The whole extendy bed construction relies on having a cabinet on the other side of the van to hook onto. I wouldn’t normally have used such chunky wood for a bit of studwork cabinetry but as this bed may have two full size male humans sleeping on it, I thought I had better not skimp. It would truly suck if in the middle of the night there is a cracking sounds followed by to heavy bangs as we hit the floor.
Author: minirollsrule
Extendy Bed Bits
So I started to build the bed using EVEN MORE WOOD… I swear there is so much in this van its unbelievable! I know wood is renewable and reasonably environmentally friendly but im going to need my own forest at this rate!
Bed Building Begins
So where are we up to now?
- Roof holes welded (not yet painted… bit lazy)
- Walls insulated, clad and carpeted
- Base bed box built and clad
Next is the most important part of a good camper van, and possibly the hardest to integrate to the rest of the vehicle. The bed. It’s a really awkward problem when you think about it, especially if you are as tall as me!
Field Testing
Each year a bunch of friends and I all make the effort to meet up on mass and go climbing. We always stay in the cheapest and closest campsite to wherever we need to be. Sometimes this is as close as across the road, making the walk-in so short we can watch climbers from our circle of tents. When we were students, it was always tents because that’s what we had so that’s what we used, but now we want a bit extra comfort so vans are starting to enter the group.
Headroom Highlights
Another chance to get some vannery work done presented itself this week. A lot of prep work has gone into getting to where I am now. Plenty of time spent sitting in the van looking at its curvy shape and my wood stock (giggle) Working out the best way to get the most features I want into the space has meant that progress has been slow, up until today, when some of my plans started to become a reality.
Plug Weld My Pig Holes
Hoorah!! Major milestone completed!! All holes have been plug welded in my holey police van!!
I have been searching for about 5 months now to plug the holes in my roof. I’ve searched the local businesses, fabricators shops, car body shops, DIY stores and friends of friends sheds for someone (or thing) to fill them.
Warm Woody Walls
Today my Van swallowed a whole sheet of plywood in one big gulp.
With the help of my Bro™, we man-handled the sheet into the back of the van. I parked strategically on the road to give us space to cut the board up outside. The neighbours didn’t seem to mind us using the space, that was until I spotted that their car had a fine dusting of man-glitter all over it!
Recycling Van
Next job: Insulate the walls of the van and prepare for boarding.
I was staggered just how much of a difference covering the walls of the van would have on the acoustics in there… when I bought the van it was just a shell with some badly fitted plastic panels flapping around. As you drove along, the van made such a crashing din you could barely hear the bag of cats screeching in the back. Now it’s (partially) insulated, it’s so much quieter you can have a normal conversation without going hoarse.
Sketchy Eleccy Plans
As a mechanical engineer, electrics are a bit like magic to me. There are different types and flavours of magic and woe betide any electrical item you feed the wrong brand of power. They really don’t like it. If you spot any magic white smoke escaping the product, it needs replacing, no joke. With this in mind, I did some research and along with Vandogs ebook guiding me, came up with this.
I’ve got a floor to settle with you
In a house you start from the top of a room and work down, well I ignored my holes in the roof and started on the floor because I’m just so excited to start!!! Continue reading I’ve got a floor to settle with you