Ford Transit Custom Campervan Build – Part 3: The Pop Top Saga Begins (Part 1)

Welcome to our family camper van build adventure! We’re transforming our Ford Transit Custom into our very own camper van, tackling every step together as a family. With our two young lads getting stuck in alongside us, this project is as much about bonding and learning as it is about creating something amazing together, for us all to enjoy. Join us on this exciting journey as we share every triumph, challenge, and tip along the way – don’t forget to subscribe and follow our story as it unfolds! 🙂

Monday 27th January 2025. The pop top has been the bane of my life these past few weeks. I started pop-top discussions back at the beginning of January when I first purchased the van, and we are still no further forward… Building a van is a real learning curve 😅

As you can probably tell from the title of this post, if this is just “part 1” to installing the pop top, it can’t be a happy story… 😭

The local conversion specialist, Weston Campervans, who installed our windows, was unable to use his usual supplier for our van, as they didn’t offer a LWB Transporter roof 🙈. I didn’t like the idea of fitting a SWB roof to a LWB van, so the search began around to find a supplier who did make a LWB Transit roof.

Eventually one for a LWB Transit was found, but whilst this roof was great, it was well over any prices I’d seen for any pop top conversions. I’ve dabbled with modifying vehicles since I learnt to drive, and am only too aware that (most of the time), you get what you pay for, and I knew vans would be no different. Over Christmas I had been researching prices for pop tops and seen prices from as little as £2,000 to over £6,000. This quote was over even the highest quote I’d seen 😅.

Needless to say my meager budget wouldn’t stretch to that so the search continued. Another brand was found by the converter but after I did some research I found it wasn’t tested in any shape or form, and it was a no-go for me.

The search continued and I eventually found someone who made sustainable roofs (from recycled water bottles. Love it!) and their initial online quote system seemed pretty reasonable, so I sent the link to the conversion guys for their thoughts.

A short time later I was getting a call with a price that made me smile, rather than cry, and more news that I honestly couldn’t believe – they could have a roof ready by the end of the month!!!

As a bit of due diligence, Weston Campervans said they’d go and visit the supplier to take a look at the roofs and quality before we made any commitments. After their visit they gave very favourable feedback on the roof, stating it came with a scenic canvas as standard and I could upgrade to have a little skylight! With positive feedback received, I decided to get the roof ordered, and now I just had to wait for the confirmed fitment date for Vangelina to head back to our local guys for some more cosmetic surgery!

It didn’t take long before a date was set, and true to their promise, it was the end of the month. The only issue was that they wanted to do the van at the manufacturer’s place in Ellesmere, which wasn’t ideal for me. I’d opted for a local company for easy logistics, but now I needed to drive an hour away, organise breakfast club for the boys at school and find a way home too…

Whilst I got my head around the logistics, we removed the last thing that had to go: the bulkhead! My husband was right and I’m glad we didn’t remove it any sooner, the noise without this in place was crazy! 😂

On the morning of the conversion, I dropped the boys at breakfast club and headed to Ellesmere. The journey was smooth until I arrived, where road closures and poor signage threw me off track. After getting stuck behind a bin truck, I finally found a diversion to follow.

By 8:30, the only route past the diversion went through a school zone, causing a stressful half-hour crawl. Finally, I met the conversion guy from WC (also stuck in the chaos), who kindly offered to drive me home. We left Vangelina with Rap Tops and took back roads home. What a morning! 😂

Hopefully after all the drama of finding a suitable pop top and then the drama of getting to the new location for fitting, it would all be plain sailing…

Spoiler alert: the fact that this post has at least a second part to come, probably tells you that this isn’t what happens at all… 🙈

Goodbye bulkhead! Hello very noisy drives 😂