More Curtains

The 'found' curtains I used for the front of the van have been changed. I had four large terracotta-coloured curtains and realised that if I used two of those for the front, I could cut the other two into smaller sections for other windows.

The cardboard panels in the back windows have been falling out recently - the cardboard has soaked up some moisture from somewhere and lost some of it's rigidity, so I decided that it was time for a change.

I now have hand-sewn curtains at the back windows. To attach them I used net curtain wire which I have screwed to the inside of the doors - this meant actually drilling into my van, which was something I wasn't keen on initially, but after the first couple of holes I didn't think much about it.

Mrs suggested using another wire at the bottom of each window to stop the curtain flapping and this works perfectly (please excuse the dirty back windows, Tyrion is overdue a wash).

The success of these curtains made me want to try more, so I replaced the black curtain along the offside of the van. I used another net curtain wire, again screwed to the metal of the van, and ran it above both the windows on that side. As the bed presses up to this side of the van there is no need for a lower wire, which is good because it would block access through the sliding door on that side when in 'car mode'.

This left one single red shiny window infill. I thought about replacing this with a curtain but quickly realised that this was right over the worktop where the gas cooker would sit. I don't think having a fabric curtain that close to a gas burner would be a good idea, so I removed the infill, placed the fabric between it and the window then pushed the infill back in place. A quick trim with scissors left my GMB logo still visible on the inside, but the outside now showing black fabric.

So I have terracotta fabric front and back and black fabric down both sides. A very productive day's work.

New Curtains

On moving into the new place I investigated the loft and found that it is going to be perfect to set up my keyboard and guitars and maybe even do some more recording. None of that is relevant to this blog, but the curtains that were left behind by the previous occupants certainly are.

I found several pairs of very large curtains - more than six foot square. Two pairs are a terracotta colour with some sort of arty writing on them. The other pair (perhaps two pairs, I can't remember without climbing back up the loft ladder) are dark brown, almost black.

I had a few metres of shock cord in the van (the stretchy stuff bungies are made from) which I had bought with something else in mind, but I found that this was the perfect solution to 'hang' these curtains. The cord runs from the hooks in the roof each side, just above the sliding doors, around the front of the cabin and hooks onto the sun visors. Once the idea had occurred to me it was a simple case of knotting a loop in each end and hooking it on. There was some playing to get the length and tension right, but that was the hardest part.

The pictures below show the original black curtain solution compared with the new brown curtains.

The black curtain ran across the van behind the front seats. This meant that when lying in the bed my feet pushed against the curtains. The new curtains run around the front of the cabin, meaning there is a lot more space in the curtained-off area. Their size means there is no issue with gaps and they are thick enough to block out a lot of light.

I am very happy with this new curtain solution and hope to make something similar happen in the back of the van, which is currently blacked out with window-shaped infills, one of which keeps falling off and is currently held on with sellotape.

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.

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.

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!