Volkswagen T5.1 Camper

This year alone this van has seen everything from the Outer Hebrides, the Cotswolds, northumbria, and Cornwall.

I got the van Semi converted. The walls and roof were done professionally prior to my purchase so I don’t have much more information. There is a diesel heater in the van also, which was also done professionally. the heater has been an absolute life saver in the cold months, I’ve been in it in winter plenty of times and been roasting inside!

the bed and units were purchased from vanfurniture.co.uk and I opted for their “buffalo board” option due to how hardwearing it is – it can take a beating! It cost me just over £2000 and I fit it all myself, using all their fixings and it’s been solid ever since. If it gives you any confidence, I am a tradesman of 17 years so fitting was super easy! you can have a look on their website for more info, they still do it! the worktop and small table are solid oak, I varnished them when I got them in as well as the bed/sofa frames to protect from any damp trips – which are impossible to avoid in this country….

if you look in the images, you can see a space for a fridge just behind the drivers door. never bothered with it, always used that space as storage. the leisure battery isn’t far (under the passenger seat) so sorting this out wouldn’t be too hard

this leads nicely onto the electrics. I kept this pretty basic. the lights and diesel heater are powered from the leisure battery and that’s it. I did have plans to possibly fit an inverter, and/or some USB charging points, but it just never happened. The fuse box is there ready if you wanted to go ahead under the passenger seat, along with a split charge relay and the battery itself. the battery is in good condition, ive looked after it. its a Yuasa Active Leisure Battery L26-AGM which cost me around £200.

storage – plenty of storage for 2 people – there’s a drawer near the sliding door of the van I used to keep food in, the back has a big wide compartment, I kept loads in there – pots, pans, more food, clothing. a side compartment for bedding, and a cupboard for easy access stuff. as mentioned, I would slot in our duffle bags also where the fridge is supposed to be for easy access.

the worktop can also be cut to take a sink. I didn’t bother as it’s not a pop top. I used this van for surfing so needed the roof for surfboards and the box for wetsuits, so putting a sink in never really seemed to make any sense to me.

owning this van has been amazing. Im a 33 year old 6ft man covered in tattoos, and im definitely going to cry when i see it drive off. But life moves on and so must this van for me unfortunately. If I didn’t have to sell it, I wouldn’t be.

if you have any questions at all please feel free to drop me a text/email/phone call (leave a voicemail if I don’t pick up, i might be busy at work!)