Nissan Primastar camper build

[Johnboyy]

Thank you, although I can claim no credit for it, just saw it online.

Getting closer to the finish line. Well maybe not the finish, but the next step which is inspection by the engineer. I've already talked to him about the build and he doesnt need things to be painted, just built right, so I'm pushing ahead with the dry build then will tear it apart for paint/carpet after his signoff as I can't insure it so can't drive it until he signs it off.

The only thing he flagged in our conversation was the seat mounts. I had put spreader plates underneath but never found any spec for them. They need to be a minimum of 100x100x4mm with the hole centred. where it's not possible to centre the hole because of a chassis member you must bend the plate and still have it as big. I was wondering how the hell I'd bend such steel, I've a well equipped shop but no brake when suddenly it dawned on me to use box. I was expecting a day long battle, my daughter was booked to help, I was expecting tempers to be frayed.

Nope. about 2 hours with the lidl plasma playing a blinder and we were done, and all over spec too. flat plates are 100x150x5 and the box pieces all work out at 100x120x5


While we were underneath we also ran the power cables. I'm going with a very simple 12v install, it will nearly all be in the one small area where the fridge, lights and water pump are concentrated. I believe in overkill though so have run 10mm2 wires directly to the battery box inside some black MDPE pipe. (again showing my rural roots this is recycled from the farm, you can tell too! ) tried a trick I've read but never used for fishing the wire through the pipe. a piece of tissue paper tied on the end of a string and blow it through with the air line, worked a treat. The floor crossmembers had some holes that were made for the job and we were able to fish a tig rod through them over the fuel tank so have a completely enclosed cable run from inside the rear to the battery box under the floor.




The kitchen cabinet has moved onto the F word, it's essentially done now bar the door which I have failed to find latches for locally yet and none of the irish camper shops online seem to have them in stock.
The sink got drilled for a waste outlet and we dimpled it with an M24 bolt, some washers and pipe. the waste pipe is supported by some cable ties and goop. it will be secured when installed, after the painting.


Got the water tank/pump installed on saturday too. sitting on a shelf between the floor of the wardrobe and the wheelarch it leaves just enough room underneath/in front of the arch for the pump install. The water tank is a 35l plastic jerry that had a tap on it. I removed the tap and found this plastic tank connector which with a bit of sanding was a perfect fit in its place. a bent piece of tube runs to the bottom of the tank and the whole assembly has been epoxied for water tightness. I'm still waiting on some fittings to put a tank filler/vent in place.



I've also started cutting the wadrobe. it's going to be a simple box with three sides, the main side will have two holes in it and a shelf. no doors as it's going to be for soft bags/bedding so will be stuffed and shouldnt need retaining. Sadly this is where our happy weekend of productivity takes a sad twist. two weeks ago I got a Triton track saw which had massively improved my plywood work, accuracy fit and finish were leagues better than I could have managed with the circular saw. I have an 80 tooth blade and it leaves birch ply looking so sharp. The kitchen cabinet would be a mess of gaps and tearout and a whole tub of bondo without it. While cutting the wardrobe panels yesterday morning it took a dive face first onto concrete and the safety latch pin bust out through the casting. Not impressed with the quality of metal in it to be honest, but at the same time not sure a better brand would have fared much better. I'm now faced with the dilemma of do I buy a higher grade tool or go triton again and have a pretty full set of spares from this one!



I'm calling the engineer today to book an appointment, hoping he can come next week.
Have the following left to do to finish the dry build, I have all the bits needed either already arrived or on order except for the kitchen door latches which I need to sort today.

 

[Johnboyy]

The last few days have been mostly electrics and wardrobe. (the electrics are mostly in the wardrobe)

The initial electrical install is very simple, it's all in the one spot. A feed from the starter battery into the low voltage device, onto the fusebox then 12v, usb, water pump, cooler and light. all of these things are in the same spot so nice and simple.

My low voltage device is a really simple little thing, that just doesnt work, it's showing a low voltage all the time. seller is refunding. better to have it fail now than in a few months time.

I'm actually thinking of replacing it with a basic pwm solar controller. I don't have any plans currently to install solar panels, but who knows, I might get bored and I've realised that the solar controllers also have a low voltage shutoff. (one of these generic ones: https://www.solorder.se/image/data/uploads/KLD1210.pdf)

Routed straps for the cooler too. one strap goes over/under the whole unit which is neat, but not easy to get in/out so I think I'll change it to two seperate straps.



The wardrobe is all but done. needs a shelf and some way of attatching it to it's base is all that's left on that (man I miss my track saw )


Still waiting on a date from the engineer, but I will be ready for him by Monday. we have a long weekend the following Monday and I would love to be able to take it on a shakedown trip. even to go somewhere within the county* would be great.

If he's not going to come for another week or more then I'll blow it all apart and start painting I guess.

(*current covid restrictions)

 

[Johnboyy]

Winner winner, chicken dinner.

The engineer came, he saw, he stamped his forms and we can move on to trying to get the registration updated and getting insurance.

 

[Johnboyy]

What a difference a week makes. Last friday I was waiting for an appointment for inspection and getting ready to tear it all apart for painting.

yesterday I was able to drive it on the road for the first time since the test drive 2 months ago!


So before the inspection on wednesday I had to get it all back together, make a door for the kitchen unit and hook up the water system.

When the plumbing worked it was like seeing your son pee in the toilet for the first time and not on your feet!



Last night we chopped up the ikea mattress to fit. I made two mistakes here. There is a softer top layer and I had it upside down on the table for marking out so that's now underneath (I prefer a firm mattress so no big deal) and I divided it as per the bed platform, but to have it hinge and fold up the way I want it to I actually need to have the two forward pieces the same size as each other, right now if I hinged it and folded it would be a kind of Z shape and I don't think will sit where it's supposed to. no biggie, just glue and fabric to join it then cut again where I want it to fold.



So with the dry build basically complete and the inspection done I said I'd chance the insurers to see how long it would take to get cover. they said once inspected they would arrange cover in advance of the registration category being updated so I was able to get cover in a day!!!

Myself and my daughter who's very much been a partner in crime on this are going to do a sleep out in the yard tonight and then a shakedown trip over the weekend, thankfully we live in a relatively big county (current covid restrictions), I live right at the bottom so we will go right to the top to a place called Lough Derg.

Things that are outstanding for that are:

stove heat shield
find water leak
make window covers
put mattress back in cover
install double swivel


Only a few hours work so easily done. then once we're home from that it's take it all apart again and start painting!!

 

[Johnboyy]

Long time no update.......

The first road trip was to a local weigh station that Saturday morning for a county council approved weigh docket and then I could send off the paperwork to update the registration. I spent saturday evening and sunday morning chasing leaks. pretty much every joint was leaking, crappy hose or crappy plastic fittings but I got most of them sorted, only to discover when I filled my tank that the lid didnt seal (it's a drum lying on it's side) so I had to drain a load back out and put a towel in to catch the rest.

We got our selves together on the Sunday and about 15 minutes after I made the last window cover I had showered, changed and we were on the road, my wife and kids had been packing while I was templating, cutting and gluing. All the window panels are two layers of bubble wrap insulation glued with trim fix adhesive and then a layer of 4 way carpet glued on. nothing holding them in place only a tight fit within the window rubbers.

We had a lovely evening in a forest by a lake, we got take away food nearby as we didnt have time to pack kitchen stuff.


Eating worked well, we had installed the double swivel for the passenger seat and used a camping table allowing all four to eat in relative comfort.

after some walks in the woods we all bedded down. the adults bed was perfect, ikea mattress was great (even though I cut it wrong and the top layer of foam is actually underneath) For the kids we had joined two foam camping mats with duct tape and cut them to fit the floor. The kids fit fine lying tops and tails across the floor, the boy insisted on scooching into the overhang of our bed to avoid being seen in the pics.

We all had a great night's sleep and it poured rain overnight but no one really cared. in the morning we had a lot of condensation to deal with, so I can confirm that window wind deflectors do not allow enough air movement. I have an 11 inch fan on order from the chinaman. I chose it because it was the lowest profile unit I could find, I'm still trying to stay under 2 metres, and with this guy over to the side of the roof I think I still will.

All in all the trip was a great success, along with the condensation issue we also concluded that the mattress needs to be in 3 pieces as opposed to a single double folding piece (which is fine by me as it should be much easier to make the cover that way.

I was busy with work the last fortnight so didn't really get to do anything more until the last few days. We took all the furniture out for painting, which only takes about an hour. I used marine varnish on the bottom of some of the ply panels and on the edges of all of them to act as a sealer and got to painting. Painting needs to be done in batches as it's a lot of pieces to setup and paint all at once. after priming I started the Raptor lining yesterday. I was quite nervous as I've never used it before, never used a 2k paint either and it's not the cheapest stuff at around €40 a litre all in. I needn't have worried at all. everything we've all read about Raptor appears to be true. I mixed it with 100ml of tint, 100ml of thinners and the standard 237ml of hardener and sprayed it in a conventional gun with a 1.8mm tip. it's the easiest product I've ever sprayed, zero runs, seems super forgiving, I had to handle a part or two while spraying and I just shot over the paw marks and it all flowed out and you can't see it afterwards. The finish is also exactly what I wanted, it hides so many sins and is a mid sheen, mildly textured finish. a little more texture than a roller finish on a smooth wall when looked at up close.


it will take another week or so to prep and paint the various pieces in batches. Other jobs done were a full engine service and replacement handbrake cable on Friday night. although Friday night became Saturday morning as the cable adjuster was made of a hard french cheese and just collapsed. rather than looking for a genuine parts replacement on a saturday morning I got a high tensile M10 bolt and shaped it's head. wayyyy better job and handbrake is locking on 2 or 3 clicks.


another new job I've never tackled before is carpeting with 4 way carpet. apart from making the window panels but they were just flat so easy. Last night we started at the bed panels, wrapping carpet around one flap and then trimming and forming the edges to the cut lines. it's very cool stuff but a little unnerving because I don't have much excess bought and a mistake would mean throwing away a large piece of it.



The plan is to get the painting finished by this weekend and then I will need to spend a day with my mother who's signed up to help me sew the mattress covers now that she's all vaccinated up.

 

[RVflyfish]

No grass grows under your feet, does it? Well done.

 

[Johnboyy]

Not updated this in a while, was mental busy with work and other stuff......

So I had a great day's work with the mammy, we killed (or at least significantly sickened) my ikea sewing machine so she lent me her brother one to finish which was in a different league. covered all three cushions first with a shiny lining fabric which we sprayglued on, this allowed us to go for a fairly tight fit on the cushion covers and still be able to slide them in and out of the covers with ease. we're not professionals so each cushion cover was test fitted about half a dozen times in the making.

Covers worked out well, and I got the rest of the furniture raptor coated and installed. I think the ali corner extrusion really looks well with the grey raptor coating. I was a bit disappointed with the initial hardness of the raptor but it really needs a few weeks to truly harden, probably not helped by the fact that I was thinning it to spray through the gun.



Next sewing job was the front curtain. again I'm not a pro, so the only way I could figure out how to sew the fabric to the blackout lining and have them stay straight was to do it on the floor! a few eyelets and hooks attach it nicely to the sunvisors and the ends are attached with velcro on the B pillars. With our first trip planned my wife really wanted to bring the bikes and I said no, they're not coming until we have a swingaway carrier, so I decided to make one. not fully from scratch as I have a thule hitch mounted one. got it finished the morning of the trip but didnt have 100% confidence as we don't exactly have carbon bikes so it's being used with a supportive strap. It needs some re-engineering in a mk2 version at some point but with the strap its perfectly solid for now.


That night we lived the #vanlife dream and camped on a beautiful beach on the west coast. it was amazing wandering around the beach at 10:30 with the kids then hopping into the sleeping bags and waking up there again the next morning, made all the work worthwhile.



Got stuck in the sand the next morning obviously but just aired down and used the 12v compressor once out to get going again. stayed away for a few days, one night beach, one night campsite, one night hotel, had a great time.

Next job is the seats. Passenger seat was very rough and the newer versions of these vans have an optional seat that folds down partially plus a storage compartment underneath. one came up for sale so got it and fitted. it's transformed the van. the storage is ideal for tools and bits which on that first trip were completely inaccessible as they'd been packed first. the seat sits slightly lower which when you allow for the double swivel brings it right back to the height it should be. Its a tiny bit smaller all round which means it swivels without hitting the drivers seat, or the handbrake so the swiveling operation is much faster/smoother. But the main reason I wanted it was for the view, it really opens things up for the back seat passengers when folded down.



Since then there wasnt a lot to report for a few weeks, I designed and ordered the parts for a roof rack made from 6030 and 3030 extrusions and a solar panel too, have started that but waiting for the solar panel to arrive before I can go much further. mostly just been using it. this week it's been doing the other type of adventure and being a farm vehicle. it's quite happy pulling a trailer or being loaded with tools as it is being loaded with sleeping bags and bodyboards. All's been well until yesterday when it started pumping out steam and using coolant. we made it the 100km home from the farm but it used two litres of water en route.

On first impressions it's a terrible engine to work on, buried down behind the high grille and under the scuttle panel, but the whole front of the van comes apart in a few minutes with a 10mm socket and I believe the bonnet and scuttle arent much harder to remove either and all of a sudden you've great access. I made up a pressure tester and rapidly found a hose that's rubbing, caused by the radiator top mounts not being present!! will be a simple repair but I'll need to come up with something to secure the rad better.



Will get that back together tomorrow then it's more using it as an actual van over the next few days, I think my solar panel is due next week too so will hopefully get it and the roof vent sorted in time for a trip we're taking the following week.

 

[Johnboyy]

couple of more jobs done over the last few days.

on our first shakedown trip we had major condensation in the morning so i went online to research fans. I'm trying to keep the van under 2 metres for car park barriers so low height was a major requirement, also it's a small van so I didnt want half the roof to be vent. Ended up with this little guy, it seems to be the lowest profile fan on the market (that I could find anyway) I've had it a while but didnt want to go at it until I knew I had the time to finish the job when I started. was a bit scary cutting the roof up but it worked out fine.

Seperately the fan is another electrical device being powered from the starter battery, I still havent gotten my second battery in, for similar reasons to the vent job, once I start I will be off the road as I'm modifying the factory battery tray to take the second battery which is underneath and the van will be off the road while I'm doing it. But looking at our usage of the van and the battery I have on hand it's not going to be a great job as we will have the cooler running during the day when the van wont be running and the battery is quite small. Decided to invest in a solar panel and I wanted to have a basic roof rack too. The rack is a mix of 60x30 aluminium profile for the rails and 30x30 profile for the cross bars. joins are mostly using internal corner brackets but the four outer corners are drilled through the side rails and tapped into the ends of the cross bars. I put some high density rubber foam pads under the bars in the middle bonded to the roof which ties it all together nice and solid.


Other smaller jobs done involved reinstalling one of the alcohol stoves for making tea, fitting some pockets onto the sides of the back seats and replacing the radio antenna and cable, it had been bodged by a previous owner and was at best indistinct, often crackly and at times just useless.

 

[Johnboyy]

Some great parking at the beach today




Nothing a pull from a passing Hilux couldn't sort, but my 10 year old reckons we definitely need a winch now!

(I think he's been watching too much 4wd Action on YouTube)

 

[Johnboyy]

After an excellent week away with the van (with, not in, no way we'd do a week in it and still be talking)

Had a house rented in Kerry in the southwest of Ireland and used it as a base for day trips and a lot of beach trips in the area. The van performed perfectly but yesterday we had a bad smell inside. Didn't quite smell like burnt electrics, smell was the exact same as a burnt clutch. But after a bit of figuring over the evening we concluded it was the cooler box and shortly after that the main 20a house electrics fuse blew.

It's a bit annoying, while the unit is 3 years old it has actually only been used a few times before this summer and I would say yesterday was the first decently hot day its been used. At the time I bought it it was the most expensive thermoelectric box on the market, but still a long way off a proper fridge price. I didn't look seriously at compressor fridges at the time as it was only going to be an occasional use thing.

Nowadays you can buy cheap compressor fridges for less than some places sell this cooler for. I need to strip it down and see if there's an obvious/cheap fix before I decide what to do.

 

[Johnboyy]

July was an epic month. I was off for nearly 6 weeks between jobs and used my time to it's fullest. There was some work done on the van in the first two weeks shown above but after that it was very much about using the van. I havent been closely tracking milage or anything but I've managed to do around 12k kilometers in the three months it's been on the road.


It's definitely not a camper van, it's an adventure van, and our adventures take many forms. we spent a week on holidays in a house but with the van, the girls were doing a surf camp and the boys would be waiting with hot chocolate on the stove when they'd come out, many many picnics were made, I fed 10 people in a beach carpark one day and it did sterling duty as a builders van on a few projects on the farm (where it got absolutely destroyed between dust on a really dry day and muck on a really wet one. this is why john shouldnt have nice things) Having a cooler full of water parked beside you when you're digging holes in 29 degree heat is the business I have to say.


The only problem was electrical. On the first properly hot/sunny day out with the solar panel and cooler on the go we started to get a funny smell, kinda like clutch burning as opposed to normal electrical smell. I had figured it was the cooler on the way out. everyone says they're crap and you should buy a proper fridge but that wasnt in the budget when I bought this cooler a few years back. It culminated with all the house electrics going out, I assumed it had blown up big style and taken out the main fuse.

I was wrong. very nearly burnt the van to the ground wrong

I did a bunch of digging, first I realised that the cooler worked fine in another vehicle. then I wondered was it the solar controller, and after some messing I started to get power intermittently. some more digging and suddenly I noticed a glow by the fuse box!!! The fuse box input is a bolt with some nuts and washers, taking current into a busbar that each fuse feeds off. that input post had at the bottom a flat washer, then a split washer, then a nut, then the ring terminal input, another split washer and another nut.

The hole in the busbar was quite a bit bigger than the bolt so all the current had to flow through the nuts and washers, but the split washer at the bottom of the stack was only contacting the thing above and below it on a tiny point contact. this got hot I suppose when the cooler was running hard and drawing more current (the cooler is on a 5A fuse so it never draws much power) The heat melted the fuse box plastic a bit and actually worsened the situation as the bolt leaned over. this also put the bolt in contact with the plywood behind it which has a rather scary scorch mark on it. Such a small thing could have ended in tears, but at least it was very easily fixed. a small bit of heat allowed the bolt to be straightened and then removing the split washer under the nut allowed for a proper contact to be made. Tested it with everything running and a thermometer there was no temperature difference between the bolt and ambient so problem solved and a sobering warning.



On the August holiday weekend we took a trip to Casteltownbere in West Cork, got parking in this spot in the town, one of the few towns in Ireland that's actually set out to provide for vans in the town itself. Did a day out on Bere Island which was gorgeous and then camped in the dunes in Alihees as the campsite there was full to the gills. The van is working great as a two or three day camper, it's tight but we're slowly bringing less crap with us which defintely helps. now I just need to get my daughter to stop growing or else she wornt fit across it next summer!


Sadly I have had to return to that pesky work stuff as the mortgage must be paid but I actually have a few days booked off next week and I'm watching the forecast like a hawk to see where is likely to have the least crappy weather next Thursday/Friday so we can go on one last trip before back to school.

 

[Johnboyy]

Not updated this in a long while. Nora continues to be central to all sorts of adventures. Over the winter we did a fair bit of towning with her, being FWD with no traction control means you need to be careful not to step off the tarmac as even a sniff of wet grass can have the wheels spinning with weight out the back but otherwise it makes for a surprisingly good pull. (In Europe we're not allowed tow at high speeds, the limit is generally 80kph so what counts as good at towing here is very different to stateside)


In the spring it was due it's annual inspection which it failed repeatedly with rear brake issues, replaced both calipers, handbrake cables, pads, one disc (which required the stub axle to come off to put the whole assembly in a press and needed 15 tonnes to pop the stub out) but with all that changed it still didnt pass, tried bleeding it every which way, tried driving with the handbrake on to bed the pads but nothing was sorting it, eventually i discovered my diagnostic computer has an ABS bleed function, not something I knew existed and not something mentioned by any of the experts who were advising me. tried that and out burped a bubble and passed the test. gave it new front pads along the way and it needed some welding to the front jacking points, a droplink and gearbox oil seal replaced too but nothing too serious apart from the brakes.



Since getting it tested we've done a few day trips and one night camping in a site by the beach which was a gorgeous location but the weather didnt really play ball. Current work involves trying to make it a little bit less scabby. it's got the level of rust one would expect on a vehicle of it's age and milage here, nothing too serious but a good few bubbles in the paint around the lower part of the body. putting some universal adhesvive arch trims on and painting below the body line with the same tint of raptor as I used on the furniture, sprayed with a 1.8mm paint gun unthinned.

Not finished yet but it's a definite improvement

 

[Johnboyy]

That'll do donkey

 

[Johnboyy]

Nothing to report here, passed inspection this year on the first attempt. has spent the winter as builder/farmer van, but now that the season's changing hopefully we'll get out more again.

I modded two battery boxes to become one double battery box a few weeks back. the factory dual battery setup uses a similar box but they're rare as hell and expensive from the dealer.




I still havent wired the second battery, but it is in there. it's just a spare 70ah starter battery but our electrical load is tiny and we're never parked up for long.


First trip of the year on Friday, myself and the boy child parked overnight by the beach. but under the bed platform were 3 toolboxes and 3 chainsaws for a day cutting timber at my wife's home place. I love that versatility. it has such great cargo capacity under the bed.

 

[Johnboyy]

After installing the battery box I eventually had to sort out the dual battery system, which highlighted some weaknesses in my 12v setup which were greatly troubleshooted and resolved over here: https://forum.expeditionportal.com/threads/help-troubleshooting-my-12v-system-please.239401/

But the short version is I ended up with a new renogy controller and two new batteries because my cheap old controller appeared to have cooked my starter battery.

Sorting that, some servicing involving a new MAF, rewiring the whole stereo and installing some voltmeters were the final prep bits before we headed off on a little road trip



France, Belgium, 10 minutes in the Netherlands, Germany, Austria (only a few km from Italy but didnt go that far), Germany, few hours in Switzerland, and back to France again.

Italy was at the other side of that ridge line.


Everything worked perfectly, we briefly managed a gps verified 150kph on the autobahn, but it was happiest around 130. I managed to pick up two more french speeding tickets too which is kinda funny. I've around 800,000 km of driving done in Ireland in the 20 odd years I'm driving, and maybe 4000 km in France. I have received twice as many speeding tickets in France as I have in 200 times as much driving at home. (4 vs 2)


Sadly this is where this story comes to an end. We've had some great adventures in the van, but it was always intended to be a see if we use it kind of experiment, a budget build. Clearly we do use it, a lot. (I put 40,000 km on it in two years, and I don't daily it, I have a car too)

I had put some feelers out on a local car forum to see if anyone was interested a few months back and a guy said he was, after we got home from the road trip he came for a looksee and a deal was done.

I had to fix an airbag light and a top mount so had it for a few extra weeks. in the final two weekends we did two trips, one camping and one pulling trailers as for the first time in 20 years driving I have no hitch so had to get some things sorted before it went.

A lot changed over the time we had it, the original premise was that all four of us could sleep in it, which did work for a while, but our daugter is 15 now, and she does not fit crossways in the van anymore so on our last trips we have been back to vehicle and tent

So after two years and all those trips we've tried to distill down what our next van will be.

AWD: not going to be doing any mad off roading, but did get stuck more than once in very minor situations where a bit of help from the back axle would have been more than enough.

Low roof: the 2M carpark barrier is a fairly standard obstacle so not going for a tall van.

Twin sliding doors: the current layout really really works, the inside/outside kitchen setup at one door, but people still able to get in/out the other side makes for great flexibility

Short length: this is the one I'm most unsure of, but I think I'm gonna go for a shorter wheelbase van rather than a long one. again for parking reasons. a LWB van is fine in car parks but definitely limits options for on street parking. that said I've a limited choice of vans on the market so it might be a case of take what I get, the length is not a dealbreaker by any means.

Over here there really is only one van in the medium class that has awd and that's a VW T5/T6 Transporter 4Motion. In theory you could get an awd Mercedes Vito (Metris) but they're extremely rare in RHD.


I'm currently scouring the classifieds a few times a day looking for new vans coming on the market, there's been multiple vans that would have ticked my boxes over the summer but of course as soon as I sold my van there's nothing that suits.

I'll throw up a new thread once I have something.