To start at the end, below are pictures of the final result. We named our van Vespa, because the bright red reminds of the Italian scooter. And because we were thinking about the animated movie Luca, where they show the made-up slogan "Vespa è libertà".
Note that these photos are after having lived in it for close to two months! I personally think seeing a converted camper in use says a lot more compared to when it's just been built and is still empty.
Specifications
We started with a Citroën Jumper L2H2 (called 'Relay' in the UK), from 2013. It had 227'000 km on the counter when we bought it. Which is a bit much, but that made the car affordable for us. As it's a diesel we hope to get a bunch more kilometers out of it.
It has a 130 hp engine, empty weight of 1'980 kg and legal max of 3'500 kg.
The completed camper sports the following:
- A fixed 192x140cm bed, along the width
- A very spacious garage space under the bed
- Two seats with slide-out table (75x60cm)
- A roof hatch with van, one pivot window in the side and one pivot window in the rear door
- Two solar panels on the roof and leisure battery
- 230V plug outside to charge the battery and for electrical sockets inside
- Large battery-powered fridge with freezer section
- Complete kitchen with two-burner stove
- Sink with cold water (foot pump) and drain
- Bike carrier on the right barn door
More details can be found in the components table. I hope to add info about the installation process before not too long.
Items that are deliberately missing to reduce cost and complexity are an inverter (for getting 230V out of the 12V battery), hot water, heating, shower, water pump and further outside plugs (for gas, clean water and dirty water).
List of Parts
Below is a table of the significant components that we added.
| Type | Model | Data |
|---|---|---|
| Roof hatch | Fiamma Turbo-Vent Polar Control Crystal | 40x40cm, max. 36W fan |
| Insulation | Armaflex XG, 19mm & 6mm | Self-adhesive, flexible, easy to install |
| Battery | Ective DC 170S AGM Deep Cycle | 12V AGM battery, 170Ah, decent deep-discharge resistance |
| Solar panels | Victron Solar Panel 130W-12V Mono | 2 x 130W, each 120x67cm |
| MPPT | Victron SmartSolar MPPT 75/15 | 15A charge, max 75V PV |
| AC charger | Victron Blue Smart Charger 12/30 (1) | 12V, 30A max, 230V AC charger for a single battery |
| Water pump | Foot pump (knock-off of the 'Whale Babyfoot' | Small form-factor, pumps about 10 liters per minute |
| Water tanks | 3 x 19L jerrycans | Two cans for clean water (one spare, one connected) and one can for grey water |
| Fridge | CN Comfort CR85X compressor fridge | 85L, 12V, compressor fridge, with freezer compartment |
| Stove | Campingaz Kitchen 2 | Good camping stove, bolted down, with R907 Campingaz tank |
| Toilet | Thetford Porta Potti 345 | 12L waste tank, 15L flush tank |
| Mattress | IKEA ÅFJÄLL 200x140cm (sturdy) | Foam, 200x140cm, 12cm thick |