After many years of camping in tents and live off the back of my estate car, when my beloved Omega finally gave the ghost decided to replace it with a more practical mode of transport.
3 months later I took delivery of a shiny new VW T4 Transporter, with the intention to convert into a fully equipped Camper van. Unfortunately, due to an error by the agency, Van appeared with windows in all groups and not steel panels in the rear panel. (I had to exit from a panel of security and allow the fixing of shelves, etc.). Anyway, a deal was struck with the delegation (free blacked out windows, electric windows, central locking, full tank of Diesel, CD auto-changer and a 4 bike bike rack on the tail gate), and drove away my new vehicle. Since then I never looked back and really prefer the full window van.
After spending some time researching Van conversions came to the conclusion that I wanted to do a good job and to refrain from constructing a utility vehicle that was first comfort second. The decision made was a case of designing a layout. Again very endoscopy revealed that the tested device met all my requirements and, therefore, a double bench seats, turning a double bed, wardrobe units and formation along the driver's side emerged.
Then, supply of components ... a visit to the AVA Leisure paid great dividends - and with all the accessories, I was able to gather a wealth of information about a technical construction.
Installing the floor.
The first task was to lay the floor. I removed the side door step, and the black rubber mats that came with the van. 15 mm strips were glued to the floor with an adhesive "no more nails" and spaced at approximately 8 "to 10" gaps seemed about right. Anything wider and 9 mm hand placed on the top bend too much on the ground causing the boards to come out of the floor. Around the back door and around the side door step, I installed a larger piece of 15 mm ply to provide adequate support for the floor on these key areas of highest use. Oh, and a small tip, giving the floor a good clean with a solvent to get rid of dirt and wax for the paint and roughen the surface with a wet and dry to give the glue a better chance of connecting with the work metal.
15 mm Miothene insulation used between the boards and 9mm sheet on top and bolted to the planks. (I think it took about 7 resume efforts offer sheet with the truck and then cut the puzzle to get the package fits neatly on the floor of the van!)
The coating of the floor was cut to size and glued directly to the card using Trim Fix - both floor and Trim Fix came from AVA.
Finally, trimmed the rear end of the floor, on the tail gate with a piece of angle aluminum bolted into place and restore the step (set by the step from 15 mm 9 mm 2 mm to reflect the elevated floor)
Cutting inside.
Before the installation of furniture, I cleaned the inside of the truck with the material investment (Ribbed-Mat) and installed curtain Gliss. Lining material was glued to the sides using Trim Fix (spray both surfaces). There was a specific technique for this ... Essential advice was to establish a single piece of material on one side of the truck, bonding to take place around the edges of the window hence hiding all windows and then carefully cut material, and to facilitate the curves of the metalwork. Where it was necessary to stretch the fabric at the corners of window parts, a heat gun used to heat the material while he was working in place which has a double effect of stretching the fabric and help the glue to get. On the nearside, the curtain was designed to fit around the sliding door driver and installed so that the "lips" of the railway was at the bottom, so neatly fitted into the socket driver's door is formed when the machining is bent back itself (which would probably make sense if you look at the van!). A single rail was installed on both sides of the truck to allow a single run curtain to be installed if desired.
The ceiling trim (gray covered hardboard), was removed and restored after the installation of a 20 mm layer of silver backed glass fiber insulation. The side walls again hardboard, which is removed and 4 mm ply sheets cut to appropriate size. This was covered with lining material on the side of the truck do not use 8 screws covered screw caps. Again, silver-backed 30 χιλιοστών insulating glass installed in the space between the panel and the external panels of the truck.
Install the seat and bed system.
After agonizing over this, I chose to fit a factory seat and bed system from RIB. This was expensive, but passenger safety was in my mind seemed wrong save space. In the end, I am very happy with this - bear seatbelts a 3 point and a belt, headrests, front and back adjustment and comfortable and completely flat when folded out to make the bed. It took three months for delivery, but installation is simple - 4 bolts through the floor and that it did. That said, I procrastinated for more than a day before I was convinced that it was in the right place and will not foul anything on the underside of the truck and while I plucked the courage to make the first holes in my shiny new van. The nuts on the bolts was the guy with nylon inserts to help "lock" the nuts in place. Steel plates of about 4 cm by 8 cm were used to help spread the load on the underside of the truck.
Building furniture.
I made some sketches on the back of a laptop and decided I'd better make a prototype before cutting the expensive furniture table (£ 85, a sheet!). A trip to Homebase and had 3 sheets of 15 mm MDF for £ 36!
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