roof down orginal post August 2016

Out of sync picture!!!
 

 

Stage one, Out of sync date wise orginal 15/08/16

Finally finished stage one which was:
Poptop roof and bed
Solar panel
LED lights
( courtesy of Skyline Roofs Weston Super Mare)
Flooring
Pair of RIB Single seat/beds
Fit and wire Leisure Battery to 12v System
Wire in Solar Panel directly to Leisure Battery and it's control module
Wire LEDs directly to Solar Panel ( we'll see how this goes !)
Wire in Fridge to leisure system and test
Wire in mains electric and test.

Line pop top roof bed with "wheat coloured" lining carpet.
Line rest of van ( door frames , pop top roof frame and underside of upper bed ) with foam backed faux suede.
Panel off rear area with carpet lining I had left to tidy up and finish insulation.
Scrub floor and clean up!

Issues:
Many cuts and bruises
Sore knees!
Aching back
Still hate messing around under vehicles
Biggest worry that never was: dropping fuel tank! Piece of !
Biggest pain the faux suede I can see why most use carpet type more forgiving.

What's next:
Line the rear door frame
Seats re upholstered

Bike rack

Easy to fit not so easy to load!!
The ramp that is supplied is to narrow for my back wheel.
At home I used my own ramp which is wider worked fine.
On leaving the site I managed to over balance and dropped the bike no damage apart from a mirror.
Note of interest several "caravaners" were watching the antics none offered assistance! Luckily one of the staff came and helped!
On the continent there is a culture of help we needed a bit of a push to get the caravan into place, two families "French" were there in an instant to help us!
Upshot is need to rethink the rack to make it safer.

First try out

Abegeli Wales
Did well trip up returned 38mpg mixed traffic.
Also took the Ducati Scrambler on new rack no problems either.
Sleeping up top need a better mattress.
Lower beds will need to get the heater and battery boxed in, gives another 12" of room.
Not happy with the drawers need to rethink.
Fiamma roll out awning easy to use had some rain and the Very expensive length of rubber that seals the awning to the van worked well. So if we buy the awning that attaches to the roll out it'll keep things dry.
Not sure as these awnings are expensive and if we wanted to use the van all would have to be packed away, inconvenience mostly but the idea is to take the motorcycle to use for trips. Which also means we need a "shed"  so we're looking at a small easy erect tent for such things as chairs table etc.
Other than that it's pretty near finished and I enjoyed using the van.

DVLA

Mr DVLA he say yes!
Van is now re classified as a campervan first attempt!
Lots of stuff on internet about what you need and what to do.
But for once the DVLA site gives all you need to sort this.
Letter template
Required photography
Sorted.

Trip to Preston via Kirby

Took my wife to Preston to buy her new car. Went via my daughter's the night before.
Trip up was pretty boring as it's motorway most of the way. Van worked well comfortable and reasonable fuel economy at 38mpg. Definitely needs a bhp boost now the van is pretty much built tho!

Kitchen unit finished!

eeee what a palaver!
Cold running water ( boiling a kettle is easier and less weight than fitting a hot water system in a van conversion.
I've put two circular vents in the end of the unit for extra circulation of hot air from oven.
Now just a couple of drawers on the wardrobe / fridge side which reminds me to get over to screwfix to pick up drawer kits. Basically metal sides and runners, lighter than wooden drawers.