New Bed?

I know I have just modified the bed, but for a few months now I have had my eye on a child-sized bed we used to use, but which has been flat-packed for almost a year since the child who used to use it grew too big. Yesterday I tried it in the back of the van to see how it would fit.

On the plus side, the height is exactly right to sit on the top of the back seats when folded down. The bed is sturdy enough along its length that there is no need for an additional support at that end. The mattress is thinner than the airbed, but more stable and just as comfortable. Also, Lucydog loves it.

On the down side, the bed is wider than the base I built (although about the same as the airbed) so doesn't quite leave enough room in the back for a walker and a wheelchair. Also there is no way of using all of the back seats while the bed is in the van - which would mean storing it in the house when not needed, which is something I need to avoid.

I have put the bed away again for now, while I think about ways I can use it, but I'm keeping the mattress in the back in case I want a quick lie down without having to pump up the airbed.

Lower Bed

I have reduced the height of the bed by 11.5 cm - which is strange, because all the measurements were in inches when I built it. My able assistant today was my son Robert, who has assisted with measuring and cutting, gluing and screwing. He made the first measurement and as he works in centimetres, we stayed with them.

It was a simple case of measuring between the bed and the highest point of the folded back seat to work out how much we could reduce the height by, then removing that amount from each of the six vertical pieces of wood that make up the bed frame and the end support.

The end result is much better. Sitting on it is easier and leaves plenty of headroom. Lying down on it is easier too - I don't feel like I am climbing up onto it any more. There is not enough space under the bed now for the plastic storage box, but for now I can stack two on top of the bed frame. I hope to add sides to the bed frame and hinge the top so I can use the space underneath for storage.

This should now allow me to use the van during the day when I'm at work. Sometimes my back is bad enough that a lie down helps a great deal. At home that's not a problem, but at work it obviously is. With the bed at its previous height, getting on to it was difficult when my back was really bad, but now it should be easier, so hopefully I will be able to spend the occasional lunchtime lying down and easing my back.

I just hope I don't nod off and sleep through the afternoon.

White Kangoo

This white Kangoo van camper conversion is on eBay at the moment. If you are interested, the link to the auction is here.

I was attracted to this listing because it’s a Kangoo and I wondered if I could get any ideas for mine by looking at this – and the answer is yes.

The first thing that strikes me about this Kangoo is how spacious the back looks when compared with mine. There are two reasons for this. Firstly this van has no back seats (because it knows it’s a van and isn’t confused about whether or not it might be a car, like mine is). Secondly, the bed base is a lot lower and narrower than mine.

From the pictures you can see that the bed is half width when folded. It looks plenty wide enough as a bench seat and there is plenty of room between it and the unit. When unfolded it fills that gap, but the cushions from the bench sit snugly to form a mattress.

The supports for the folding section look like doors on the front of the bed base, but in the view showing the inside of the bed base you can clearly see that there is no access through the front. This is a clever idea because the supports do the job when needed, but look very tidy when not.

The bed base is a storage area, which is a better idea than mine – I have a plastic tote under my bed frame. If I changed my design to a solid box, I could lose the storage box and utilise all of the space in the bed.

I note that the bed is constructed using plastic angle connectors – this means there are no unsightly screw heads on the outside of the bed and no need for battens on the inside – which could look scruffy (definitely would if I built it) and which would inevitably reduce the usable storage space. This angle connector is the same colour as the trims around the doors (and the supports that look like doors) so it all blends in nicely with the wood (or wood-effect MDF) and the grey carpeting on the walls and doors.

The storage nets on the back door and side wall of the van look very useful – I would consider one but I would have to block up a window with ply to have anywhere to fix one.

The table is a common single-leg design and I presume that this is taken to pieces and stored under the bed when necessary. There is even a skylight in the roof, to provide natural light in the absence of windows and ventilation without compromising security.

This van has given me lots to think about.

Excellent VW Caddy

Also on eBay recently was this excellent VW Caddy conversion. On the outside it looks to be in great condition, with nice paintwork, alloy wheels and a bonnet protector. To me it definitely doesn't look its age.

Ignoring the cab (which I generally do), the back of the van is a fairly standard layout, with the bed down one side, storage down the other side and a small space between. The bed is a sofa during the day, with a cushion attached high on the side of the van - presumably to avoid banging your head. The laminate flooring is nicely edged with angled tread-plate aluminium, while the sides and roof are nicely covered in carpeting material. 

The rear doors both sport hinged tables, which are secured by hook-and-eye when not in use. This is a great way to create a safe surface for a stove when using a small van. It solves the twin problems of ventilation and headroom, without resorting to expensive and heavy slide-out units. Also visible in this picture are the mains sockets, which are presumably attached to an inverter.

The LED lighting in the roof and the worktop look to be sufficient to light the back of the van while being small and unobtrusive - and, of course, being LEDs, they will be less of a drain on the battery.

The TV and DVD player sits nicely between two small storage units and the worktop gives plenty of room for a laptop or a wash-bowl - or somewhere to rest a plate at mealtimes.

I like this van very much. The build quality is good, showing a lot of thought and attention to detail. The van looks cosy but not cramped and the tables on the rear doors save valuable inside space. I have a single criticism, which is that there don't appear to be any curtains. The windows in the back doors are tinted, but not blacked out. Privacy would have to be addressed to use this as an overnight van. However, that could be sorted fairly simply and once done, this van would be pretty much the perfect micro-camper.

Mercedes Box Van 'Camper'

I saw this curious Mercedes box van 'conversion' for sale on eBay and just had to share it. I wonder who, if anyone, would bid for this. 

There is no entry from the cab to the living space and looking at the images, a four-step staircase is necessary to get into the back. This clearly won't fit in the cab with the driver, so I guess you have to try and open the back door (somehow) and drag the steps out before climbing up in.

The bed looks about the right size for a ten year old, unless the scale of the image is wrong. The furniture seems to be a mixture of home-made out of timber and reused domestic cabinets - and some things that are a combination of both.

The back door wouldn't look out of place on a terraced house, but looks incredibly out of place on the back of a box van. However, it fits very well with the wood framed windows, which look like they might have been pulled out of a skip.

The full-size sink and drainer could come in handy, as does the four-ring gas hob, but both look rather out of place in the back of a wagon.

Overall this 'camper' looks very spacious and comfortable, but the back door and windows look ridiculously out of place. While these could potentially be replaced with something more in keeping, the height of the rear door is not something that could easily be changed, so for me this would be unusable.

Road Rage

This morning I was driving MyRedVan to work and became the victim(ish) of a road rage(ish) incident.

I let a couple of vehicles out of a junction in stop-go, rush hour traffic, then almost immediately had to stop to let a bus pull away from a bus stop (it's in the Highway Code that if the bus isn't in a lay-by, you are supposed to stop and let it pull out).

The chap in the blue VW behind me clearly decided that in spite of the volume of traffic, I was somehow slowing him down significantly. He flashed his headlights to get my attention, then once I was looking at him in my mirror he made an up-and-down gesture with his hand that every male on the planet would immediately recognised.

Perhaps he had read the 'please leave space for my wheelchair' sticker in the back window and decided that I would be easy to intimidate, or perhaps he thought that a Kangoo could only possibly be driven by an elderly person or a woman. Either way, he seemed surprised and not best pleased with my reaction - which was to grin at him and wave. I may have restricted mobility, but I'm not about to be intimidated by an impatient bully.

Once the traffic started moving again he stayed well back - so far back, in fact, that he was barely visible in my mirror. I'd like to think that my charming smile and wave pacified him, or that he thought I might just be crazy enough to reverse into his pride-and-joy in a fit of anger. However, it was more likely that he just slowed down to use his mobile phone while he was driving to explain to his boss that he was going to be late for work because of the slow-moving little red van in front of him.

I strongly believe that people shouldn't be able to drive how they like, berating others aggressively, and get away with it. It's bullying, plain and simple and bullies on the road are as bad as bullies anywhere else and I believe that they should be treated with utter contempt.

Strange Campers

I love having a dig around the internet looking for interesting and novel approaches to campers. Some of the things I come across are inspiring, some are great at showing what not to do, and some are just plain crazy, like this modified caravan found on YouTube...

As a self-build fan, I take an interest in self-builds of all kinds as you never know where you might find an idea you can modify and apply to your own van. However, this self-build pick-up truck is, for me, a great example of what not to do...

http://www.pinterest.com/pin/293648838176299846/

If you're a fan of motorhomes and a fan of boats, what do you do if you have trouble choosing between one and the other? You could try this...

http://www.pinterest.com/pin/465700417690509548/

Another unusual motorhome, but this one actually looks like it would work very well - although I would guess it would take some time to set up and would probably have no space inside when collapsed. It wouldn't suit me, but for some it might be idea...

http://www.rvtravel.com/blog/weirdrvs/2009/06/new-twist-on-arizona-room.html

Next Project - Lighting

The next project I am going to try in the van is a two-switch lighting system, with one switch by the left sliding door and the other where I can reach it from the rear doors and from the bed. Many people are familiar with the two-switch system from hallways in their homes - moving either of the switches will turn the light on or off.

The wiring for such a system is simple, you just have to make sure you used double-throw switches. These are switches that have three connections which 'make' according to the position of the toggle. This excellent image from a guitar pedal website, http://www.cubisteffects.com/ makes that clearer:

Add caption

The wiring diagram for the system is shown below:

Put simply, the live feed from the battery is connected to the centre contact of one switch. A twin wire is run between the two switches and connects the outer contacts to each other. The centre contact from the centre switch is connected to the +ve side of the light (or lights) and the -ve side of the light is connected to the vehicle chassis. This will make the two switches control the light in exactly the same way as a domestic hallway two-switch system.

The difficult part for me is going to be working out how to mount the switches so they are where I need them to be. Again, any advice or suggestions are welcomed by comment or by email to myredvan@outlook.com.

Ready to Roll

Tyrion is ready. Since installing the curtains I have addressed the mattress - again using a low-budget approach. 

Foam would have been ideal, but foam would have cost around £30.00 and covers (assuming I didn't make them myself) would have cost more than twice that. However, after browsing the internet looking at other micro-van camper conversions I came across a chap who has simply inflated an airbed and thrown that in the back. 

£7.99 bought a single airbed (from Asda I think, although Tesco and Halfords all had them in at a similar price) and as I already had a compressor that plugs into the 12V socket, I just set that running and waited. It took fifteen minutes to fully inflate, by which time the compressor was running hot and about ready to pack in, so I might invest in one that is designed for this job and not for pumping up tyres. However, the fully inflated airbed sits very nicely on top of the bed and the quilt and pillow create a cosy, snug environment to sleep in.

I have laid on this bed several times and on each occasion I have nearly nodded off. It is definitely comfortable enough (and big enough) for me to sleep on and I have no doubt that I will be warm enough through the night.

Here is a picture of Tyrion, with the bed set up and the cooker ready to use. 

Hopefully the next post will be about Tyrion's first night out.

Making The Curtains

Keeping to the low budget aim, I went shopping for material for curtains. I needed one for each sliding door and one to run across the van at the level of the front seats (the end of the bed). 

First I looked at ready-made curtains, but several things stopped me from buying. First the sizes were all wrong, second the patterns, while very pretty, were completely inappropriate and third, the prices were majestic and majestic is not a budgetary level I would consider.

I looked at material by the metre next and found that to be a much more sensible option. Black material was available that would have cost about £15.00 in total, but something nagged me about that. Then I remembered seeing sheets on sale in Tescos for about six pounds each. I realised that two single sheets would be enough to do the whole job, so I could save myself three pounds!

Then I went into Poundstretcher and found a pair of black sheets for £8.00, which was even better.

I have trimmed and sewn the three sheets using the sewing machine I inherited from my grandma, I then threaded them onto net curtain rods and hung them in the van. The curtain across the van is hung on hooks that attach to the van with magnets - this means that I can move that curtain behind the back seats when they are folded up, maintaining security of the rear load space. The other two curtains are hung on self-adhesive hooks.

I may need to make some adjustments as they are a little gappy where they meet, but I should be able to sort this out with some clips - or perhaps velcro.

Side curtain.

'Across' curtain.

As with the rest of the 'build', the curtains could most definitely be better, but they are the best I could do and they most definitely do the job I need them to do, so I am, for now, happy with them. Having said that, now I have them up I would like to add some velcro or magnets to them to keep them together and to hold them to the sides of the van. I would also like to take the left curtain off the inside of the van and attach it to the metal of the sliding door itself - again with magnets or velcro - so the curtain is out of the way when that door is opened.

I am learning as I am going along, which is great fun, and again invite suggestions and advice, either as a comment or by email to myredvan@outlook.com.

Building The Bed

As I may have already mentioned (half a dozen times) my budget for this is as low as I can possibly keep it, so I have shopped around and considered a number of different options for the actual build itself. I was initially considering MDF, but having not worked with this before, I'm not awfully confident about screwing hinges in and expecting them to bear weight. I looked at ply, which I figured would be stronger, but even so, was not confident that the build would be strong enough. I eventually settled on making a batten frame and used two sheets of laminate for the bed support. 

I found the laminate in the offcut bin at B and Q and was expecting to pay a few pounds for them, but by the time a staff member came over to price them up, he was so fed up with constantly being dragged away from what he was doing, he just wrote 50p on each. I bought three sheets of wood for £1.50.

The battens were around £8.50 for eight lengths and I opted for what the shop called construction quality which apparently means that you aren't too bothered about appearance, as long as it does the job. As far as I can tell this wood looks just as good as the other wood they were selling, but was about a third of the price.

Wood, screws and hinges bought, it was time to get the tools out and have a go at putting something together. I wasn't expecting miracles, because my skills are just not that great, but I was hoping to get something at the end of it that did what I needed it to do.

It was a hot and sunny day, so the parasol was absolutely essential. The wheelchair in the image is mine and I had to stop and sit every few minutes just to avoid being crippled for days. You can just see in the back of the van the two sides for the rear box. I made these first as I knew the red plastic tote had to fit through them. 

Once I had joined these two frames with lengths of batten, I cut a piece of laminate to size and screwed it to the top of the box frame. Then I had to mark and cut the back edge to fit around the door.

You can see in this image that I used an offcut of wood, drilled a hole for a pencil in the right place to rest on the edge of the laminate, then simply ran along the edge of the back door to create the right cutting line. A couple of minutes with a jigsaw and it was done. This little piece of wood saved me a lot of time and is an idea I will definitely be using in the future.

Here is the finished bed, opened out and butting up against the back of the front seat. The plastic totes slide out from underneath and when the front seat is tipped forward, the front support moves forward to create a longer bed. This leaves a small gap between the two laminates, but this is not big enough to cause any problems.

Any craftsmen looking at this construction will probably have their heads in their hands at the dreadful job I have done. I look at it myself and know that sooner or later I am going to have to address this - and probably rebuild it completely - but for now, it does what I need it to do so I am pushing on with the rest.

By the way, this is a good picture to see the different materials I have used for the rear windows - the cardboard on the rear doors and the picket-line signs for the side windows. I would like to take this opportunity to thank the members of the GMB who chose to just drop these signs on the pavement and walk away rather than taking their rubbish home with them.

Once again I invite advice and suggestions, either by comment or by email to myredvan@outlook.com.

Designing The Bed

I have looked at several Kangoo conversions on the internet (the best place to find them is YouTube), including some which create a bed space large enough for two. In fact, I have seen some that are large enough to accommodate a double air mattress, fully inflated. 

The trouble with this is that the bed then inevitably has to be put away if you want to do anything else at all in the back. A double bed is fine if you are a couple - perhaps even with an awning to cook and sit in - but for a single chap like me, a single bed is more appropriate.

The design of the bed had to accommodate some very specific factors, including the ability to quickly return the van to a five-seater in case someone needed to sit in the back. This meant that the design has to work around the back seats staying in (it would have been much easier to build if the back seats were taken out and stored somewhere until needed).

So the bed has to work around the seats when they are folded down and it has to fit in the space behind the back seats when they are folded up again. 

I measured and measured and drew a variety of different designs before finally deciding on the final design - I even used a 3D modelling program to make sure everything fit where it was supposed to.

The box at the back of the van needs to be large enough so I can access the plastic tote stored underneath without having to get out of the van. The section that folds out over the folded back seat needs to be the right shape and size to sit neatly on top of the rear section when the bed is put away. The support leg is longer than the height of the back box because of the drop in the floor where the back seat passengers feet go.

Of course, with my limited woodworking skills and budget, there is no way the finished product is going to look as neat and well-built as these images, but this gives me something to aim for.

Rattling Mirror.

The van rattled incredibly when I first bought it. The back end was quickly fixed with liberal applications of WD40, but that left the driver's mirror. At speed or when idling in traffic, the mirror cover resonated and vibrated so loudly, I often resorted to grabbing it with my hand just to stop the noise.

When I popped the cover off I noticed that a plastic retaining tab had snapped off and there was a small crack in the cover. I briefly (five seconds) considered buying a new mirror cover, then decided that there was probably a quicker and much cheaper option.

In the image below you can see the careful application of material specially chosen for its sound deadening and vibration absorbing properties. Carefully removed from the end of a car wash sponge with a pair of scissors, trimmed to exacting specifications and held in place with cyanoacrylate (super glue), this material proved the perfect substance for the job. The effect was instant and complete.

Now that the mirror cover is snapped back into place, it is almost impossible to see the crack and completely impossible to see the sponge - and no more rattle!

Cleaning Out

Until today I have had a problem with the back seat. Although it would fold forward, one of the catches was stuck so it would not flip up and sit at the back of the front seats as it is supposed to do. However, with a bit of WD40 and, after Googling, some carefully-applied brute force, the seat now flips up.

Once I had released the seat I was disgusted at the mess I found beneath. I can only assume that the previous owner used it to carry building supplies because there was sand, gravel and dust all over. When I started to sweep it up I could see that it was jammed underneath the plastic trim in the back so there was only one way to get it clean, I had to take the plastic out.

In the picture below you can see the sort of muck I had to deal with. It was like this through the whole back of the van. Once I had finished, though, it was nice and clean (next picture).

Dirty :-(

Clean :-)

As I had the plastic trim out, it made sense to give it a clean before putting it back. The side trims are held in with three clips each and the back edge trim is held down by torx screws. With these removed, the liner just lifts out. Putting it all back together was just as simple.

I forgot to take a picture of the empty van with the plastic refitted because I was so excited by the extra space in the back. The before and after pictures below clearly show the difference flipping up the seat has made to the space in the back.

Before - No Space :-(

After - Lots of Space :-)

Bike Carrier

My mother has a new electric bike but because we live on a hill she has not had much practice with. I decided it would be a great idea to pop it in the back of the van and take her to the park, where she could ride around on the flat.

I had to flip up the small back seat but the larger seat won't flip up because one of the catches is jammed. However, there was just enough room for the bike with the front wheel turned sideways and pushed up against the inside of the sliding door.

There are plenty of tie-down points in the back so it was a simple job to secure the bike and stop it moving. The route we took to the park is up and down some very steep hills and along some very windy roads, but the bike didn't move an inch.

One minor hiccup was that once we had unloaded the bike at the other end we realised that neither of us had picked up the keys, so we had to put it back in the van and come home again. By that time mother had had enough, so in the end she didn't even get to ride it.

Still, it was fun for me.

First Cup of Coffee

I have been collecting gear in my little red box ready for when Tyrion is ready for his first night out. Recently I was looking at kettles and almost bought a 12v kettle from Halfords. I'm glad I read the small print because the time to boil on a 12v system was given as 18 minutes.

I settled on a single-burner stove and a whistling kettle. The two of them and a gas cannister for the stove cost less than the 12v kettle and when I tested them the kettle boiled in just 3 minutes. I'm happy with that.

Blacking Out The Back Windows

Because there are windows all around, I have had to think of different ways to create a private space in the back where I can change, wash and sleep. As hunky and gorgeous as my body is, I'm sure people don't want to be watching me do all that, but more importantly, when I park up and go to sleep in the back, I don't want it to be completely obvious what is happening.

I decided that some of the windows could be blacked out complete, while others needed something that could be removed easily and quickly when I wanted to rev up and drive off. The back four windows don't offer much in the way of visibility out and create a problem when leaving things in the back, so I decided to block these up with solid in-fills.

I started with some pieces plain A4 paper and stuck it to the window, pushing it into the corners to create crease lines, which I later cut around with scissors. Once I had the entire window covered, I pulled the paper off and cut out a template for the window.

Left back door

Right back door

The two side windows at the back are blacked out with plastic picket signs I found lying around after a day of strike action. Four of those were perfect to create the two window in-fills I needed. The in-fills in the back doors were cut out of corrugated card from boxes. All four in-fills are covered in red, shiny wrapping paper, which is stuck on with glue stick. For some reason the wrapping paper bubbled in places and at first I wasn't happy with this. Later I decided that the metallic appearance combined with the bubbling actually creates an interesting texture so I decided to leave it as it is. 

As with every job I do, I know I'm not an expert, the quality isn't great and nobody would actually pay to get this done. I am always open to suggestions, ideas and constructive comments, either as actual comments on the blog or by email to myredvan@outlook.com.