Just about to set off on a 4hr round trip to go get Nina's new but old Lintran dog cage. Can start thinking about building the kitchen and storage area once I have that in place :).
Pics from today .....
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The ups, the downs, the laughter, the tears, and finally the proud moment when it's finished....... This blog is going to be a journey through the written word, video and photographs from the original ideas through finding a base van, then the conversion to a bespoke campervan. So get yourself a drink, find a comfy seat, then sit back and enjoy the ride :).
Sunday 29 January 2012
Fixing Fixtures - Part Deux !
Got two more windows done today ! :). Really like how the blinds look like this, even now. Can't wait to see it when the walls are all lined properly and the bulkhead and side door windows are done as well :).
Just about to set off on a 4hr round trip to go get Nina's new but old Lintran dog cage. Can start thinking about building the kitchen and storage area once I have that in place :).
Pics from today .....
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
Just about to set off on a 4hr round trip to go get Nina's new but old Lintran dog cage. Can start thinking about building the kitchen and storage area once I have that in place :).
Pics from today .....
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
Saturday 28 January 2012
Fixing Fixtures.... Filling in the gaps.
Today, I wanted to have a go at working on my idea for sorting out the big gaps either side of the blinds.
Sadly I didn't leave myself much time, owing to the fact I sat and watched my football team Manchester United get knocked out of the FA Cup by a very lucky Liverpool. That, and I was also folding lots of A4 sheets of paper for Jen and Home Counties Boxer Welfare that had the charities newsletter printed on them, ready to be sent.
Anyway, I decided to make a start on the large side window just behind the drivers seat.
I cut the wood down to size, measuring one and a quarter inches bigger than the window aperature in all directions. This would give me enough to drill and screw through to fix the frame to the wall once done.
So with that done, I needed to decide how big I wanted the aperature to be that would sufficiently cover the gap and the edges of the blind, leaving as much of an opening as possible to allow lots of light in when the blinds are open. I then marked out the sheet of wood for cutting.
As you can see, I need to cut a large panel out from the middle of the sheet which will be my new sized window opening. To cut this as accurately as possible, I used a Dewalt cordless circular saw, positioned it over the straight lines that needed to be cut, started it up, then carefully lowered the blade until it started cutting, mid panel. These are all the straight edges cut, with just the corners left.
Then to finish cutting the panel out, I swapped to my Dewalt cordless jigsaw, and took my time cutting the internal curves.
Which finished up with the middle of the sheet finally coming away.
To finish off, I used the jigsaw to match the internal curved corners, and rounded the external corners. These curves match the curves in the existing window frame.
I then offered the frame up to the window, and fixed to the wall using 20mm screws in the four corners. When lined with carpet I will add some more screws along the edges.
Now it was time to see if they actually did their job, so I closed the blind and ..
Yay ! It does the job perfectly :). The walls and the wooden frame will all be covered in a sand coloured lining carpet, so you will hardly notice the frame when its all the same colour. Also, at the top just behind the frame, but in front of the blind, I intend to put a rail up with a couple of green LED downlights in each window for mood lighting, and to create enough light that from outside you wont be able to even see shadows from inside. These will have their own switch and can be switched off if needed.
This is all you can see from outside with the new frame, just a glow from the roof lighting inside.
Tomorrow I'm hoping to do the other two side windows, which will then leave the side door window and the bulkhead window behind the cab, but these need a kind of box to be made for the blinds to fix to.
The window I did today, cost me less than £15, that includes the blind and the wood. To buy a 'proper' motorhome blind would have cost from £80 and thats if I could have found one that size. I think it looks and acts every bit as good as purpose made blinds. It pays to think outside the box a little and adapt whats available to you, as I hope you can see here :).
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
Sadly I didn't leave myself much time, owing to the fact I sat and watched my football team Manchester United get knocked out of the FA Cup by a very lucky Liverpool. That, and I was also folding lots of A4 sheets of paper for Jen and Home Counties Boxer Welfare that had the charities newsletter printed on them, ready to be sent.
Anyway, I decided to make a start on the large side window just behind the drivers seat.
I cut the wood down to size, measuring one and a quarter inches bigger than the window aperature in all directions. This would give me enough to drill and screw through to fix the frame to the wall once done.
So with that done, I needed to decide how big I wanted the aperature to be that would sufficiently cover the gap and the edges of the blind, leaving as much of an opening as possible to allow lots of light in when the blinds are open. I then marked out the sheet of wood for cutting.
As you can see, I need to cut a large panel out from the middle of the sheet which will be my new sized window opening. To cut this as accurately as possible, I used a Dewalt cordless circular saw, positioned it over the straight lines that needed to be cut, started it up, then carefully lowered the blade until it started cutting, mid panel. These are all the straight edges cut, with just the corners left.
Then to finish cutting the panel out, I swapped to my Dewalt cordless jigsaw, and took my time cutting the internal curves.
Which finished up with the middle of the sheet finally coming away.
To finish off, I used the jigsaw to match the internal curved corners, and rounded the external corners. These curves match the curves in the existing window frame.
I then offered the frame up to the window, and fixed to the wall using 20mm screws in the four corners. When lined with carpet I will add some more screws along the edges.
Now it was time to see if they actually did their job, so I closed the blind and ..
Yay ! It does the job perfectly :). The walls and the wooden frame will all be covered in a sand coloured lining carpet, so you will hardly notice the frame when its all the same colour. Also, at the top just behind the frame, but in front of the blind, I intend to put a rail up with a couple of green LED downlights in each window for mood lighting, and to create enough light that from outside you wont be able to even see shadows from inside. These will have their own switch and can be switched off if needed.
This is all you can see from outside with the new frame, just a glow from the roof lighting inside.
Tomorrow I'm hoping to do the other two side windows, which will then leave the side door window and the bulkhead window behind the cab, but these need a kind of box to be made for the blinds to fix to.
The window I did today, cost me less than £15, that includes the blind and the wood. To buy a 'proper' motorhome blind would have cost from £80 and thats if I could have found one that size. I think it looks and acts every bit as good as purpose made blinds. It pays to think outside the box a little and adapt whats available to you, as I hope you can see here :).
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
Location:Gloucester
Friday 27 January 2012
A Cagey Tail ........
From the off, I'd decided I wanted a cage for safely containing dogs, be they rescues we are transporting, or our own.
With my recent plans, the cage is to go in between the wheel arches at the back of Nina, with a partition and shelving to be built up around it. I wanted a removeable cage so that it can be regularly cleaned, or left out altogether for extra storage, should I need it.
Building the surround, or 'sleeve' for it to slot into, is relatively easy. I want that to be wipe clean too, so preferrably lined in plastic and sealed.
The cage itself, I had been looking at making myself. We did start off with the idea of using normal fold flat wire dog crates, but these are noisy, and I wanted something that looked and felt more permanent when fitted. I like the design of the Lintran cages, and had intended sourcing materials and making one myself. We had a Lintran cage made for our Vauxhall Combo Animal Ambulance Van, and it cost us well over £600. With that in mind, I reasoned that if I could source the materials for under £200 and end up with almost the same thing, I was on to a winner. Actually building them is easy, once the metal work is welded and plastic welded together to form a watertight seal.
Anyway a couple days ago, Jen had been looking on eBay at cages, and a Lintran cage, very similar to the one we already have, came up for auction. Its dimensions were almost perfect for where I needed it to go, it needs a good clean, and apparently it has a damaged lock on the door, easily cleaned and fixed. Second hand Lintran cages go for around £200 upwards normally, so we expected this one to as well.
Today was the end of the auction, and Jen placed a bid in the dying seconds, hoping to get it for around £140-£150, knowing what they normally go for.
Imagine our surprise, and shock !, when we won it for £56 ! :). An absolute bargain, even with travelling to Northampton to go and get it.
So, Nina has a cage now, and I have definate dimensions to now plan the rest of the partition and kitchen area. Also, I'm saving myself some work as I no longer have to build one from scratch.
Bargain :).
These photos are the ones that the seller used to auction it on eBay ...
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
With my recent plans, the cage is to go in between the wheel arches at the back of Nina, with a partition and shelving to be built up around it. I wanted a removeable cage so that it can be regularly cleaned, or left out altogether for extra storage, should I need it.
Building the surround, or 'sleeve' for it to slot into, is relatively easy. I want that to be wipe clean too, so preferrably lined in plastic and sealed.
The cage itself, I had been looking at making myself. We did start off with the idea of using normal fold flat wire dog crates, but these are noisy, and I wanted something that looked and felt more permanent when fitted. I like the design of the Lintran cages, and had intended sourcing materials and making one myself. We had a Lintran cage made for our Vauxhall Combo Animal Ambulance Van, and it cost us well over £600. With that in mind, I reasoned that if I could source the materials for under £200 and end up with almost the same thing, I was on to a winner. Actually building them is easy, once the metal work is welded and plastic welded together to form a watertight seal.
Anyway a couple days ago, Jen had been looking on eBay at cages, and a Lintran cage, very similar to the one we already have, came up for auction. Its dimensions were almost perfect for where I needed it to go, it needs a good clean, and apparently it has a damaged lock on the door, easily cleaned and fixed. Second hand Lintran cages go for around £200 upwards normally, so we expected this one to as well.
Today was the end of the auction, and Jen placed a bid in the dying seconds, hoping to get it for around £140-£150, knowing what they normally go for.
Imagine our surprise, and shock !, when we won it for £56 ! :). An absolute bargain, even with travelling to Northampton to go and get it.
So, Nina has a cage now, and I have definate dimensions to now plan the rest of the partition and kitchen area. Also, I'm saving myself some work as I no longer have to build one from scratch.
Bargain :).
These photos are the ones that the seller used to auction it on eBay ...
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Location:Gloucester
Tuesday 24 January 2012
Blinded by the light - part two teaser :)
Quick teaser ! These wooden panels are going to help me 'fill in' the gaps on either sides of the blinds..... Can you think how by what I've already said ? ;).
The day before I bought them, I'd been to Wickes intending to get MDF sheets, but quickly decided the 6mm ones werent going to be rigid enough, but saw that the same 6mm in plywood was way better. Unfortunately they are charging £21 a sheet and I needed two ! They only sell the size I need in 8x4 ft sheets, each sheet needed to be cut in half to make them more manageable for the intended job.
Soooo, next day I rang our local Timber Merchant. They sold me 2x 8x4ft sheets AND cut them in half for me, oh and for all that it cost £19.76, less than half the price of the DIY store and less work. Win Win ! :).
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
The day before I bought them, I'd been to Wickes intending to get MDF sheets, but quickly decided the 6mm ones werent going to be rigid enough, but saw that the same 6mm in plywood was way better. Unfortunately they are charging £21 a sheet and I needed two ! They only sell the size I need in 8x4 ft sheets, each sheet needed to be cut in half to make them more manageable for the intended job.
Soooo, next day I rang our local Timber Merchant. They sold me 2x 8x4ft sheets AND cut them in half for me, oh and for all that it cost £19.76, less than half the price of the DIY store and less work. Win Win ! :).
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Location:Gloucester
Saturday 21 January 2012
iDraw'd Something !
Found an App for the iPad called iDraw, its great for figuring things out to scale etc. Easy to use.
Anyway, after a lot of measuring inside Nina for the umpteenth time, I came up with this basic floorplan of the finished conversion.
Shows me just how much room there is going to be inside with my present plans. Think it will be just fine :).
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Anyway, after a lot of measuring inside Nina for the umpteenth time, I came up with this basic floorplan of the finished conversion.
Shows me just how much room there is going to be inside with my present plans. Think it will be just fine :).
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Location:Gloucester
Blinded by the light .......
Ok, who's now got that song running through their head ? :P
So much went on today, I had intended laying the flooring out to make sure I had enough, but sadly didn't get enough time.
Anyway, had an hour free tonight, so decided to put three of the blinds up to see how they looked. If you remember from an earlier post, I managed to source some cordless blinds from various B&Q's around the country (ok Gloucester and Birmingham) that were being sold of as end of line. Proper motorhome push pull pleated blinds can cost as much as £100 PER WINDOW ! Yes, they look nice, but when you have 5 windows to dress, £500 is a bit excessive, I'd rather put that money into comfortable seating/bed foam etc. So I searched the interweb and found these. Their reduced prices were £8 each for the larger ones and £5 each for the smaller middle window ones. Buying an extra 2 of the larger ones 'just in case', as they are end of line, ALL SEVEN cost me exactly £50 :). Bargain or what. The pleats are slightly wider than a proper motorhome blind, but Nina is a big van with big windows, so that didn't concern me at all. Other than that, once they are fitted and dressed at the end of the conversion, no-one would know they weren't made especially for Nina :).
This is what they look like in the 'up' position ....
...and this is what they look like in the 'down' position....
Very easy to fit, each blind has two plastic and metal clips that screw in to the roof of the window frame, one either side of the blind, you then literally just push the blind in until you hear it click into place and thats it !
It was dark when I did them, Nina's internal lights are very bright as you can see above, so I had a quick look outside, pressed my nose up against the window trying to see if I could make out anything in the brightly lit interior, and thankfully, couldnt see a thing apart from a glow of light across the whole blind as pictured below :).....
Couple more pics including the blind on the opposite side next to the sliding side door....
You can see in these that the blinds hang away from the windows as the side walls curve. This will be addressed at the same time as the gaps are dealt with using the same method ! If you were reading the prebious posts, you will know how I am going to do that, if not the video below kind of explains it in boring monotone voice and actions lol. (yep I'm no public speaker !).
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
So much went on today, I had intended laying the flooring out to make sure I had enough, but sadly didn't get enough time.
Anyway, had an hour free tonight, so decided to put three of the blinds up to see how they looked. If you remember from an earlier post, I managed to source some cordless blinds from various B&Q's around the country (ok Gloucester and Birmingham) that were being sold of as end of line. Proper motorhome push pull pleated blinds can cost as much as £100 PER WINDOW ! Yes, they look nice, but when you have 5 windows to dress, £500 is a bit excessive, I'd rather put that money into comfortable seating/bed foam etc. So I searched the interweb and found these. Their reduced prices were £8 each for the larger ones and £5 each for the smaller middle window ones. Buying an extra 2 of the larger ones 'just in case', as they are end of line, ALL SEVEN cost me exactly £50 :). Bargain or what. The pleats are slightly wider than a proper motorhome blind, but Nina is a big van with big windows, so that didn't concern me at all. Other than that, once they are fitted and dressed at the end of the conversion, no-one would know they weren't made especially for Nina :).
This is what they look like in the 'up' position ....
...and this is what they look like in the 'down' position....
Very easy to fit, each blind has two plastic and metal clips that screw in to the roof of the window frame, one either side of the blind, you then literally just push the blind in until you hear it click into place and thats it !
It was dark when I did them, Nina's internal lights are very bright as you can see above, so I had a quick look outside, pressed my nose up against the window trying to see if I could make out anything in the brightly lit interior, and thankfully, couldnt see a thing apart from a glow of light across the whole blind as pictured below :).....
Couple more pics including the blind on the opposite side next to the sliding side door....
You can see in these that the blinds hang away from the windows as the side walls curve. This will be addressed at the same time as the gaps are dealt with using the same method ! If you were reading the prebious posts, you will know how I am going to do that, if not the video below kind of explains it in boring monotone voice and actions lol. (yep I'm no public speaker !).
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Location:Gloucester
Thursday 19 January 2012
Now you seat it, now you don't !
I was determined to spend some time on Nina today, even just an hour or so, and as it turned out, it was an hour or so.
Todays task, was to remove all the floor bolts from the crew seats in the back. To see if there is enough of the free flooring, from my last post, I need to lay it down on the floor space it needs to fill. Unfortunately the front and middle seats in the back were in the way. So my plan was to get all the 'difficult' rusty bolts removed that fixed the seats through the floor. There were two 17mm bolts fixing each seat to the floor. I sprayed each bolt from underneath then used a mix of spanners, clamps and ratchets to hold the bolt from underneath while I attempted to undo them from the top.
If this brings to mind that brillant scene in Only Fools And Horses where they have gone in to the chandalier renovation business at a big posh manor home, and Grandad is upstairs undoing the Chandalier while Del and Rodney are bracing themselves underneath. It turns out Grandad was undoing a different Chandalier ! He wished they'd told him, because he was working on the other one :P.
Well, yes, that did happen, I clamped a nut underneath, then started undoing the wrong one on top and was cursing that it never seemed to undo ! At least it didn't have the same consequences as the Chandalier ! :). Just made me feel a bit stupid, which isn't hard to do !
Well, once I'd removed all the bottom bolts, it didn't take too long to undo the two 17mm bolts on each seat that were attaching them to the side wall of Nina. At least they weren't rusty inside !
Quick reminder of what the seats look like in situ. Very good design.
And once the 4 bolts were removed, the seat slid away from the wall and voila !, a space appeared where it once was :).
This one, showing all the seats now removed, and lots of space. The two rear seats will now be sold off to raise some more conversion funds. They would be ideal for a works van that needs the occasional seat belted seat for a co-worker or family or friend. With the ability to fold away when not needed and freeing up space for using the van for carrying stuff. If anyone is interested, please do get in touch, I'll be looking for £30 a seat.
As you can see, even stacked on top of each other they don't really take up much room. I do have the exact measurements when folded up or fully out if anyone would like them.
Well that's about it for tonight, I'm hoping to lay the flooring out on Saturday and put my mind at rest that I have enough, so no doubt we will all have our first glimpse of what the flooring will eventually look like. I also want to fit the brackets for the blinds in three of the five windows where they will be installed. The remaining two, the bulkhead window and the sliding side door window need a bit of framework built on them to accept the brackets.
I love all the planning and building :). Hope when she is done I enjoy using her just as much ! :).
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Todays task, was to remove all the floor bolts from the crew seats in the back. To see if there is enough of the free flooring, from my last post, I need to lay it down on the floor space it needs to fill. Unfortunately the front and middle seats in the back were in the way. So my plan was to get all the 'difficult' rusty bolts removed that fixed the seats through the floor. There were two 17mm bolts fixing each seat to the floor. I sprayed each bolt from underneath then used a mix of spanners, clamps and ratchets to hold the bolt from underneath while I attempted to undo them from the top.
If this brings to mind that brillant scene in Only Fools And Horses where they have gone in to the chandalier renovation business at a big posh manor home, and Grandad is upstairs undoing the Chandalier while Del and Rodney are bracing themselves underneath. It turns out Grandad was undoing a different Chandalier ! He wished they'd told him, because he was working on the other one :P.
Well, yes, that did happen, I clamped a nut underneath, then started undoing the wrong one on top and was cursing that it never seemed to undo ! At least it didn't have the same consequences as the Chandalier ! :). Just made me feel a bit stupid, which isn't hard to do !
Well, once I'd removed all the bottom bolts, it didn't take too long to undo the two 17mm bolts on each seat that were attaching them to the side wall of Nina. At least they weren't rusty inside !
Quick reminder of what the seats look like in situ. Very good design.
And once the 4 bolts were removed, the seat slid away from the wall and voila !, a space appeared where it once was :).
This one, showing all the seats now removed, and lots of space. The two rear seats will now be sold off to raise some more conversion funds. They would be ideal for a works van that needs the occasional seat belted seat for a co-worker or family or friend. With the ability to fold away when not needed and freeing up space for using the van for carrying stuff. If anyone is interested, please do get in touch, I'll be looking for £30 a seat.
As you can see, even stacked on top of each other they don't really take up much room. I do have the exact measurements when folded up or fully out if anyone would like them.
Well that's about it for tonight, I'm hoping to lay the flooring out on Saturday and put my mind at rest that I have enough, so no doubt we will all have our first glimpse of what the flooring will eventually look like. I also want to fit the brackets for the blinds in three of the five windows where they will be installed. The remaining two, the bulkhead window and the sliding side door window need a bit of framework built on them to accept the brackets.
I love all the planning and building :). Hope when she is done I enjoy using her just as much ! :).
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Location:Gloucester
Monday 16 January 2012
Flooring Freebie
Toward the end of last week, Jen saw someone had listed some laminate flooring on Freecycle, or it might have been Freegle, they might be the same thing, I don't remember now lol. Anyway, it was 7ft x 9ft, had been fitted, but was in good condition and no longer required. Beech / Maple effect, pretty much what I had in my other camper.
At Christmas, we had looked for some flooring, and I chose something a little different, darker, and with a grain that kind of looked like driftwood, which I felt would suit my sand and aqua themed interior. The only problem was, what I had chosen cost £100 for the small area in Nina, approx 8ft x 6ft, and that was in the New Year Sales ! So we didnt get it. Second choice, was the same as the flooring on Freegle which would have been half the price.
Soooo, Jen contacted the guy getting rid of it, said she'd like it, and he agreed to let her have it out of all the people that replied. It should fit Ninas floorspace up to what will be the kitchen and crate partition with some to spare, saving me at least £50 in the process :).
Cool or what ! Thanks Jen xx
The oversized jigsaw puzzle loaded into the back of Nina this morning :)
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
At Christmas, we had looked for some flooring, and I chose something a little different, darker, and with a grain that kind of looked like driftwood, which I felt would suit my sand and aqua themed interior. The only problem was, what I had chosen cost £100 for the small area in Nina, approx 8ft x 6ft, and that was in the New Year Sales ! So we didnt get it. Second choice, was the same as the flooring on Freegle which would have been half the price.
Soooo, Jen contacted the guy getting rid of it, said she'd like it, and he agreed to let her have it out of all the people that replied. It should fit Ninas floorspace up to what will be the kitchen and crate partition with some to spare, saving me at least £50 in the process :).
Cool or what ! Thanks Jen xx
The oversized jigsaw puzzle loaded into the back of Nina this morning :)
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Location:Gloucester
Tuesday 10 January 2012
Did an hour or two of stripping tonight ;)
Sorry for my inanely boring voice, and the vast amounts of "err"s and "umm"s, but thought I'd do a video update for a change :S.
Sadly my phone ran out of memory for the second one, and I couldnt be bothered to do it all again :P
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Location:Gloucester
Friday 6 January 2012
Time to start planning .....
Well 2012 is here, and I want to use Nina as a camper at least once this year, so at least the interior needs to be done, not too bothered about the outside yet, but eventually want that to look as stunning as I hope the inside will be.
How did your Christmas go ? Anybody get any awesome camper related presents ?
As you know, last year for my 40th, Jen bought me a Caravanstore Bag Awning with Safari Room, and that was before we even knew Nina was coming our way ! Well, true to form, for Christmas, she bought me just as amazing a present for Nina. Any of my previous camper readers remember the gorgeous Smev 9222 Sink & Hob with dark glass lids I bought ?
For those that dont or didnt read it this is it fitted ...l
Imagine my surprise when Christmas Morning, while I was still in bed coming round from my yuletide slumber, when a great big box wrapped in colourful puppy christmas paper was dumped on top of me ! Yep, Jen had found another exactly the same all sparkly and new and ready to be fitted ! :). Thank you Jen ! Xx Well, this has made my brain work overtime, planning and designing. I found an app for my ipad that allows you to do such a thing and will export in vector files or jpgs, its called iDesign, go search the name on YouTube and see how it works, its great and really quite powerful for an ipad app. This is something like I want it to look like fitted. Its a partition that divides the front 3/4 of the camper interior from the back quarter which will be used for storage and a secure dog transport cage.
The vent that is already fitted, will be directly above the hob below, so the heat and steam has somewhere to go. Tall cupboards either side, will house the gas and water tanks in the bottom and general storage in the top. Just above the glass lids that are in the up position here, you can see another addition to Ninas ever growing arsenal of items to be fitted, its a microwave ! My friend Sam kindly let me have it when she replaced it for a different coloured one, its only a year old and in excellent condition. I intend to flush fit it in the wall where you see it in the pic. The bars below are the built in dog cage to safely carry rescue dogs when transporting, and of course our own well behaved dogs when camping. It will also be a dog bed overnight, if we can convince them not to sleep on the pull out bed across my legs ! :). Well thats that, what else has happened ? Oh before Christmas I bought two brand new 70ah leisure batteries really cheaply from a guy on ebay, he had a pallet full of them ! My intention is to link them up and have a 140ah cell. My thinking on that is if one fails, the other can act as a backup. I think they will both fit under the drivers seat ok, so will just need to run a supply lead to the rear. What I paid for the two, I saved myself about £80 on a 110ah leisure battery, so a very good result indeed ! Recently, since Christmas, I ordered an electric hook up external socket, meaning i've got to cut a big hole in the body somewhere :S. Also, a split charge relay system to charge the leisure batteries, but ensure that the vehicle battery doesnt get inadvertantly flattened by them. Very simple system, cost me £17 delivered from ebay. Could probably have put the kit together cheaper, but wouldnt have know what to look for with the relay. Far simpler to get the kit already made up for the purpose with a detailed installation sheet to work from. Well thats about it for now, next job is more stripping of the interior, and getting the rear side windows sorted so that I can begin work on the interior :). Thanks for reading, come back soon, promise lots of updates this year ! Especially as the Blogpress app for my ipad is now working again on iOS 5 ;). - Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Imagine my surprise when Christmas Morning, while I was still in bed coming round from my yuletide slumber, when a great big box wrapped in colourful puppy christmas paper was dumped on top of me ! Yep, Jen had found another exactly the same all sparkly and new and ready to be fitted ! :). Thank you Jen ! Xx Well, this has made my brain work overtime, planning and designing. I found an app for my ipad that allows you to do such a thing and will export in vector files or jpgs, its called iDesign, go search the name on YouTube and see how it works, its great and really quite powerful for an ipad app. This is something like I want it to look like fitted. Its a partition that divides the front 3/4 of the camper interior from the back quarter which will be used for storage and a secure dog transport cage.
The vent that is already fitted, will be directly above the hob below, so the heat and steam has somewhere to go. Tall cupboards either side, will house the gas and water tanks in the bottom and general storage in the top. Just above the glass lids that are in the up position here, you can see another addition to Ninas ever growing arsenal of items to be fitted, its a microwave ! My friend Sam kindly let me have it when she replaced it for a different coloured one, its only a year old and in excellent condition. I intend to flush fit it in the wall where you see it in the pic. The bars below are the built in dog cage to safely carry rescue dogs when transporting, and of course our own well behaved dogs when camping. It will also be a dog bed overnight, if we can convince them not to sleep on the pull out bed across my legs ! :). Well thats that, what else has happened ? Oh before Christmas I bought two brand new 70ah leisure batteries really cheaply from a guy on ebay, he had a pallet full of them ! My intention is to link them up and have a 140ah cell. My thinking on that is if one fails, the other can act as a backup. I think they will both fit under the drivers seat ok, so will just need to run a supply lead to the rear. What I paid for the two, I saved myself about £80 on a 110ah leisure battery, so a very good result indeed ! Recently, since Christmas, I ordered an electric hook up external socket, meaning i've got to cut a big hole in the body somewhere :S. Also, a split charge relay system to charge the leisure batteries, but ensure that the vehicle battery doesnt get inadvertantly flattened by them. Very simple system, cost me £17 delivered from ebay. Could probably have put the kit together cheaper, but wouldnt have know what to look for with the relay. Far simpler to get the kit already made up for the purpose with a detailed installation sheet to work from. Well thats about it for now, next job is more stripping of the interior, and getting the rear side windows sorted so that I can begin work on the interior :). Thanks for reading, come back soon, promise lots of updates this year ! Especially as the Blogpress app for my ipad is now working again on iOS 5 ;). - Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Location:Gloucester
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