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Interior done meant I could point my attention at the outside and some toys/fun bits. First up, the van wasn't supplied with air-con, something we'd had on the last van and previous vehicles. I looked at fitting this myself but after pricing up the components and allowing myself 2 weekends to do the job I decided to stump up the money and pay someone to fit it. I think, if I was doing it again, I'd fit the aircon myself though and just pay to get it gassed. We fitted a raised air intake, not so much for wading but to stop dust intake. Rear springs were replaced with some uprated items to restore the ride-height back to that of the empty van I bought a set of steels from a later 907 Sprinter as they're ET54 rather than ET63 so gives a slightly better track width with the 245 width tyres fitted. Added some lights on bonnet mounts and on the rear corners. Fitted a roll-out awning I decided I wanted some decent front and rear recovery points, the rear was covered by the tow bar however the front was reliant on the factory towing eye which seemed a bit inadequate. I looked at quite a few options for adding recovery points to the front. I wanted something that tied the front chassis legs together and braced against cross pulling. I looked at a couple of options from USA where these are a massively popular but ended up choosing a winch tray from N4 as it was a third of the price and seemed to offer what I was looking for. It also meant I could add a winch 🤣 I'm not planning to do much winching, it's more of a "get myself out a sticky situation" insurance rather than something I'll seek out uses for, I've mostly used it to rescue others and only once to recovery myself. I followed a guide on here to mount onboard air using the Tmax compressor and plumbed it to the front and rear of the vehicle To try and break up the solid white of the van I sprayed the sidepods, window surrounds and bonnet satin black.

A door was fitted between the hab area and the under bed storage and the area tidied up to hide gas pipes, blown air pipes and to protect the Truma and water pump. I added a blown air pipe from the Truma to blow up the back doors, down the centre of the van and into the shower. After a couple of trips we decided that a plinth between the driver seat and rear passengers was required, this allowed for a nicer seating position and also meant I could run the diesel heater pipes further through the van and into the shower cubicle. I added an access door to get into the underseat storage area without having to lift the seat a few "basically finished" interior shots We added some cab blinds for ease, these have been great although not cheap

We decided to buy a ready-made furniture kit rather than make this ourselves, this meant we ended up with something that looked far more professional than I'm capable of producing and it was far faster to install. We had to modify a lot of it to fit as the kit was designed for a high roof van with less floor insulation. Bed lowered by around a foot to allow for a thicker mattress that puts the sleeping height at the widest part of the side pods Shower trimmed around the top to fit the low roof Under bed door lowered Overall I was pretty happy with the kit, the fridge mounted by the sliding door has been great when cooking outside or for grabbing beers. We also fitted a single passenger seat and swivels to both driver and passenger bases along with a properly anchored seat belt solution for rear passengers. The furniture kit, when fitted to a high roof, has overhead cupboards and a set of shallow shelves above the kitchen however this obviously wouldn't fit our van so I used this space to mount the various controls. I'm going to re-make this panel to go the full width of the wall above the kitchen and try and add some shelves as I'm not too happy with the outcome. We got a local company to make us some leather seat cushions Wired up the tails in the boot to the various equipment Inverter (replaced with a larger one at a later date) Mains charger Mains consumer unit CBE camper control unit for water tanks, pump, some lights DC/DC charger and Solar combination (replaced later) Fuses for other items that aren't fed via the CBE unit There are 3 map lights, 2 above the bed and 1 above the front walkthrough, that work independent of the CBE controller along with a couple of other lights that allow these to be used should the CBE kit fail. The fridge is wired directly to the battery, via an appropriate fuse, to avoid voltage drop. The boot wiring is another thing I'd love to re-do however that would be a significant undertaking and whilst not tidy it does work. Then had a mattress custom made for the unusual shape of the bed area, which is about 6'5 long and 4'5 wide, a good size and very comfy.

Once we'd finished cutting big holes in the roof and sides I started to look at the electrics/plumbing/heating. The van had come with a Eberspacher 2.5kw air heater that we decided to retain and re-locate to underneath the drivers seat. I considered a few options for water heating but eventually landed on a Truma Combi 4E with a under chassis LPG tank that also fed a gas stove for cooking and an external gas point for outside cooking. This means we have two independent heat sources running on two different fuel sources, should we run out or one fail, however I am thinking of swapping the LPG Truma out for the diesel version if LPG continues to vanish from forecourts as it's getting hard to fill in the UK. We chose to go with a 120AH LiPo battery, 30A DC/DC charger and a 170W flexi solar panel on the roof. Our previous trips had taught us we rarely spend long stood still and in summer the panel is enough to keep the fridge running and the lights on. I'll probably add a second 120AH battery to this setup at some stage to support induction cooking if we remove LPG entirely. I mounted the solar panel on a sheet of aluminium to give it a bit more strength, act as a heat sink, allow air to pass underneath and to make removal and swapping it easy. We fitted a pair of underslung water tanks, 60L clean and 30L waste. I added inspection hatches to these. I made some looms up and ran all the wiring in the walls inside trunking to each outlet, running a cable for each light/socket etc. and brought the earths back to the same location, under the bed in the boot. Added an external hook-up point and ran cables for external scene/spot lamps. Colour coded for use. Once the services were planned and installed we could insulate and start lining and lay the floor covering. We used stretch carpet where necessary in difficult corners but tried to cover as many panels as possible with automotive grade fabric, sadly this took an age to arrive and turned out to not be enough so we ended up covering more than we wanted with the stretch carpet, something I'll revisit later hopefully. We used Altro for the flooring, something we'd had in the last van and knew was hard wearing and easy to clean.

You won't have to wait long for most of the build, we finished most of it a year and a half ago although I'm still modifying and adjusting as we go.

To fit everything inside the van we needed to sleep "sideways" which meant adding side flares to the rear quarters, we also added some small campervan style windows to the rear doors and to the front quarter and sliding door. We chose to keep these small and place them fairly high up for a bit of security, being high it's difficult to look in and should someone try and break in there's less of a gap to fit through.

We quickly set about stripping out all the racking, flooring and plastic lining. Removed the bulkhead and stripped out all the additional wiring, returning the van back to a "factory state". A good clean and then some remedial work killing and painting rust. Laid some floor insulation and then ply over the top Being 6'5 I couldn't stand up in a high roof Sprinter so we opted for a low roof van that we added a poptop too, from a LWB VW Transporter. This gives decent headroom when shut and acres of headroom when open as we don't use the optional bed boards inside.

I've not posted on here for a couple of years it seems but thought a few on here might be interested in a build thread for our Overland/4x4 camper. First, a little bit of back story to set the scene. Back in 2016 we set off on a tour round Ireland with a caravan and the RRC, got very frustrated at all the interesting places we could have stopped and visited but were unable to do so because we had the caravan on the back along with feeling a bit "tied down" having to use campsites etc. I'd previously been down to Romania with the RRC and had an itch to travel again so we decided to start looking for a camper that we could use to travel. Enter camper "MK1", we bought a 2015 T5 4motion kombi and converted it into a tourer with the usual additions of a poptop and a rock-and-roll bed. When I started the build I had in my mind it needed to get to places I could previously have gotten the RRC and Caravan however that scope soon changed after our first few UK trips but the vehicle was ultimately flawed as a base and, after a couple of great trips down to Bulgaria and up to Nordkap we decided a replacement was required. We had a few requirements that needed to be met with the new vehicle: Suitable and safe for long distance journeys without being too tiring, this means airbags and decent crash protection Under 3.5T, for many reasons. Mostly speed limits and tolls abroad though Space for 2 to be comfortable without needed to "live" outside, Norway taught us that 6 weeks in a VW camper in the rain can be miserable at times Facilities to shower inside Adequate off-road performance with low gearing. The real achilleas heel of the transporter was the gearing when fully loaded Ability to be self-sufficient for off-grid living whatever the conditions The base vehicle we ended up with is a 2014 MWB Low Roof Sprinter 4x4 with a low range and low geared diffs, ex Scottish Power. Which we bought during the second lockdown. Previously used as a workshop van it arrived with the usual racking, wiring etc.

When I was looking for my P38 I looked at a Vogue (may have been an SE) that had this black wood trim, wasn't a special edition. I think it was an option on the very last vehicle. I tried to find a set of the black trim on ebay for mine but could never find a complete set so didn't buy them.

It's worth making up (or buying) a lead and downloading the Roverguage software, you can then check what each sensor is saying and check function. Congrats on the pass! Looking forward to the latest video

I have an MG, as above, post a photo and I'm sure someone will know!

A friends did this recently, the crank on the compressor snapped and it blew the fuse. You can take the compressor apart and check it over but it sounds like you've burnt the motor out.

If you do decide to give social media a go then I know of a small sized Range Rover Classic restoration group that already has a SOUP following member content

I had 4 new tyres fitted to the classic a few years ago, went straight from the tyre fitters to the airport to collect the other half, coming back from the airport on a dual-carriageway I thought there was a slight vibration but there wasn't anywhere to stop and I put it down to improper wheel balance. Got home and checked, one of the front wheels was loose! The garage appologised and claimed they had torqued them up but that would suggest otherwise.

If you've got the engine number and registration then give Ray/Rob a call at V8Dev, they may remember the vehicle or have records? I saw the same P38 advertised and was semi tempted myself!

We've stayed at Owen Camping a couple of times, might be a bit far south for you. There is a pub/hotel a short walk up the road if it's still open but I've never been. Other pubs would be a drive. They're happy for people to have fires. No toilets or electric if they're a requirement. https://www.google.co.uk/maps/place/Owen/@52.7278813,-3.9114906,17.08z/data=!4m8!1m2!2m1!1sToolstation!3m4!1s0x0:0x7a7736fd380ed075!8m2!3d52.7273898!4d-3.9130097

I currently run a Vogue P38 as a daily, although I don't do a great number of miles. I replaced blend motors, front door locks, air springs, dampers, plugs, leads and tyres among other things. Doing O2 sensors soon. I also carry a win10 tablet loaded with Lynx diagnostic, EAS software and RAVE. There's thread over in the members vehicles section on what jobs I did with mine.

This thread needs pics! All the other windows should set though even if the front one is broken. Whereabouts in the country are you?

My 1994 classic has a vertical tordial tank and multipoint LPG feeding the 4.6, seems to tow well...

There is also a difference in mounting in the car, the softdash seats have two tags at the rear of the seat rails that take two bolts on the rear vertical upright of the seatbase whereas the harddash seats bolt straight down at both front and rear mount points.

What Fridge said, a P38 for 2k and spend a few K and some time doing repairs/going through it. Be prepared to do some work and for a few issues to appear while you iron out the kinks and you should end up with a decent vehicle. I currently run both a late (1994) RRC and a late (2001) P38 Vogue, they are actually fairly different cars. I've done work to them both (threads in sig) but a rough rundown of each; RRC - rebuilt engine, new air springs, new EAS compressor, new heater motor, new heater matrix, the usual moving bits like bearings and bushes and the usual wear items. It will eventually need welding but is fine for now. P38 - Blend motors, HEVAC repair, both front door locks, new air springs, replacement key, sealing leaks, fixing stereo and a few other items. I also bought a fairly expensive piece of diagnostic kit (LYNX) as I don't think you can own one of these without one. I've spent more on the classic but I've owned it far longer, I reckon the P38 owes me around 4k. In terms of ownership the P38 is a nice place to be, drives well and looks smart. It has often been described as very comfortable. The Classic is also a nice place to be, albeit not quite as much as the P38, it is also smaller and lighter which gives it a different dynamic to the P38. If one had to go tomorrow though I'd part company with the P38 and keep the classic...

You need to change the com-port in the RSW software, ideally you should re-start the software everytime you change the com port to ensure you clear the errant communication out the buffer. Had this problem a few times on both the RRC and P38

I ran those wipac lamps, halfords 120% bulbs and made a relay loom, it was a good upgrade over standard. I now have a pair of Trucklite LEDs fitted which are in a different league.

Do you get power from the ODB port? If not check fuse 32 or 33, 5 amp, in engine bay.

I had this issue with one of my keys (the other just flat out refused to work so I ordered a replacement, mine was "only" 172 quid though). I ended up taking the batteries out, cleaning them and then putting them back, I then twisted the battery holder to a position that stopped the annoying "low battery" warning. Been fine ever since.