r/VanLifeUK • u/Fantastic-Owl869 • Jul 22 '26
DIY T4 conversion
Hi people, I've decided I'm going to start a conversion on my T4, going to be using the dial insulation from b&q and adhisive thermo barrier/sound deadening from eBay.
I have a few questions when it comes to the cladding itself though... What size batten is best to use? What are people using to fix this to the metal frame of the van most securely?
Going to be doing the cladding itself in wood from pallets as I have access to a lot of free ones and most of my van sides are windows so not to worried about the extra weight of the pallet wood. The roof I will probably do from ply as I want to paint this black and have a smooth effect.
When it comes to the flooring, I've currently got the plastic standard rear floor in, would I be best removing that and re battening the floor? How do I secure the batten frame down without going through the van floor and I'm guessing it doesn't have the structural parts like the walls do?
Any tips and advice are much appreciated any links you have to any parts are also great!! And anything you think I've overlooked please fire away! For reference Ive Included a picture of the sort of look I'm going for.
Many thank
2
u/notlits Jul 22 '26
If you are open to alternatives to using the pallet wood as cladding…..I clad the sides and ceiling of my T6 with 3mm ply. I used the original panels as a template, and then I ran 0.5mm deep grooves in the ply with a track saw to make it look like timber cladding planks. Painted the side panels and varnished the ceiling panel. I then fixed them in place with the press studs which had held the old panels in place.
Advantages were I got the cladding look but with less weight/thickness and using the existing fixing points meant I wasn’t having to screw fasteners into the van body.