JJ’s Renault Master camper build [Phase 1 - Complete]

[JJ0063]

Had an early finish at work today so managed to get the tops of the beds cut and fitted. Need to drill some ventilation holes in them, get some more painting done and put the back door back together after fitting the ladder then it’s time for cushions and a massive clean up!

Oh, and I do need to cut the drop in sections to make the full size bed. 

[2flags]

This is looking good. I'm sure you will be able to create some wonderful memories in this. 

[JJ0063]

Ok, I *think* that’s all the woodwork done now. 
 

Made the drop in panels to create the full size bed. 
 

Need to finish the painting and have a thorough clean out now. Then to find some foam to make some cushions.

Still a few little odd jobs left but it’s completely useable how it is now so I’m pleased. It’s very basic and nothing is quite straight with my ropey carpentry skills but it’s functional. 

[Dan302]

Looks bloody good! 

[JJ0063]

Trying to sort the foam for the sofa/bed but I can’t believe how expensive it is! 
 

Just normal blue foam, £160 for what I need, some places were quoting £260 per side!

Im 95% sure the last time I bought some it cost me about £60 for the lot. 

[Surface Rust]

13 hours ago, JJ0063 said:

Trying to sort the foam for the sofa/bed but I can’t believe how expensive it is! 
 

Just normal blue foam, £160 for what I need, some places were quoting £260 per side!

Im 95% sure the last time I bought some it cost me about £60 for the lot. 

When I needed some for a (small) camper conversion, I found the cheapest way was to buy a ready made foam mattress and then cut it up.

As a bonus I was able to reuse the cover as a liner.

[comfortablynumb]

Foam is sodding expensive.

Was going to suggest a mattress, but I see @Surface Rust beat me to it!

[Barry Cade]

16 hours ago, JJ0063 said:

Trying to sort the foam for the sofa/bed but I can’t believe how expensive it is! 
 

Just normal blue foam, £160 for what I need, some places were quoting £260 per side!

Im 95% sure the last time I bought some it cost me about £60 for the 

I used a futon mattress for my rock and roll bed, plenty sizes to choose from and very comfy. 

[JJ0063]

Ended up ordering foam from a cut to size type website after finding a discount code, came to £150 odd including delivery, hurt but id rather do it properly. 
 
I need to cut a couple of corners to size (the left hand one for example is long enough to come back to the edge but I need to cut the left hand corner where the van is angled) 

Got 7 metres of grey fabric coming tomorrow, gonna whip and get a sheet of 5mm ply so I can just lay the foam on the board and staple it as I definitely can’t afford to pay someone to make proper cushion covers. 
 

Also booked a campsite for Xmas today so we’ve got our first trip planned at least. In reality I should have the van finished this weekend.

[JJ0063]

I’ve not done a very good job but we have the start of the cushions! Just need to do the centre now

[JJ0063]

Ok let’s call this ‘phase one’ complete. It’s now a useable camper. There are bits I’m unhappy with but I wanted to get it to a point where if we fancy a night away, we can go. There’s more I want to do inside, bits I’d like to do again, and a few improvements too. 
 

I also want to sort the bodywork out as there are quite a few dents and scrapes, then itll go trademark nato green (already got the paint)

[auntiemaryscanary]

Well done, that's a cracker.

[JJ0063]

Mrs JJ has just been and stained the ceiling a dark oak colour and put some extra lights in.

[2flags]

That looks very cosy. Well done you!

[Westbay]

Very nice 👍

[JJ0063]

Trial night away in Hunstanton 👍

 

 

 

[2flags]

Well, the dogs look comfy. Where exactly did you intend to sleep? 

[JJ0063]

First night was a big success! Mrs JJ loves it, we both slept great as did the dogs, the bed is also really wide which is so handy with the dogs not being cramped in. 
 

Diesel heater worked faultless and kept us at 23c all night. 
 

Overall a big success. Only things I want to do is cut the plug off the fairy lights and put them on a switch to save having to go through Christmas light patterns before getting solid on/off, and add some hooks for coats and dog leads etc.

[Dan302]

Glad you had a good night's sleep! You've put a lot of effort into that van and it shows, you should be bloody proud!

[JJ0063]

3 hours ago, Dan302 said:

Glad you had a good night's sleep! You've put a lot of effort into that van and it shows, you should be bloody proud!

Thanks mate! I always doubt myself but Mrs JJ woke up this morning and said how good she slept and how much she loves the van etc and I did sit there and think yeah I’m proud of being able to provide this for her.

[Dan302]

The dogs look impressed too!

[shampooefficient]

Excellent news, very well done to you!

[Barry Cade]

23 degrees! 😲🥵

[JJ0063]

Nothing major to report as I’ve been enjoying not spending every spare minute on the van. 
 

I did change the tiles today as I just hated the design and paper thin quality of the first lot. These IMO look a million times better.

 

The other thing I did was add a little rocker switch low down so you can turn the fairy lights on and off whilst in bed. Schoolboy error being I also wanted to lose the USB/button part as you had to go through a load of twinkling settings to get solid light, I didn’t however consider the fact that plug had a 12v to 5v step built in so I proceeded to turn it on and watch every single LED pop 😂🤦‍♂️ so now I need to order another set. I guess the only way I’ll get just on/off is to cut the plug off and also buy a 12v to 5v step separate and wire it in?

[EyesWeldedShut]

I got a couple of these things a few years back - 12V to 5V stepdown units. One is in the caravan and runs 2 strips of the multicoloured LED lights but the actual controllers for those are awful things so its not seen much use. The other is in the van and runs 2 x twin USB chargers for mobiles etc etc - that one gets used a lot and has been perfectly well behaved. Nicked the ciggy lighter socket space and the 12V in - small inline fuse and some crimps  for the wiring and the charger unit stuck solidly down with mastic/glue.

The ones I bought are no longer listed but there's loads on fleabay/amazon/ali express -with USB ends or just plain wires - whatever you need

[JJ0063]

25 minutes ago, EyesWeldedShut said:

I got a couple of these things a few years back - 12V to 5V stepdown units. One is in the caravan and runs 2 strips of the multicoloured LED lights but the actual controllers for those are awful things so its not seen much use. The other is in the van and runs 2 x twin USB chargers for mobiles etc etc - that one gets used a lot and has been perfectly well behaved. Nicked the ciggy lighter socket space and the 12V in - small inline fuse and some crimps  for the wiring and the charger unit stuck solidly down with mastic/glue.

The ones I bought are no longer listed but there's loads on fleabay/amazon/ali express -with USB ends or just plain wires - whatever you need

Cheers, yeah I was just looking at those actually. 
 

So if I were to buy another set of lights, cut the USB off and just wire them to the step down then 12v, I should just have straight on and off solid lights I think!

[EyesWeldedShut]

32 minutes ago, JJ0063 said:

Cheers, yeah I was just looking at those actually. 
 

So if I were to buy another set of lights, cut the USB off and just wire them to the step down then 12v, I should just have straight on and off solid lights I think!

Now you've given my wife Fairy Light Envy - the multifunction/multicoloured strips of LEDS have been, bluntly, shite 

[JJ0063]

Picked up a Renogy BT battery shunt on eBay last week as it’s one thing I forgot about so even though I had a half decent electric system, I couldn’t actually monitor the current state of the battery.

Fitted it today, very straight forward and now the Renogy app shows me lots of handy info. 
 

 

[Scruffy Bodger]

Not sure if you've seen it but an upgraded diesel heater with a better configuration has appeared with a much quieter diesel pump so very little clicking to put up with. Hopefully they'll all follow suit.

[JJ0063]

36 minutes ago, Scruffy Bodger said:

Not sure if you've seen it but an upgraded diesel heater with a better configuration has appeared with a much quieter diesel pump so very little clicking to put up with. Hopefully they'll all follow suit.

That sounds interesting! Im a bit weird in that the clicking helps me sleep. I’m awful at sleeping in complete silence so I quite like it!