LFGSS Camper Van owners?

That quote is for fitting swivels to the existing seats.

How much are the swivels as a part? No doubt you'd be able to do yourself.

That quote is for fitting swivels to the existing seats.

Aftermarket swivels usually mean a height raise as well, so check one if you can. On mine it meant I have to sit closer to keep full leg travel for clutch. Citroen Relay for reference.

In my Renault Master I installed one from the brand FASP on the passenger side and its perfect.
It does raise the seat quite a bit but they all do, no benefit to go for oem Mercedes imo.
Fasp makes them for mercedes as well (just googled it, don't know this particular website);
https://www.jennings-seats.co.uk/product/manufacturer/fasp/fasp-new-sprinter-vw-crafter-2006-2018-seat-turntable-swivel-passenger-side/

The OEM ones are around £700 each IIRC, plus VAT. That FASP one is for a Sprinter - which maybe the same as a V-Class/Vito of course.

https://www.jennings-seats.co.uk/product/manufacturer/fasp/fasp-mercedes-vito-viano-seat-swivel-turnable-2004-2014-mid/

Try then both out. It might be the action on the oem is better or worse. I'd spend 400quid more for a slicker operating swivel.

And buy the part and fit yourself, its easy.

Some Dutch students have built a 2 berth EV camper. They claim they did a 2000km trip on sun power alone. https://solarteameindhoven.nl/article?presenting-our-newest-solar-vehicle-stella-vita

It will probably be 10 years until we can buy such a thing, and more like 20 before most of us can afford it, so I think we should just make one. If you build your own you can probably forget most of those pesky safety regulations but still get it registered. It looks like a frame of steel tubes with a fibreglass body. I wouldn't bother trying to make it pretty. Just start with a 2CV chassis and glue some krabon phaiber bits on.

There aren't many specs available: battery capacity 60 KWh, weight 1700 kg, charging time when stationary 2-3 days, most efficient speed 85 kph, top speed 120 kph, range 600 km, range on a sunny day 730 km, solar panel area on roof 8.8 square meters, area on fold-out panels 8.7 square meters. Average daily distance: 300 km. Total distance driven: 2000 km. I can't quite see how they managed the journey without using charging points. I suppose they started with a full charge, and then kept charging constantly, even at night.

So, who's going to make one? You could start with this 64kWh battery pack from a scrapped Kia. https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/255025763103 Only £7450. It weighs 457 kg.

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"On a sunny day" is the key thing here. Solar panels produce a fraction of the rated output in even mildly hazy conditions, and in winter horizontally(ish) mounted panels produce basically nothing.

Typical consumer panels are about 200W/square meter (in strong perpendicular-ish sunlight), so that's about 1.8 kW for each of the roof and the wings. If they 130 km extra is on the roof alone then that's the equivalent (130/600)*64 = 13.9 kWh = 7.8 hours equivalent direct sunlight*, which is on the edge of plausibility for a particularly cloudless sunny day in the middle of summer in the Netherlands.

Recharging in 2 days requires (64/2)/(0.2*(8.8+8.7)) = 9.14 hours equivalent sunlight, which is even more optimistic.

(* the sun might be out for many hours more than that, but for most of the day it isn't directly overhead and the amount of power generated is greatly reduced)

They went to the bottom of Spain and got there on Oct 15. So quite a bit of sunlight? Someone on Facebook also doubted their charging numbers. Makes me wonder whether a manufacturer loaned them some experimental panels or something. They don't say who made their panels or what spec they are or anything. Is it possible to turn panels up to 11 if you don't care about wrecking them?

Got a spare window if anyone fancies?

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Been fairly busy!

Just finishing off the interior woodwork, ignoring the back doors for a mo.

IKEA cabinet / drawers in.

Need to get the battery and heater located.

Also had a ladder, unistrut for roof rack and some other bits arrive.

Just ordered paint, RAF Blue/grey!

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Thats coming along nicely! I'm always a bit jealous of people who can get away with installing the bed sideways...

It’s a touch shorter than me, but I always sleep with my legs tucked or will be on the bed on the floor with kiddo so have plenty of space to stick my legs out!

Interesting, thanks both. This is a 1995 for £7k, which shows how silly prices are at the moment!

Dredge, but did you go for the Bongo in the end? A 1995 pop-top Ford Freda (essentially a rebadged Mazda I understand) has come up locally for £3700. Decent price?

Only 4 months left on MOT and little bit of rust here and there...

Negative. That seems a bit more sensibly priced, from my limited research at the time.

Sub 6 months MOT make sure it gets tested, pay them £40 or so to do it if needs be, any come back and you know it’s not worth it

A friend had a bongo, the cills were rusty as f, definitely give them a poke with a metal pole, getting MOT'd as well is a top shout. Someone else I know bought a Camper thinking it was decent, first trip to the garage and basically said the MOT it had wasn't worth the paper it was written on

My other half decided is time for some camperlife hashtags in our life.
Sizewise I was thinking about a VW t25/t3 mod. devon/caravelle/camping/westfalia or very similar (1984~1990) with CA 7-9k£ budget.
What is the best engine/spec for this type of van? any pros and cons about this model?

Thanks

Personally I think the ideal is a replacement engine either a Subaru petrol or a VAG 1.9 TDi. I had two, both with the OG 1.6 turbodiesel which were OK at best. The non-turbo diesel is meant to be horrendous, the water-cooled petrol is allegedly OK. Have a look at https://club8090.co.uk/ for more info

Thank you!

Advice I have seen is to buy on condition of the bodywork & chassis; as it is reasonably straightforward to change an engine, but significant rust can be a big big problem on T25s

Yea, this is very true.

Sizewise I was thinking about a VW t25/t3 mod. devon/caravelle/camping/westfalia or very similar (1984~1990) with CA 7-9k£ budget.

We bought a 1985 Caravelle last year for just over £10k. It's had a fairly recent light campervan conversion + hardtop but original rear seats/bed. We bought it based on the good condition bodywork and regular use by the previous owner meant it was fairly well maintained.

Having said that we spent another £1k getting a full service and multiple mechanical and electrical issues remedied by a specialist, of which there are few around the south east.

Our 1.9 petrol is approaching 170,000 and still going strong, and will cruise happily at 65-70mph. It's an auto which is actually a dream to drive, and also PAS which makes London life much easier.

PM if you have questions or get close to buying!

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Thanks.
Actually, our budget is about what you spent.
As I never bought any vehicle here in the UK (the van will be our first ever), we are more prone to get through a trader rather than a private seller. Unfortunately, we haven’t really found anything yet that suits our taste… but we keep an eye on.
Engine wise I was hoping to find a diesel and manual gearing…

Yours is damn brilliant!