The golden shower

We moved the shower from out original plan from by the door, to over the wheel arch, the shower tray i bought was very small 585x585cms so moving the shower around the wheel arch meant a bit of extra elbow room, dad raised the profile of the wheel arch when he boxed it in making a shelf/seat, with storage underneath. he then cut out the floor so the tray would sit down, to give some extra headroom. he cut some thin ply to put in the bottom and will eventually fill the gaps with expanding foam

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 earlier in the week dad cut two panels for the side walls and profiled them beautifully to fit the curve of the van, I managed to get a 20 metre roll of lino from ebay for £20 and collected it from five minutes up the road, convenient and cheap but not my first choice of colour but its growing on me, we cut the lino to fit the panels and then bonded it on with smart tack spray from tool station.

one panel was then put into place and leveled so we could use it as a guide to stick a sheet of pre cut lino to the van wall and down the wheel arch, now this lino turned out to be pretty tough so to get it to bend over the wheel arch we used a heat gun which softened it up so we could bend it and bonded it section by section, once it was in place we put strips of wood and clamps onto the curves to hold it.

the magic carpet

so i have been off work the last couple of days so with an extra pair of hands things have been going a little (very little) bit faster. while dad was busy making the shower panels and cutting the floor, i got on with carpeting the ceiling of the van and some of the panels, i got this from ebay a 2 metre by 10 meter roll of carpet and 8 cans or spray glue was £100, its like veltrim but the seller said its more flexable while sealing (he would say that as its not brand named veltrim) however it was pretty easy to work with and quite stretchy. I roped in my girlfriend in to help, first we did the panel above the drivers cab as it was a small section so we could get used to the material.

we chose grey/silver carpet because we wanted something light, and once it was put up it matches the trim of the van so a bit of a result, to get the carpet into the small cracks and spaces i used a thin chisel. the ceiling was a different kettle of fish, as we wanted it to be one piece with no joints we cut it to size then rolled the end up, dad came up with the genius idea of using three poles across the van to lay the carpet out on so we could stick it on in sections, this worked a treat, we didnt stick the very end as we are waiting for the shower cubicle to finish going in!

you've been framed

lots of progress which has been visable this week, so i thought i would do an update for the week rather then daily ones. lots of goodies ordered in the internet and ebay turned up this week i am just waiting to order cushions which i will do on monday.
The ceiling is now fully insulated and boarded, just needs covering, the sink/cooker is now in place and the framework has been built, it will have a very small worktop next to it, and the 12v fridge i had from my chevy day van sits nicely underneath it, we will also be putting the gas bottles underneath here. once they have been boxed in we will need to cut a vent hole.

Also the space abouve the cab has been insulated and boarded, the shelf was carpeted with carpet origonally on the van roof, and it was boarded off with two cutouts left for doors.

Dad started work on the seat/bed concertina, this is a L shaped seat which will pull out into the bed,
however after some discussion i decided to go for a wider bed so we decided to wait till the cushions arrive before continuing.

and instead started on the shower, which has now been mocked up, it is next to the wheel arch to give some extra elbow room as the shower tray is only 585 by 585, i bought a 20 foot roll of lino from ebay which we will be using to waterproof the walls. There is also some storage above the wheel arch which we can access from both sides.

Dad has an impending sense of doom as we are leaving on the 21st february so are on a tight schedule, i have monday and tuesday off work so hopefully i can crack on with carpeting the ceiling and other panels!

plans

So we had rough sketchs and designs we have been working from for the layout of the van, however i have had to work out what size foam/cushions i needed to make the bed and seating area, this has turned out to be one of the biggest expenses of the van around £300 for the foam cut, upholstered and delivered, and this is quite cheap! believe me i shopped around.

so one of the main prioritys on the list when we started to plan the van was a decent sized bed, that was comfortable, as we will be spednign a lot of time in it, we have gone with a 6ft long 5ft wide bed, as a good nights sleep is pretty important here is the day layout for the van (not to scale) and a layout of all the cushions with sizes on!

Also the hole in the roof from the flashing light has been sanded and primed, just needs a lick of paint and we will seal the plastic plug into place!

the roof the roof the roof is on fire!

lots of work happened on the roof this week, the roof vent was installed, this was a fiamma vent from ebay, it said it was a rooflight however the plastic is too dark to let any light through, but i have come to the conclusion this is a good thing as it means we don't need a blind to cover it, and we won't get woken up by light early in the morning. a hole was cut in the roof, then it clips into place, the inside hasn't been fixed yet as we are waiting to ply the ceiling. he roof was then cleaned and primed ready for the sikaflex, which was used to seal all around it,

roof

the roof has now been insulated though not boarded as we are putting a roof vent into one end, we used the celotex insulation boards again, 25mm thick, because of their light weight.

also the seat frame has been built, which is giving us a good idea of space, the van battery is under the drivers seat so the leisure batterys have been placed under the seat frame because of its close proximity to the van battery. we will also be putting the water heater and some of the electrics under there.

awning brackets

didnt get chance to get photos of the progress today, when i got home it was dark and dad had finished for the day, but i forgot we put the awning brackets on the van, i bought a 2 metre omnistor awning from ebay for a bargain price, so after picking it up we placed it on the van and screwed the brackets on.

the brackets are custom built for your van so they sit on a nice angle, they were put in place then the holes were drilled through the metal, we then cut two pieces od wooden board the same size as the brackets to put behind the van roof metal and give some extra support to hold the awning in place.

heres inside and outside pictures.