My DIY conversion progress
Posted: Thu Dec 31, 2015 10:20 am
Hi folks,
I've been posting on a different thread about my van and the conversion i am building. But it's a bit muddled up with other things and i think it belongs more in the camper conversion section as it is turning into one.
We bought the van from my in laws, looking like this:
![Image](http://i1240.photobucket.com/albums/gg488/callyspoy/Screenshot_2015-10-16-19-49-51.png)
![Image](http://i1240.photobucket.com/albums/gg488/callyspoy/Screenshot_2015-10-16-19-49-05.png)
Ideally it would have been great to have kept thw conversion, but with one 18 month old child and one on the way, the rear facing seats would have been a no go. It is our only car, i use a Suzuki B120 for commuting, so it needed to be practical as a "car" whilst also being a camper for wee holidays.
I quickly went about stripping out the conversion as i needed the funds from it's sale to start building the new conversion and also to get the proper seats in. So...here it is with the floor boarded up, new carpet and the gull seats installed.
![Image](http://i1240.photobucket.com/albums/gg488/callyspoy/Screenshot_2015-11-28-17-46-04.png)
I went with the gull seats for a couple of reasons
1. I liked the idea of still being able to load stuff in thw van
2. It is what was factory fitted
3. It has a fixed boot area
To make a conversion around gull seats is a bit tricky in my opinion as they don't move back and forth, obviously. So the gap between conversion and seats can't be "taken up" when in bed configuration. So on a slider seat you can roll the seat to meet your mid conversion, whereas on mine i have to leave leg room between unit and seat. So although not completed yet, my idea involves a removable panel that fits between the legs of the rear seats when not in use.
Our idea was to try and make the most comfortable bed we could, whilst also retaining a hob. We have slept in an aunts bongo on the seats and it just was not comfortable, so we knew this wasn't for us. Also lugging around all the extra bits to make it comfortable went against our plan of having a van that we could go away for a weekend at short notice with minimal fuss. We have no garage, car port, shed or storage space in our house, so storage for camping stuff is in the attic. So we are building it around long weekend trips, if going for a weeks holiday, we will take the awning and do a more homely "proper" camp.
If it's difficult to assemble for a weekender, we just won't go away in it, hence needing to make it easy foe ourselves.
Build currently looks like this
![Image](http://i1240.photobucket.com/albums/gg488/callyspoy/Screenshot_2015-12-30-19-43-18.png)
![Image](http://i1240.photobucket.com/albums/gg488/callyspoy/Screenshot_2015-12-30-19-43-01.png)
![Image](http://i1240.photobucket.com/albums/gg488/callyspoy/Screenshot_2015-12-30-19-44-00.png)
As you can see, it isn't a conventional mid conversion. We did this purely for the bed. We wanted as much bed space as possible, it allows for almost for full width and for a "normal" height couple to sleep below comfortably.
The table will go from the bench to the rear seats and another small box seat (along with the panel under rear seat) will take up the space in front of the kitchen unit, forming an L shape conversion.
That's it at the mo, any input on the build is appreciated as i know not many have been done like this!
I've been posting on a different thread about my van and the conversion i am building. But it's a bit muddled up with other things and i think it belongs more in the camper conversion section as it is turning into one.
We bought the van from my in laws, looking like this:
![Image](http://i1240.photobucket.com/albums/gg488/callyspoy/Screenshot_2015-10-16-19-49-51.png)
![Image](http://i1240.photobucket.com/albums/gg488/callyspoy/Screenshot_2015-10-16-19-49-05.png)
Ideally it would have been great to have kept thw conversion, but with one 18 month old child and one on the way, the rear facing seats would have been a no go. It is our only car, i use a Suzuki B120 for commuting, so it needed to be practical as a "car" whilst also being a camper for wee holidays.
I quickly went about stripping out the conversion as i needed the funds from it's sale to start building the new conversion and also to get the proper seats in. So...here it is with the floor boarded up, new carpet and the gull seats installed.
![Image](http://i1240.photobucket.com/albums/gg488/callyspoy/Screenshot_2015-11-28-17-46-04.png)
I went with the gull seats for a couple of reasons
1. I liked the idea of still being able to load stuff in thw van
2. It is what was factory fitted
3. It has a fixed boot area
To make a conversion around gull seats is a bit tricky in my opinion as they don't move back and forth, obviously. So the gap between conversion and seats can't be "taken up" when in bed configuration. So on a slider seat you can roll the seat to meet your mid conversion, whereas on mine i have to leave leg room between unit and seat. So although not completed yet, my idea involves a removable panel that fits between the legs of the rear seats when not in use.
Our idea was to try and make the most comfortable bed we could, whilst also retaining a hob. We have slept in an aunts bongo on the seats and it just was not comfortable, so we knew this wasn't for us. Also lugging around all the extra bits to make it comfortable went against our plan of having a van that we could go away for a weekend at short notice with minimal fuss. We have no garage, car port, shed or storage space in our house, so storage for camping stuff is in the attic. So we are building it around long weekend trips, if going for a weeks holiday, we will take the awning and do a more homely "proper" camp.
If it's difficult to assemble for a weekender, we just won't go away in it, hence needing to make it easy foe ourselves.
Build currently looks like this
![Image](http://i1240.photobucket.com/albums/gg488/callyspoy/Screenshot_2015-12-30-19-43-18.png)
![Image](http://i1240.photobucket.com/albums/gg488/callyspoy/Screenshot_2015-12-30-19-43-01.png)
![Image](http://i1240.photobucket.com/albums/gg488/callyspoy/Screenshot_2015-12-30-19-44-00.png)
As you can see, it isn't a conventional mid conversion. We did this purely for the bed. We wanted as much bed space as possible, it allows for almost for full width and for a "normal" height couple to sleep below comfortably.
The table will go from the bench to the rear seats and another small box seat (along with the panel under rear seat) will take up the space in front of the kitchen unit, forming an L shape conversion.
That's it at the mo, any input on the build is appreciated as i know not many have been done like this!