Pazuzu is not a winner in the judges eyes.....but a peoples winner!

Feeling quite disappointed, with 99 more votes than any of the others, and almost as many votes as the rest put together Pazuzu did not make it even into the runners up category.

243 votes vs 70 for the winner, 63 and 36 for the runners up. The winner is deserving as a lot of money was spent on the van and its a great van, I chose this one to win and it was part of the inspiration for me to re do RSB1...which obviously never happened. Apparently value for money was one of the criteria though, also practicality....and public opinion.

No worries as everyone voting means more than a piece of wood as a prize, although I would love something from Surf Mirrors as his designs are amazing.

http://nationalwatersportsfestival.com/stand-by-your-van-the-winners/ Click for the results.

Thanks for voting, a bit like a general election unfortunately the votes made no difference to the decision.

Good speeds and winds

The Bus mk2

Windsurf Van and Camper van self conversion - completed.......or is it?

Over the past few days I have finished lots of little jobs and then spent the whole of today tidying the body work up, I left this until last as I dreaded flatting back the overspray where the previous owner had touched up a few bits.....and some of it was right up near the roof bar rails.

I have made side curtains from one type of Hot Sails Maui flag, and a centre curtain that has the Exocet Boards logo facing the rear, and a different style of Hot Sails Maui to the front. This has a split so it envelopes the front seats.

 Finally here is the windsurf kit loaded. I have opted to put a temporary rack over the wheel arch box to hold sails in place. After a session yesterday I am already not happy with this set up and think my original one will be much better with the sails on the floor and boards at an angle above them. Like this it takes too much time to unload and load the van, I like to be able to slide stuff in and out without problem. I will complete this a few days before the National Windsurf Festival and the end of the summer holidays for me.

I am looking foward to a good session on the water tomorrow, followed by a trip to Longleat safari park Sunday and holidays back in Cornwall for the following week.

Good speeds and winds

The Bus mk2

Camper and windsurf van conversion - final few bits....or so I thought

After the 5 days away last week I returned with a snagging list. These were little jobs such as remake the soft cupboard doors out of a better carpet. Trim the edge of the front seat where it caught the kitchen cupboard and add some trim round the ceiling edge to give a better finish.

These I completed but wish I had taken more time, I can see screws now which I was trying to avoid. Its not a huge problem but still something I will work on, perhaps with a few small bits of carpet glued onto them.

Today I set about the task of completing the cabinet above the sink. This was harder than I anticipated, and should have built the whole thing out of the van and fitted it as a unit. I built it round a certain sized clip-lock plastic box, which now sits in it perfectly with space for a few other bits. The base was the most difficult as I did not want to carpet this as it is above the stove. I opted to spray it with heat resistant BBQ paint, but again like when I made the table there was a wind that picked up just after I finished spraying so I am not completely happy with the finish. It will do until I find something better to use.

Another task on the list was to finish off the table, I needed to construct a leg. For the first time I got a bargain in B&Q, a table leg with a flat 2mm square fitting that should be screwed to the top. Instead of screwing it I used a 12mm piece of ply with 2 laminates chiselled off to slide the square section into. It works amazingly well and at a cost of £3.20 saved me buying the standard camper table fittings that cost £20-£30. Also the leg is smaller than those others available. 

This table will rarely be used but for transferring it to a camper on the registration document a table is a necessity. Also I do hope to take a few months away round Europe in a few years and it will be ideal for working on. At present it works as a kitchen cupboard door, rarely used as behind it are the noses of my windsurfing boards, but useful for storage and access to the water tank to refill it.
Also today I put up two temporary kit racks, just to hold sails above the wheel arch. After the trip away its clear this is the best option for camping as any bags put under the sink would otherwise rest on the tips of the sails - as you can see in the picture. I cannot put a shelf there as the hole is just big enough to get the water tank out in terms of height. Maybe a hinged shelf would work.....but thats a project for the future I think.

While away we stopped at a place called Trago Mills, where bargains are to be had and I only wish I had gone there to get most of the building materials I needed originally. I picked up a few neoprene tablet cases of various sizes. I have fitted a couple of these either side of the van near the rear speakers, which are perfect to hold my wallet, phone and keys when I get in bed. All I need to find now is a couple of decent glasses cases, one for the rear and one for the front.

Tomorrow just a few jobs to finish off the overhead cabinet then I can relax for a while......Oh and I need to flat back the overspray where the previous owner touched up some key chips and a scratch......and trim the remaining red paintwork near the windows.....and....and....does it never end?

Good speeds and winds
The Bus mk2

First camping trip away in RedSurfBus mk2 :D

I am more than happy with my efforts in the design of the new van. Most things have worked out perfectly, although there are a few bits I need to correct to get perfection. For example the bench seat in the kitchen rubs on the kitchen cupboard door too much when opening, and the strip lights need an anchor point at the power end so when you press the button on the opposite end they dont gradually slide out (already sorted this as soon as I got home).

A couple of the things I did not make from scratch myself I am really pleased I spent the extra money on. The Smex combination sink and hob is brilliant. After 5 years of manually pouring water for a brew, after shuffling a camping gaz stove into position whilst knelt down I really appreciate being able to flick a switch to fill the kettle, and boil it whilst sat in comfort.

The other thing I am really happy with is the external silver screen. I bought this as a seconds (without anything wrong that I can find, apparently a crease makes it a second so it shows their build quality) for £100 off ebay. It goes up in seconds without having to lick countless suckers that then leave marks all over the windscreen. In the morning there is not a single bit of condensation on the windows. It also rolls down at the front so you can get ready, watch the sunset in warmth, then fold the front up and jump in bed.

I will post a couple more building pictures over the next few days as I finish off the windsurf racking and overhead kitchen cupboards. Then I intend to post a learner/self builders advice article. I have learnt a hell of a lot doing this and there is nothing better than then going and enjoying the fruits of your own labour in such amazing places.

Good speeds and winds (please some give me some winds now!!)

The Bus mk2

Camper van interior finished ready for first trip

Today I finished the seating at the front, the table and the the kitchen front. I also put up my really useful rail for holding the stand up paddleboard and kayak inside the van over the cab area.

I am not happy with the finish of the table, which folds up from the kitchen area shown in the picture. A gust of wind appeared just after I sprayed lacquer onto it, before then it was becoming a perfect finish.

I also was a bit lazy with the cupboard doors and made them out of doubled carpet rather than wood. They will work for this trip and took a fraction of the time to complete. Finallly I loaded kit into the van ready for a trip away, it ate up 2 boards, 2 booms, 4 sails, 3 masts, other bits for windsurfing, Sup paddle, Paddle board, 3 sleeping bags, 4 wetsuits, 2 body boards, 40l of water. There is still most of the cupboard area left for stuff and room for a couple more boards. The design has worked perfectly.

Sorry for such a short post, still need to pack to go away at 9am tomorrow.

Good speeds and winds.

The bus mk2

Camper van and Windsurf van conversion, Bed and Kitchen complete.

I can now see light at the end of the tunnel. All there is left to do are the front cupboard/seat, side cupboard, overhead kitchen storage, curtains, trim above the sliding door, kitchen front with lift up table, final trimming of paintwork, useful rail above cab area.....when I put it like that it seems a lot but these are not crucial jobs before I go away for a week.

This weekend I wired up the tap and connected the gas to the stove. I carefully made sure all wires and tubing were secured well. The tap for the sink was a pain, with 8 different wiring combinations and no way of telling which wire did what due to a mismatch of colours on the sink and pump I just had a go and got it right first time. The pump wires are interchangable with no difference in flow.

I also secured the water roll with a buckle strap stolen from an old sail bag, and used another one to make a more secure fixing for the gas bottle. Drilled another hole in the floor (now 3 in total) for the waste pipe which goes out next to the second drop out vent for gas.

After Kat saw the primer on the worktop she decided she wanted the worktop grey and not black. So Friday evening I was looking for car paints in grey, then realised I had an offcut of Altro flooring. I know this is not ideal but it is a really good finish and goes well with the rest of the interior.

Cutting the worktop was fun, with limited instructions I ended up using a lot of the techniques I teach in maths (bisecting the line, bisecting angles, and other loci). This did not take much time at all, the longest job was trimming round the edge with the provided rubber....it fell off more times that I can remember, I would get one bit on and the other end would fall off.

Saturday night I sat at the sewing machine and made the bed covers, only to realise that I was about 5cm too short to do all 3 sections with  single pieces. So chose to do the most used smaller piece properly with side sections. I made it up as I was going and think it has turned out well.

Today I made the aluminium supports for the bed, bought a file and smoothed all the ends, then trimmed round the visible edge with some 1cmx1cm pine covered in the grey veltrim, now none of the supports are visible.

Here is where all my sleepless nights were made into a well fitting product. The bed works perfectly and fits together really well.

The sides of the van are sloped ever so slightly, so at bed height the centre support is 2cm closer to the wall than at the wheel arch box height. This means that the two loose pieces of bed can be locked into place lower down creating a seat looking in or out of the van. All I need to do is make a support for the back rest.

Finally I finished off today trimming where the bed meets the kitchen worktop. It now looks seamless and I will upload a photo of the completed bit, this is one of the bits I have done on the spur of the moment that I am really happy with.







Many times I have needed a break from the more complex stuff and needed to do something without thinking that is simple. Over this time I have lined the Windsurf kit area with 1cm firm foam, some pipe cladding and very thick PVC. There are still a couple of bits left to do but you get the idea from the pic. Anywhere that would attract the nose of a board is well padded. Ultimately I will put racking in here, but as yet have not decided which way works best. It fits 3 boards from 79cm wide down to 59cm, these are my most used, I only load my smaller boards if the forecast is giving 25knots plus which is rare at the moment. Of course I then dont need my 79cm wide board.

The options for loading are

1. Sails on bottom, boards over the sails - footstraps facing down at about 30deg off vertical, nose bending round the curved gas box at the end of the wheel arch into the kitchen area, ending just where the sink starts. Booms either with sails or at an angle with the boards (I tend to leave the extension on the booms so with the sails works better.
2. Boards on floor on rails (will have padding under). Sails in a rack over the wheel arch and smaller sails on a false floor with the booms above the boards. 

Of these 2 options I prefer the first I think. I will live with it for a bit and make my decision as I go. There will be a box built for kit where you can see the untreated part of the wheel arch. Also I have left the rear mid section untreated as I may use this for fins and extensions with some netting, time will tell for this. All I can say is there is a huge area for kit considering how much camper van is left for living.

It is looking good, I can't believe now that I have done all this from scratch, the only ready made things I have used are the Smev Sink/Stove, Fridge, and an original Silver Screens shade for the front. I also realised today that I have only thrown away one half full bin bag of waste and will only have another half bag full of offcuts (small) of carpet and bits of wood (will probably keep these for a beach camp fire when its all done).

Good speeds and winds

The Bus mk2

Camper van build - Cupboards and fittings

Today did not go to plan. The plan was to fix the frame into the van and cut the ply for the bed. I need a second pair of hands for this due to the size of the sheet and only owning a jigsaw and a very cheap workbench that I do not really trust. My able assistant does not rise until early afternoon so I decided to crack on finishing off the rear cupboard. I started that at 7.30am and just about finished it at 2pm. I really do not know where the time went, well I do.......Bloody fittings not working as planned.

In the old van I used roller catches and they worked well, never popped open and were easy to use, they were attached to vinyl covered ply. I tried my best to get them to work with this build but the difference is that I have covered it with thick Veltrim carpet. This stuff if very luxurious but a pain in the arse for the cupboards. 

Second option was to use a lever type latch, I could not get these spaced correctly either and they just sprang open all the time due to the 'springiness' of the carpet. About to resort to some bungee cord I thought about making up a couple of simple latches myself, using the same carpet trim. They work really well and are practical, but have a feeling that they may cause a bruise or two as they are a touch thick.

The afternoon was flying by and I needed to trim the main centre support. This was a big learning point for me, stuff is so much easier to trim outside the van. I did not get frustrated with it once, yet every other bit of trimming I have done in the van made me tense. As the evening came I decided to finish off the support with a couple of doors for the opening. This opening will rarely be used, but is there should I need to get at stuff in the wetbox from within the van, and also to allow me to get at the gas canister to replace it, turning on and off is easily done through the kitchen cupboard.

I also padded the drivers wall around the wheel arch box and gas box, then covered it with thick PVC to keep as much water away from the walls as possible. I will vent the wetbox, and plan to have some vents under the sliding window that will allow fresh air into the wet area from under the sink, obviously the rear of the area is open anyway.

I think this picture shows how the van is going to look in a few days (hopefully......)

Maybe some wind tomorrow, maybe my back will be up to in but at the moment I need to move like an old man. Far too much sun on it today!

Good Speeds and winds

The Bus mk2

VWLT35 Camper Conversion - Frame and mid supports

Busy day today, went to the builders yard at 9am, carpet shop at 9.15am. Wind was up so got on the water for 1030 with the intention

of doing a fast hour, rigged big for what was a good wind. It dropped as I stepped on the board, the forecasts this past few weeks have come in early each day, wind was forecast for midday to afternoon, so I stuck it out and bogged upwind. Got off the water and home for midday as the wind did not arrive.

Van jobs done today

1. Drilled second gas dropout vent for under the stove.
2. Kurusted and hammerited all screws that the previous owner had left poking out of the bottom of the van from the ply flooring. (thanks to my able assistant Sebastian)
3. Built the mid frame section for the kitchen.
4. Secured framework with temporary fixings and loaded the van with kit.
5. Found my ideas are working, can fit 4 boards from 110l down, or 3 if I need my 130l. 8 sails - 6 cammed, 2 wave, 5 masts, 3 booms. This is more that I will ever carry in one go but the option is there should I need it. All of it is out of sight and leaves a lot of space left in the van due to how the boards will be put in.
6. Built angled frame to join the rear section to the kitchen.
7. Ply lined the frame and primed it ready for carpeting.
8. Built a secret cupboard, one of many planned.

All this along with teaching Seb how to use a saw without cutting his fingers off, also how to use a drill and change bits in the drill. Finally set him the task of making a couple of coffees so I guess he has now moved from apprentice to master builder ;-)

The pictures below show a front and rear view of the mid section. This is not yet fixed into place as I need to finish the panels off with carpet before fixing it. There is not enough room to do it easily once in place, I also get quite claustrophobic when having to work in a confined space and also when forced to go shopping in crowds with Kat.....good excuse ;-)

The kitchen comes out into the van a little further than I thought it would, but this allows for the extra boards and there is still quite a lot of space left. The supports actually fit perfectly either side of the drivers seat, allowing me to recline it a bit more, if I made it slimmer then the seat would not move back more.

The space on the passenger side at the rear is the perfect width for my kit bag to slide in as well.

Tomorrow they should all get bolted down and finished off. The wet box area will get lined and the ply for the bed will be cut to size so I can finally get rid of this huge roll of foam out of my living room. If I get enough time I will do further work on the kitchen area as well. My deadline is next Monday night as Kat has a few days off after that and we can go and test it all :-D

Good speeds and winds

The Bus mk2

VW LT 35 158 Camper conversion - Bed support and more finishing touches

Today started with rain, and a promise of wind from 11 to 2. I also had to wait in to sign for a cheeky pair of Rockford Fosgate speakers to replace my excellent but old top end Pioneers.

 I recently changed my stereo from a reasonably expensive Sony mp3/CD tuner job to a cheapo USB and Bluetooth Pioneer which was on offer at Halfrauds. The difference in sound was amazing, every song sounds more tuneful and has much more range, but I suspect I had overpowered my old speakers a bit with the Sony, and they were in the worst position possible for damage in the old camper as well. For several weeks I convinced myself that I could wait for new speakers but I am not good at waiting and clicked buy it now late on Sunday night on ebay with Radioworld. I am amazed at their delivery time and price, they beat Amazon by £30 for the pair of speakers and also sell just about everything you need for the electrics in a camper.

After reading many reviews I opted for these Rockford Fosgate Punch speakers. I would like to amp them but this would defeat the object of having low wattage kit in the van for wild camping for several days on a leisure battery. The sound is perfect for what I need and they are not even warmed up yet. Also they look great compared to the rusted cages of the old ones. For the audiophiles out there I do know the cages are upside down, I did not fancy having the pointy red logo part just above where my head will be on the bed!

Once installed I checked the anemometer on Portland Harbour wall and the wind had not come as forecast, in fact it had dropped so the afternoon was freed up for van work.

After a trip to the third post office for a passport application I started at about 2pm. The job for today was to build the mid support for the bed and then size out the location which in my head is about 40cm from the wheel arch on the passenger side. I built the support while my co-worker was busy masking off the carpet on the walls to prime the wood and put carpet on later. 

Let me introduce you to Sebastian, Kats son. He speaks a little English but was absolutely engrossed in the paper he was supposed to be taping to the walls so the evil spray glue did not damage the finish I have achieved with the main panels.

After re-taping most of his work and trying to stress the importance of preparation to a 16year old with limited English I put carpet on the visible sections of the wood work on the walls. This is the first time I am really happy with the finish, it is perfect, the carpet looks seamless and well finished.

The mid support you can see in the picture below will have an open section at the rear end of the van to allow access to the door handle, and allow seating at the back with the doors open. This will also allow some air flow out of the wet box to dry stuff out on hot days with the doors open.

The odd vertical you can see attached to the rear of the wheel arch box is part of a cupboard. I intended to build a simple 4 wall box here with an opening to stuff sleeping bags in. Then my creative side came out and I tried to do a curved finish but then could no anchor the wood well enough without it breaking so that wasted an hour of faffing. Back to the original plans then but by that time my co-worker had realised he had put in a good 200mins of work and needed feeding and watering so we packed up for the day*. I feel like I did not do as much as intended, but did different things while trying to find jobs for Sebastian. I was going to trim the wood at the end. In hindsight its probably better to do it all now while there are less things to ruin with spray glue.

The mid support is not yet fixed into place, the kit bag you can see has 3 sails in it so I am now thinking I can get 3-4 boards in there along with all my sails. Tomorrow I will find out.

Plans for tomorrow are to watch the wind forecast, build the front section of the kitchen area, load the van and see where on the floor it needs fixing......GO WINDSURFING......unload van, fix in midsupports and kitchen front, cut ply. Then I can continue into the darkness in the flat with my sewing machine and start fitting the foam and covers to the ply. By the end of the week I hope to be able to make a cup of tea, or at least show the trainee construction worker I have at my side how to make a brew, then his skillset will be complete ;-)

*I have to say a big thank you to Sebastian, he does not have a clue with most things I ask but he tried really hard. Also I can see that he is really willing to try which is the most important thing. He was so happy that he had the chance to help, from what I can see he is a very fast learner and I just hope I can teach him enough before he goes back home.......bear in mind I am learning myself as I am going as well.  Hopefully he will go home and train as a mechanic then my camper building empire can begin :-D

Good speeds and winds
The Bus mk2

Campervan and Windsurf Van conversion - Building the bed

After 2 weeks of faffing with electrics and carpeting now is the time that my head full of plans can be emptied into the van. So far it is going to plan and all the weight bearing supports are fitting perfectly in place.

What you can see in the picture is the drivers side supports for the bed. The bed will run the length of the top piece of wood which is 185cm long so just over 6ft for sleeping in that direction. This will not be as long on the other side of the van, but we will be able to sleep width ways across the van should that be required (Its not often that wild camping provides flat even surfaces, and there is nothing worse than having a bad nights sleep due to sliding down or across the bed all night).

I am pretty sure that the vertical supports running from the floor are not needed as the horizontal support it screwed into the steelwork of the van, better safe than sorry though as 20kgs of ply with 150kgs of human (thats 2 before I get any wise cracks about putting on a couple of kilos, and by 2 I mean male and female before I get any wise cracks about having pink sails!!! ;-)) are likely to ding a board a fair bit if it came crashing down.

The far end of the supports will hold the kitchen in place, the kitchen worktop/sink/stove will sit flush with the window which is why I have not carpeted the bottom of the window (I had had enough of spray glue and my patience had run out long before finishing that wall off!). I expect the kitchen worktop to be as wide as the drivers seat, which is wider than needed for the kitchen but the nose of my boards and longer sails will fit under one half of it.

Tomorrows job is to build the supports for the passenger side of the van, and a basic frame for the middle so I can size it all up with kit in before bolting the mid support through the van floor. More importantly tomorrow afternoon is windy, so I will do as much as I can in the morning and then get on the water :D

Good speeds and winds

The Bus mk2

Camper van and Windsurf van conversion - Bloody spray glue and fiddly bits

Spray glue is amazing stuff but to use it in the middle of the summer in a sauna very hot van is not ideal. It sets far too quickly for my liking, with no room for error. Usually if a small bit at a time is done you have a few seconds to position the carpet before it goes off, with the heat it is complete contact cement! One touch wrong and you need to start again.

This morning I set about the task of carpeting around the sliding door window. I decided to do the window before the lower panel as the Veltrim is evil stuff to cut, and if you pull it a bit then straight lines end up drunken. I have found it easiest to roughly measure, glue in place then use a very very very sharp razor blade to cut it. This means using the razor blade once and once only or the edge looks like a black carpet that a malting sheepdog has used to roll about on in the summer. To be honest in the end I gave up with the razor blades and used my easy to sharpen bushcraft carbon steel knife which is sharper still. Probably false economy though as the knife was very expensive.

I did the window frame in 4 parts, this is the first time I have carpeted around a non-trimmed window. It was possibly the trickiest job to do on my list, and possibly will be redone in the future with a single piece now I have worked out the best way to do it.

A close inspection shows a few slight errors which I am not happy about, but I cannot beat myself up about it as it was my first attempt at this. Like the idiot I am I tend to pick the hardest parts to do first (I bought a sewing machine and first thing I tried to do was sew a button hole last week.....it took about an hour to remove the needle from the machinery!). I tend to live like that though, if I try the hardest bit first then the rest of it seems easy.

So here is the finished article. The shadows on the roof are from where the previous owner packed too much insulation into the cavities and used 3mm ply to cover. I dont think it will be a problem though, its an old van so I dont expect it to be perfect, I am looking at this as an experiment and to develop the skills for a perfect job next time.

The light is a 20LED (warm light, not blue) strip that cost £14 off ebay. It is perfect as it can be rotated to dim the light for late in the evening. I have 2 more of these but only 10LED in length.

The red metalwork in the foreground will have an upright support as part of a cupboard. Above the door I will use a thin strip of ply screwed in place to hide the void that is there. The rear light cluster will not be carpeted over, there will be another cupboard in place there which will double up as a support for the bed. I learnt from the last van conversion I did where the rear light was so difficult to get to I needed to take apart half the bed to change a bulb, luckily I only had to do this once.

The wheel arch should have been finished today but I felt the wind pick up, packed up and raced down to Portland only to see it drop just as I rigged up, there were people planing as I was rigging as well.

Overall I am pretty happy with the outcome, the grey and black gives it more character than one colour and I feel like some of the fiddliest bits are now complete. The other side should take half the time as most of it is hidden under the kitchen, bed, and 1m high wet box for kit.

The only thing I want now is a pair of new speakers as the two you can see are 10 years old and the on in the picture blows a touch when the volume is turned up. I will not bother with an amp as the stereo runs off the leisure battery and it defeats the object of having LEDs to maintain power for any length of time off grid.

Good speed and winds

The Bus mk2

Campervan; bed frame and roofbars - Part 6

Little by little jobs are getting done, one day in the distant future hopefully they will all come together and the vision I have in my head will be a reality. First off I forgot to document a job I did a while back. I bought some roof bars and found they were very hard to fit without ladders!

 They were silver when they started, I wrapped them in matt black nylon and did a damn good job of it, out of the 3 bars there is only one small crease in the coating. Then went to fit the Hot Sails Maui rack pads and found that they would not fit around the bars. These are industrial strength bars and about double the diameter of normal car racks, also they are D shaped to add to the fantastic aerodynamics of the van ;-) An hour or so of faffing and trimming and I got them to fit. I must remember to buy a small set of step ladders for when Kat decides she wants to use the Kayak. The SUP will fit in the van on the 'really useful rail' that will mount to one of the old bulkhead brackets.

So today after a difficult week at work I dragged myself into the sauna  van and started the task I have been putting off for too long. Measuring out the height of the bed. With kit in this van seems to decrease considerably in size, and to get 3 boards and all other bits will be a compromise of living space for summer adventures. It will mainly be used for windsurfing all year though so I am building permanent space for 2 boards and all other bits, the third/forth/fifth boards will slide in as well when not camping, but not into the 'wet box' area.

What I am planning is the boards are going to go in in the orientation you can see in the pic, with sails underneath. This way round is chosen because my 7.3 and 8m which are my most used sizes are 250-260cm in length whereas the boards are only 235cm. All of it will end up under the kitchen, but what I can do is a seat that the sails go under so I still have space for my fridge under the sink.

This is all going in the RHS of the van. There will be a support about two thirds of the way across for the bed, and to separate the wet box from the van. The final third will be removable and can be lowered down to the wheel arch as a seat either facing in or out of the van according to mood.

The boards will be at apx 45-60deg angles from the floor, footstraps to the rear and facing down. They will also point down to the front of the van so that their noses fit under the sink.

This requires a height of 80-85cm. To allow for a bit of space so things are not tight I have decided that the supports will be 91cm, with 4cm for the lengthways cross members making a total of 95cm. With the aluminium widthways supports, ply and foam taking another 7cm it leaves us with about 60cm in height to sleep. Kat seems to think this is not enough, it will be plenty for her but limited for me. I am banking on the fact that my shoulders are not as wide when lay on my side as they are when I am standing.

 The picture to the right shows one of 6 vertical supports shaped to fit around the altro flooring and also the taper in the sides of the van as it passes 50cm in height. I think there must be better tools to do this than an old jigsaw but I only need to do this for the supports on the right where I want a tight fit.

I have definitely over engineered this, and could get away with less wood. I do not want to take any chances though as an aluminium pole and carbon boards wont go well together if any supports break. Also I need to get the back of the van down, its designed to carry a lot of weight and without any I am occasionally getting rear wheel spins on corners due to lack of weight, great for drifting but not really desired. I have read that this is common with big rear wheel drive vans when empty.

I just hope that my skills improve so that I can do some of the useful additions I have planned, such as a cupboard door that turns into a sliding table, and an extension to the kitchen that is invisible when not in use..................I think I am being over ambitious.

Hopefully will get the frame looking more like a bed than a pile of firewood on sunday. Before that I need to trim the metal around the door, and decide whether it is best to carpet the wall before fitting the frame or after. Plan was after, but now I am thinking it may be better to do it first.

Good speeds and winds
The Bus mk2

Camper and windsurf van conversion - Ceiling Carpet

Last night I started the mammoth task of putting the carpet on the ceiling. I got the carpet and spray glue from Mega Van Mats who provided very fast delivery and a set of instructions. It is their veltrim carpet in silver. There will be black harder wearing carpet lower down in the van up to the windows, which is also where the top of the side strengthening battens are as well.

After applying a couple of coats of PVA diluted down to prime the wood a few days ago it went on quite easily, cutting it to shape was the hard part. I chose to line it up with the wall on the drivers side and trim the passenger side once complete. To start I lined up a corner and used a couple of staples to hold it in place about 30cm from the cab headlining. I did this across the width of the van, and then glued it into place at the cab end. Following this I removed the staples and worked down the length of the van doing about 30cm a time. I found if I did any more then by the time I had put it up some of the glue had dried.

The rear was a lot easier than I expected as well, there are no noticeable errors made that are visible. I am going to put a small coving strip where the walls meet the roof. It is straight and true down both sides but I think this will be a better finish overall.

I had planned to mark out the floor today for the bed frame but my neighbour has a guest who keeps parking blocking any access to the van. It was best I did not speak to them today after I have already asked several times for them to park so I can do work on the van in the evenings......

Good speeds and winds

Th Bus mk2

Camper and Windsurf van conversion - Leisure battery and other bits

This past couple of weeks have been very hard at work, with observations and assessments every other day I have had little time to get on with van jobs. Hopefully once we get past next Tuesday I can start emptying the living room into the van. Currently in front of me on the rug are; 2mx2m of 5cm hard foam, 2.5cm memory foam, 8mx2m of veltrim silver carpet, a 12v coolbox, a smev sink/stove, chocks, silver screens, tools etc. The shed is full of wood and the van is still empty.

Since the last post I made up a box to house the gas bottle. This is done by curving the plywood to get rid of the big nose crunching corner that the wheel arch box provides. Since the photo was taken I have modified it a bit, with catches and a rubber foam trim around the lid. It will get covered in 5mm dense foam and polythene sheet. It will be hard to access but does use up what would otherwise be wasted space.

Under the hose in the picture you can just see the gas dropout vent. This was the first time I have cut a hole in the bodywork of a car, I did not enjoy that job but it was easier than I expected.

To do the drop out vent was a bit of estimation in terms of location. I got it perfect. It could not go any closer to the van wall due to supports underneath. I will install another drop out vent under the actual hob which will be located about 1m to the left of the bottle.

The box was fiddly to complete and was an experiment as I want to curve the wood for some of the cupboards and seating. The hardest bit was the lid, it works but is not perfect due to my lack of skills with a jigsaw. There is space in the box for a footpump and 500ml of oil which is perfect.

Next up was fitting the leisure battery. This was easier than I anticipated as I had unwittingly bought a top end split leisure relay that only required connections to the starter battery and the second battery. It is designed to prioritise the charging of the starter and only switch over once charged. I also rewired the stereo to come directly from the fuse box of the leisure battery so listening to music with the engine off is possible. The set up was installed as follows;

• Installed battery under passenger seat, secured and levelled with a wooden bracket, with metal stays, and webbing to prevent any movement.
• Ran power lead through from engine into passenger footwell, then up through a convenient hole in the base.
• Connected power lead to relay, then relay to battery. Installed fuses, in main power leads between starter and relay, then relay and second battery.
• Installed fuse box onto rear of passenger seat, easily accessible and will be hidden under rear seats.
• Connected earth to passenger seat base bolt.
• Ran lead from fusebox to stereo, then spent a good half an hour trying to get a drop down lead from the stereo to bring the new power lead up.
• Tested it all works. :-D

The few hours I had spare in the days following I wired up the van, with wires run for the water pump, 12v cooler socket, additional 12v sockets, and LED's down both sides of the van (5 units in total). This is now ready for final soldering of the actual components and carpeting over.

This last week was a killer at work, I managed to get jobs done on two evenings only. Last weekend I cut the end off my toe and after hours of bleeding was told by the hospital to stay off it as much as possible for a couple of days, so the weekend was out for working on the van as well.

Early in the week I managed to get the two rear doors covered in carpet. The lower black carpet is a hard wearing ribbed rubber backed carpet, while the grey is a more luxurious veltrim. I do need some rain to see if there are any leaks as I have gone right up to the rubber seal to try and get a good finish. I think it will be okay due to how the rubber sits on the doors.

Before carpeting I primed all the wood with diluted PVA. A couple of coats on a hot day and I was ready for a rest!

Finally on my days where I had to keep my foot up I had a faff with photoshop and came up with this. I think the redsurfbus lettering needs moving and changing but other than that it could look quite good.

Next jobs are to do the carpeting round the windows and sliding door. Then the ceiling. Then start putting the frame in for the bed. I will carpet over this for a better finish, then no screws will be showing.

Good speeds and winds

The Bus mk2

Camper and Windsurf van conversion part 2

In the past week I felt more like a project manager than a self builder. First of the trades I used was a window fitter in Poole. AAW Van Window Conversions was the company I used. After trying the local place that is well known in Weymouth and finding they wanted almost double the price I paid I took the plunge and dropped it off in Poole and caught a train home. I was amazed at how much the trains had improved since 199x when I last caught one.

Andy who runs the business did an excellent job, he needed a half day to do both windows and a short time after for them to set.  He showed me pictures of his work as well, this added confidence in the job he did as it looks like he does all the correct preparation.

I am very happy with the finish. The slider is great and perfect to go over the kitchen area. The fixed is on the sliding door on the other side of the van, so when parked which ever side the wind is coming from we can have fresh air through the van. They are not a full limo tint, but the same as the tinting I put on RSB mk1 which was about 80%.

The next job was preparing for the leisure battery, installing the alarm and wiring speakers into the back. At the moment I am just using some old Pioneers which give good sound and have been in my last 3 vehicles, one blows a touch on high volume but at the moment with an empty van they work a bit like a bass box! The alarm I chose was a top end Cobra cat 2 to 1 rated alarm, meaning cheaper insurance next time round. I dont need the immobiliser as all VW's come with them fitted anyway. The engineer, Gordon from GC Car Audio and Security in Dorchester spent a long time chatting about options with me on the phone over the past week or so, both about the leisure battery and the alarms. We decided the best was to upgrade to a microwave sensor which is ideal as the whole van is covered rather than the limited field you would get with a transducer transmitter and receiver set up.

Next week he will check my handywork with the leisure battery, I have prepared all the wiring for it, and have a hardly used starter battery (I know its not ideal, but arguably there is only a 5-10% difference in life between a so called deep cycle leisure battery unless used for high drain appliances). This will be ample to run a few LED's, a water pump and occasionally a 12v cool box. I am no longer a fruit based phone user so can happily last a good few days between charges so that won't be a battery drain.

Finally on Friday I dropped the van off at Remarkable Carpets in Weymouth to have Altro flooring fitted. This is sealed all the way round the van. The fitter had a nightmare with all the silicone the previous owner had put round the edges, along with the spray glue he had used for vinyl. First he had to get rid of the stickyness before he could position the floor. He has done a great job, there are a few finishing touches I want to add which may be difficult as this flooring isnt designed for old vans with lots of knobbly bits in the footwell. 

 My lounge floor is starting to look like a workshop, these are the bits for the kitchen, including a Smev combination sink and stove with separate lids in one unit. It is long and not very wide so means the kitchen shouldn't take up too much space into the van.

I opted for an Aquaroll as they are pretty tough and will fit perfectly under the Smev, a cheap pump and pipes for the water and waste.

Still to arrive are my roofbars, lights and sockets, and foam for the bed. Carpet for the walls is on order and leatherette for the seating. Once I have built the frame I need to borrow a sewing machine to sort out the mattress, seats and curtains, this is the bit I am really not looking forward to!

Camper and Windsurf van conversion part 1

Redsurfbus mark 1 has been sold, to a good home. The buyer will repair the gearbox, and spruce up the fading paintwork panels. Redsurfbus mk2 has been bought by a good home. The engine is brilliant, low mileage and goes like a train on steroids now I have reconnected a loose boost valve. The bodywork is okay, a couple of chips and scratches but it polishes up well. If the engine is as good as I suspect then maybe in a couple of years I will get a full respray and all the imperfections smoothed over. The job at hand now is a big one though.

Last weekend I had to box in the wheel arches ready for a floor to be fitted this week. This was the living area when I bought it. Already ply lined but parts of it were in need of some work where insulation was missing. 

The bulkhead needed to come out, this was an easy job and the wood was recycled to make some of the wheel arch covers. Insulation needed to go in the wheel arch covers, along with the rear doors and sliding door. I also insulated the channels in the frame along the top of the walls where I will be running the power cables for lighting as well.

 Here is a completed wheel arch box, this is the neater of the two as this will be visible and covered in carpet. The other has been sealed with silicone all around as it will form part of the kit storage area. Both were insulated with aluminium bubble foil on the metal, sealed with aluminium tape. then recycled plastic padding, then more foil, and black polythene sheet over the top for  the wet kit area.

I spent ages thinking if I should do a trapezium section  for the kit area, to avoid a big pointy corner that could damage a board. Instead my gas bottle will run in a curved container in the void of space next the the wheel arch in the right side centre of the floor. That will be a mini new task to learn, bending ply to create a quarter circle, ensuring enough space for gas drop out vents.

The next task to complete was to make a lip where the bulkhead was for the Altro floor to curve up. This was not as simple as it should have been. The wooden floor in the back ended exactly to the most inconvenient place. 1cm to the rear and it would have made an easy connection, 3cm to the front an even easier connection. In the end I braced a 10cm wide length of timber in the metal frame that held the original steel bulkhead. This required trim to be cut. Then I needed to make sure that the brackets to secure it along its length were flush with the floor and the lip, otherwise this would cause a problem when the Altro floor went down.

I needed to prepare the drivers side for a new window to be fitted as well, this only involved cutting the ply down and removing the insulation which was recycled into the wheel arches.

So those jobs finished off the weekend, along with 3 great windsurfing sessions it had been a productive time.

After speaking with my mum on Sunday night I heard my step dad was quite ill with what sounded like a very upset stomach, he has been ill for a long time with Parkinson's and Alzheimer's. Monday morning it came as a shock to hear he has passed away in the night so the rest of this week I have been pretty much unable to concentrate on much van wise. He brought me up from the age of 11 after my real father died and I think he did a good job of it, thank you Gordon you meant a lot to me. 

I know he loved his cars, he could buy an old banger and after a couple of weeks polishing and work on the engine sell it like a new car. The first car he bought with me was a little red Mini (one of the original ones that were actually mini in size), strangely it got nicknamed 'The Bus' as the red had faded to an orangey colour very much like the buses in Manchester at the time. It was an automatic, he spent hours on that engine and even had to drive it back on a trailer from Hull after the gearbox went on it, I vowed I would never buy an automatic again!

The rest of this week the van has been in the hands of some tradesmen. More on that in the next article soon.

Thanks for reading.
Good speeds and winds,
The Bus mk2