Bruno the bus - LDV400 minibus to campervan

we purchased a 1992 Leyland DAF 400 mid height roof minibus with 10 months MOT and currently 6 seats

after a blowout and puncture on one side of the twin rear axle on the way home and a small petrol leak on a day out to Southend we finally started work, first job was to remove some of the rear windows as there are too many for our plans. £15 bought 3 steel panels two 83cm by 51cm and one 93cm by 51cm from a local steel fabricators. The window is held in by 22 rivets under a rubber/plastic side strip, these were carefully drilled out and the window removed complete with frame. This was then laid on the steel panel and marked around with a sharpie pen. Out with the grinder to round the corners off and remove about 75mm from one end and then the same rivet holes were marked from the old frame. Voila a perfect fit, installed with caulk as a sealant and primered white for now

pictures will follow later

Only two more to go :-)

If anyone can use three windows in frames for their project we are open to offers of swaps/trades or just buy them (cheap)

Paul and Sas - Luton

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We have completed most of the

Wed, 05/05/2010 - 16:10 — psgold67

We have completed most of the work and the DVLA have accepted the changes, we are now in possesion of a logbook with Motor Caravan on it, thanks to all on this site and the links provided which have helped immensley

just started the edges of the panels for rust removal and painting, not much to do as the body overall is in good condition

there is a photo album of most of the build at

s299.photobucket.com/albums/mm285/psgold67/Camper Van/Bruno the build/

Paul and Sarah, currently in\Essex

comments or questions welcome

Window removal

Thu, 01/14/2010 - 20:28 — Adrian Telfer

Hi Thinking of doing the same to our LDV Convoy re window removal for privacy. Any drawback yet with yours?? (ours leak I think plus the roof seal needs redoing Aaaargh any advice for that one??)

Hi Adrian, your conversion

Fri, 01/15/2010 - 00:46 — psgold67

Hi Adrian, your conversion looks good, not had any issues with leaks , sealed panels with builders caulk and then bathroom sealant before rivetting them in, it has actually made the back warmer and less noisy, i need to post some more pictures really as we are nearly done inside now, We only have a low roof on Bruno but the only way to ensure resealing is the dig out and re seal method, messy and time consuming but the only guaranteed way, same with the leaking windows, drill out rivets and reseal then new rivets back in, iirc its 22 rivets for the smaller windows and 30 for the bigger ones, again more work but its the best way, should be doable in an afternoon (in good weather if we get any this year)

Good luck

Paul

Window removal

Sat, 01/16/2010 - 17:18 — Adrian Telfer

What thickness of steel sheet did you use??

Adrian

steel sheet

Thu, 03/04/2010 - 20:24 — psgold67

sorry only just seen this post, it didnt email me like normal

1.5mm sheet was used

how are the leaks? done anything more ot yours

Paul

Hi Adrian, your conversion

Fri, 01/15/2010 - 01:41 — psgold67

always seem to have a problem with double postings :-( deleted this one too

okay, more updates on the

Tue, 09/29/2009 - 11:44 — psgold67

okay, more updates on the bus/camper

due to a sudden move from Luton back into London, it was just as well we had a mainly empty van to move stuff, now running a pub in central London, with no parking outside the pub so 'Bruno' is parked up Mon to Fri and work continues outside the pub on Saturdays and Sundays.

The toilet bought on ebay finally arrived, the cooker and sink unit (with connectors) have been removed from the piece of worktop they were mounted on (£16 on ebay collected - bargain)

One set of parents provided various items of furnishings, electrics, and poissibly an awning (doesnt fit well on their coachbuilt Talbot Express camper) so these were collected from Southend, the drive down provided proof of a petrol leak, just a split in pipe on the carb connection - easy fix <£6

All three windows have now been removed and plated over with steel sheet (£15 for all 3 pieces, £16 for rivets and paint) pictures to follow later, inside and outside painted gloss white for now just to prevent rust taking hold on bare steel,

a trip to Luton on Sunday to friends (Ian and Ang) resulted in 12 sheets of ply (3 thick and 9 thin) boxes of screws, another piece of worktop and a few other bits

next stage is insulation and plastic for the rear area, strip out headlining and then start panelling with the plywood

why is it so quiet on here?

Paul n Sas - SE London

Camper van window removal

Tue, 08/25/2009 - 12:53 — campergirl

Hey guys, well done on the window removal. Have to say I've never seen anyone do things that way round, everyone seems to want to put windows in! but I'm sure there must be others so cheers for letting us know how you did it. Looking forward to the photos.