2005 - Vauxhall Combo - Micro Camper - New Paint Job

[morns]

Picked up where i left off some years ago......that's another story!

Bought myself a vauxhall combo, and i don't think its retro enough to show its face here, although wont be everyone's cup of tea and i couldn't find another forum that i liked to log what I'm doing so here you go!

First a pic.



Fairly good nick, years MOT, high-ish mileage. I have had Peugeot partners in the past ( Old Build Threads ) but this time opted for a Combo because i needed something quickly and all the partners i went to see were skips. Plus by my eye, they look better (i got alloys already) and being based on a corsa easy to fettle with!

Planning on doing a micro camper conversion in it, this time making it fully removable, and getting back into forum life as have been absent for a while now.

Thats it for now, will post when i get chance to let you know how its all going!

[skylinedave]

10 years old retro ? I see a dozen on a half hour trip ....

[morns]

Aug 3, 2015 16:29:08 GMT skylinedave said:

10 years old retro ? I see a dozen on a half hour trip ....

Welcome back to the forums......yes they are common as muck, yes it isn't that retro, yes i did say it wouldn't be everyone's cup of tea, yes it might be better somewhere else but i liked this forum best and it is my ride!!!

*****************************************************************************

Anyway, i have been busy this morning making my first sections of bed.

I didn't want to make the bed too high because of the headroom, but i managed to have a look at a friends day van and took inspiration from that and the previous versions I've done in my other vans.

I want four removable sections, with storage underneath......first two sections complete....



Interlocking detail....




Flap that fold out to make full length bed supports.....(think they need to be bigger)




So its all easily removed and stored if i need the space of the full van. I can keep two sections if its just me sleeping, or all sections if the misses is joining me! Not sure weather to make 3 or 4 sections just yet. Ether have one final section that fits down the entire length, or four interlocking sections just mirroring the first two.

Not a bad start to things, got to source some suitable board for the tops and finish the other side next.

[recarouk]

looks good matey, i like modded vans, old or new its all good and i seem to remember looking at your pug Van and really liked that so keep the updates coming

[olig]

Not really a Retroride, but I like it. I had a 2.0dti Astravan Sportive, loved it, drove it to Spain and back one summer and slept in it for a few nights. Always needed more room though to sleep in with the Mrs (in a clean way,we've been together 20 years ). I'll be watching this thread.

[morns]

Quick update finished my box sections for the bed...

Work in progress....




Finished Base...


Working storage....



All removed in under 5 mins, wont take up too much space.


All done, final measurements are 120cm wide by 170cm long......its just about long enough as it is, but planning a folding flap towards the front.

Now to get some carpet to line it with, probably insulate sides and roof too. Other plans involve a leisure battery with split charge and maybe a change of colour with a rustolem paint job.

[TS]

How long can the bed be? I've always fancied a van camper conversion like this. But being 6'6" I doubt the bed space would be long enough.

[dikkehemaworst]

I do not particulairy like the combo ,, but i like that your back. Loved your partner thread , so this is going to be nice also.
all the luck!

[rmad]

I've looked into getting one of these myself...as far as I could tell they're quite easy to slam. I assume you'll be doing that? ;-).

[olig]

when i slept in my astravan I'd get woken up in morning with the condensation dripping from the bare metal roof. We ended up pegging a towel to the roof

[Speedle]

I love these sort of conversions on unlikely vans. To be honest I don't have an issue with age on any vehicle on here. Plenty of us have newer rides and I'm just as interested to see those as well.

As always on this forum, if I can't say anything positive or constructive I just move onto the next thread... why others can't do this is beyond me. It takes more time and effort to post something negative than it does to just move on to another thread if you're not a fan.

Keep up the good work chap I'm interested to see it all come together

[morns]

Just been on a 300 mile round trip with a fully laden canoe trailer and the van didn't miss a beat. First test and it was a big one, it passed with flying colours, two nights camping, tents, food, clothes, kit provisions and 6 canoes all made the trip with the van, oh and I passed my canoe course too! Chuffed.

[lamsdale]

Aug 13, 2015 10:20:01 GMT Speedle said:

As always on this forum, if I can't say anything positive or constructive I just move onto the next thread... why others can't do this is beyond me. It takes more time and effort to post something negative than it does to just move on to another thread if you're not a fan.

Totally agree.

[sciclone]

Cool.

As others have already similarly said, I'm not much into combos, but I do like vanning, and knowing what your Pug was like, this should be good.

[joffturbonova]

Just so you know, the front end of these are the usual Corsa C parts so all the usual suspension parts , springs, coilovers etc will fit.

The rear end is based on Astra G running gear so you will need to use parts for this vehicle (dampers, springs etc) .

Thought this would help and good luck with the rest of the build - would recommend a memory foam mattress as they seem to be uber comfy !!

Joff

[morns]

Thanks for that Joff. I did know it was a corsa front end (pretty obvious really) but didn't know it was Astra at the back - useful info that!

Over the last few weekend i have painted her up......and was running around with a half black half red van for a couple weeks until i had the time off to finish her off....pics of progress here.











Finished Result







And my favorite pic of the van so far.....



Still needs a tidy up in some areas......and planning some zombie related stickers in the not so distant future, but for now that is it!

Think it sits really well and looks great, again its not everyone's cup of tea but there you go.

[morns]

Couldn't resist a bit of Photoshop!

[Speedle]

Really liking the paint finish! Looks awesome!

[grenade]

Fun. Interesting. What's not to like?

Cool.

[gazjon]

Any updates on this van mate?