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! 🙂
Tuesday 18th March 2025.
Several weeks ago I finally made a choice on what bed we would have, and was quick to get the order placed as I (correctly) assumed bookings would stack up as the warmer weather made an appearance. I had really wanted a RIB bed, but reputable basic black fabric RIB beds seemed to start from £3.5k, and aside from the fact that I didn’t have that sort of money in my budget for an N1 tested bed, I also didn’t want black. It made more sense to settle for the typical Rock n Roll style bed and have the spare pennies to get a colour and finish that I wanted – something to keep the interior light, bright and seemingly spacious. (Black is very practical, and I’m sure I’ll regret my colour choices with 2 children and a dog 😅 but 9/10 conversions I’ve seen all use dark colours and feel very closed in – cosy for sure, but I’m after an ‘open’ feel.)
I was pretty surprised how many Rock n Roll beds out there weren’t safety tested, and finding a reputable brand that offered a trimming service, tested beds and within an hour or so radius of us for fitting seemed a tough task. Fortunately, a friend of a friend of ours had used and recommended Vulcan Beds in Oswestry, and not only did they trim the beds to almost any specification, they offered tested beds, ISOfix options and fitting with a safety installation certificate! Perfect! As a parent, my children are the most precious things, and I’ve been amazed in my research how many people have fitted any old belted seats in their vans, even when they’re carrying children!
I discussed my plans with Vulcan Beds. I was after an ivory leather (I’d originally wanted white but my husband said white would be too stark and actually I thought he made a good point). I also wanted blue piping and stitching (I’m going for Ford Blue as my accent colour inside, as I couldn’t find any orange to match the exterior) and the Ford logo embroidered in the headrests. I also double checked that they could trim captain chairs too as, eventually, I would like to get a captains chair for the passenger side of the van so I can nip into the back without having to get out and run around 😂. Fortunately they can trim front seats too, so I’m on a mission to find a passenger side captains seat, but apparently I need to sell a kidney to afford this single style of seat 🥴.
Vulcan were super helpful with providing photos and swatches via WhatsApp, though they did try to encourage me to come in and see their swatches in person. Unfortunately I was (a) unable to make a 2+ hour round trip journey during their working hours due to my own job, and (b) I’m not a super fussy person, so as long as its ivory-ish and Ford-blue-ish, I’ll be happy 🙂 A plan was put together, a lead time of approximately 4-6 weeks was quoted, and I left them to it.
There was some issue in sourcing a Ford-blue-ish leather, but Vulcan were able to find another supplier to find something close. Then, around 3 weeks in, I did get another message to say that unfortunately their embroidery machines just couldn’t do their usual high quality finish on the Ford logo, with their suspision for the issue being placed firmly on the leather. I took a look at the photos they sent, and they were right, the quality was not up to the quality they have had with other logos on other leathers – see how the edges are smooth on the VW logo below, but for the Ford logo, it’s all jagged and not filled in nicely.
I decided in the end to omit the Ford logo idea. It was a nice idea, but a poorly embroidered logo I thought would detract from the quality of the rest of the seat, and the logo was just a ‘nice to have’ option at the end of the day anyway.
Expecting another couple of weeks of workmanship to redo the seats that had been poorly embroidered, I had expected not to hear back from Vulcan for a while, so imagine my surprise when just a week later they messaged asking when I could come in for the fitting! (Yes, they offered certified fitting for £150, and for my own piece of mind, I willingly paid for that!)
By a stroke of luck, my husband was doing a course in Oswestry that week, and Vulcan were amazing in squeezing me in to accomodate my husbands trip. This helped me so much as it was proving tricky organising a suitable date around my work 😅
So on Tuesday morning, just 2 days after we had installed the floor (thank goodness we had got on with it that weekend!) my husband took Vangelina on a little road trip… And came back later that day with the most beautiful Rock n Roll bed 😍! The leather is sumptuous, and the workmanship is lovely. The bed is a great quality, and easy to convert into a bed. It can even be locked into various angles (for when the vehicles not in motion), to make for a more relaxed sit when we’re in campervan mode!
Most importantly, we had the best feedback from the boys, who couldn’t wait to jump in and try the seats! They loved the colour, the comfort, and I haven’t had them join me in the front seats on the school run since! (Yes, she’s a daily van!)
Read our progress so far!
03. Part 01: Stripping the Interior
04. Part 02: Installing the Windows
05. Part 03: Installing the Pop Top (1)
06. Part 03: Installing the Pop Top (2)
07. Part 03: Installing the Pop Top (3)
10. Part 06: Floor Removal, Sound Deadening & Insulation
11. Part 07: Fitting the Carpet
12. Part 08: Fitting the Flooring
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I think ours is from Duvelay. It’s memory foam so you just roll it up but it’s still very bulky, not something you put in a cupboard. We store our topper and sleeping bags on the rear shelf when in transit. I also have a couple of SIMs we use sometimes. They are from Sea to Summit and very good but pretty expensive. We use them when we stay over at our friends and family when we sometimes Kip on the floor
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I shall look into them thank you! Ahh wishful thinking that it would tidy away into a cupboard 😅 mind you, if I’m storing anything on the rear bench, something soft makes sense, plus it’s ready and waiting when you pull the bed out 😀 Our pop top isn’t very deep so when our friend offered the SIM it seemed a sensible idea to go for it, if they’re expensive I’m glad I said yes 😂
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That looks absolutely stunning and superb choice of colour. We have a RIBA bed which is great in that you sleep on the reverse side but not so great in that we only have two positions (sit up or lie flat). I would like to be able to recline the rear bed/seat so that we can sit up in bed – something I need to ask our converter about next time I take it for a service
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Thank you so much 😁… It’s a far superior bed, sleeping on the reverse side was one of the ticks for me, but never mind – to be fair, I’ve recently found out in my kitchen search that you need a different style kitchen apparently so perhaps it’s just as well, as those kitchens are also more expensive 😅 I hope you find the solution you’re looking for, I thought you could recline them so hopefully your converter will have the solution you’re looking for 🤞
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Have you looked at a mattress topper to put on top of – we have one that came with conversion and always use it. We also use the one up in the roof bed to save space when we travel around and just drag it down when we need to sleep downstairs
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Actually no I haven’t yet 🙈 I must do, but I’m waiting until we have the kitchen and cupboards so I have somewhere to store it. Our friend has given us a self inflating mattress for the pop top for the boys though 😁 any tips for the mattress?
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