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Post by robmac on Jan 5, 2013 12:59:41 GMT
I've decided to sell my MH and do a self build van. I will probably wait until Spring as we have an up and coming trip to Scotland and a Brandon meet to do first. I was thinking about an Iveco, but having seen N Browns VW I am not sure what van to buy just yet. Any suggestions welcome with a view to size, headroom, economy etc. I will also be towing a small boat, so probably over 2 litre engine.
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Post by donkeytoo on Jan 5, 2013 13:02:20 GMT
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Post by robmac on Jan 5, 2013 13:25:26 GMT
I would absolutely love that Bruce. Spray it green, everything I need in it! 29 grand though
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Post by Oldish Hippy on Jan 5, 2013 13:28:11 GMT
have you seen ivecos truckers now that is nice
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Post by robmac on Jan 5, 2013 14:04:06 GMT
I've not seen inside it Barry, but he told me it was fitted out by a yacht fitter. Everybody says it's something of beauty!
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Post by Firefox on Jan 5, 2013 14:36:20 GMT
Can't beat the Renault Master/Movano in my opinion. 6ft 1" headroom allowing for 30mm floor and roof insulation. 6ft 1" sleeping acoss the van. 5.4 and 5.7 and 6.0m lengths. 2500 TD engine 95 mph, 6 gears and 35 mpg available. And they are not a cult vehicle like the VW so great second hand bargains to be had. People will pay silly prices just because it is a VW or a Merc when nowadays all the vans are built to similar standards.
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Post by Etienne Le Croq on Jan 5, 2013 22:09:03 GMT
Rob! What's your budget for the base van and what do you need to fit into it?
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Post by Firefox on Jan 6, 2013 21:01:56 GMT
I paid £5,500 for a 3 year old Movano 3 years ago. Only 60,000 on it - FSH included.
You get a lot of van for your cash when they are in the auctions/dealers just out of makers warranty. Very little depreciation on them after the first three years.
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Post by robmac on Jan 6, 2013 23:01:28 GMT
Rob! What's your budget for the base van and what do you need to fit into it? Hi Stephen, My budget for the base van is 5 - 10k. I plan to make it very much back to basics. rear 2 feet seperated by a bulkhead to contain a portaloo, shower in here will consist of a curtain, builders bucket to stand in and a watering can! 2 burner hob, no grill or oven (can use Cobb as oven). large sink with hand pumped cold water (MH sinks are always too small). Small woodburning stove (although this will be a bought one rather than the one I am making!). Hot water will come from a large kettle. Also a Ghillie kettle will be used to save gas or to use when it is too warm to have the woodburner going. As small a 3 way fridge as I can find. I want a fixed double along the van from the rear leaving just enough room widthways to have a door to the loo/shower through the rear bulkhead. If there is not enough room to do this I will have to have the double across the van with a hatch above the bed through the bulkhead which would be a bit of a pain but we could live with it. Swivelling seats for both passenger and driver. Small table here on a desmo leg. No water tank - water will be kept in portable containers stored in loo/shower room. (probably under the bed). Access under rear double from loo/shower room. Basically I want this van as simple as possible so not too much to go wrong! Although many will think that this will be too much of a step backwards and we won't live with it, remember, my last van was a tiny Citroen Dispatch, with a Rooftent on top and a camping stove and portaloo in the back of the van!
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Post by Firefox on Jan 7, 2013 0:57:47 GMT
You will have enough room beside the bed (say 1.25m wide) + 0.5m corridor = 1.750m, typically what you get across a van allowing for narrowing at the top. But you will end up with a long corridor next to the bed that you can't use for much other than a corridor and you've taken up 2.6m of your load space with a bed and a shower leaving you only 1.0m or so for the lounge and the kitchen. May just about work with a small 2 seater swivel lounge and have the corridor on the same side as the sliding door.
Intriguing idea to have the bed transverse and the hatch through to bathroom which you could no doubt also access from the back double doors. Now you will have only taken up 1.85m of the load space giving you 1.75m for lounge and kitchen. Much more to play with. If you can live with the hatch door, this would be big space saver.
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Post by robmac on Jan 7, 2013 2:03:31 GMT
I am more inclined to go for the hatch door and transverse bed. To be honest if we need the loo in the night at the moment, whoever sleeps on the wall side has a bit of a scramble anyway. I'm not too fussed about living space, basically the van is for sleeping and cooking, and although the 2 feet at the back is detracting from the living space, it will allow loads of storage including under the bed, and the shower and loo need only be pulled out when required.
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Post by Firefox on Jan 7, 2013 4:05:21 GMT
Another idea; back loo, transverse bed, bottom 0.5m of bed hinges up either against the wall, the bed or the loo door, bottom 0.5m bed cushion lifts onto bed or comes up with hinge piece creating full height access door into loo/shower.
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Post by Etienne Le Croq on Jan 7, 2013 7:52:07 GMT
That sounds an interesting layout,I'm struggling to picture it in my mind at the moment though,any sketches? Are you having windows in the sides or going fortune stealth look.
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Post by robmac on Jan 7, 2013 9:10:44 GMT
Another idea; back loo, transverse bed, bottom 0.5m of bed hinges up either against the wall, the bed or the loo door, bottom 0.5m bed cushion lifts onto bed or comes up with hinge piece creating full height access door into loo/shower. Good idea, but one requirement is a permanent rear double with a proper sprung mattress.
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Post by robmac on Jan 7, 2013 9:14:38 GMT
That sounds an interesting layout,I'm struggling to picture it in my mind at the moment though,any sketches? Are you having windows in the sides or going fortune stealth look. I will have one window hopefully above the galley, and a small roof hatch. I think I need at least one window so that I can register at as a camper. May have a small window at the end of the bed as well, nice to wake up to a view in the morning! Will post a diagram later.
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Post by robmac on Jan 7, 2013 9:58:46 GMT
Can't beat the Renault Master/Movano in my opinion. 6ft 1" headroom allowing for 30mm floor and roof insulation. 6ft 1" sleeping acoss the van. 5.4 and 5.7 and 6.0m lengths. 2500 TD engine 95 mph, 6 gears and 35 mpg available. And they are not a cult vehicle like the VW so great second hand bargains to be had. People will pay silly prices just because it is a VW or a Merc when nowadays all the vans are built to similar standards. Bit confused here Vern, the spec for the Master gives a max load width of 1764 mm which is about 5ft 4. The LWB Iveco gives about 1800mm and a load lenghth of about 15 ft so would allow for lengthways bed but not leave much room for a door. I might ask Ivecotrucker for some pics of his.
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Post by robmac on Jan 7, 2013 10:20:06 GMT
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Post by Firefox on Jan 7, 2013 11:29:45 GMT
Can't beat the Renault Master/Movano in my opinion. 6ft 1" headroom allowing for 30mm floor and roof insulation. 6ft 1" sleeping acoss the van. 5.4 and 5.7 and 6.0m lengths. 2500 TD engine 95 mph, 6 gears and 35 mpg available. And they are not a cult vehicle like the VW so great second hand bargains to be had. People will pay silly prices just because it is a VW or a Merc when nowadays all the vans are built to similar standards. Bit confused here Vern, the spec for the Master gives a max load width of 1764 mm which is about 5ft 4. The LWB Iveco gives about 1800mm and a load lenghth of about 15 ft so would allow for lengthways bed but not leave much room for a door. I might ask Ivecotrucker for some pics of his. 1764mm is actually 5 foot 9.5 inches but that is between the ribs and I think at floor level. What you do is raise up the bed slightly where the van bellies out and thin down the insulation slightly between a pair of upright ribs. I've got bubble foil plus hardboard and camping mat foam with stretched leattherette lining and I've still got a 6 foot 1" bed. It's fine for me at 5 foot 8" but with a double bed you can get 7 foot by sleeping slightly diagonally (hoping partner is either small or not present!) I would measure the van before buying though as they vary slightly from mark I to mark II etc
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Post by Etienne Le Croq on Jan 7, 2013 11:55:40 GMT
We've got a 6ft long bed in our van,the X250 series is the widest van inside.
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Post by Firefox on Jan 7, 2013 12:02:52 GMT
I'll do a sketch of mine but I like the idea of the hinge up on the bottom 0.5m of the bed.
With the hinge down you get full storage under the bed (travel/sleep mode?) as well as access to the loo/shower over the bed through the full height door (giving hatch behind bed). You also have access to the loo via the outside and back doors, so person sleeping near the cab can still go to the loo but via outside.
With the hinge up you have daytime mode with access to loo via full height door. Anything stored in the corridor can go under the van or on the bed. Or if you want you have the flexibility to leave the hinge down for day mode keeping storage intact and access via hatch or back doors of van.
Bed is raised up to seat height (600mm off floor) to give extra storage and extra day time seating for 2.
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Post by Firefox on Jan 7, 2013 12:52:04 GMT
Another idea; back loo, transverse bed, bottom 0.5m of bed hinges up either against the wall, the bed or the loo door, bottom 0.5m bed cushion lifts onto bed or comes up with hinge piece creating full height access door into loo/shower. Good idea, but one requirement is a permanent rear double with a proper sprung mattress. Oooops I missed the bit about the sprung mattress My layout would be struggling with that requirement, but it would work using a 6-7 inch thick memory foam mattress. You'd just cut to form a bottom foot cushion of 500x1300 and resew the covers. I daresay you could probably cut and sew a sprung mattress the same way with more hassle. The really thick memory foam mattresses are worth looking at unless you already have and don't get on with them. I got mine from Dreams. It was about £200 but is the most comfortable bed I've ever had in my life.
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Post by robmac on Jan 7, 2013 13:03:27 GMT
Yeah would consider that, I have a 3" memory foam topper at the moment which makes life easier, although the dinette cushions do move around under it to some extent, I wouldn't have this trouble with a semi-permanent bed.
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Post by Firefox on Jan 7, 2013 13:19:47 GMT
My front bed is a 1250x750 top cushion and a 600x600 bottom one cut from a 1850x750 memory foam 5" thick mattress with re-sewed covers.
As long as you sleep with your head on the top cushion end, I find all your body weight and bum etc goes on the top one piece cushion and you don't suffer from split cushion woes. You can sit up in bed nicely without your bottom disappearing between two cushions.
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Post by robmac on Jan 7, 2013 13:35:11 GMT
My front bed is a 1250x750 top cushion and a 600x600 bottom one cut from a 1850x750 memory foam 5" thick mattress with re-sewed covers. As long as you sleep with your head on the top cushion end, I find all your body weight and bum etc goes on the top one piece cushion and you don't suffer from split cushion woes. You can sit up in bed nicely without your bottom disappearing between two cushions. That sounds like the way to go!
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Post by kangooroo on Jan 7, 2013 17:23:49 GMT
I paid £5,500 for a 3 year old Movano 3 years ago. Only 60,000 on it - FSH included. You get a lot of van for your cash when they are in the auctions/dealers just out of makers warranty. Very little depreciation on them after the first three years. There are definitely advantages to buying a van at 3 years old. Many of these will be ex-lease vehicles with a service history but, better than that, as part of the lease deal, they'll have a thorough check before being returned to the leasing company and a detailed report will be made on them, their condition, defects and any work needed. If you ask for a copy of this report, which is not promoted to the public and many are unaware it even exists, you'll be buying with the confidence of knowing nothing is hidden and any identified faults can be used for further negotiation.
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Post by lotusanne on Jan 7, 2013 20:26:15 GMT
Hi Rob, would it be possible to have the bed high up across the back to give storage from inside and out, and site the bathroom (ok i know I am exaggerating but sounds better than the cold wash down space!!) at the fromt/ middle? Sorry if i missed anything, just catchimg up as coudnt get on site, so speed reading threads at the moment!
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Post by Etienne Le Croq on Jan 7, 2013 21:45:43 GMT
I'm liking the woodburner idea
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Post by Firefox on Jan 8, 2013 7:14:34 GMT
Attached is my layout for the rear bathroom/fixed transverse double idea. It's on a pdf scale 1:20 at A4 based on on a 5.4m long panel van with a 3.2m long loadspace. Attachments:
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