Family-friendly bike-carrying camper build

You’re very welcome 🙂 Van’s looking good!

So, er, yeah, bit behind on the updates – this lot coming up was February half term…

Next step was an overhead unit above the sliding door to contain the switch panel, amp, a couple of speakers and a wee bit of storage. There are a few constraints here – it has to fit all that stuff (duh) but also not be too obtrusive – if it sticks out into the van too far then we’ll bang our heads on it when we get in. Which would be bad. Always keen to make life difficult, I went for an angled face, as seen in this Mark 1 former:

Seemed to work, so added another one:

Here’s a first pass at the main structure:

The ply formers are attached to the van and the ends of the unit will be supported by the kitchen at one end and the bulkhead at the other. Added more framing:

…and took out all the old junk, leaving lots of dangly wires. Lots of them got pulled into the locker over the kitchen, to which I’ve moved the left-hand fusebox and earth point for convenience:

Considerable amounts of untangling, tracing, trying to remember what goes where and labelling later, it’s looking a bit tidier:

The green wire is the feed from the batteries (there’s another (bigger) fuse at the other end), a bunch of lights and things are fed from this fusebox. There’s another identical one under the seats on the other side of the van which runs a load of other stuff. All the returns go to the metal connection block, which is just screwed to the bodywork with the paint sanded off underneath.

Current state of play:

There are (removable for maintenance) ply panels to go on the front of this – from left to right they’ll be speaker, switches, amp, cubby hole (with USB sockets in the side for phones), second cubby hole, speaker. Getting that lot all lined up will be entertaining.

In other news, I’ve made a start at boxing in the base of the rear seats. Now reasonably well practised at routing the corners off bits of timber:

Incorporated into the structure is an additional support for the fold-out bed flap, that’s been a bit saggy across the seat frames. This ought to sort it:

Sits neatly between the seat bases when they’re in place, which has the added benefit of making it significantly harder for children to drop pens/tiny toys/crisps down between the seats…

Hacked out a piece of 4mm ply to offer up:

Slightly tediously we need access under the front edge of the seat bases for the handwheel bolts that hold them down, which meant cutting this bit out:

although that’s also useful as a handle to detach the panel with – it’ll be held on with magnets eventually. Given that the batteries, mains charger, solar controller, heater, split charge relay, fuseboxes etc are all under the seats, access is definitely required.

Having done the same for the other seat and made a start on the frame around the side, the rear seats currently look like this:

which is quite a lot neater than before. Onwards!

Good stuff Mike!

MOAR.

Picking up from the most recent instalment, here’s some more switch panel. One of the little cubbyholes is intentionally phone-sized, so I put a USB socket in there to charge same:

Popped a speaker into one end:

Connected up eleventy bazillion wires to the panel:

And screwed it into place:

But from where is the music coming, I hear you cry? MAGIC. Actually, merely sufficiently-advanced technology. Hidden inside the panel there’s a 12V-to-USB gizmo powering a Bluetooth audio receiver connected to the amplifier, so we can stream music from phones or whatever:

Mount the amp, panel to finish the front of the storage cubbies, other speaker, DONE:

(apart from filler and paint, obvs).

In other news, various maintenance jobs have forced themselves upon us. The wipers have been iffy for ages because the motor’s been gradually dying. Buying a motor turned out to be only slightly cheaper than getting a motor with new linkages attached, and I suspected that all the bushings were pretty weary, so got this:

which turned out to be most entertaining to replace, necessitating the removal of all this lot:

and leaving the van looking like this:

Still, got there in the end, all works. I don’t recommend removing and refitting a Ducato bonnet singlehandedly if you can possibly avoid it 🙂

More soon!

Awesome. One day. One day

Honestly, no updates for months and then three in 24 hours. I spoil you, I really do 🙂

Ages ago I was boxing in the rear seats. Made the end panel to cover the heater:

It’s on magnets so it can easily be popped off for access if necessary:

All put back together it looks like this, which is rather neater than before:

Bunged another USB socket in the top for on-the-go tablet charging:

Up until this point the storage under the fridge has just been open shelves. An actual door would be a bit obstructive (has to open into the aisle), we thought about drawers but they’re a faff to make. And then had this idea – make a frame:

Persuade a handy parent to get busy with some canvas, zips and a sewing machine and presto:

When parked up, unzip, roll it up and secure with magnets thusly:

And another “mend broken thing” job – replaced the increasingly-battered passenger mirror housing, that had definitely been bounced off a few too many hedges. Again, right old faff to take apart, especially as a previous owner had at some point stuck it all together wit PU goop:

but much tidier when done:

They’re not original Fiat housings, pattern ones off eBay, but for £12 for both sides I’m not complaining 🙂

Also replaced the centre roller on the sliding door because it wasn’t running very smoothly. Can’t think why:

And discovered the frankly astonishing bumper-restoring properties of linseed oil, which I found a bottle of in the garage:

I also replaced the broken radio aerial, but I didn’t take any pictures of that on the grounds of extreme dullness 🙂

Wow – 3 update posts – you really are spoiling us!

And next, an impressive milestone – ripping out a load of perfectly good stuff that we’d already done and doing it again, only different! Actually not the first bit that’s been done twice (one of the rooflights has been in and out more times than the hokey cokey) but one of the biggest…

We had an issue with the boot space, in that the lower pair of bikes sat on the boot floor, blocking access to the under-bunk space and ending up with loads of stuff stacked against/wedged in amongst. This was inconvenient. Remember the rather lovely shelf I spent ages on? Out it came, and in went some lengths of shelf track that I had lurking:

You can probably see where this is going – add brackets, pad appropriately, hang bicycle off them:

And in the lower position, two up:

Doing it this way means (as is hopefully clear from the picture) that the bottom of the boot is completely clear, so long things like chairs and inflataple SUPs (which are the new things that we have to accommodate, but they’re a bit more compact that the inflatable kayaks that we used to carry, so that’s a win of sorts) can be packed lengthways under the bunk.

Keen-eyed observers will note a handy-looking space over on the right. To capitalise on that I embarked on making a suitable unit:

But before completing that, we finally got around to putting down flooring on the, um, floor. GLUE:

FLOOR:

Tidy. Then I could finish the shelvy thing (recycling some bits of the old shelf in the process):

#

And without all the clamps once the glue had set:

Ending up with this:

Just in time to experimentally load up ready for Mayhem:

Worked fine with one bike (as you’d hope, really). Finished off the threshold with a length of alu angle:

You may notice a New Hole – there was a space behind a wheelarch that was accessed from the side, which wasn’t that handy, so it now isn’t:

And clearly post-loading. Not quite as terrible as it used to be with that quantity of stuff in it:

Other dull-ish stuff: Finally filled in the previous gap at the bottom of the kitchen drawers with, imaginatively enough, another drawer. Although it’s a big one, because (a) more useful for pans and stuff and (b) one less drawer to make 🙂

Nearly finished:

Finished, apart from a handle:

Spectacular dullness: Made a bin. Or, more accurately, a housing for an Ikea plastic bin:

You’ve all seen this technique, but here it is again just because:

And with a hinged lid (prototype, better to come):

And next, an impressive milestone – ripping out a load of perfectly good stuff that we’d already done and doing it again, only different! Actually not the first bit that’s been done twice (one of the rooflights has been in and out more times than the hokey cokey) but one of the biggest…

We had an issue with the boot space, in that the lower pair of bikes sat on the boot floor, blocking access to the under-bunk space and ending up with loads of stuff stacked against/wedged in amongst. This was inconvenient. Remember the rather lovely shelf I spent ages on? Out it came, and in went some lengths of shelf track that I had lurking:

You can probably see where this is going – add brackets, pad appropriately, hang bicycle off them:

And in the lower position, two up:

Doing it this way means (as is hopefully clear from the picture) that the bottom of the boot is completely clear, so long things like chairs and inflataple SUPs (which are the new things that we have to accommodate, but they’re a bit more compact that the inflatable kayaks that we used to carry, so that’s a win of sorts) can be packed lengthways under the bunk.

Keen-eyed observers will note a handy-looking space over on the right. To capitalise on that I embarked on making a suitable unit:

But before completing that, we finally got around to putting down flooring on the, um, floor. GLUE:

FLOOR:

Tidy. Then I could finish the shelvy thing (recycling some bits of the old shelf in the process):

#

And without all the clamps once the glue had set:

Ending up with this:

Just in time to experimentally load up ready for Mayhem:

Worked fine with one bike (as you’d hope, really). Finished off the threshold with a length of alu angle:

You may notice a New Hole – there was a space behind a wheelarch that was accessed from the side, which wasn’t that handy, so it now isn’t:

And clearly post-loading. Not quite as terrible as it used to be with that quantity of stuff in it:

Other dull-ish stuff: Finally filled in the previous gap at the bottom of the kitchen drawers with, imaginatively enough, another drawer. Although it’s a big one, because (a) more useful for pans and stuff and (b) one less drawer to make 🙂

Nearly finished:

Finished, apart from a handle:

Spectacular dullness: Made a bin. Or, more accurately, a housing for an Ikea plastic bin:

You’ve all seen this technique, but here it is again just because:

And with a hinged lid (prototype, better to come):

Thats the biggest double post, ever 🙂

Give those brackets a good test, I had six bikes hung on my dining room wall using the same method, however, you might find everything in a tangled mess after a couple of good speed bumps makes those brackets lift out of the uprights!

Ah poop, how did that happen? Pfft.

Yes, they do tend to jump out – bikes are strapped down for transit, it did 2,000 miles up to Scotland and around the Hebrides without an issue 🙂

For old times’ sake, cut yet another hole in the side of the van. Decided that the bottom bunk was a bit dark and dingy, so:

Yes, there’s a hole in the wrong place, yes, it got sealed up, yes, it’s hidden by the flange of the window, no, it doesn’t leak etc.

In a departure from the other windows, this one’s actually a Lewmar yacht window. Made up a little curtain for the inside which I don’t seem to have a picture of.

Also sorted out the overhead lockers a bit, with bungees inside to stop stuff tipping out when you open a door and mini gas struts so you don’t have to balance the door on the top of your head:

And while fiddling with gas struts, decided to split the top bunk bed base into sections so we can move the whole thing out of the way and give the kids a bit more headroom if they want to sit and play games/read/whatever:

Few more bits to come 🙂

Awesome stuff

In this thread. Bl00dy brilliant.

This is great, love reading it and would love to do the same one day!

Do it! 🙂

The forum update has really made it hard to find threads like this again.
Thankfully I’ve now bookmarked it!
Good stuff Mike!

I’ve just obtained a van (same dimensions as yours), so I thought it was time to read this thread from the beginning for the 20th time.
Unfortunately, my eldest son has grown to be 6’2″ so all my original plans don’t quite work any more 🙁

STILL GOING!

A few random odds and ends. Finished boot threshold with alu angle, this would probably be better with the edge of the floor rebated so it sits flush but whatevs.

Made a couple of washroom shelves from uPVC cladding, the L-section stuff upside down to make a handy lip:

Moved the coat hooks:

Spent a bit of time finishing off the bottom edge of the speaker/amp/switch console thing. CAD:

3mm ply:

Another bit of ply to fill in:

Needs filler/sanding/paint, but not too shabby:

Covered one of the remaining bits of exposed metal:

Knocked up an insect net using a doorway net from Aldi and some magnets:

Added some neatness above the fridge:

Then went to the Hebrides for three weeks:

Nice!!

👍

👌

Would you mind posting a few wider angle pics of the insides? I’m really interested to see how it is all looking.

Chapeau sir!

Mirror dinghy represent!
I still remain utterly staggered by your work, Mike.

Mirror’s gone now…

Here’s the interior as of now:

Wow!

Holy crap that’s awesome. Far too many posts to scroll through, are there any other recent photos showing the overall layout for sleeping/living/etc?

It’s back!
As I’m doing mine now, I keep coming back to this thread – almost daily. You’ve no idea how helpful it is!
Just received the LPG tank to fit underneath and working out how to arrange batteries/heater/etc above it.

Impressed with the fit of the timber over the metal side door frame, very tidy.

You can figure out most of the layout from the pic above. Here’s how the front double bed folds out:

You can see the bunks at the back, behind there is 500mm of space inside the back doors for bikes/stuff.

Mike, about to embark on a similar journey. We’ve decided our C.A.T. (Concept Activity Trailer) also known as a Caravan although brilliant isn’t convenient enough. We’ve used it loads but think a Camper as the next step will be a bit easier. (no need to pay for storage, fetch from storage, towing is a ball ache). Only downside seems to be no separate vehicle when at a site.

https://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/i-want-a-caravan-thats-not-a-caravan/page/6/#post-6458709

So looking for a H4L2 (or L3 but they are fugly) Ducato / Relay / Boxer.

We’re looking at a very similar layout, usage, two kids, although our kids are a bit older. Probably wouldn’t do the garage as what we have at the moment the bunks hinge up and we put the bikes under the bunks when traveling and outside on site. It’s what we’ve got now, bunks and seating area that makes the main bed and it works well for us.

I think what I’m asking is any regrets, things you’d do different, stuff you’d add if you had to start a fresh.. Wondering if a L3 high roof might allow a drop down bed that could be left made up.

We’re taking the C.A.T off to France soon then it will be up for sale and search for a Van will start September.

If you’ve not seen them “The Restoration Couple” on youtube did a van from a similar base (no toilet/shower though), but allows it to still work as a practical van when not camping. Uses the nifty Ford folding rear seats too.

8’ve got and L4 H3 Ducato and at 6’2″ appreciate the extra headroom. It also provide twin bunks with plenty of bootspace and big bike storage.

My eldest is getting too tall to sleep sideways in her bunk and has a tent for when we are on site.

I can’t fit sideways and so our bed is longitudinal.

Tom’s Ducato Maxi Camper

Its looking amazing! Quick practical question. We also have a gap between the two halves of our Mini Heki. Do you have a plan for what to do with yours?

I can see how a H3 would be useful but I’m only 5’11 and they do look a bit Beluga Whale-ish

Hi Mike. Just wondering how your linseed treated bumpers are looking, silly dates on STW mean it could have been anything from 366 days to 730 days ago! My Iveco has acres of black plastic so once I go to the effort of getting it back to black, it would be nice to know I don’t need to repeat it every month 🙂

Hot air gun is the thing to use on bumpers. Go easy though!

Linseed will wash off eventually.

I bloody love this thread.