Book Review: Camper Van Conversion

January 5, 2011 Motorhome Planet

Disclosure: I received a free copy of this book for this review. I did not receive any payment and was not required to write a positive review. Links marked with (eBay⇒) or (Amazon⇒) are affiliate links. This means I get paid a small commission if you buy something after clicking on the links. This money helps to pay for the running of the website.

I always enjoy reading about other people’s van conversions, especially when they have gone to as much effort as Colin Grace did with his Transit minibus conversion. Not only was the conversion done to a painstakingly high standard, but Colin meticulously photographed and documented everything he did, using this material to produce an ebook entitled Camper Van Conversion, which he sells on his website and which he recently sent me a copy of to review.

I’ll talk more about his van in a minute, but first here are a few statistics about the book itself:

202 pages
340+ photos (including large versions saved separately)
Detailed wiring, layout and furniture plans

The van itself is a long wheelbase 2005/6 Ford Transit minibus. It has a generous kitchen, plenty of seating and can sleep four in two double beds. It also has six original Ford travel seats (including the driver) – front-facing, three-pointed belted seats that were part of the original minibus specification. Choosing this route meant that Colin could be confident of the safety of these seats in the event of an accident – an important consideration.

Here are a few pictures to give you a taste of the book’s contents and the quality of Colin’s work:

The roof bed in Colin's Ford Transit minibus conversion — Finally, the roof bed I liked so much (sans mattress)!

One of my favourite parts of the conversion was something I have thought about but not seen done by a DIY converter before – a full-width roof bed that folds away when not in use. There’s no bathroom although Colin does have a Porta Potti onboard. The campervan is intended for campsite and day trip use where other facilities will be used for washing and toilet requirements – the onboard water and waste are intended for cooking/drinking and washing up only and are sized correspondingly.

This is a well-executed and slightly different conversion that offers a lot of flexibility for family use. The Camper Van Conversion is available in paperback, as a download and on a CD. If you are only interested in the electrical design, Colin will sell you a copy of the wiring diagram on its own (laminated or digital). For full details and for more information about the van itself, visit Colin’s website.

You can buy Camper Van Conversion from the following websites:

Directly from the author – www.campervanconversion.com
Lulu.com
Amazon.co.uk (Amazon⇒)

According to Colin, Camper Van Conversion should shortly be available to order from Waterstones and other bookshops. The information you will need to order the book is:

Title: Camper Van Conversion
Author: Colin Grace
ISBN: 9-78-1-4475-1123-6