Van build 2014

In May we bought a 2002 Mercedes Sprinter 311cdi. It was an empty van and we have spent the last few months converting into a live-in vehicle while actually living in it! It was defiantly harder than our last van conversion as we had a house to live in then and a warehouse and yard to spread out in. But we got through it and by August all the hard work was done. We still have some little bits to do as we go but nothing to major. Freecycle has been a handy way to source some items for the build and in all we have spent just under £400 on the build itself. The van cost £3500 which is quite a lot but Sprinters seem to hold their value and we saw a good number of terrible rust buckets with doors hanging off or that wouldn't open for the same sort of price as the one we ended up buying. It is fairly tidy although has a little rust that needs attention before it gets too bad. We also spent a further £300 over two visits to the garage for a full service and new brakes as well as some odd little bits that needed doing. We also spent £250 on a full size cooker which we will take out and put into another van if we sell this one. We might actually sell it on next year as a fully kitted out campervan as we have decided it is probably a bit small for us even though it is a metre longer than our last van! We will replace our full sized cooker with a camping stove if we sell it. Anyway for now it is our home and here is a few pictures of our build...

First job, fitting the burner...