles it's crazy to buy them new but others it makes a lot of sense, also the fact everything is new means nothing needs replacing or repairing for a while so one can simply drive it!

Got my hinges turning up today so hopefull some more of the snail-like progress to a usable camper tomorrow

All good, and depending on the reaction of any prospective purchasers we may need to do something like that anyway. She took it for a run today around town and has already scraped it again coming out of a driveway even though she says she went partly sideways to reduce the dip. I guess other countries don't make their driveway crossings the way we do because even my car at stock height has issues with many driveways.
Anyway now she says it is 'juddering' and I have yet to get any sort of description of what she means by that so I may have to ride in the passenger seat to experience it in order to get some idea of what that could be ... it never ends.