Phase 11

Yes I am. In the past I have used a mixture of mild steel or aluminum frame and plywood combined with MDF. I have chosen to use on this build pre finished smooth birch plywood with edging strips. It will be all glued and screwed with pocket hole fixings. All units will be firmly fixed with glue and screws to the floor and walls.

No not this time, although MDF is a common construction material in home furniture. It can in vehicles especially off road campers work itself apart as I have learnt no matter the fixings. This build has to be strong as it has to put up with the riggers of an 18 Ton truck.

Not really I have listed them as some people have a large workshop with a mixture of power tools. Some are better than others depending on how heavy duty the work is. If you are just starting out with your first conversion buy the minimum you can afford, and see if you can borrow or hire other tools that are needed for a short period of time.

Personally no, unless you intend to build the cabinets from a welded mild steel frames, with wood panels. If this is your first conversion I would keep away from welding and stick with simple woodworking joints with glue and screws. YouTube is a good place to start with woodworking tutorials on how to build cabinets and draws of many shapes and sizes.

Yes of course you can. Many people have converted there vans on the drive or out on the street in there spare time and weekends. Not all builds have a lavish budget and spec list. You only have to look at YouTube to see the many thousands of vans that be converted some from just £500 to others costing many £100,000's. If you do have access to a shed or large covered workshop, then this will help on those rainy days working inside in the dry.

The best way to find out if your 'van is legally loaded' is by visiting a local weighbridge. This is essentially a giant set of scales used for checking the weight of commercial vehicles before they hit the road. Here is the link to find your local weighbridge: https://www.gov.uk/find-weighbridge

You can, this will be based on your budget and nothing more. A lot of people once they have completed there conversion opt to upgrade there rims and tires mainly for appearances only. Some will go for larger alloy wheels with All-terrain tires. These will help a little in off road conditions. Again there are many to choose from, although the trend lately is for black alloy rims made by Rogue, fitted with BF Goodrich All-terrain tires.

No it's not essential. But if you placed solar panels, storage boxes, surf boards etc on your roof you will need to gain access. So a roof ladder is good idea, a lot of people mount them to the rear door of the van.

Space can become at a premium under a vehicle once all the tanks for freshwater, grey water, LPG gas and pumps are installed. Most people opt for mounting them on the rear door of the van, or on the roof if you have a roof rack installed.