PROJECT ZAGREB

On the road to Grand Slam with DIY Van

We received an email from a family of tennis players from Zagreb (Croatia) who just bought an old Mercedes Sprinter 211 (L2H1).

The main purpose of the purchase was being able to participate in the tennis tournaments around Europe without breaking the bank.

Denis and Olexandra Oliynykova already made some basic modifications like bed, insulation and kitchen, and tested the van life on the road for several months so they knew exactly what they wanted from the van: "And in this state, without water and electricity, I went on a trip".

"What, by the way, I don’t regret, because only having lived in the camper for at least some time, you can clearly understand what you REALLY need and what is actually not so important", Denis said during our first encounter. We just couldn’t do less but help this determined family in Zagreb to finish their van transformation.

It was definitely a low budget project. The van was bought for 2,400 Euro and then was added another 3,500 Euro for materials. Basically with 6000 Euro they managed to get a fully functional camper van.

All the conversion took us 35 days. It was hard and intense work as we needed to finish everything before their planned departure for tennis tournaments. The idea was to create a functional space for travelling for 3 people with separate toilet/shower with hot water, kitchen, roof storage and washing machine; all powered with solar panels, alternator and potentially with a portable generator. 

TECHNICAL DETAILS

• Mercedes-Benz Sprinter L2H1. 549 cm long and about 165 cm high inside of the van. 

• Freshwater: 140 Liters in the trunk.

• Grey water: 40 Liters tank is installed under the van with easy discharge handle. 

• Hot water: Ariston 1200W electrical heater

• Heating: Chinese heater is installed onboard along with complete isolation of the van prior to build. Consuming from 100 to 280 ml of Diesel per hour. 

• Solar Panels: 2 rigid x100W solar panels.

• Batteries: 2x100aH Gel batteries

• 220V: 1500W with 2500W peak  inverter

• Fridge: 29 Liters Mobicool 12V fridge

• Water pump: Fiamma aqua 8 - changed to ShurFlo 

• Kitchen stove and tap from Leroy Merlin

• Gas: 10L

• Hatches: 40x40cm with DIY ventilator + shower fan

About a year has passed since the end of the construction of a super budget camper for Denis.

They've travelled across Europe and gained a lot of experience in using a motorhome.  We met in our workshop in Livorno (Italy) where we replaced his water tank and installed an inverter switch on the main control panel. In this conversation you will find out what kind of adventures Denis had on the road and his engine problems.

Denis and his family are very happy with the van and they're getting ready for the next journey.

HARD WORK

FINAL RESULTS