From coachbuilt to custom…

From coachbuilt to custom…
*** This may not be my most recent blog post. As of August 2017, many new blog posts are only available to subscribed blog followers. Here’s why. ***

There we were – myself, Ted and my good friend Eava, walking around Stonehenge last winter solstice, when we spotted a Sprinter van in what we could only describe as an awesome shade of green. Upon asking the owner which green it was, the Nato Green idea seeds were sown!

Before commencing the LDV Pilot travel van conversion, I fully re-sprayed it in this epic colour. I was that taken by how great it looked in Nato Green that when I returned from Portugal, the Luton had to be done the same, of course!

Jokingly, I asked Eava when were we going to do her Hymer motorhome in Nato green… To which she suggested some dates! I never thought she would actually go with the idea! The dates were set and she rolled up at my workshop just in time for a very rainy week!!

In just six days, we removed all the old graphics, of which there were many, prepared the bodywork, performed a full re-spray – including the roof, as well as finally creating some great new graphics. All of this was done outdoors between rain showers!

Before we started, I did mention that if this goes wrong, we will totally ruin her van! She had total confidence in me… so we began!

All the old stickers and graphics came off, many hours of masking off and some interesting spraying tactics whilst dodging wind and showers!

First we did the roof. This was a challenge. I used my Luton roof as a platform to get up on her roof and removed all her skylights. The new, stunning shade of grey replaced the dreary white roof which she had always disliked.

We did have a very near disaster… Whilst I was positioning my Luton, I didn’t look upwards else I’d have noticed the vans were almost colliding with each other above the cabs! Plenty of space at low level, but up there we were millimetres apart!

No planning was involved in this project. The ideas came to us as we worked and everything came together! As the first few days went by, the roof looked great, the sides looked perfect in the green and I managed to persuade her to ditch the stickers off the back and let me paint her van’s arse in grey too. Mid week, she was woken up to me knocking her door saying “I’ve been looking at your arse and have a great idea…” We even painted her Fiamma awning, wheel trims and the bonnet!

As they say, a picture says a thousand words…

Next came the new graphics… Again, the ideas and designs came to us as we worked…

I created the tree of life graphic from a photo I took of Eava’s t-shirt. After several hours of her picking out the unused bits of vinyl (weeding), this huge image was ready to put on the van – in the wind.

The feathers were Eava’s idea. She and Kirsty spent quite some time weeding these!

Six days later, a totally transformed and customised motorhome, as well as a delighted Eava. What a success!

You can watch the video here… From Coachbuilt to Custom!

Any adverts that are shown before the video generate me a few pence – so letting them play all the way through is helping me out greatly!

If your own van could do with a freshen up, revamp or total makeover – please do get in touch! Let your imagination run wild…

Print Friendly, PDF & Email

20 Comments on “From coachbuilt to custom…

  1. GOT ANY TIPS FOR A FAMILY HOL IN PORTUGAL OR SPAIN OR ….. LESS IRRADIATED AREAS WHERE A NORMAL FAMILY, WITH THE EXCEPTION OF ME IAM THE GENETIC ABORATION THAT IS DISCOMBOBULATED BY EMR

    ANY POINTERS WELCOME

    LOVE THE NATO GREEN

  2. Wow that was a brave decision to make but the change has totally enhanced Eava’s van. We should be brave and determined, take thd risk or loose the chance. Well done to all concerned in the transformation. Impressive!!

  3. As a dedicated Hymer man , I was dismayed when I began to read this , but , wow , what a great result .

  4. Hello Richard,

    Hymer should ask you to treat all of their campervans that way, as the end result is looking so much nicer than what their factory did to it.

    I would love my van to look like that, and when I eventually get to convert my van, I may give it a try with a roller (because of extremely low budget), even if the result won’t be half (or possibly even less than a quart) as good as the spray job you’ve done.

  5. What a beautiful job on Eava’s van – good teamwork – and I love the bit at the top on the front.