LFGSS Camper Van owners?

Ah! Lovely! Good colour choice too!

Ah! I assumed it was air cooled.

You could find liveable boats within your budget. I lived on the water for about two and a half years. Bought a wreck and did it all up ourselves but £21k should get you something liveable. Might need a little work but if you're thinking of living on a boat I assume you're not afraid of a little DIY.

I work in Reading - happy to talk sometime about it all if you want to ask questions etc.

There are some difficulties with being of no fixed abode, mainly post but anything you need an address for like bank accounts becomes harder.

Lots of similarities between boat and van living I think. Practical things like toilet, power, water etc need consideration but if you're in Reading you can take advantage of water points along the canal (keys cost about a fiver), and elsan points for your poo.

Hey, thanks for that. Yeah I'd be happy to do one up for sure. Houseboat thread needs reviving it seems.

Subbing for interest. More day van stuff than full camper though.

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Thought I'd post on here before going into the world of Autotrader,etc. Unfortunately I'm looking to sell on my camper as we're not using it enough to justify it.

It's a 1990 Mercedes T1N 208d 'Commodore' professionally converted by a small company called Car Cruiser who were based near Nottingham. I've owned it for just over 4 years and the chap before me, Reg, had it for 22 and kept it in a workshop. As such, it's in pretty good nick for its age.
49,800 miles 2.3 diesel 5 speed dog-leg
2 berth (I made a platform over the front seats for baby)
Power steering (optional factory extra)
80L fresh and 50L waste water tanks
Pumped cold water, blown air heating, 2 way fridge. It's a solar panel away from being self sufficient.

Happy to provide more photos if anyone is interested. Based in Kings Lynn

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Just curious, is that tent bespoke to fit the van and how good a seal in between van and tent is there?

That van is so rad!

Nope, just a standard drive away awning. You can either connect it by clipping onto a gutter or using a figure of 8 which is how I run it. The Fiamma wind out awning has a 4mm channel in it which you stick a connecting strip in.

The dome shaped section of the tent zips off on all sides and the connecting section is more like a porch. When you drive off you just leave the tent sealed off. There's a small gap between the connecting portion and the van which you need for the sliding door to open.

Thanks, that makes sense.
Do you have any inside pics?

Yeah of course. The sofa converts into the bed. The passenger seat swivels and can mount a TV. Two burner hob and grill at the back. Table mounts in front of the sofa. Storage all over the place and a separate toilet room with running sink. The seat in the back can be removed and replaced with a minibus seat with seatbelt I had trimmed in the same material. This was so I could have 2 kids seats in the car. You don't legally need belts in the back as it's pre-2006.

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I'd be all over this for my Munro round of Scotland but it's still in planning.

Great looking passion wagon though. 😊

Thanks for the pics. Looks great inside too. I think I'd like something that wasn't in such great condition that I could do up.

Were you on Lewis two simmers ago? Saw a mint one of those a few times whilst out and thought it looked great. That was the era of Mercedes commerical that their entire reliability reputation is built on, I remember the gearboxes being like trying to shift half a planet with a plastic tea stirrer but the rest of them are solid.

Not me unfortunately, kids got in the way before getting out on some long trips! I must have lucked out on the gear shift as it shift solidly. I rented a bay window VW the month before buying the Merc and the gear change was hilariously bad, having to find gears in floating space. Been told the engines are bombproof and when getting new tyres the mechanic said they had a couple that went to 500k miles!

T5 have a gearbox made from rejected air fix kits, think it's from a polo no joke. T4 are much better, both are fixable with lots of aftermarket pieces.
The merc boxes feel very solid, but every one I've used (mostly buses and light truck bodies) all the linkages are shot so you are just guessing and hoping that what you have selected is the next year and not somehow reverse

fixable with lots of aftermarket pieces

Could you elaborate on this please? Specifically for a T5.1 6 speed box from a 140ps? I’ve had no problems but if you think it’s likely, what fails and how can the box be improved?

Anyone on here done their own coversion? I've spent hours and hours on google and youtube looking at sprinter van coversions and it's very tempting...

I was thinking a horse van would be a good basis for a conversion. Not necessarily this one, first pic I found.

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That’s a neat idea. I’ve been eyeing up refrigerated vans as they’re already insulated. Also people carriers as they have the bolt down floor to attach stuff

Check the T5 forums (UK) lots of info, a few companies making parts for them, one issue is there is a bearing support that protrudes into the bell housing and they are known to crack or develop play in that bearing, massively affects 5th and 6th before anything else though. I think the original cv shafts are inherently weak, not sure if vw fixed that with the face-lift vans, I hear a lot of people have wobbly cv joints, can cause a lot of damage if they are left to go all the way to failure

Anyone done a self-build conversion in London? If so where did you work on the van?

Opening up the classic 'alternatives to a VW' chat the the nth time.

On the lookout for a campervan that is small and fuel efficient. Like everyone else out there, something like the California would be ideal, but preferably without the price tag!

Needs to be quite modern, fuel efficient and able to replace a car (albeit one that's rarely used).

Would really value any update to this list of alternatives, and also any conversion specialists that do vehicles of this size, with a finish that isn't too plastic heavy.

Alternative options:
Toyota hi ace
Mazda bongo friendee
Nissan elgrande
Vauxhall vivaro/renault traffic

Had a bongo, after my T2, before my MWB Sprinter, which was before my current T5.1. Lovely character as a car, 4wd etc, but actually quite small and cramped inside, plus there is the coolant issue, crap fuel economy and prone to rust.

Converted my T5 from panel van. Actually quite easy as so many kits available so its just mechano really.

It all depends on budget. Traffic is a good call. Could also conside Transit Connect and those smaller vans as they end up with similar interior space as a bongo