Full speed ahead for a custom conversion

A vision for a customised camper van led Leigh McCarron to Minitec UK. Working together to Leigh realise his dream, Minitec advised on the choice of profile that would turn an old transporter vehicle into a customised ‘king of the road’ camper van.

When Leigh saw an old racing car transporter for sale, he thought it would make the perfect camper van for trips and holidays around the UK. To make his vision a reality, he had to strip the transporter of its fittings which secured cars in its former life to realise the large interior space which would be customised with all the fittings of a camper van.

After planning where the furniture and utilities were to go, the first job was to divide the space into areas. The dividers had to be rigid, strong but lightweight so that they did not add too much to the payload and limit the camper van’s mobility on the road. The high level of customisation on this project meant that different extrusion profiles would be needed, for example to construct the seating area and for cabinetry.

Leigh is not a trained engineer and although he knew he needed to use high quality extrusions for this task, he had no experience using them. This was also a personal project, so Leigh wanted to keep expenditure down without compromising the quality of the conversion. He contacted Minitec UK and explained his project. Following a discussion with one of the company’s design team, Leigh selected 45F and 45L profiles, power locks, angles and hinges to create the individual sections inside the stripped-out transporter.

Using Minitec’s free software, iCAD Assembler to calculate how much profile pieces would be required and which accessories were needed. The versatility of the Minitec system allowed further creativity for Leigh to allocate a separate ‘garage area’, sleeping quarters and a flexible seating unit.

“Minitec is low-cost and simple to use,” said Leigh. The conversion included storage space at the rear for two racing bikes, firmly secured on the floor of the camper van, together with storage space for bike equipment and accessories. This was sectioned off from the main seating area inside the camper van.

The Minitec profiles also allowed some design flexibility, and Leigh was able to integrate sleeping quarters, sufficient for two people, above the bike storage.

The finished project includes seating for six people, with a base constructed using Minitec profiles. The seating is modular and can be arranged in an L shape or transformed into a king-size bed. There is also a slide-out section for extra storage. The rest of the interior includes floor cabinets and a kitchen area, with a contemporary grey wood floor covering.

With work on the project limited to weekends, it still only took Leigh three months to complete the transformation. “It was a labour of love, but Minitec made it a lot easier to construct exactly the design I wanted. The high quality but low cost meant that the project was completed for minimal expenditure and gives me the freedom to take off whenever I want and to travel in style.”