Hi everyone, well this is the rig I built last year after deciding I needed something to do between hospital visits as it wasn't safe health wise to go back to Thailand where I'd been living for a while.
It was a pretty quick decision, sort of thought about it for a couple of days then next thing I know there is an 07 ex Telstra optical fiber repair - Ford Transit sitting in the drive
It's a long wheel base high roof 2.4td 6 speed with 160k on the clock in excellent condition. I paid 22k
I can honestly say I've never been in a motor home or stepped into a caravan for at least 30yrs so it was all guess work and making everything around an existing bench as it had the r/c aircon in one end and the built in gas cabinet at the other, and being roughly 3m long it was a handy size to put a sink and cooktop into the stainless top (which I hated) the bench is the 4th pic as I bought it.
You'll notice I got rid of the double seat in front and replaced it with a Subaru Forester seat which almost matches, also got a 250L 240v fridge, 330w of solar and about the same ah of batteries, scooter rack slides out a little to become a small verandah, tiles are swimming pool tiles held on with flexible grout, cupboards and bed base covered in cream vinyl, bench and floor covered in fake jarrah surrounded by real jarrah, all the framework is 18mm construction ply (4 sheets for $100)
Fresh water I have 82L under the van and 7x20L bags if needed under the bed, also carry enough tools to re-build an entire car, even have a small arc welder, 2kva generator, 2 portable dunnys, I recently did a 5 week trip and realised I had way too much so managed to make a bit of room.
I think one of the best things I thought of was the windscreen cover, keeps an incredible amount of heat out, I also found covering the sky light with alfoil made a massive difference.
-- Edited by TizTom on Wednesday 9th of July 2014 11:25:05 PM
When I had mine (posting as Duh then) I was thinking of adding overhead cupboards and shelving or something inside the upper rear door recess, but never got around to it. Mine was a home made job also, but not done by me. See;
Nice rig Vic, how was your economy? I find mine is using around 11L per 100KL sitting on 100 - 115kph, it has a relatively stiff pedal spring which really likes 110 so it needs cruise control to keep it at the 100 I want but the bugger just keeps creeping up.
Good to see you didn't fill yours with extra windows, so much harder to keep cool, the insulation in this thing is brilliant and the company who did the initial Telstra build did a great job.
The only help I had was a little with cutting the 18mm ply as it was heavy and wiring up the 240v to the 13 power outlets.
regards
Tom.
Vic41 said
09:33 PM Jul 10, 2014
Mine was about 10L per 100kms like you sitting around 100 kph.
I hated the 6 forward gears on mine (a pain to drive around the metro area) good on the open road though.
The clutch seemed ok on mine from memory, 2.7 Diesel 2008 with 75,000 on the clock.
TizTom said
01:43 AM Jul 11, 2014
2.7L? didn't even know they made one, it's the acc pedal on mine that's too stiff, the clutch is perfect, I don't mind the gears but I find it stalls quite easily and you have to turn the key off then on then wait for the glow plug light to go out before it'll start properly which is a giant PITA.
I'd say I've got close to a tonne in the back of mine which might not be helping with the fuel economy, also the solar panels and the scooter hanging off the back must be creating more drag than the average house ;)
Vic41 said
11:38 AM Jul 11, 2014
Sorry TT, you are right, it was 2.4, not 2.7 (see specs pic).
Regards stalling, mine was doing the same but I had the oil filter changed (should be done every 10,000 apparently) and the van serviced and it solved the stalling problem..
Thank you Grahos, mine just had it's 160k service - I think it more me going from a 2L 300hp Subaru to something so different and swapping back and forth but I'm definitely getting used to it though I still don't find it easy to get a nice smooth shift from 1st to 2nd (very truck like).............. but getting better.
Radar said
09:56 PM Jul 11, 2014
Hi Tiztom
Yes enjoyed looking at your make over, very encouraging to others. Ralph
TizTom said
05:00 AM Jul 12, 2014
Thanks mate, I hadn't used my woodworking tools in at least 10yrs so it was a bit of a challenge having only made furniture and toys before, I also didn't do any drawings, maybe the odd sketch but pretty much worked it out as I went, the biggest nightmare was the bed which I cut first but made last as the hinge work was a bit beyond me, but it actually turned out good as the seat is reversible and can face out the same as it faces in with a small brace against the kitchen bench (I found out by pure accident) I make most caravan owners jealous when I tell them I have a 250L 2 door fridge but it only cost $200 so if it dies I can ditch it and get another, also the doors on the Fisher & Paykel are reversible which has made life so much easier too.
Waragee said
06:43 PM Jul 13, 2014
gee those Transits look good
waragee
Vic41 said
08:27 PM Jul 13, 2014
I only did some minor stuff on mine Waragee, eg; widened one of the beds, put a combo seat/table at one end, fitted some coat hooks and painted the inside, more brackets etc supporting the furniture and had decals put on. Fitted a security cabinet. The rest had been done already.
My Transit was made in the UK (including the engines), a lot of earlier Transits were made in various countries like Turkey etc.
Tiz Tom, did the service improve your stalling? It was happening to mine but turned out the filter needed changing (I was told it needed to be done every 10,000 kms with the Transit Diesel), once that had been done it ran like a clock, no more stalling.
-- Edited by Vic41 on Sunday 13th of July 2014 08:28:15 PM
TizTom said
12:13 AM Jul 14, 2014
Hey Vic, It's been serviced by the book since day one, I think it's just my driving style that needed adjusting more than a fault of the van as it rarely happens now, the service made no difference, I was also trying to work out whether taking off in 1st or 2nd was best but for comfortable take offs it almost needs a gear between the two.
I might service it myself every 7,500 (oil & filters) then continue the majors every 15k, It's been done at Macinerny Ford all it's life but I might try to find someone a little cheaper as the next one is a biggy.
Probably didn't help that I hardly drove it for the first 7 months (bought May last year) as I started stripping and building as soon as I got it - but by Dec I had had 7 operations and 9 visits to hospital (bad arteries, smoking blah blah) :( over the time I had owned it so that slowed me down quite a bit and didn't really make for an easy transition from my Subi with it's heavy duty clutch to the van with its fairy clutch.
Vic41 said
01:44 AM Jul 14, 2014
Sorry to hear you have been unwell Tiz Tom, I had my last service on mine at Ultra Tune, but wasn't cheap.
I was advised with mine to take off in 1st, even though it is barely moving when you have to change again.
There is some good info on this Ford Transit Forum, it is based in the UK but has heaps of good info on it for Transits, see;
Yeah Vic, I worked out to use first unless it's a downhill start, it's just the clunky shift into second which annoys me when trying to stick with traffic and keeping the stuff in the back in place but I am getting bettter :)
Vic41 said
10:11 PM Jul 14, 2014
Hated mine in suburban traffic but it just floated along on country roads
TizTom said
05:56 PM Jul 15, 2014
I find parking the worst, for a relatively short vehicle the wheelbase seems massive, never get it in straight first time and parking is one thing I'm normally pretty good at, I've put a reverse camera in but it's hard to trust the distance, especially when turning into a bay ......... still got my head out the window and putting more trust in my mirrors. Having the scooter on the back and one rear window permanently blocked doesn't help either. :(
Vic41 said
12:03 AM Jul 16, 2014
Reversing is my pet hate.....glad I don't have a caravan anymore, was never any good at reversing that either, despite all the tips and advice etc.....
jetj said
03:16 PM Jul 20, 2014
What a wonderful job you've done, thanks for sharing your pics.
Hi everyone, well this is the rig I built last year after deciding I needed something to do between hospital visits as it wasn't safe health wise to go back to Thailand where I'd been living for a while.
It was a pretty quick decision, sort of thought about it for a couple of days then next thing I know there is an 07 ex Telstra optical fiber repair - Ford Transit sitting in the drive
It's a long wheel base high roof 2.4td 6 speed with 160k on the clock in excellent condition. I paid 22k
I can honestly say I've never been in a motor home or stepped into a caravan for at least 30yrs so it was all guess work and making everything around an existing bench as it had the r/c aircon in one end and the built in gas cabinet at the other, and being roughly 3m long it was a handy size to put a sink and cooktop into the stainless top (which I hated) the bench is the 4th pic as I bought it.
You'll notice I got rid of the double seat in front and replaced it with a Subaru Forester seat which almost matches, also got a 250L 240v fridge, 330w of solar and about the same ah of batteries, scooter rack slides out a little to become a small verandah, tiles are swimming pool tiles held on with flexible grout, cupboards and bed base covered in cream vinyl, bench and floor covered in fake jarrah surrounded by real jarrah, all the framework is 18mm construction ply (4 sheets for $100)
Fresh water I have 82L under the van and 7x20L bags if needed under the bed, also carry enough tools to re-build an entire car, even have a small arc welder, 2kva generator, 2 portable dunnys, I recently did a 5 week trip and realised I had way too much so managed to make a bit of room.
I think one of the best things I thought of was the windscreen cover, keeps an incredible amount of heat out, I also found covering the sky light with alfoil made a massive difference.
-- Edited by TizTom on Wednesday 9th of July 2014 11:25:05 PM
Nice Job Tom
When I had mine (posting as Duh then) I was thinking of adding overhead cupboards and shelving or something inside the upper rear door recess, but never got around to it. Mine was a home made job also, but not done by me. See;
http://thegreynomads.activeboard.com/t54991265/updated-pics-of-duhs-2008-ford-transit-campervan/
Good to see you didn't fill yours with extra windows, so much harder to keep cool, the insulation in this thing is brilliant and the company who did the initial Telstra build did a great job.
The only help I had was a little with cutting the 18mm ply as it was heavy and wiring up the 240v to the 13 power outlets.
regards
Tom.
Mine was about 10L per 100kms like you sitting around 100 kph.
I hated the 6 forward gears on mine (a pain to drive around the metro area) good on the open road though.
The clutch seemed ok on mine from memory, 2.7 Diesel 2008 with 75,000 on the clock.
I'd say I've got close to a tonne in the back of mine which might not be helping with the fuel economy, also the solar panels and the scooter hanging off the back must be creating more drag than the average house ;)
Sorry TT, you are right, it was 2.4, not 2.7 (see specs pic).
Regards stalling, mine was doing the same but I had the oil filter changed (should be done every 10,000 apparently) and the van serviced and it solved the stalling problem..
Hi Tiztom
Yes enjoyed looking at your make over, very encouraging to others. Ralph
waragee
I only did some minor stuff on mine Waragee, eg; widened one of the beds, put a combo seat/table at one end, fitted some coat hooks and painted the inside, more brackets etc supporting the furniture and had decals put on. Fitted a security cabinet. The rest had been done already.
My Transit was made in the UK (including the engines), a lot of earlier Transits were made in various countries like Turkey etc.
Tiz Tom, did the service improve your stalling? It was happening to mine but turned out the filter needed changing (I was told it needed to be done every 10,000 kms with the Transit Diesel), once that had been done it ran like a clock, no more stalling.
-- Edited by Vic41 on Sunday 13th of July 2014 08:28:15 PM
I might service it myself every 7,500 (oil & filters) then continue the majors every 15k, It's been done at Macinerny Ford all it's life but I might try to find someone a little cheaper as the next one is a biggy.
Probably didn't help that I hardly drove it for the first 7 months (bought May last year) as I started stripping and building as soon as I got it - but by Dec I had had 7 operations and 9 visits to hospital (bad arteries, smoking blah blah) :( over the time I had owned it so that slowed me down quite a bit and didn't really make for an easy transition from my Subi with it's heavy duty clutch to the van with its fairy clutch.
Sorry to hear you have been unwell Tiz Tom, I had my last service on mine at Ultra Tune, but wasn't cheap.
I was advised with mine to take off in 1st, even though it is barely moving when you have to change again.
There is some good info on this Ford Transit Forum, it is based in the UK but has heaps of good info on it for Transits, see;
http://fordtransit.org/forum/index.php?sid=10d3fc7aaad7507748764b65703b7f4e
Hated mine in suburban traffic
but it just floated along on country roads 
Reversing is my pet hate.....glad I don't have a caravan anymore, was never any good at reversing that either, despite all the tips and advice etc.....
What a wonderful job you've done, thanks for sharing your pics.