T6 LWB Indium Grey - MTB Camper Build Thread

[Roberts]

I'm starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel for the bike garage. Side pieces are now in and the frame for the wall has started. I can't wait to have it all ready for altro and raptor lining.

Box will now be removed. Front panel altro lined and raptor applied to the interior. It will go back in and be fixed permanently. Onto the next jobs of the rear wall and ceiling. Once they are done the rest of altro and raptoring can be done.

Evo units have been cut and should be here this week/ next. I won't be ready for them but I can build them up for when the time comes. I'm moving the chargers as they were a little awkward and reading a few posts about CTEK and solar panels it doesn't look like it will suit my requirements. Therefore more space needed so I will be moving all of the wiring elsewhere. Battery stays where it is mind.

 

[Roberts]

More work done in the back of the van. Kind of stalling inside the van now as the weather is holding me off from spraying the raptor onto the interior of the bike box. Once that's permanently in, the wall can be fully constructed and the rest all falls into place.



I've decided I want access to the storage compartments from inside the van so I'm creating a couple of sliding doors out of the cls, double u section and 6mm MDF.

Now the extension piece is made up I can mock up the bed position and how much I will need to take off the bed shelf. It is 1850mm so 50mm shorter than a normal bed. I can live with the compromise and when the passenger seat is rotated that more than will make up the slightly shorter bed.



Evo units, sink and fridge have arrived. Very first impressions taking out of the box are;

1. Ply finishes are great. Quality of the wood is top notch.
2. Instructions are poor to say the least.
3. First test fit of one panel slotting into another is frustrating to say the least. The slot is too tight for the thickness of the wood. Not great for a kit that came to just over £2k... I hope this is the only issue but I guess not.

 

[andys]

More work done in the back of the van. Kind of stalling inside the van now as the weather is holding me off from spraying the raptor onto the interior of the bike box. Once that's permanently in, the wall can be fully constructed and the rest all falls into place.

View attachment 90185

I've decided I want access to the storage compartments from inside the van so I'm creating a couple of sliding doors out of the cls, double u section and 6mm MDF.

Now the extension piece is made up I can mock up the bed position and how much I will need to take off the bed shelf. It is 1850mm so 50mm shorter than a normal bed. I can live with the compromise and when the passenger seat is rotated that more than will make up the slightly shorter bed.

View attachment 90186

Evo units, sink and fridge have arrived. Very first impressions taking out of the box are;

1. Ply finishes are great. Quality of the wood is top notch.
2. Instructions are poor to say the least.
3. First test fit of one panel slotting into another is frustrating to say the least. The slot is too tight for the thickness of the wood. Not great for a kit that came to just over £2k... I hope this is the only issue but I guess not.

View attachment 90188
View attachment 90190
View attachment 90191

View attachment 90187

Coming together nicely

 

[m4tty1]

Looking forward to seeing this come together.

 

[Roberts]

Evo units are now built up. Very good quality and I think I'm only missing a couple of hinges from the light shelf. Building them up turned out to be relatively simple. Instructions are not the best as mentioned in the last post but once you understand the way it's meant to go together it is straight forward. I am very happy with my colour choices. I can't wait to se the results. I've got the brushed aluminium surround to go in and some ply pieces in the carbon to make a unit to meet the partition. I'm now at a crossroads whether to complete the bike garage or make a start on the camper area.

I'll test fit the units tomorrow and make my mind up how I'll go forward.

 

[Roberts]

I couldn't resist... I fitted one of the van shades and test fitted the unit. It finally looks like a camper. Shame, it's a long, long, long way off yet!

 

[Roberts]

Another spam update. I made a make shift spray booth and applied raptor to the interior of the bike box. It was a good test run for when I do the van. I ran the shutz gun at 50psi and it felt like a water cannon. I'm happy with the finish but will probably drop the pressure for a thinner more flat texture inside the van.

 

[P20]

That’s epic! Great work

 

[Roberts]

More work completed on the bike box. I've laid altro onto the front section, put a new switch in and a couple of led lights. Flexible trunking run for the 12v circuit (not pictured).

Prime example here of making sure you order a sample before buying the full amount. I ordered Slate Grey Altro Contrax. It's not exactly grey and is pretty much blue. It'll look fine but doesn't fit in with the colour scheme.

I bought standard floor glue. This was a huge mistake, I should of bought contact adhesive as the amount of squeezing and excess I had to clean was insane. For the rest of the build contact adhesive will be used.

The 3 way switch is for task lighting in the back, cabinet lights and a relay for the air compressor when installed.

Little bit of touching up with black paint and the whole thing can go into the van permanently.

 

[Texxaco]

Pic heavy update to the weekends activities, Very long weekend installing a lot of gear in a short space of time. Some good bits, some not so good bits and rookie mistakes.

The cab started the weekend looking like this.

View attachment 78426

I collected audio gear from Absolut5 Audio, 280mile round trip and set to work stripping Friday night ready for sound deadening and cable routing. Leisure battery and amp cable ran through the bulkhead, first job once stripped and then sound deadening with 2mm silent coat applied. That and wiring the headunit (Kenwood DMX8019DABS) took pretty much all Saturday.

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Sunday was all about fitting audio and carpet. Apologies not many photo's of the audio install I was too into the build to remember! Carpet was a nightmare to fit and is still not right. I will need to strip the seats out and try and refit. Not the easiest job to do but it looks ok for now. Sound system sounds killer, needs a little fine tuning but the power out of the little JL Audio 500w amp is insane.

View attachment 78429View attachment 78430

Tonight I had time to fit the upper dash parts. I have used Van X comfort dash kit. I really like it and it's turned out really really well. Also over the course of the weekend I sprayed the A pillars in Buzzweld PIO. I didn't hold my hopes out for a great finish as there was hardly any preparation just a wash with soapy water, quick clean with alcohol and rub with scotchbrite but I am very very pleased with the result. I will be doing all my door cards and dash trims with it.

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Jobs left to do are install in the accessories, dash cam, reversing camera, second seals and tidy up a few loose ends here and there including an airbag warning light which I can only think was caused by turning the ignition on without the airbag connectors made.

Let me know what you think

Looking superb @Roberts. I too am currently Buzzwelding any grey in the cabin. Is just so easy to use, quick clean, dry and away you go.

 

[david173]

Nice work mate looking good! How are the tyres doing with your mpg if you dont mind me asking, i have standard claytons but not over keen on the 20" look either so thinking of fitting some AT tyres to them, cheers!

 

[Roberts]

Nice work mate looking good! How are the tyres doing with your mpg if you dont mind me asking, i have standard claytons but not over keen on the 20" look either so thinking of fitting some AT tyres to them, cheers!

Hi David. Honestly there's been no huge difference. It might even be slightly better but I'm still in the low to mid 30's.

 

[david173]

Hi David. Honestly there's been no huge difference. It might even be slightly better but I'm still in the low to mid 30's.

Cheers Roberts, did the standard claytons cope with the increased tyre size ok? My rear tyres on the standard claytons are 205/65/R16. Im not sure if they will take a wider tyre?

 

[Roberts]

Cheers Roberts, did the standard claytons cope with the increased tyre size ok? My rear tyres on the standard claytons are 205/65/R16. Im not sure if they will take a wider tyre?

They'll be fine. I think you might overthinking things. I've seen people fit upto 245mm. I've gone conservative with the 225mm

 

[Roberts]

Another productive weekend over. Shame I've got to go back to my proper job...

Started out by trying the aluminium window surround out before taking the kitchen unit out. I'm disappointed, I didn't think about the window cut out size. The cut out is bigger than the vanshade opening. Poor foresight on my part. Fortunately the led light shelf is below the cutout so it's only the 2 sides that will show through.



Then I took the unit out and got on with more sound deadening. This time the sliding door. I'm amazed at how much I got through. I've had to order another pack. Still got a fair bit to do too.



Sliding door vanshade fitted. So impressed with them. They look so much better than curtains. The fit wasn't perfect on the drivers side but it will be covered by the window surround so I can live with it. Sliding door is spot on.



Next I finally fitted the bike box for the last time. Whilst at it I cut down the original ply lining as a template for when I make my new ones. I will be using hidden trim clips and black carpet. I was never happy with the bluey grey and the quality of the ply lining from Salop Vans. It looked good on purchase but since looking deeper and working with it, quality is not top notch. Less said the better.

With the box in and the temporary ply panel in I could get my battery in permanently and part of the leisure circuit in. Now I've got (very crudely i admit! It won't look like this when finished) CTEK charging, audio head unit leisure wiring, BM2 battery monitoring and a fuse board which i can start wiring the cabinet lights and the rest of the 12v circuit.






Next is to finish the box extension and sliding doors. Carpet line them. Fit them in the van and start making the wall.

 

[Roberts]

I haven't updated this for a while. I haven't completed much on the van recently due to one reason or another.

I have however made up and fitted the sliding doors to access the rear cabinets from inside the van and wired up the cabinet lights temporarily.



I've also started the process of creating a little business with a couple of 3D printers. This came out of the necessity for some bike mounts for the van. I'm a Engineer in the automotive industry working for large OEM's by trade and always thought I could do a better job than what's on the market currently. There's the benefit too that I know how to use 3D Design CAD software.

I'll be creating other items soon, at the minute I've designed various VW bits at the minute just to get used to the printers and get some experience. Let me know if have any ideas for items to be manufactured. I have access to CNC machining too. If the idea takes off I'm sure we can sort a deal out. I'll be sure to create a seperate post once the business gets up and running.

 

[david173]

Nice red strat!

If you could 3D print a top lid for the top of dash compartment I think you could be onto a winner (like the Cali) only thing I have seen on the market is a speaker by Van-X and I'm not convinced by it, plus its expensive!

Good luck

 

[Roberts]

Nice red strat!

If you could 3D print a top lid for the top of dash compartment I think you could be onto a winner (like the Cali) only thing I have seen on the market is a speaker by Van-X and I'm not convinced by it, plus its expensive!

Good luck

Thanks I love my strat too.

I have been thinking about the top lid. The trouble with it is, the void is huge! I may be able to print something. I'll definitely give it some thought.

 

[david173]

yeah, I would have thought you only need the lid which and could be attached by replacing the small piece of trim at the back of the box with a hinged piece to hold it.

If the bed of the 3D printer is to small could try two halves glued together, abit of wet and dry paper and spry paint and would look ace, I would have one off you!

 

[david173]

This one: