Ford Transit Custom Campervan Build – Part 0: How We Chose & Bought the Van.

Week 1. January 2025. In the first weekend of 2025, we were up early and on the road by 7am to collect our new camper van. Heavy snow was forecast across the country later in the day, so we were keen to do any travelling sooner rather than later. If you read our vans ‘introduction‘, you’ll know we’d previously viewed the van and put down a deposit, so once we’d arrived it was a simple matter of transferring the remaining balance to the current owner, sorting the V5 (which thankfully can be done online these days), and getting the vehicle taxed. It’s so much handier being able to do all this online nowadays! Within minutes, I was sat in the driver’s seat and heading back home, an hour and a half of assorted motorways to go, in the new van. My youngest lad chose to be my Co-driver, and my eldest stayed with my husband in his car, who’d kindly driven me up (again)!

Thankfully, the journey home was uneventful. This is always the nerve racking part with a new car purchase! No warning lights came on, no overheating, no breakdowns, and no snow. Phew! I did discover, however, that both wipers were in desperate need of replacement, the drivers side seat height adjustment lever is missing and a pin is missing on the fuel filler flap. The coolant cap is also busted. The shopping list begins 😂

Once home, despite the temperature barely hitting 0°C, I was keen to start stripping the van. Realistically, there isn’t much to do right now. I’ve spoken to a local converter who’s willing to work with me on a ‘hybrid’ build, so to speak. By that, I mean he’s willing to do all the bits I can’t do and allow me to do other bits I can, which is amazing because I really want to do as much as we can. Fitting a pop top roof is a safety matter and there’s no way I’m taking an angle grinder to any panel on this van 🤣. The first big job will be the pop top (and possibly windows, as I’m too nervous to attempt this!), but the lead time is at least 6-8 weeks, with still no solid date (or quote!) in place yet, so I have plenty of time to do the stripping and cleaning!

The van has 2 layers of ply, flooring and a bulkhead that I need to remove and clean before she goes in for the pop top. In my impatience I have removed the outer ply board and discovered underneath the original ply, all lovely and new, and perfect for me to cover in carpet, so at least I won’t have to cut new ply! The wait until I can do some more is going to kill me 😂. Naively I thought pop tops would be sat on the shelf in a pop-top shop waiting for someone to buy, and I wasn’t expecting to have to wait so long😅. All I can do is hope that we will have 4 belted seats by the time the good weather arrives so that we can go biking. As frustrating as it is right now (because I’m dying to start doing things on the van), at least the weather is pants and no-one is missing out on biking fun! 😂

How to decide what van to buy to convert to a camper…

So, with a wealth of vans out there, you might be wondering why I chose a Transit Custom? Ultimately, budget had a lot to do with it, and I also wanted something that was big enough for 4 people, but small enough to take to the supermarket or do the school run. It was, after all, going to be my only vehicle. A Crafter was out of the question! Here are some of the Pros and Cons I considered with the “smaller” vans, and perhaps my thoughts might be useful to consider if you are looking to build a van too…

The clear choice for me was between either the popular VW Transporter, or the Ford Transit Custom. I dismissed the Vauxhall Vivaro and Renault Trafic immediately, as they are two brands I’m unfamiliar with, and I would rather maintain and work on vehicles I know a bit more about (I’m a very hands-on kinda gal!).

Here are some cons and pros of the two vans I was considering:

So, although I would have preferred a VW with the strong, reliable, engine, I’m very happy with my Transit. The ability to buy something with lower miles and within my budget swung it, even though I’m super nervous about the wet belt engine. I have enjoyed the driver luxuries already, taking the children to school in the snow and ice with the heated windscreen and seats. Amazing 😍 She’s the Limited 300 model, and I’ll go more into what this means next…

I’ve learnt a lot about vans in my search. I thought all vans were made equal, and the names just related to the model years and/or spec. With VWs I actually learnt that the T28, T30, T32 etc part of the name actually refers to the gross vehicle weight of the van! This is the maximum total weight of the van when fully loaded, including the weight of the vehicle itself, passengers, and cargo, and is incredibly important to consider when you’re planning on building a mini house inside! The number roughly corresponds to the weight in metric tons:

T32: 3.2 tons (3,200 kg)

T28: 2.8 tons (2,800 kg)

T30: 3.0 tons (3,000 kg)

I had had no idea until a friend pointed this out, suggesting I looked for T32’s. Otherwise I’d have been non the wiser – so hopefully this will be a helpful tip for someone else out there!

This made me wonder if Ford did the same thing, and sure enough they do! Ford typically lists the Gross Vehicle Weight (GVW) in kilograms directly in the model’s specifications or as part of its name. Common designations for the Transit Custom include:

• 260, 280, 300, 320, etc.

These numbers represent the GVW in decakilograms, which means:

320 = 3,200 kg (3.2 tons)

260 = 2,600 kg (2.6 tons)

280 = 2,800 kg (2.8 tons)

300 = 3,000 kg (3.0 tons)

This is what made me go for the 300 – now I know I can convert quite happily without panicking too much that I will be putting strain on the standard suspension or going over the vehicles legal limits! The Limited spec is the second highest spec, offering luxuries such as the heated seats, heated windscreen, air con and apple car play/android auto supporting sat nav touch screen. Ooooh! (As someone who’s always driven old cars, this is quite the mark of grandeur for me, even if it is just a van 😅). According to the chap who sold me the van, the only spec higher is a “Sport”, and that just offers leather seats! (Obviously, for the real van geeks out there, I know there is the MR-ST, but that is a whole other level haha 😂)

I hope this has been interesting, and perhaps even helpful for anyone looking. There is a whole learning curve to being a van driver – don’t even get me started on the varying speed limits across England, Scotland and Wales… 🫠