Multispace yeehaw !!

[ajcommercial]

Hello all, I am now the proud owner of TWO 'Lingo 1.9d, one a Van and one a Multispace Desire.

  The Multi needs work, downpipe is broken, service, Cam belt and water pump, battery and possibly a starter too, windscreen, if your being fussy a rear bumper ( silver ), a drop cover in the roof has come adrift so I hope this isn't a major fix, I need to have a good go over it for bearings / ball joints etc... 


 I'm slightly worried about the windows in the roof leaking at some point.. I plan to make a day camper bed box for the back so I have somewhere to lay my head after a long weekends walking..

  Any advice / experiences / what should I know what have you done with yours ? It would be great to hear from you.

[Jeff]

I bought my Multispace for the same reason.

Only owned for a week and I have a mk2 Golf and Volvo 940 to repair/sell before I can get my teeth sunk in but I plan on documenting it on this forum.

I found some great ideas on Pinterest. Just search 'berlingo camper'

I'd be interested to see what you end up building!

[ajcommercial]

Hiya Jeff...
 I too looked around and found pinterest ok but trawl through a load of pointless pictures was a pain so I gave up, even looking at the pictures on pinterest from Google is impossible..
  I have looked on sites such as DIY camper and Self build camper and other similar Googled results to be better as there is quite often a full write up too..
  I have started by making a box that fits snugly in the boot and cutting a board the same size as the inflatable mattress I have. The think I am finding most difficult is levelling the board for the mattress which is my next job...

  I am using pallet wood as it is free or near free to get hold of except the boards which I have bought new, 3mm hard board for the box sides, 9mm for the box base, 5mm for the box lid and 12mm for the bed. I am leaning heavily on the weight saving construction idea rather than luxury but I am now thinking that 12mm ply for a bed is too thin I would recommend the 18mm ply if you are strong enough to lift it, hence the weight saving approach I am taking. If you look at the pictures on Pinterest I wonder how the boxes are installed, are they permanent ? Can they be lifted in and out easily ? The boxes seem to be very large and have a cumbersome look about them. I am thinking of can the box be lifted out as a one man job or is it a case of getting help to lift the box in and out.. Ease of use is my watchword... I would like to leave the rear seats in too...

  Materials I have are pallets = free. 12mm ply 8x4 £25 Wicks and 9mm ply £22 Wicks.. Screws and hinges are expensive so I have bought cheap ones from Toolstation which have been another £10 all in.. If you want to hinge your bed then Toolstation do 10x 1m piano hinges as a pack for £16.60 which is by far the cheapest I have found, most piano hinges you will find in DIY stores are 600mm long. Draw slides and catches are your decision...

  The thing I like most about this project is that the only limitation is your imagination... How the project is built is down to me.. Luckily I have quite a few power tools, circular saw / chop saw / battery drills / sanders / air nailer etc... so another positive for me is I'm having fun playing with my boys toys...

 One thing I can't decide is weather to paint or cover the wood in carpet....

  Have fun building yours and don't forget that your project is the only one like it so make your dreams happen...

[G1nganinja]

Hiya Jeff...
 I too looked around and found pinterest ok but trawl through a load of pointless pictures was a pain so I gave up, even looking at the pictures on pinterest from Google is impossible..
  I have looked on sites such as DIY camper and Self build camper and other similar Googled results to be better as there is quite often a full write up too..
  I have started by making a box that fits snugly in the boot and cutting a board the same size as the inflatable mattress I have. The think I am finding most difficult is levelling the board for the mattress which is my next job...

  I am using pallet wood as it is free or near free to get hold of except the boards which I have bought new, 3mm hard board for the box sides, 9mm for the box base, 5mm for the box lid and 12mm for the bed. I am leaning heavily on the weight saving construction idea rather than luxury but I am now thinking that 12mm ply for a bed is too thin I would recommend the 18mm ply if you are strong enough to lift it, hence the weight saving approach I am taking. If you look at the pictures on Pinterest I wonder how the boxes are installed, are they permanent ? Can they be lifted in and out easily ? The boxes seem to be very large and have a cumbersome look about them. I am thinking of can the box be lifted out as a one man job or is it a case of getting help to lift the box in and out.. Ease of use is my watchword... I would like to leave the rear seats in too...

  Materials I have are pallets = free. 12mm ply 8x4 £25 Wicks and 9mm ply £22 Wicks.. Screws and hinges are expensive so I have bought cheap ones from Toolstation which have been another £10 all in.. If you want to hinge your bed then Toolstation do 10x 1m piano hinges as a pack for £16.60 which is by far the cheapest I have found, most piano hinges you will find in DIY stores are 600mm long. Draw slides and catches are your decision...

  The thing I like most about this project is that the only limitation is your imagination... How the project is built is down to me.. Luckily I have quite a few power tools, circular saw / chop saw / battery drills / sanders / air nailer etc... so another positive for me is I'm having fun playing with my boys toys...

 One thing I can't decide is weather to paint or cover the wood in carpet....

  Have fun building yours and don't forget that your project is the only one like it so make your dreams happen...

Hi chaps

I too have recently got a53 plate 1.9d multispace desire to convert into a partial car camper, in particular with a flexible single/double bed system for it which was fully removable and flexible in its design to allow for maximum number of configurations for use - including keeping back seats in place or removing, drawers or portapotty under bed at rear or passenger side door with passenger rear seat removed....

Like you I got bored of scouring pininterest etc but spuriously searching eBay for a potty!!! I came across a company called

Spacecampervans.com who make a double and a single bed module system for blingos

They are pricey so I won't because I can't, be buying one but after a chat with a chippy we've sussed out how it all goes together from the extensive pictures

Sadly I've been done in disabled now and the kindly hunts at DWP then cut my benefits I paid 30 years to receive if needed - by 78% leaving me 40% below the poverty line each month !! So I can't afford to s**t let alone do jack s**t at present

The main things to remember are

18mm ply or tensile strength equivalent for top
Don NOT skimp on hinges - cheap ones are cheap for good reason - you get what you pay for , a cheap hinge may cost more than just a replacement hinge when it snaps on you and starts ripping into things - your butt cheeks maybe !!!!

For a covering I'm going to treat the wood and wax it for the natural look, then to compensate for the weight of wood, instead of heavy topper mattress, I'm going to bond 3/4 cheapish camping foam sleep mats which can then be cut and trimmed to precise side and beveled at the edges where needed or rolled over the edge for main side of the single to create soft edge which won't catch or splinter and comfy on backs of legs when seated, this can either be rolled or cut to section sizes and stored flat in a roof box, a mesh net in roof rail section etc etc

Hope that helps with some more ideas

Mark


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