Camper Conversion Project

I spotted a Vauxhall Combo camper setup on Facebook Marketplace in Cardiff. After a bit of negotiation I got it for £210. and collected it in the Galaxy. That would have been a good chunk of my Winter Fuel Payment.....

It required a bit of modification to fit the Peugeot Partner longitudinally, but nothing my wood butchery skills couldn't handle. I made a new section that you can see in the photo below and the rest was cutting off some bits that were too long. It comes out in a jiffy, so the van can still be used as a van for general purpose van usage.

It's not quite wide enough for the Partner by a couple of inches either side, but it is more than adequate. At some future time I could use it as a basic template to make something that fits exactly and sell this one on. All it requires now is sanding, painting and some cushions to be made - I'm taking care of the first two and Hay is taking care of the latter job. It's going to be a muted grey.

She's also going to source some nice vinyl for the table top. I suggested, given my veneered dashboard expertise, I should veneer the entire thing in burr walnut, or at least the table top. She thought it a madcap idea. I think it would look rather nice.

The square gap is the table section, which lifts out and has a pole to mount it on, as can be seen in earlier photos. essentially the whole things is a bed that folds into a small seating area at the rear of the van. I'd like to mod it so that the seating area takes up more space, as there's a lot of room in the van that's wasted when it's not being used as a bed. Thinking cap on - perhaps just pushing it forward when not used as a bed would work. At least the main bench backrest would be supported by the cab seats.

£210 might seem a tad expensive, but if I were to do it myself it would require a few iterations and look nowhere near as nice. I'd probably have to spend that in wood and screws - several times over. Having this as a template helps enormously if I decide to do new one with some mods.

Here's a photo of a new one in a Vauxhall Combo, which it was designed for.

I think I might reverse its position, as getting into and out of the Partner is easier through the sliding side door than the back doors.

Hay is trying to get the Partner's classification changed from an LGV to a PLG, as the road tax is half, but it's very difficult. You need photographic evidence of the change to a camper and I believe some windows in the rear are necessary, which we don't have, as it's a stealth camper. However, we'll see what the DVLA say.