Hi, it's good to meet you all. I have just purchased a minibus and have two months to convert it into a campervan and need some advice.

Starting at the bottom. The flooring is covered in lino and seems solid enough, do I need to remove the current flooring, insulate and line it before I lay new flooring or can I lay new flooring on top of this?

The walls are lined up to the start of the windows, then they are lined above the windows and the ceiling is lined too. I am hoping I will be able to remove the lining, insulate and then put the linings back on. Similarly the doors are partially lined. Once I insulate the lined bits and put the ply back on is it ok to leave the metal showing on the other parts or do you have to cover all the metal with carpet or carpet lining? Will it cause any problems if the metal on the doors and round the windows is left?

Next - do you have any suggestions about the ply lining - is it ok to paint this or do you have to carpet line it?

Now onto other bits - in regards electricity, we have a three plug mobile supply unit - is it acceptable to use this in the campervan? We don't use a lot of electrical appliances (electric coolbox and kettle mainly, tv is banned and we can put batteries in the radio) and we have solar lighting so we don't really want to have to put leisure batteries and electricity into the van.  Also we have a good camping stove and since we do most of our cooking out in the awning we didn't really want a cooker in the van - we're planning to build a cupboard that can house the camping stove - would this meet the criteria for cooking facilities in a campervan.

lastly does anyone know where I can get thermal window coverings for the windows in the back of the van - I can get a set of three for the front but can't seem to find any to fit the back?

Any tips and advice is most welcome - cheers Jules