Humble Road Van #2

[wildebus]

This is NOT my van (although I would be very happy if it were!)

This is built on what the Americans call a Promaster, but we would call a Sevel Van (Relay/Ducato/Boxer)
I love the attention to detail - the guy (George) has a serious case of OCD.
I really like that it is all electric - no gas! (his dual ring induction hob is pretty handy rather than my single ring induction hob)
And I like the use of the 80/20 (https://8020.net/) for the construction. I looked into using this when I did my last couple of vans but decided for cost reasons to use wooden framing. If I build another van, I really would like to bite the bullet and use the 80/20 system.

This is Georges 2nd van. His 1st one was similar (in the design process and method of construction) but built on a Mercedes Sprinter base (which I think he prefers but the customer dictated the base vehicle on the 2nd one)

 

[SquirrellCook]

Colourful fellow. I'd like to see some locks on the draws and doors. Some of the dirt roads we've driven would open them.

 

[wildebus]

Colourful fellow. I'd like to see some locks on the draws and doors. Some of the dirt roads we've driven would open them.

He is very entertaining and his background being Advertising Production, it makes his videos very entertaining

and yup, I agree. I would not be surprised to see a retrofit of locks there.

 

[Millie Master]

Beautifully built but as far as I am concerned a terrible layout and an appalling use of space with zilch leisure seating area and it doesn't look as if the front seats will swivel, so where on the earth would you sit.

Phil

 

[wildebus]

Beautifully built but as far as I am concerned a terrible layout and an appalling use of space with zilch leisure seating area and it doesn't look as if the front seats will swivel, so where on the earth would you sit.

Phil

It was built to a specific design for the owners as an update to their van and which they had used for many years as I understand it.
So I guess one persons appalling and terrible layout is another persons ideal

The number #1 van is his 'standard' layout and is very different.

 

[Sprinter 1 cup]

He loves the ally 2080. I like his heat exchanger!

 

[Silver sprinter]

Well built and very smart finish thanks for sharing david

 

[trevskoda]

Nice but i like open space inside my van,ok if you wish to sit outside under the awning,not a lot of use in winter or N Ireland.

 

[MarkJ]

Loved it. I particularly enjoyed the method of getting extra elbow room to read the paper while sitting on the loo!

Now that is specifying things in detail.

 

[HarryInHudds]

Ditto, thanks for flagging up. Great to see someone "doing it properly", god knows what the price is - it would never be commercial! Love the wiring labels, all the pipe elbows, and totally engineered neatness. About time people have an organised dirty laundry drawer!
Not sure about the red light zone...
Again lack of lounge and circulation space is surprising. Really, is the third chair the toilet? and none can face each other?
OK its a custom order, but I can't help thinking loads of std euro designs do it better.

btw I've used a lot of Alu extrusion for building custom automation. It is very expensive, (think £10/m), and he's got a LOT of it. And the correct fittings can double the price too. UK brand leaders are Item24, Bosch Rextroth; Valuframe and KJN for the value end; and theres plenty of others. I did map out how to use it for a VW, but only had it where essential, and would use ally plain angle where it wasn't. Also its not particularly light, as it's thick and strong. There are lightweight versions, also some 30x30mm (rather than 40x40), which is better for a small van. If it's bolted to the van body it is going to be appalling thermally.

 

[wildebus]

Here is a combination of Van #1 and Van #2.
Same 80/20 stuff and way of creating the design, but a very different layout between the two

As I understand it, he built #1 the way HE thought it should be (rather to an order) and the offers to buy rolled in (I think these top-end Sprinter conversions in the US run close to $100,000)

For me, I prefer #1 layout I think, but for a 2 person van the front seats will swivel and there you have your two comfortable recliners that can face backwards in parallel, or angle towards each other so either would work for me personally. Swivelling fronts is how the seating is in my own van, with a table available to put in front for eating, work or whatever.

And when I went to get the link for #1, I see he has posted floorplans for #3 and #4 - both commisions....

If you like the build ethos of the Humble Vans, then this following one I think will appeal.
A simpler build, again using the 80/20 product for construction and with a great attention to detail , but maybe more attainable for mere mortals!

Really nice guy who did this one and I've spoken (electronically) to him a few times on the Sprinter-Source forum.

 

[HarryInHudds]

Thanks for posting
a) some very nice space saving touches in HumbleRoad's layouts, I especially liked the fold-out closet/shower setup, and the bed/worktop/dinette combo. Still seems heavily built to my eyes, only Americans would build drawers you could drive over.
on b) Nicely done too. Interesting to see a VW-style basic side conversion, with a RIB bed, but in larger van.

I'm slowly collecting ideas for a future MWB conversion; but to us the biggest limiting factor after 8 years with a tintop T5, generally wilding, is a lack of a shower...
[I can't imagine a bigger van without the facility, even if it takes over the whole van while you do it. We're 50+, in the northern UK, or continental aires: I've been forcibly told outside showers are not adequate! IMO dropping soapy water isn't acceptable either.]

 

[wildebus]

My last conversion was a T5 Shuttle and for me the biggest issue was the inability to stand up and making up the bed after a long day at a show.

I still don't have a built-in shower in the bigger LWB LT. I find it hard to add something that takes so much room but is used so little of the time. I do find it odd that some folk bemoan the space a permanant bed takes up but will happily have a shower room that will be used what? 5% of the time the bed gets used? (I just have a 'flannel bath' or whatever that method is called when in the van, with a bathrug inside on the floor to catch the water, and have a shower tent I can put in the awning room if that is out).
So I am with you on that Closet/Drawer/Shower combo in the future floorplan - that looks a very good idea and a definate plus over just filling the shower room with crap that you have to take out every time.

There are some very interesting builds on Youtube to get ideas from. I just wish I was a better finish carpenter I can make a cupboard ok, but it never looks as pretty as what these guys can do!

This one is a build that impresses me as well. Much more conventional construction method (plywood and wood framing) but what I really like on this is the guys storage solutions (as well as the build quality). Think his background is in Aviation construction so another OCD type! You might see some useful ideas here for a smaller van (I think his is an NV400 which is the Nissan version of the Master/Movano - around the same length as a MWB Sprinter)

and an updated video with some improvements (I was watching the one above again as I just love the build! but remembered he made some changes in the kitchen)

 

[HarryInHudds]

Very nice, slightly different ethos to us; he's on his own and full timing, so has more space and gets the benefit from a bigger spend. It would have to be a bloke to have so much grey... Our current T5 was bought with a grey interior - and pretty inferior quality - so I felt empowered to chop it about, (some pics on pinterest at https://pin.it/4gQKeCz).
The Youtube that most inspires me is a Swiss couple with a MWB 4x4 Sprinter, which is also highly engineered, but more homely.

I'm always amazed how much of the UK van market appears to address the cosmetic surface, and not the usability, and functional systems. Equally, I rarely watch anything about a van which hasn't been used for a year - there's too many unskilled wannabe's promoting untested systems on the web. I always respect trying, - I just don't need to see all the experiments!

 

[Squiffy]

This is NOT my van (although I would be very happy if it were!)

This is built on what the Americans call a Promaster, but we would call a Sevel Van (Relay/Ducato/Boxer)
I love the attention to detail - the guy (George) has a serious case of OCD.
I really like that it is all electric - no gas! (his dual ring induction hob is pretty handy rather than my single ring induction hob)
And I like the use of the 80/20 (https://8020.net/) for the construction. I looked into using this when I did my last couple of vans but decided for cost reasons to use wooden framing. If I build another van, I really would like to bite the bullet and use the 80/20 system.

This is Georges 2nd van. His 1st one was similar (in the design process and method of construction) but built on a Mercedes Sprinter base (which I think he prefers but the customer dictated the base vehicle on the 2nd one)

A truly wonderful build, my conclusion though would be price of build materials ( The aluminium extrusion in America is probably cheap in comparison to the UK), and build weight, I don't know but maybe in America the vehicle weight limits are not as strict as in Europe one other thing I noted is that though the water system. Was extremely well fitted it seemed to me at least, to be over complicated and unnecessary. But other than that really good, it took both of them 10 months to build also. Phil

 

[wildebus]

Colourful fellow. I'd like to see some locks on the draws and doors. Some of the dirt roads we've driven would open them.

He did an update in the last week or so to talk about the first van which came in for a first year checkover and some adjustments ....
Some of his fittings needed updating as apparently the California deserts didn't like his "french cleat" fittings and some of the light/switch fittings that were glued just fell out.
Generally fairly minor things and kudos on him for publishing the issues.
I don't remember him mentioning the doors or drawers, but I wouldn't be surprised if he is giving some thoughts to that now as a precaution?