Welcome to The Campervan Channel - the YouTube Channel for all things VW camper. This is
a series of videos on the very exciting process of converting a Volkswagen Transporter into
the camper van of your dreams. We have already looked at choosing the right Transporter to
convert, and finding the right converter. Links to those videos are in the description
below. But today, it's tackling the big list of choices and decisions that you have to
make before you order your camper: Basic layouts - how you choose the right one for your. Beds,
what size and what types will suit you best. Front seat choices - singles, double and wether
you should swivel. Windows - how many do you need and where? Choosing your furniture, trim
and flooring, and grooves. Is an extending pop top or a fixed roof going to work best
on your camper. Consider it a checklist, so by the end of this video you should have a
long list of items that you can give to your converter to make sure you get exactly what
you're looking for. The starting point for any proper camper van is obviously a Volkswagen
Transporter. A T5, T6, or possibly a slightly older T4. Whichever one of those models you
choose, the cargo space in the back, that's the bit you're using for camping, is pretty
much the same. And over the years, converters have become very adept at squeezing the most
into that available space. Basically, if you look through the door of a camper, most of
them, they will look generically very similar. But it is only because you have got a window
there, a sliding door there, so you can't have your seat right in the middle of the
van, because you have a cooker there - and if you sit in the van, you look at it and
ergonomically, your seat is at the back. Your cooker is on the right near the window. You
can change bits, move things around for customers' own personal tastes, however, you always have
a generic pattern of roughly what it is going to look like because otherwise it will be
a waste of space. So you can't really re-invent the wheel, you've got to think about how you
use these vans as well. When you approach a converter, they are likely to offer you
a series of tried and trusted layouts. Some for short wheelbase vans, others for long
wheelbase. And it may sound odd, but the thing that will probably determine which of those
templates you go with, is how many passengers you want to carry in the back. A key feature
of modern campers is a rear bench seat that carries passengers when you're travelling,
but collapses to form a bed at night. The bed takes up a huge part of available space,
so the size of your bed has a big impact on what else can be squeezed around it. If you
get a day van, you can have a full width bed, obviously that would have no cupboards because
there is no room for cupboards and you just have storage underneath - which is a 150cm
bed - that's the width. You get a 130cm - that's a 3-seat, which is a little bit narrower.
But it is a nice big bed down below. You have got some cupboards, but they are a bit smaller.
And we personally also do a 112cm - again that has just got two seats with seatbelts
and then effectively you get more cupboards because the bed is a bit smaller. This is
a two seat bench. It makes bed that's wide enough for two adults sleeping, yet it's narrow
enough to still have some decent storage down the side. Whatever size you choose, you may
also get the choice of two different types of bed. The different between them is how
they transform from a seat into a bed. And you might think it doesn't matter as long
as it works, but the type of bed you choose does have a major impact on the rest of the
space in your van. The bed I chose it actually a RIB bed. RIB are a French manufacturer but
there are other companies that make beds that operate in the same kind of way. How they
operate is actually very simple. You start by lifting a leaver to the right of the seat,
give the seat a good pull and it flips straightener, and let go of the lever to lock it in the
horizontal position. Next, you reach for lever that's below the backrest, and that tips down
into the hole left by the seat. You'll see that the top end of the bed, the head end,
the top third of it effectively, is a hinged cushion that can be moved up and down. Quite
useful when you want to use the bed as a lounger. Ok, Advantages of the RIB bed: First of all,
you don't have to sleep on the surface of the seat that has been designed for sitting
on. You sleep on the flip side which is perfectly flat. But the real advantage of the RIB bed
in in day mode. That top end of the bed forms a really useful parcel shelf that you can
get to from the rear doors. It's also got storage space below it. And because it's hinged,
you can lift it vertically to create a full height cargo space in the back of your van.
There's storage underneath the seat too, and the only disadvantage I can think of with
this design is that the seat actually sits quite high. So tall passengers might find
they don't have very much headroom. And shorties might find their feet don't quite touch the
floor. Now the other option is a rock n roll bed. These tend to be mounted right up against
the rear doors so there is no cargo space behind them. And the seats transform into
a bed in a completely different way. The way it works is a little A-frame that you lean
against and it pulls out flat like that. But that means that the back of the actual A-frame,
and the back of the actual bed, is always up against the back door, so you get no boot
space. You sleep on the surface that you are sat on. So if you get your seat trimmed in
leather, when you pull it out, you are sleeping on leather. Whichever style of bed you choose,
you can put either type on rails that are built into the van floor, allowing the whole
bench unit to slide along it and be fixed at any point along that track. Push the unit
fully forwards and you have a huge van space. Push it to the back of the van and you have
a generous space in the centre of the vehicle. However, this flexibility comes at a price.
With rail systems starting at about £2000 - and that is in addition to the cost of the
bed unit itself. And what about crash-testing. I've read that some beds are crash tested,
some are not. We only use RIB beds. They are fully crash-tested and insurance approved.
Check with your converter to find out which one they use and find out whether it is properly
crash-tested. And obviously it's the seats that are crash tested with the seatbelts on
for passengers - there's nothing unsafe about sleeping. No, it's not that, it's basically,
is the seat safe. It's got seatbelts mounted to it. Are they mounted correctly - and would
it perform in a crash correctly. Now in case you are fretting about whether the fabric
on your new bench seats is going to match the fabric that is already on the seats in
the front of your van. Fear not. Bench seats can be ordered in most of the VW common trims.
And of course, you could have the whole lot re-upholstered in leather - have embossed
VW logos in your head-rests. But if you do that - be prepared to take out a small mortgage.
Now to the front seats and to swivel or not to swivel - that is the question. On most
camper vans, the driver's seat and the passenger seat can be made to swivel - that's turn 180
degrees to face the inside of the van. The advantages, obviously you can sit in them,
but it also makes the internal space - the living area - feel so much bigger. Normally,
in every camper you see, the passenger seat whether it's a double or a single, will swivel.
And all it is, you just the existing seat that came with the van, whether it's a double
or a single, and you unbolt it you fit a swivel mechanism which many companies make them,
and you bolt the seat back down and then the seat spins round. So when you are camping,
you have a big seating area. If you are converting a panel van, it's very likely that it will
come with a double passenger seat or a bench. Now I, of course, decided to get rid of that
and wanted a single comfortable Captain's Chair. And one of the reasons for that is
when you have two single chairs up front, there is a gap between them. A really useful
gap for getting from the front into the camper van itself. If you kept a double seat, there
would be no gap - and every time you wanted to get in the back of the camper, you'd have
to get out of the door and in through the sliding door. Irritating at best - really
annoying if it's raining. Fitting the swivel mechanism is relatively easy and can be done
at any time. But finding a second hand Captain's Chair to replace a bench can be a bit of a
challenge. Basically, a lot of people don't want a double passenger seat they want a single
with arm rests and all the rest of it. They vary in price, they used to be about £500,
I do believe at the moment they are over £1000 if you want one - and we just point people
in the direction of E-bay, like you did yourself, and then it's just looking at the feedback
of that E-bay seller, but normally you are just after a genuine VW passenger seat and
it just bolts in straight away. Driver's seats can obviously be made to swivel around as
well, but I guess that may depend on where your kitchen is, and the sort of design behind
it. Yeah, we designed our conversion so the driver's seat will swivel and you can still
point it diagonally into the room and sit on it. However, it does raise the driver's
seat a little bit and when some people find that, they decide they don't want it to swivel
for that reason. it all depends on your height and shape and whether you are ok with the
driver's seat being a little bit higher. One thing you must decide before you have the
conversion is where you're going to have your windows. Now if you're converting a panel
van like i did, there will be no windows in the back at all. And that's a little bit tough
on any passengers you might want to carry. So the minimum you'll need will be two centre
windows. One in the sliding door - this one - and one on the opposite side which effectively
becomes the kitchen window. If you're converting a Kombi, it will already have these two windows.
I also had two windows inserted into the rear barn doors. If you have a tailgate, you can
have a window inserted. And of course, you can have windows all round. Like I did. Have
an extra pair of windows inserted into the rear panels. Now, that's actually a porkie,
these are actually decals on solid panels. They look like windows from the outside, but
inside, it keeps the back end of the van nice and cosy. All down to personal choice. But
decals are expensive. Twelve quid! Now the next choices you are going to make are going
to be much more creative. But before we deal with those, just a reminder that this book
by yours truly, VW Campers for Beginners, has much more detail about on the whole process
of converting or buying a camper. THere's a link to the print and E-book versions on
Amazon in the text below this video. And one of the things it covers is furniture. Your
choices here are going to have a massive impact on how the inside of your van looks and feels.
It depends where you go to but you have different colours, options, you have upper cupboards
or no upper cupboards, you have louvre doors, those that roll up and down, you have normal
doors. You have storage under the seat. Every converter seems to do their little twist on
how they do it. We make all our own furniture in house. Other converters buy it in and just
buy stock furniture from a large company. It all depends what you want. I always think
that actually you want to go with a company that makes their own furniture because they
then have designed their own furniture and it is bespoke to their brand. Whereas if you
just got with a company who just get furniture in from another company, you are also restricted
by colour and shape - cos they can't alter the cupboards themselves, because they don't
know how to, whereas if you got with a company that make their own cupboards, alterations
can be made - because obviously they make them. But what about the appliances that fit
into your furniture. How much choice do you have there? There is loads of different hobs,
there's loads of different sinks. You'll tend to find that a certain company uses a certain
type of sinking they always have, they will probably let you change it, but they might
not, because it might not fit in with their cupboard design. But it's endless if you look
on the market, how many sinks there are, how many hobs there are. Even fridges - there
are probably hundreds. Once you've picked the colour of your furniture and probably
your worktop furniture, the next job is to pick the colour of your trim. It's this stuff.
It's a kind of stretchy, carpet-like fabric that plays an enormous part in - stopping
you freezing to death. YOu'll see all vans a carpet lined. It's mainly for sound deadening
and heat insulation. Because you van is metal, if you didn't do that it would just get really
cold when you sleep in it, like if you sleep in your car. You re-panel it, and then trim
it in this carpet which is a four-way stretch, if effectively bends round corners and covers
everywhere before you put the cupboards in. You get it in lots of different colours and
the choice is down to you. And the floor, you've got choices there? You should insulate
under your floor, otherwise in a hot country it gets warm because the exhaust is under
your floor, and then it's panelled. And you can have wood effect, you can have Altro flooring,
you can have planks. Some converters will only give you a very limited - you can have
this - other ones will let you get whatever you want. You can have squares, you can have
cork, you can have anything. What would you recommend for floors? Altro is very resistant.
It's what you see in hospitals and places like that. But there is loads of speckldy
patterns, they do all sorts for coaches, that's very practical. However, some laminates are
coming out now which are vinyl laminates which are also wood-plank effect, they are fully
waterproof, very easy to fit and super durable. And of course there is one big, ingenious
component left that will completely transform the inside of your campervan and that's the
roof. These days, you'll probably be offered one of these. It's a pop-top roof. Your converter
will cut a huge hole in the top of your original roof and cover it with a fibre glass lid that's
hinged at one end - allowing it to - pop up! I used to have vans years ago when pop-tops
weren't even a thing and I used to be in my little Vito van, going surfing, to be honest
with you, getting changes and stuff like that, it's just a pain when you're in a van, if
it hasn't got a pop top roof. But as soon as you realise you can get a pop top roof,
if you just walk in one, as you know yourself, you can just stand up and it totally transforms
the shape of the inside of the van and makes it into a room instead. That's great headroom
by day, but the pop-top really comes into its own at night. They usually include a double
bed - a board with a mattress like this one - or sometimes a slatted bed - that drops
down and really cleverly creates an additional bedroom. Are there many choices on what kinds
you have, what colours? There are loads of manufactures all over the country now. Again,
like i said with the actual conversion, just make sure you go with one that has a lot of
good feedback and a proper warranty. We fit the Austops roof. We never have a problem
with it. It comes with a five year warranty. We also fit Reimo rooves as well. I think
you said to me that it's not the area to make savings on really, the roof. Yes, exactly,
it's a lot of money to spend so spend it right. So there you are, the key things you need
to think about when you are ordering your camper van conversion. Now I was a bit intrigued
to find out what happened to my van while it was being converted - something you don't
normally see - so I've got a video coming on that very soon. And don't forget , there's
so much more detail on converting and buying VW campers in my little old book - VW Campers
for Beginners - print and E-versions are available through Amazon and the details are in the
blurb below. Don't forget to subscribe to the channel - click on that bell icon - and
then you'll hear of every video that comes off the assembly line. Thanks for watching.