Mk1 LWB Ex-Feuerwehr Camper Conversion

[Luke]

bit of an update

ive cut the ply for the base for sophie's bed - it's 6mm ply but i'll screw some battings across to give it a bit more strength i'm also going to make it removable, as it make the storage area more usefull! i'll fit some clamps from underneith that hold the bed in place when the van is moving



after that i fitted a side panel, it's ply again but i'm hopeing to get some sort of adhesive covering for it to make it look nice im sure you can get something



the roof looks tricky to do so i'm leaving it till last i'm gonna do each bit of the roof seperate - the bit above the bed i might make a bit lower and fit more insulation above there

i've also made the front panel but no pics - i made it in one piece but i'm not sure i'll not need to cut it in half to fit it in

[Luke]

more pics so easy to post when the van is being worked on outside the house

this shows again how much storage there is and also why i'm converting to single rear wheel to get rid of the massive inner arches


one more from the front - between the 2 skins will be a storage tray for books, phone torch etc. accessed from the bed

[AlanN]

What sort of covering are you looking at, vinyl, carpet, both need glue... I tried stick-on vinyl film, but it fell off in hot weather
If you want to curve the ply around the roof, then buy a few sheets of flexi-ply to do the corners, its only a couple of mm thick, but you can build up 2 or 3 layers, then carry on along the roof with standard stuff.

[Anton2k3]

Looking good! Just a quick note about sticking stuff to you and AlanN, when i re-did our roof lining in faux suede, I used copydex. It didnt soak through the material, and gives a very strong bond. Its latex based, so you put a coating on both surfaces, let it go tacky, then bang them together. Stays flexible, and fine in hot weather etc.

Ta,

Anton

[Luke]

thanks for the advice - i'll have a look at those products i'd actually not thought of carpeting round the bed area

what sort of radius will flexi-ply bend to

[AlanN]

it will bend into a 3" circle, had to pin it down and glue with evostick, the thicker ones will bend to about 6", but you only need 2 layers for about 8mm ply and as strong as hell

[belly]

single wheels!!! and theres me trying to find a drw van i can see why though those arches do look like they take up a lot of space lovely van luke doing a nice job how about some epoxy flooring resin adhesive for sticking stuff ? i was also going to suggest bendy ply for the roof

[MR BigBeefy LDV Guru]

just a silly q luke

could you not just fit only one wheel on then cut the arch out is there a reason why you cant

[Luke]

i'm gonna fit a mk4 single wheel axle, it's wider than a mk1 axle so the wheels will be right outside the body and into the arches
if i just took the inner wheels off it would put extra wear on the bearings plus the ratio is bad

[MR BigBeefy LDV Guru]

i'm gonna fit a mk4 single wheel axle, it's wider than a mk1 axle so the wheels will be right outside the body and into the arches
if i just took the inner wheels off it would put extra wear on the bearings plus the ratio is bad

ok so if some one was tofit wide wheels that would overcome the bearings prob yes ???

sorry to hijack the thread

[Luke]

i'm gonna fit a mk4 single wheel axle, it's wider than a mk1 axle so the wheels will be right outside the body and into the arches
if i just took the inner wheels off it would put extra wear on the bearings plus the ratio is bad

ok so if some one was tofit wide wheels that would overcome the bearings prob yes ???

sorry to hijack the thread

wide wheels will always put more wear on the bearings but taking one wheel off will shift the force too far over to 1 side it will put extra strain on - ideally you want the centre of the tyre under the centre of the bearing, and fitting a mk4 axle moves the bearings out further

[DOL]

looking good m8 just a q shudnt these old vans be kept standard

[Luke]

cheers

just a q shudnt these old vans be kept standard

what as fire engines the way i look at it is this van wouldn't be here unless i brought it over in Germany these vans are quite common and not particuarly cherished

The only way i was gonna bring one over is as a camper conversion project, i have no need for a fire engine

personally i like to see them done back as vans like the one geoff did but as i allready have 2 vans i dont want to do that to it either
mabe one day it will be returned to a van but for now it's going camping

[DOL]

no i didnt mean as a fire engine m8 that would be daft i was referring to the back axle swap,imo the vans look better as twin wheelers the camper conversion is a great thing to do to it luke as the van has to b practical(espically when you`ve got a family) is was just really asking about the exterior,like you say there better converted back to a van i should have explained myself more luke sorry

[Luke]

i think they look great as twin wheelers too but the inner arches are just way too much in the way also it gives me a good ratio as a single wheel axle which is a big bonus it could be converted back to twin wheels in years to come as all i'll be altering is the inner arches they could easly be refabricated all the alterations to the mounting points will all be done on the axle (i'll cover that on this thread when i do it)

and they can look good as single rear wheelers

and even tyres as fat as that gives loads more space in the back