A Bank Holiday of Converting :) (Day 3)

Wow.

What a weekend, the extra day made a huge difference, and I really want to carry on now I have built some momentum, but back to reality tomorrow, and doing some work.

Things are getting so close to the good stuff now, the biggest thing, and the bit I'm not really looking forward to, is the floor, I know removing the rails is going to be really time consuming, there are so many rusty bolts through the floor to take them off, that I am sure there will be some swearing involved. :S.

I really can't wait to build the kitchen because that means that the jobs aftewards will just be small ones and that Nina will finally be useable as a campervan.

So, the final of three days of converting.

Today, I wanted to re glue the bulkhead, it annoys me every time I go in there, and it hasn't been fixed on properly for a while, barely hanging on by some loose nuts at the top, while the bottom was allowed to flap back and forth.

Quickly undid the top loose nuts, and the bulkhead was off and ready to come out.

After placing it on to the tables under the car port, it was pouring down today, I pulled the carpet back from the top down, this was actually quite hard, though there were many places the glue hadn't stuck, there were definitely some where it had, meaning some force was required, quite a lot of it actually to rip it back !

I sprayed LOTS of glue on both the carpet and the bulkhead....


Then slowly worked the carpet in to the recesses as I glued and pressed all the way back up to the top again. The glue held mostly, and kept the shape of the bulkhead nicely.


I found some window trim, left over from when Nina's windows were done, sadly not enough to make it all the way around, so will have to buy some more, but it finishes the bottom half off and stops the carpet peeling away.


After realising that the carpet was quite well stuck in places, I decided against trying to rip up the bottom, and leave it, it will mostly be hidden behind the seating, and as I found out, isnt actually going to fall off.

I flipped it over and glued the excess carpet over the edge, this will stop any noise from the edges rubbing the sides of the interior or vibrating etc and make it look better finished from the back.

Before putting the bulkhead back, I thought I would quickly cover the small overhead panel that partially covers the blower section above the bulkhead, as the plan is to refurbish the overhead cupboard later which will sit in front of it.

Its already covered in dark grey carpet, so this was stripped off first, and a new piece of sand carpet cut.















A nice easy job, probably the easiest of the weekend !

Afterwards, it occurred to me that once the bulkhead is in place, there is some white metalwork showing underneath it, so got some scraps of carpet together and went in to Nina and cut and glued some in to place which looks so much better than the metal.


With that done, it was time to fit the bulkhead back on once and for all, which. I duly did, first hanging it on the top threads and loosely screwing the nuts back on.

The problem was trying to locate the bottom bolts in to their holes, through two lots of carpet, and a heavily distorted metal bulkhead. After lots of pushing, lifting, gritting of teeth, and frustration, I was no closer to getting it fixed back on.

Eventually I got a thick screwdriver, forced it through the middle hole, then on into the threaded bolt hole, pulled them straight, and thumped the bulkhead forward, to my amazement it lined up and moved in far enough to maybe get a bolt started either side. Which in itself was a task while trying to hold the screwdriver in and keep it all lined up. Finally it all went together, and after tightening the nuts at the top, it was a matter of knocking the sides out level with the wall, and standing back to admire my hours of work !






I popped back out in to the rain and picked up the small section of blower hole panel, and using a couple of small screws, fixed it in to place above the bulkhead, this also covers the top nuts up.






Time was getting on, so I quickly vacated Nina, and back under the car port, which is such a mess at the moment, its become a dumping ground for Nina's interior, pallets, concrete blocks, and lots of other bits of rubbish, so its good to be getting on with these jobs and emptying it bit by bit.

I pulled one of the overhead cupboards down, the one that came out of Emma, as its a slightly more streamlined design than Ninas own, and also not as easy to break down in to smaller cupboards, Ninas is a bit more modular.



I started removing the cushioned panels, intending to recover them with the sand carpet, but once removed, I kind of liked the panel that was left behind, jt was smoother and lower profile, so decided to ditch the cushioned panels and carpet straight in to the wood.



After masking the metalwork on the cupboard, I sprayed the glue all over, and on the panel of carpet I had cut, and stuck it on. Looked great :). Repeated for the other end and this is how it looked.


Really like it, and so glad I ditched the cusioned panel that went over the top of this.

I cut another piece of carpet and quickly covered the right hand end panel too, I didnt bother with the left hand one as that side will be up against the blower panel in Nina. Always trying to save using carpet where possible so that I dont have to buy any more.



I think it looks brill, and couldn't wait to see it up in Nina, but it was 7.30pm, and Jen wanted to cook tea.

After a bit of pleading and puppy dog eyes, Jen agreed to hang on for an hour, so I went to work on making the holes in the right hand end for my TV unit that will be bolted underneath.



Its an AVI 10" flipdown kitchen TV, it runs from a 12v mains transformer, and actually runs straight from the 12v system fine if you remove the transformer out of the equation. Its a freeview tv, dvd player, and radio, and is absolutely perfect for a campervan. I think I got it for about £50 from ebay, there will be a post way back about getting it if you are interested in finding it to see exactly how much I paid for it.

Anyway, holes drilled, the moment had come to fit the cupboard ! :).

I put all the bits and pieces in to the back of Nina, and went to find something to prop the cupboard up in to the air while I drilled holes and fixed it in. In the shed I found a ratchet support, its like a big adjustable pole that you can ratchet up underneath stuff to hold it in place. Hoisted the cupboard up and quickly popped the support under and tightened it up.



The only thing holding that cupboard up is the pole right now, and its not light ! Its pretty heavy :).

Fixed all the brackets to the wall and the roof and removed the pole.... It stayed up there ! :)

I still had a few minutes before I had to pack up, so bolted the tv in to place to see how it looked. It looked great ! It swivels 270 degrees, plus up and down, so it can be viewed from anywhere in the back. While seated, or while cooking !


How neat does it look in there ? :).
























I didn't have time to wire it up, plus I need to buy a new power plug for it from Maplin as I lost the transformer with it on, when I say lost, it has gone in to the numerous boxes of adaptors, chargers and power supplies never to be found again, it is just easier to go buy a new plug for it :).

That's it, the Bank Holiday of Converting is over, I finally ran out of time, it's a little sad, I really wanted to carry on, didn't really want the weekend to end, but it has, and I can be happy that I got so much done :).

I think it's time for a quick then and now comparison, to see how far we've all come, lots of you reading this I know have been following from the start, so remember this ?



All those little jobs over the past three years, yes THREE years, I should have been finished at least 2 years ago, but life, and those damned leaky windows ! got in the way :P.

Anyway, all done, and if I am honest, even though it was me that planned it all and worked towards this run in, it is turning out so much better than I could have imagined, and probably like you all, I can't wait to see the final photos !

Hoping to get a bit more done on the evenings this week, though I think I am due a well earned break for a day or two, as much as I want to go on, I'm shattered lol.

See you in the next post ! ;).

Location:Gloucester