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Meet Jezebel- My 19 year old faithful van

Jezebel has been my little workhorse, transporting my gas bottle, torches and glass between venues.

Because of the small size of the items that I need to transport, I could have a small hatchback to meet these needs. So instead of relegating her to another owner who will probably be her last, Ive decided to pimp her up and turn her into a stealth camper.

Jezebel was gifted to me by my good friend Drew. I paid £190 to get her through the first MOT. The mechanic said to drive her gently so that the rust on the brakes and coils could wear off. And so it did.

Her next MOT took place this month and she only had a few advisories that done with the rejuvenation will give her a clean bill of health. She’s relatively rust free.

Ive decided to self convert, so that she stays registered as a van. Apparently the process to change the vehicle class has become so difficult , its just not worth it.

Im going to document the process and break it into the following the parts.

Part 1. Removal of bulkhead and insulation.
Part 2. Cladding and carpeting
Part 3. Installing a Skylight or a vent
Part 4. Setting up the electrics, lighting, solar panel and comfort items
Part 5. Building a sink unit with running water and a cooking space.
Part 6. Building a pull out bed with storage below
Part 7. Extending Storage space above the cab.
Part 8. Adding Storage space above the sink unit.
Part 9. Installing the fridge
part 10. Installing a TV, internet connection
part 11. Install a toilet
part 12. soft furnishing

Since she was MOT’d this month Ive replaced the handbrake cable, the timing belt and the water pump. Seems like she needs a new starter motor too.

Once all the mechanics and the interior is complete, we’ll be fixing her paintwork and Im planning to have her wrapped.

Finding Different Ways to Live

The cost of living has become extortionate. The way we live has to change. and quickly. The large number of people turning to a nomadic or semi nomadic lifestyle illustrates this. Those that own a vehicle outright, have no rent or ground charges. yes they may have to pay annual road tax and maintenance as well as fuel costs, but these are likely costs they would have incurred anyway. Follow me on how Isabella is going to be used to change the way I live and work.
Dolor Amet

To Buy or Build that is the question.

Buying or building is about the relative budget, Jezebel came to me for virtually nothing and building her up will cost less than £2000. In fact once shes build, shell be worth twice the money I had put into her.

Jezebel is being built over time. The first thing that I have done is to remove the plywood floor base. By doing this I could find rust patches and treat them. Once this was done, I insulated the floor and replaced the plywood base after sanding it.

The cleaning was critical as I removed years of dirt collection that would have expedited rust formation. The next step has been to complete the insulation layer, cut and install a ply lining, with carpeting and put in additional insulation behing the ply.

This has been relatively inexpensive and the cost is arounf £150, The expensive part will be deciding how to develop the electrics, as the furniture is being made from reclaimed pallets – all lighting is battery powered and the water and basin supply will cost under £30. 

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