Sunday, 5 January 2014

Floor

The 12mm WBP plywood floor is screwed directly into the floorpan using self tappers.
Again the underside is covered with Thermawrap to provide a little insulation.


At the front a hatch is left for stowing the detachable table.


Finished floor with access to the storage underneath. It's a bit springy at  this end but once the bed is bolted in this with add some strength. The lever at the right is for releasing the tailgate.


Insulation and sound proofing

Lots of stuff written about this on the web. Personally I'm not convinced, but decided to do it anyway!
The back of the van was completely stripped out. The exposed panels were covered with strips of flashband,

 then with theramawrap



 any gaps, pillars & door panels were filled with recycled plastic bottle insulation



 and finally stretchy carpet.



The idea is that the flashband deadens the tendency for the sheet metal panels to resonate. The original hardboard door panels were covered in the stretchy carpet. The rear windows were tinted using Suntek film. Not the easiest job in the world - but it does give privacy and will help to keep the van cooler on sunny days.
The plywood on the lowered floor was rotten so has be removed and a little filler/rust proofing/paint added to the rear tailgate. The lowered floor was then covered with rubber matting.





Bikerack and reversing aids

Unfortunately the tailgate means that I can't add a towbar , which is my preferred bike rack solution.
So I had a look around for something that would fit onto one barn door, so that we could still get access to the rear without removing the bikes.
Fiamma seem to have cornered the market, which means expensive. My main problem however was getting something to fit. Most racks are deigned for motorhomes or larger VW transporters, however I did find one picture on the net where a carrybike CB200D had been fitted to an Expert van, so snapped one up on eBay for £50.
As usual its not quite fitted as intended, but it does go on with a little modding.
My main worry is that the the brackets are bolted to the door skin which can flex - and maybe pop the window. So I used long bolts and filled the internal cavity with expanding foam. Its rock solid, but it remains to be seen if its up to the job.
A lighting board is an absolute necessity - especially in France, where it can be a bit of money earner for the local gendarmes. So there is a 7 way socket mounted underneath the rear.



Since I wasn't sure of the final design, I was concerned that visibilty out the back would be restricted.
So the rear bumper has 4 reversing sensors, and a camera mounted in the centre.
Internally there is a small LCD screen mounted next to the mirror, which comes on when the van is reversing. Unfortunately the bike rack interferes with some of the sensors, so I may have to disconnect one or more - or maybe mount some on the rack.




Seats.

I really liked the idea of swivel seats in the front. The van interior is small so anything that frees up a little space is worthwhile. I had originally wanted to make the front seats part of the bed area, so that I could put the litchen across the back of van - but any designs I came up with just seemed too complex.
The seats were picked up on eBay for £70 from a guy that was breaking his 806 - the important thing to note here is that you must have the base bracket that bolts to the floor, since they are specific for each seat type.
The old seats were sold on ebay for £50.


Friday, 15 November 2013

The Van

The Van




Bought on eBay, it was originally a 2002 reg Peugeot Expert van, that had been converted for wheelchair use.
This meant that the floor was lowered, windows were added, single seat installed, wheelchair ramp at the rear (with small tailgate)  and wheelchair safety belts.
I liked the idea of the extra storage, the rear barn doors and of course having the windows  was a great advantage. The overall height is under 2M which means that it will fit in most carparks and will qualify for the "car" rates on the French toll roads.

A few small fixes were needed. The gear stick gaiter was falling to bits, and was replaced from eBay. The sliding window trims were seized and  filled with green moss. I contacted the company in Manchester that made the windows, and they were able to sell me new trim to get the windows moving again.