Location:Gloucester
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, 16 November 2014
Thursday, 18 September 2014
Nina's First Camping Trip - Part 1
Well, finally, after over three years, I slept in Nina !
I could rephrase that, but I'm not gonna. ;)
Yes, finally after such a long time I spent a weekend away in Nina, even though she isn't finished yet, and you know what ? It was great.
A couple of weeks before the camp, I was asked if. I wanted to have my nephew for the weekend before he went back to school, in fact he was just about to start 'Big School'.
As we rescue dogs, and the ones we end up with at home have 'issues', having him stay at our house, which is actually a bungalow, just wasn't an option, it would stress the dogs out in their own home, and put my nephew in a situation where things may have gone wrong, he isn't used to our kind of dogs, he doesn't have a dog at home, so it was quickly ruled out.
Something I had mentioned to him before was camping at our field in Frampton On Severn, it is fairly secluded, off the beaten track so to speak, but next to the canal and a stones throw from the River Severn. A chance to get a bit closer to wildlife (lots of spiders in this case), and for us, us being myself, my nephew, and my brother, his Dad, to spend a bit of time together, generally annoying each other.
So it was arranged, and the couple of weeks leading up to the weekend, I spent sorting out the caravan we have at the field, we use it as a tea room when exercising dogs down there, and getting Nina ready for me to sleep in. The idea being my nephew and his Dad would stay in the caravan and I would have the luxury of a quiet space on my own. This worked out well.
Part of 'readying' meant that I had to prepare two chemical toilets for the first time. Never having used one before, this was going to be a chance to learn, quickly. The caravan had come with a Fiamma one, thankfully it was cleaned out before we got it, all the same I spent half hour or so hosing it through and bleaching every point of contact on it.
Mine, the one Jen bought Nina one year, was brand new and needed no such clean up, just adding water with a nice scented chemical to the flush reservoir, and a litre of water along with a much stronger not so sweet smelling chemical to the bottom reservoir.
When we had Ninas toilet, we bought some special toilet paper that dissolves quickly, no idea where it went, so I bought some of Tescos Value stuff, and in all honesty, it was probably the same as the expensive 'special' paper.
With that done, I turned to my Aldi 12v cool box, and bleach cleaned that out too. Last time we used it for camping was down at Brean, maybe 10 years ago, so its quite old now really, but still works perfectly, keeping everything icy cold all weekend with the help of a big ice block at the bottom.
For a bed in Nina, I would have liked to use her own seating and new seat cushions, but they are stacked at one end of the kitchen at home, and there is lots of 'stuff' piled on top, along with the fact I AM still in the middle of converting, it was too juch hassle to put it all back in for a couple days, so I decided to use a double airbed, which again had never been used to sleep on. With this in mind, and remembering airbeds of the past, I threw in an ex Army cot bed as a 'just in case'.
With everything prepared, the day of the first night camping, I drove Nina down to the field, with Jen following to pick me up, and parked Nina up. The skies were grey, and it was looking bleak for the days ahead.
With work still to do, and my Mums weekly shop to complete and deliver to her just up the road from where my Nephew lives, Jen whisked me off to do that.
After delivering the shopping, then picking my nephew and brother up, time was getting on, and the Autumnal skies were fading, it was a dull day anyway, and even though it was only around 6.30, it was going to be a race to get back on to the other side of the River Severn (we were in the Forest Of Dean) past Gloucester and on down to Frampton. Those of you not familiar with Frampton On Severn, it is just South of Gloucester, and West of Stroud.
So we made haste and promptly stopped off at the old Cattle Market once we got to Gloucester, officially called St Oswalds, and ordered a Dominoes Pizza for our tea. None of us had eaten, well, when I got to my nephews he was technically eating a burger his Nan had just made him, but he is a growing boy, so with a small pizza each, and a portion of wedges to share, we sat outside Dominoes and scoffed the lot. Thats to say I scoffed my lot, my brother and nephew ate half of theirs and put the rest by to torture me with when we got to the field, as mine was all gone.
By the time we left Gloucester it was getting seriously dark, and I was starting to regret stopping, we would all now get to the field in the pitch black, bear in mind that there is no electric, no running water, no street lighting, darkness in the field is fairly total, to the human eye.
I grinned to myself as I pictured the field lighting up like Chevy Chases house in Christmas Vacation when I turned Ninas lights on and opened all the doors !
We got to the field, both my nephew and my brother a little apprehensive at the prospect of two days without a proper toilet, no mains water and more importantly limited phone charging and 3g signal capabilities. I smiled again.
I drove in to the field close to the caravan to unload the car. Using my headtorch I located the caravan (it really is that dark !) unlocked the door, flipped the 12v electrics on via the freshly charged leisure battery, and switched the caravan lights on. The next few minutes were spent dumping stuff in there from the car.
I jumped in Nina and started her up, as usual she started on the button, and repositioned her closer to the caravan but still on level ground. With that done I threw open the back doors and proudly switched on the lights. They looked magnificent ! All I had hoped for and more, and I felt my chest swelling as my brother and nephew poured congratulations on me for making such a good job of them..... "They're alright aren't they." It was so unexpected to have that praise heaped on me, it made the hours of work putting them there worth every solitary second !
The next hour was spent with me sorting my new bedroom out in Nina, in between rushing to the caravan amidst the screams of terror from my brother and nephew yelling at me that "there's another Uncle Damon !!!!!". Yes there are many canal monsters living in and around the field, so terrifying are they, that no-one dare do what we were bravely attempting, by staying not just one whole night there, but two.
I quickly caught the latest spider in a bit of kitchen roll and took it outside.
Once we were all sorted, and I had shown them around the caravan, they noticed a couple of head torches hung up just like mine, very bright cree led, comes with batteries for £7.99, yep you guessed it, in Aldi. They are fab in all honesty, and both Brother and Nephew were pleased to learn that if they were good they could keep them. "DO NOT shine them in peoples faces or I WILL take them off you !" quickly became the catch phrase of the weekend.
After the excitement we put the kettle on for hot drinks and settled down to watch a DVD on my Portable DVD player. Sadly the film I had picked out for us in the bargain £3 section of Tesco, 'Oblivion', they had already watched, and as I got in to the first couple of minutes, their attention span wained and conversation ensued driving me to give up on it to watch at a later date when the gabble boys were no longer around.
After washing the cups up, and showing them how to turn the caravan seating area in to a bed, I said goodnight and made my way across the minefield of mole hills back to Nina for my first EVER nights sleep in her :).
I could rephrase that, but I'm not gonna. ;)
Yes, finally after such a long time I spent a weekend away in Nina, even though she isn't finished yet, and you know what ? It was great.
A couple of weeks before the camp, I was asked if. I wanted to have my nephew for the weekend before he went back to school, in fact he was just about to start 'Big School'.
As we rescue dogs, and the ones we end up with at home have 'issues', having him stay at our house, which is actually a bungalow, just wasn't an option, it would stress the dogs out in their own home, and put my nephew in a situation where things may have gone wrong, he isn't used to our kind of dogs, he doesn't have a dog at home, so it was quickly ruled out.
Something I had mentioned to him before was camping at our field in Frampton On Severn, it is fairly secluded, off the beaten track so to speak, but next to the canal and a stones throw from the River Severn. A chance to get a bit closer to wildlife (lots of spiders in this case), and for us, us being myself, my nephew, and my brother, his Dad, to spend a bit of time together, generally annoying each other.
So it was arranged, and the couple of weeks leading up to the weekend, I spent sorting out the caravan we have at the field, we use it as a tea room when exercising dogs down there, and getting Nina ready for me to sleep in. The idea being my nephew and his Dad would stay in the caravan and I would have the luxury of a quiet space on my own. This worked out well.
Part of 'readying' meant that I had to prepare two chemical toilets for the first time. Never having used one before, this was going to be a chance to learn, quickly. The caravan had come with a Fiamma one, thankfully it was cleaned out before we got it, all the same I spent half hour or so hosing it through and bleaching every point of contact on it.
Mine, the one Jen bought Nina one year, was brand new and needed no such clean up, just adding water with a nice scented chemical to the flush reservoir, and a litre of water along with a much stronger not so sweet smelling chemical to the bottom reservoir.
When we had Ninas toilet, we bought some special toilet paper that dissolves quickly, no idea where it went, so I bought some of Tescos Value stuff, and in all honesty, it was probably the same as the expensive 'special' paper.
With that done, I turned to my Aldi 12v cool box, and bleach cleaned that out too. Last time we used it for camping was down at Brean, maybe 10 years ago, so its quite old now really, but still works perfectly, keeping everything icy cold all weekend with the help of a big ice block at the bottom.
For a bed in Nina, I would have liked to use her own seating and new seat cushions, but they are stacked at one end of the kitchen at home, and there is lots of 'stuff' piled on top, along with the fact I AM still in the middle of converting, it was too juch hassle to put it all back in for a couple days, so I decided to use a double airbed, which again had never been used to sleep on. With this in mind, and remembering airbeds of the past, I threw in an ex Army cot bed as a 'just in case'.
With everything prepared, the day of the first night camping, I drove Nina down to the field, with Jen following to pick me up, and parked Nina up. The skies were grey, and it was looking bleak for the days ahead.
With work still to do, and my Mums weekly shop to complete and deliver to her just up the road from where my Nephew lives, Jen whisked me off to do that.
After delivering the shopping, then picking my nephew and brother up, time was getting on, and the Autumnal skies were fading, it was a dull day anyway, and even though it was only around 6.30, it was going to be a race to get back on to the other side of the River Severn (we were in the Forest Of Dean) past Gloucester and on down to Frampton. Those of you not familiar with Frampton On Severn, it is just South of Gloucester, and West of Stroud.
So we made haste and promptly stopped off at the old Cattle Market once we got to Gloucester, officially called St Oswalds, and ordered a Dominoes Pizza for our tea. None of us had eaten, well, when I got to my nephews he was technically eating a burger his Nan had just made him, but he is a growing boy, so with a small pizza each, and a portion of wedges to share, we sat outside Dominoes and scoffed the lot. Thats to say I scoffed my lot, my brother and nephew ate half of theirs and put the rest by to torture me with when we got to the field, as mine was all gone.
By the time we left Gloucester it was getting seriously dark, and I was starting to regret stopping, we would all now get to the field in the pitch black, bear in mind that there is no electric, no running water, no street lighting, darkness in the field is fairly total, to the human eye.
I grinned to myself as I pictured the field lighting up like Chevy Chases house in Christmas Vacation when I turned Ninas lights on and opened all the doors !
We got to the field, both my nephew and my brother a little apprehensive at the prospect of two days without a proper toilet, no mains water and more importantly limited phone charging and 3g signal capabilities. I smiled again.
I drove in to the field close to the caravan to unload the car. Using my headtorch I located the caravan (it really is that dark !) unlocked the door, flipped the 12v electrics on via the freshly charged leisure battery, and switched the caravan lights on. The next few minutes were spent dumping stuff in there from the car.
I jumped in Nina and started her up, as usual she started on the button, and repositioned her closer to the caravan but still on level ground. With that done I threw open the back doors and proudly switched on the lights. They looked magnificent ! All I had hoped for and more, and I felt my chest swelling as my brother and nephew poured congratulations on me for making such a good job of them..... "They're alright aren't they." It was so unexpected to have that praise heaped on me, it made the hours of work putting them there worth every solitary second !
The next hour was spent with me sorting my new bedroom out in Nina, in between rushing to the caravan amidst the screams of terror from my brother and nephew yelling at me that "there's another Uncle Damon !!!!!". Yes there are many canal monsters living in and around the field, so terrifying are they, that no-one dare do what we were bravely attempting, by staying not just one whole night there, but two.
I quickly caught the latest spider in a bit of kitchen roll and took it outside.
Once we were all sorted, and I had shown them around the caravan, they noticed a couple of head torches hung up just like mine, very bright cree led, comes with batteries for £7.99, yep you guessed it, in Aldi. They are fab in all honesty, and both Brother and Nephew were pleased to learn that if they were good they could keep them. "DO NOT shine them in peoples faces or I WILL take them off you !" quickly became the catch phrase of the weekend.
After the excitement we put the kettle on for hot drinks and settled down to watch a DVD on my Portable DVD player. Sadly the film I had picked out for us in the bargain £3 section of Tesco, 'Oblivion', they had already watched, and as I got in to the first couple of minutes, their attention span wained and conversation ensued driving me to give up on it to watch at a later date when the gabble boys were no longer around.
After washing the cups up, and showing them how to turn the caravan seating area in to a bed, I said goodnight and made my way across the minefield of mole hills back to Nina for my first EVER nights sleep in her :).
Location:Frampton On Severn
Sunday, 14 September 2014
Replace TV and Fit Status 315 Aerial
After a mega weekend of converting in the last few posts, sadly I haven't had the time to do anymore since.
So it was great to go put and right a wrong today.
Apologies for the length of the video, it could have gone on much longer had I filmed the actual work, as it is you have the explanation and the good stuff at the end lol.
Apologies also for the constant bell noise throughout, it was pure laziness on my part, my GoPro was mounted on a kitchen timer which I use for 360 degree timelapse videos, if you look on my YouTube channel, you will see the last 360 I did of a new field we have just acquired for the dogs.
So with that out the way, sit back and prepare to be bore rigid by my presenting skills :).
If you got through that until the end, well done :).
Its a job I was dreading because I thought I would have to take the roof and cupboard back down, thankfully I got round it.
Oh, before I leave you, there will be another update soon, kind of a diary with video and photos, I ACTUALLY SPENT THE WEEKEND CAMPING IN NINA !!!
It was brill, and actually brought up a few things that I need to incorporate in to the conversion very soon, so was a good exercise too.
Come back soon and it will hopefully be up :). Laters !
So it was great to go put and right a wrong today.
Apologies for the length of the video, it could have gone on much longer had I filmed the actual work, as it is you have the explanation and the good stuff at the end lol.
Apologies also for the constant bell noise throughout, it was pure laziness on my part, my GoPro was mounted on a kitchen timer which I use for 360 degree timelapse videos, if you look on my YouTube channel, you will see the last 360 I did of a new field we have just acquired for the dogs.
So with that out the way, sit back and prepare to be bore rigid by my presenting skills :).
If you got through that until the end, well done :).
Its a job I was dreading because I thought I would have to take the roof and cupboard back down, thankfully I got round it.
Oh, before I leave you, there will be another update soon, kind of a diary with video and photos, I ACTUALLY SPENT THE WEEKEND CAMPING IN NINA !!!
It was brill, and actually brought up a few things that I need to incorporate in to the conversion very soon, so was a good exercise too.
Come back soon and it will hopefully be up :). Laters !
Location:Gloucester
Monday, 25 August 2014
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 ! ;).
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
Sunday, 24 August 2014
A Bank Holiday of Converting :) (Day 2)
Well, after a lovely evening out standing at the touchline cheering on the Vixens (Bristol Ladies FC), after spending the day working on Nina, I ached a little bit, in fact a lot, my legs and feet were killing me ! So today, Sunday, was a lie in day, in fact it was around 12 before I got out of bed, apart from getting up to feed the dogs, then answering the door to the Police :S.
Apparently a car had been stolen last night, and dumped near our house in the early hours of the morning. The Police noticed we had cctv up, and were enquiring whether it had been recording, sadly I had to tell them no, but from now on, it will be.
After a hearty Brunch of toast with scrambled eggs and tinned tomatoes on top, a real campers meal :P, Jen went off to walk a dog and search Aldi for their latest offerings, a Cree head torch, I have to say, when she brought it back, it seemed very good, and works from 3 AAA batteries, so easy to run. I did use it a bit later on, but will come to that in a bit.
Still aching, and a little bit in my comfort zone, -
I surveyed the work that needed to be done today. I remember thinking to myself, right quickly finish the roof panel off, put it back up, then start overhauling the overhead cupboards.
Hmmm.
I started with setting the tables back up, and getting the roof panel back out of Nina. First job was to cut out the holes that needed doing, ready for the skylight and the roof fan. This was a fairly straight forward job using a utility knife, making nice neat holes.
The next job was to utilise all those pieces of electrical tape I had stuck on, and find all the holes through the carpet, and screw some screws in ready, so that when we were struggling, holding the roof panel back up, all. I had to do was line up the screws with the holes and zap the up.
This went fairly well, though it was time consuming, but once I got in the rhythm, the screws were eventually in place, and then it was time to fit the Maplin LED down lights.
Using a piece of plastic packaging, I marked it, and then marked the points on the roof panel where the lights were going to be fixed.
Using my stepper drill bit (amazing piece of kit), I drilled holes at the appropriate points, big enough to allow the connectors on the lights to pass through. Once that was done, I then went about fixing each downlight to its spot in turn, then finished them off by popping on there brushed steel metal rings, making them look like they are just stuck on with no wiring.
I had actually lost the small bag of tiny screws that came with the lights, so had to find something in the shed, which turned out to be a touch too big, resulting in me using a pair of pliers to gently encourage the metal trim rings to widen enough to fit over the overlarge screw heads. Not perfect, but nobody is going to notice, especially when they are on, they are very bright and you aren't going to be worrying about slight gaps in the trim when being blinded ;).
This, was the end of the roof panel preparation, the next job was to remove the lower part of the skylight, including the blind assembly, mark out where the holes were in the overlapping wall to enable me to line the roof panel screws up with, then drag the roof panel back in. When I say drag, obviously I mean gingerly carry the 3 meter long piece of wobbly fibreglass without letting it bend to much, resulting in it cracking and breaking, while also avoiding all the new sharp screws that were sticking out all down each side, whilst bunching up the cables for each of the four lights so I didnt trip over them. Went without a hitch :).
With the roof panel back in, I connected up the lights to the junction box, that comes with them, and shouted for Jen to come and help support the panel as we lifted it back up to the roof.
With Jens help, we got the roof panel up in place, and I quickly drove a few screws in to hold it there.
It was at this point we realised that although the panel was screwed in either side at the front of the van, nothing was really lining up at the back of the van, which was odd. It didn't seem possible, unless the roof panel had somehow gone out of shape or warped.
After putting a couple more screws in towards the back, Jen went back to her Dallas Omnibus and I tried to get the roof panel back fitting properly.
After a bit of pushing and pulling, I has most of the screws in, except for the drivers side where a row of 6 or so screws just didnt seem to want to go back in to place.
While they were still loose, I realised I needed to quickly wire in and fit the 12v socket next to the skylight, this would supply power to a Fiamma Turbo Vent fan when fitted in the aperature over the kitchen.
With this done, I have no more wiring to do in the roof :) Back to the wonky screws and trying to get them back in to place.
The yellow handle / bar you can see to the left, isnt fixed in, so I used it to push the roof right up whilst I located the remaining screws in to their homes. Finally it was all back up, and not coming back down ! My seam either side looks very neat, and I am very pleased with the result.
While Jen was walking around in the back of Nina earlier, she noticed the roof seemed lower, she was quite right, where I have removed the original ceiling lights, which were big units, part of their job was to hold the centre of the roof up via their fixings, obviously not being there anymore, the panel was sagging slightly. A few screws down the centre of the roof later, and the 'sagging' was no more.
It took me a lot longer to refit the roof panel than I had anticipated, and time was cracking on, that late start was showing itself to be a less than wise decision, and it was becoming increasingly obvious that there would be no overhauling of overhead cupboards today. So I busied myself with redressing the roof with the lower half of the skylight and the fan cover.
Even this took longer as the screws that clamp the roof in between the two halves of the skylight weren't easy to locate in to the upper holes, amd as light was fading, I actually got to use my Aldi head torch sooner than I thought I would. It worked great and finally I had the lower half and the roller blind section back up and making sure that the seal on top of the roof under the skylight stayed just that, sealed.
As I had made the decision to tackle the overhead cupboards tomorrow, I couldnt resist wiring the new overhead lights in to the battery to see what they looked like.
Awesome is the word, along with my window lights, its really starting to look cosy in here :).
I will leave you with the pretty light pictures, and will probably be back again tomorrow with another installment :).
Apparently a car had been stolen last night, and dumped near our house in the early hours of the morning. The Police noticed we had cctv up, and were enquiring whether it had been recording, sadly I had to tell them no, but from now on, it will be.
After a hearty Brunch of toast with scrambled eggs and tinned tomatoes on top, a real campers meal :P, Jen went off to walk a dog and search Aldi for their latest offerings, a Cree head torch, I have to say, when she brought it back, it seemed very good, and works from 3 AAA batteries, so easy to run. I did use it a bit later on, but will come to that in a bit.
Still aching, and a little bit in my comfort zone, -
I surveyed the work that needed to be done today. I remember thinking to myself, right quickly finish the roof panel off, put it back up, then start overhauling the overhead cupboards.
Hmmm.
I started with setting the tables back up, and getting the roof panel back out of Nina. First job was to cut out the holes that needed doing, ready for the skylight and the roof fan. This was a fairly straight forward job using a utility knife, making nice neat holes.
The next job was to utilise all those pieces of electrical tape I had stuck on, and find all the holes through the carpet, and screw some screws in ready, so that when we were struggling, holding the roof panel back up, all. I had to do was line up the screws with the holes and zap the up.
This went fairly well, though it was time consuming, but once I got in the rhythm, the screws were eventually in place, and then it was time to fit the Maplin LED down lights.
Using a piece of plastic packaging, I marked it, and then marked the points on the roof panel where the lights were going to be fixed.
Using my stepper drill bit (amazing piece of kit), I drilled holes at the appropriate points, big enough to allow the connectors on the lights to pass through. Once that was done, I then went about fixing each downlight to its spot in turn, then finished them off by popping on there brushed steel metal rings, making them look like they are just stuck on with no wiring.
I had actually lost the small bag of tiny screws that came with the lights, so had to find something in the shed, which turned out to be a touch too big, resulting in me using a pair of pliers to gently encourage the metal trim rings to widen enough to fit over the overlarge screw heads. Not perfect, but nobody is going to notice, especially when they are on, they are very bright and you aren't going to be worrying about slight gaps in the trim when being blinded ;).
This, was the end of the roof panel preparation, the next job was to remove the lower part of the skylight, including the blind assembly, mark out where the holes were in the overlapping wall to enable me to line the roof panel screws up with, then drag the roof panel back in. When I say drag, obviously I mean gingerly carry the 3 meter long piece of wobbly fibreglass without letting it bend to much, resulting in it cracking and breaking, while also avoiding all the new sharp screws that were sticking out all down each side, whilst bunching up the cables for each of the four lights so I didnt trip over them. Went without a hitch :).
With the roof panel back in, I connected up the lights to the junction box, that comes with them, and shouted for Jen to come and help support the panel as we lifted it back up to the roof.
With Jens help, we got the roof panel up in place, and I quickly drove a few screws in to hold it there.
It was at this point we realised that although the panel was screwed in either side at the front of the van, nothing was really lining up at the back of the van, which was odd. It didn't seem possible, unless the roof panel had somehow gone out of shape or warped.
After putting a couple more screws in towards the back, Jen went back to her Dallas Omnibus and I tried to get the roof panel back fitting properly.
After a bit of pushing and pulling, I has most of the screws in, except for the drivers side where a row of 6 or so screws just didnt seem to want to go back in to place.
While they were still loose, I realised I needed to quickly wire in and fit the 12v socket next to the skylight, this would supply power to a Fiamma Turbo Vent fan when fitted in the aperature over the kitchen.
With this done, I have no more wiring to do in the roof :) Back to the wonky screws and trying to get them back in to place.
The yellow handle / bar you can see to the left, isnt fixed in, so I used it to push the roof right up whilst I located the remaining screws in to their homes. Finally it was all back up, and not coming back down ! My seam either side looks very neat, and I am very pleased with the result.
While Jen was walking around in the back of Nina earlier, she noticed the roof seemed lower, she was quite right, where I have removed the original ceiling lights, which were big units, part of their job was to hold the centre of the roof up via their fixings, obviously not being there anymore, the panel was sagging slightly. A few screws down the centre of the roof later, and the 'sagging' was no more.
It took me a lot longer to refit the roof panel than I had anticipated, and time was cracking on, that late start was showing itself to be a less than wise decision, and it was becoming increasingly obvious that there would be no overhauling of overhead cupboards today. So I busied myself with redressing the roof with the lower half of the skylight and the fan cover.
Even this took longer as the screws that clamp the roof in between the two halves of the skylight weren't easy to locate in to the upper holes, amd as light was fading, I actually got to use my Aldi head torch sooner than I thought I would. It worked great and finally I had the lower half and the roller blind section back up and making sure that the seal on top of the roof under the skylight stayed just that, sealed.
As I had made the decision to tackle the overhead cupboards tomorrow, I couldnt resist wiring the new overhead lights in to the battery to see what they looked like.
Awesome is the word, along with my window lights, its really starting to look cosy in here :).
I will leave you with the pretty light pictures, and will probably be back again tomorrow with another installment :).
Location:Gloucester
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