Seating / Bed Wood Ordered & Received

Not a huge or even interesting update, more of a record for me, kind of a diary entry :P.

I ordered the ply to finish off the seating boxes, 6mm for the lining and facing, and 9mm for the actual seat tops that are weight bearing. The extra 3mm doesnt sound a lot, but makes a huge difference to the rigidity and therefore weight bearing.

As before I ordered it from my local Timber Merchant, ours is Griggs, i recommend you doing the same if you are going through the same thing with your own camper. Much better service, ours cuts the wood for free if you need it in smaller sections, and cheaper than the DIY stores.

In fact, as I was paying for it, someone had brought the wood round and left it leaning against the back of my van ! Amazing, I didnt know they knew which was my van ! :P



So this is it strapped in to the van, I always carry at least one of these ratchet straps, they are so useful, and very strong ! I had basically bought two sheets, 1 6mm @ 8ftx4ft, and 1 9mm @ 8ftx4ft. Griggs were kind enough to cut each section into 4, so I ended up with 4 of each 4ftx2ft. Perfect for the seat tops and small enough to manage for cutting into lining.

These pics are with the 9mm seat tops placed on the frameworks.









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Location:Gloucester

The Seating / Bed Furniture.

Can I just start off with this. If you regularly read this blog and enjoy its content, and you find it useful, please do consider signing up and following the blog so that your name appears in the Followers section on the right hand side, it lets me know that the time I put in to writing the blog and the information and ideas I share, are being received ! :). I can see from the stats that many more people view the blog than I have followers, so come on peoples, make yourselves known to me ;).

Ok, not alot done today, took a knock to the head walking the dogs :S, so didnt feel up to much, but as promised, I did take a few pics of the seat from last night in place, so here you go.

New updates hopefully later in the week :)




















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Yes ! I think its going to work just fine :).

Managed to get a lot done again today, despite not starting until late afternoon, it just meant I had to work into the night, finally finishing at midnight.

This afternoon I finalised the idea for a design I had, and worked out all the individual lengths I needed to cut, I worked out I needed 22.834 meters of the 34mm x 34mm wood I've been using for the seat bases. Wickes do a pack of 9 at 2.4m, which is a better deal than B&Q who sell it in packs of 4 at 2.1m.

You might think that having done a camper before, by jow my notes would be at a professional level, resembling a well polished Instruction Manual. Welllll, not quite. Thought it would be fun to show you my design page, which really shows you that most of the design is actually still in my head ! :P

The scribbled out bits I did as I was cutting the wood so that I didnt cut any lengths twice.



Inside my head really isnt a good place to find yourself lol, its very messy, unorganised and you really wouldnt even begin to understand half of what I have running through it lol.

Anyway, once I'd done the design, amd cut the wood, this is what the second seat looked like in flat pack form !


That piece just to the left, is what was left over from the 23.7 meters I started out with !

As you can see it was starting to get dark when I finished, this photo was taken on our driveway.

So I decided to take it all into the living room and put it together in there after tea ! :P. At least its not an engine or a motorbike covered in oil !

Before I locked Nina up, I decided to try the lit strips I'd made. I tried the over head strip light first, a strip of 6 white LEDs. It wired straight in to the existing light wiring, so was very easy, and the sticky foam fixed it straight in, no problems.


Sadly though, it really didnt throwout much light at all, it was ok with the light cover off as above, but as you can see below, putting the thick plastic cover over the top reduced the effective light quite considerably.


So, I need to think again. I could just move the strip light from the back one to the middle one. This would mean that both the overheads in the actual living space would be working, and I could use my dimmer LED strip in the storage area.
I also tried the blue strip I made as a downlight for the blinds. I quickly powered it with a PP3 battery, so its not as bright as it will be when its wired in to the 12v system, but even so looked really cool ! :).


I took this accidentally with the flash on my phone switched on, I was quite pleased to see it didnt overpower the LED even on the PP3.

This one was with the overhead lights switched off and no flash.....


I absolutely love it :). Its exactly what I was going for, this will be on all 4 side windows hopefully, if I can work out how to get power to the side door window. Most probably using door contacts to pass electric into the door.

So with all that done, it was teatime.

After tea, Jen went back to her petsitting job, leaving me to build my seat in the living room ! LOTS of drilling and screwdrivering, and as I said earlier, it was midnight, and I finally finished !

This might not make sense to you at the moment, but once I put the boards across the top, and face the framework with ply, it will look like a seat, and when pulled out, a bed.

This is the seat unconverted .....



And this is the seat pulled out. Once its all finished off, this is how I will access the storage via two lids too.



Together with the seat I made before, when pulled out like this, it will make up a 6ft x 4ft bed.

Tomorrow I will put it in Nina next to the other one and take a picture in its L configuration, and then pulled out as a bed. Next week I will order some 9mm ply to go on top, and some more 6mm ply to face off and line the storage boxes.

Thats it for tonight !

Time for sleep (as its gone 1.30am now !) :).

Sweet campervan dreams everyone !



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Location:Gloucester

Strips of light !

Today I finished off the strip lights I'd started.

I've made two downlights for the smaller middle blinds, and a striplight for the middle overhead light, leaving me two more overhead lights, and the two larger side windows still to make. Confused ? Don't worry all will be clear when they are fitted :P.

They arent hard to make, and each one costs around £1 to make. On ebay, Hong Kong sellers are selling 20 prewired LED lights for around £2-3 delivered. Screwfix sell the 16mm x 16mm electrical trunking that I use, for around £1.80 for a 2 meter length. The cable I'm using is heavy duty speaker wire, and I had a roll of double sided sticky foam strip in the cupboard.

I just measured a length of the trunking in relation to the intended job, the middle blinds, for example, needed a 24" length, then decided 3 LEDs would be sufficient to downlight. Needing the three lights to be centralised, I needed them spaced apart equally too, so had to divide 24 by 4, telling me that the lights had to be 6" apart starting 6" from either end. This places the LEDs centrally, leaving their light spread covering the width of the blind.

If that confused you even more, when you see them fitted, all will make sense, but for now this should show you what the hell these strips are anyhow lol.



Its the weekend ! More updates coming very soon :).



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Location:Gloucester

Blinded by the light again ?

Right, first thing first. Windows.

I had to ring AutoGlaze back myself, as they didn't call me, the boss was busy, so the lady on the phone said she would get him to call me back. I DID get a phone call back, but from the lady again, which didn't impress me much for the second time. They say things come in three's, well the quote was £30 plus vat MORE than he had told Jen before just for replacing the seals. Including tinting they wanted close on £200 inc vat. Five Valleys windscreens were prepared to completely replace the windows for that price, which I would prefer anyway as the vents wouldn't be needed.

So at the moment I'm back with Five Valleys replacing them, unless a cheaper option comes up again.

So, after the weekends good progress, nothing else has really been achieved. I am looking in to a pipe carrier, the kind you see on electrician and plumbers vans to carry long pipes or conduit. I want to fix it to Ninas roof to carry my background roll to shows. It would mean it would be up out of the way and safe, as the pipe carriers are lockable.

One thing I have been able to do as it could be done indoors, is make a start on the strip downlights that I want to fit above the blinds, lighting them up from the inside, a kind of mood lighting. It would also eliminate silhouettes from inside the camper part of Nina. Not that you can see much, just shadowy shapes with no particular form.

I had ordered 20 new Blue 12v LEDs from Hong Kong, they arrived a couple weeks ago. My idea is to mount them in electrical cable trunking, and tonight I made a couple up for the smaller middle windows.




Conveniently, the iPad is showing the blinds in the background ;).

They work very well, can't wait to see them in place. I've still got to wire them properly but think its going to work just fine :).

Well that's it for now, hoping for another big update at the weekend !

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Location:Gloucester

Lots and lots of woodwork !

Wow ! What a day :)

Ok, following on from yesterday, today I wanted to make some more progress on the side door blind. Hopefully, if I get that done, maybe make a start on something else.

So the day started with a trip to Screwfix, where I bought some decking screws, and 3 lengths of electrical cable trunking. The screws for the furniture, when I make the framework up, and the trunking is for the LED strip lights I'm going to make as downlights above the blinds. I then went on to Wickes where I bought a piece of 34mm x 44mm wood that I want to use on top of the angle bracket above the side door window to attach the frame that I made yesterday to.

Once back home, that was my first job, cut it down to size and screw through the angle metal. I also had to curve the ends to match the frame. I realised that to attach the frame at the bottom, I was going to need to fix a length of wood along the bottom too. Luckily I had a suitable piece in the shed, 34mm x 18mm, ideal, it still left enough of a drop behind the frame for the blind to drop in to once it was pulled down.

These are the two pieces fitted, ready for the frame, top and bottom...


Next job was to fit the brackets that the blind fits to up under the wood and angle metal and fit the frame over the top of it all...


I had to trim the left side down a little, as the door was jamming shut with it. Only had to take a few mm off and it opened and shut fine.

Either side of the frame is a gap still where the side door curves in slightly, I'm not entirely sure what to do about it yet, so am going to wait until I start lining the walls with the sandy carpet, and see about filling the gaps then.
As you can see from the following couple of photos, the gap at the sides of the frame, and the clearance against the body, when the door is open, I'm fairly sure that once lined with the carpet, the carpet will rub against the body outside slightly.









Next job was to fit the blind into the brackets and see what it looked like ! :)








Starting to look cosy now :). I'm really pleased this job is out the way for now, I really wasn't sure how to go about it, and I'm quite pleased the way it turned out. I was worried about whether I could get it to match the middle window next to it, and luckily it all lines up and looks just fine :).

When I bought these blinds so cheap from B&Q, I had no idea just how nice they would look, or how well they would work, I'm very pleased with them and they have turned out to be a real bargain, the whole lot finished to this stage, has cost about the price of one proper motorhome blind, and that includes the wood, angle metal and screws etc. :).

So, still lots of time left before dark, what to do next ?

For weeks, I have been designing seating and beds in my big camper scrap book come doodle book where I write down or draw all my ideas. Its what I did last time with Scooby and I found it so useful to go back to this time. I am still unsure about the converting part of the seat that makes it into a bed, but was pretty much there with the static seat box. It needed to have 2/3 storage, and 1/3 a cupboard that will house the chemical toilet, or Porta Potti. The design needs to be very precise as the finished seat needs to measure 2ft x 4ft by 18" high. You have to take into account the thickness of the wood you use too. Last time in Scooby, I used some very heavy duty wood, as it would need to take my heavy weight, but this makes the camper weigh more too, and to save on fuel, especially with Nina, as she has quite a thirsty 2.8 diesel engine, its a good idea to reduce weight where possible. As long as the design is efficient to spread load properly, its surprising how much less heavy duty it needs to be. Very important where the uprights are and that you put them in the right places. So anyway, this time I decided to use 34mm x 34mm timber, its relatively cheap, and thick enough to receive screws etc to fix it all together. When designing on paper, its easy to work out how many meters you will need per seat, and I worked out I would need just under two packs of 2.1m x 4 lengths. Approx £20. A pack of decking screws (I like to use deckings screws as they dont tend to split the wood and come in reasonably long lengths. The ones I bought were 4.0x 75mm. They cost £3.49 from Screwfix for 100. Using 2 screws per join, I ended up using 62 screws just on the one seat. So its fixed together very well ! :).

When doing a project like this, its a good idea to organise yourself, once you have worked out what size lengths you need for every part of the seat, the next thing is to cut all the wood to size in one go.






This is what a seat, or the framework for a seat, looks like in flatpack form :P.

With all that cut, it was time to pre-drill holes for every single join, 62 screws, means 62 holes drilled ! With that done, I like to start the screws off in all the holes, so I'm not trying to do three jobs at the same time, hold the woid together, put the screws in and drill/screw them up. I put two screws into each joint, when holding the wood together, if you havent drilled a completely straight hole, the screw will go in at a slight angle, this will move the joint and make it move out of square, so I find it best to screw one in slightly, then the other until both screws are registering into the wood firmly, then you can go ahead and screw them both up tight. This has to be done on every joint to ensure the finished seat frame is square.


This is the top frame, next to built the bottom frame, then join the two together with the smaller lengths of wood that are the struts, or uprights.


Ta-da ! One finished seat frame ! You will notice on the right hand side of this pic at the bottom, I've left a length of wood off. This was done on purpose ! :)


Best to show you why with this pic. This is where the seat is going to be fixed in Nina. The missing wood end is closest to the camera. This is going to be the cupboard for the chemical toilet, the door will go on the end here, and I've left the bottom piece of wood off so that the toilet can be slid in and out easily. The seat is divided into thirds, and the toilet compartment uses one third, leaving two thirds for normal storage which will be accessed from the top.


The converting seatframe will be identical in size to this one, and will form an L shape along the wall underneath the windows. I'm struggling slightly for a design for that one, because as well as pulling out to form a 6ft x 4ft bed, it still needs to be used for storage as well. I have an idea for it, and will build it, but it may turn out to be just an experiment if it doesnt work the way I want it to and I will have to go back to the drawing board, or my note pad :P.

I'm very pleased with the way this seat turned out, I hope I'm as pleased with the other one !

Yay ! Guess what ! My first piece of furniture has been made ! Well, started, it still needs lining with ply and a seat board putting on, not to mention the huge expense of the L shaped seat cushions (£250!) to finish off, but yay ! :).

Hopefully, I'll have some news on the window situation this week, and maybe if I get the chance, finish off this seat. If we aren't doing anything next weekend, I'm hoping to build the second seat to see if it works, hope I dont waste the wood ! :P.


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Location:Gloucester

More De-Ambulancing !

Didnt get as much done today as I'd have liked to, had a few other things to do, but did make a start ! :).

It started with a visit from Dad, Linda and Marina from Wales. Because of the rescue dogs we have here that aren't keen on people, since I've had Nina we sit in the back of her on the drive catching up. Yes, strange I know, but it wont always be like that hopefully ! Anyway, at the moment, we are looking after a rescue puppy for a few days, she hasn't been very well, but seems ok now.

This is my sister Marina holding her, in the back of Nina :).


After the visit was over, I decided to take the yellow hand rail down, on the side door side of Nina, it went right from front to back, only 6 screws, so very easy. Behind it at the back, was the alcohol hand cleaner dispenser. I say was, because I removed that too ! :).


Rail removed ...



Seems funny to see the space above the windows now, so used to the big bright yellow rail !

I also fixed the Aluminium angle above the window on the side door ...


This shows the sliding door window before the bracket.





And these show the angle rivetted to the door, its nice and solid up there so pulling the blind down and up will be fine.

I also made the frame, same size as the opposite one, only I had to cut a small part off of the corner so that the handle that opens the side door from the inside can still operate.





I haven't fixed it up yet, I need some more wood to box it out a little more, its not as straight forward as the other windows, as I finish it,I'll take photos to show you why. One problem I have is that on the side of the window there is a handle bolted that enables you to pull the door shut from the inside, it is right in the path of the frame, so need to figure out how I'm going to deal with it still.

Well thats it for today, hopefully I'll have at least the window finished tomorrow, I'm hoping to make a start on one of the seat box frames too, and maybe measure up the silver stuff !

Busy busy busy, but loving it :).

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Location:Gloucester

Not today.....

Well, we've just got back from AutoGlaze with Nina. Had a good chat with a fitter, and he see's no problem with keeping the old windows, putting new seals on, and tinting the top half vent windows, and sealing the sliding windows so no damp air can come through. The boss wasn't there so we couldn't get a quote today, but the fitter we spoke to took some photos and notes, and we should hear something by early next week. I've also asked them to include tinting the back windows in the quote.

Plenty to be getting on with whilst I'm waiting this weekend, so more updates coming very soon :).


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Location:Gloucester

New Windows ?

Today I took the fairy lights off of Nina, that had been put on for the Home Counties Boxer Welfare Christmas party. It was a lot quicker than fixing them up there thats for sure ! I haven't removed the cable tie retainers yet, they are stuck on with some very strong sticky pads and take some time to remove. I did remove them from the plastic work though as they really stood out against the dark grey trim.

Once that was done, I started emptying Nina out, I want to take her to a windscreen place tomorrow to discuss what can be done with the two leaky rear side windows. Jen has been in touch with them, and they SAY they can replace just the window seal rubbers for £35 a side. Now I KNOW they cant get the existing seals anymore, so i'm not sure how well they will be able to make the existing windows water tight.

So, what I would like to happen is that the rear windows be completely replaced with solid windows (if you remember these are vented windows), tinted, and also the back windows tinted, all for practically nothing ! :P. The reason I want to replace the windows with solid, is that the back of the van is going to be boarded out and used as storage and the kitchen area. With the windows blocked from the inside, I dont want any damp air coming in from the sliding vent windows at the top and causing mold because air can't circulate. I intend to put some Kingspan insulation in the window recess, which wont be seen from outside once the windows are tinted.



This is Nina, off of the drive and on the road for the night, ready to go visit Mr Windscreen Man in the morning. It is such a pleasure having a vehicle that gets used as little as Nina does, but starts on the button every single time. So lucky to have found her. (Nina, you better not make me regret saying that ! :P).

So, Nina is now empty, and a whole lot lighter I should imagine. I dont think I've ever seen her this empty ....






These are the back windows that will hopefully be replaced soon !







The last couple of days, I have bought a couple of bits and pieces towards the conversion, nothing that will really change the look, but more for the preperation of changing the look :S. I bought 8 meters of woven ribbon..



Not saying what for yet, but for something that will be useful when Nina is parked up in the summer. Now I've gone and said too much :P.

I also bought a 1 meter length of 35mm x 35mm aluminium corner strip, which I'm going to rivet or screw above the side door window to create a bracket to attach the side door Blind and wooden frame (like I've fitted to the other three windows already only this has to be built as a box section as the side door window isn't recessed like the others.)

I also bought a pack of 34mm x 34mm wood to make a start on the seat/bed/storage box framework. I intend to build the static one first that runs along the bulkhead, and houses a porta potti and has a seperate storage box built in. The pull out seat, that forms the bed, I'm still struggling for a design that allows it to pull out, but still be strong enough to take my hulking weight, so need to think carefully about the structural side of it, plenty of support in the right places, but still useful as storage. Every bit of storage space counts, and it needs to be easy to use as well. I have half an idea, and will build it, but am prepared to start from scratch if it doesn't work in practice.

Well, thats about it for now, might have some news tomorrow if anything happens with the windows, otherwise I hope to get the side door blind and the static seat box frame made over the weekend, so look out for pics of that too :).


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Location:Gloucester

Cage & Some Kind Of Silver Stuff

Very quick update, well its not even really an update, just to say that last Sunday evening, we travelled over to Northampton, 4 hr round trip, and picked up the bargain Lintran cage that we won on ebay for £56 ! We paid almost £700 directly from Lintran for the cage we have in our small Animal Ambulance.

This one is actually slightly bigger so should prove to be good for the dogs.

It needs the locks fixing on the doors, a good clean, and there is a space or a divider down the middle in between the two front doors. Sadly its missing, but should be easy to make another one. Its useful because it means we can transport two dogs that dont know each other, or use one side for a dog and the other side for extra storage. Very versatile. It is a few inches bigger than I would have liked, but i'll make it work, it has saved me a lot of hassle trying to build one myself. The building is ok, but getting all the bits together is a different story.

It also has an escape hatch on the back, should anything happen to the front doors.



This is the cage placed roughly where it will actually be, if you can imagine a work surface built over the top from side to side with the hob and sink built in and tall cupboards either side, thats what I planned.


View from the back...

Also I have a roll of some kind of silver stuff I intend to use, any guesses what for though ?


All will be revealed :). I have borrowed Gyda's sewing machine to put my plan into action. Just need some black webbing now !

Well thats it for now. Im writing this at an ungodly hour because im being kept awake with a cough and cold, so not sure what if anything i'll ger done this weekend. I think a big tidy up inside is long overdue, and removing the fairylights that I put on for her Christmas appearances :).


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Location:Gloucester