Morning all

As lockdown eases we are looking at the second phase of our van conversion (we picked phase 1 up 3 days before lockdown started and obviously haven’t managed to use it in anger yet so it’s been sidelined for house projects!)

Been looking at the Ply Guys kit. Anyone any experience of them? Realise they are relatively new, so reviews are limited. Thinking they might in fact be stw type folk given the names of their product ranges.

Think most people know our LWB T6 has a bike garage in the back (which we are loving!)

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First trip out with the wheels and bikes all properly mounted. Really happy with the set up, and loving keeping all the mud separate from the rest of the van #T6 #mountainbikevan

A post shared by Natasha Barlow (@ahsatb) on Jun 7, 2020 at 1:36pm PDT

So looking at something like the Wharncliffe to go the other side of the bulk head as a bed and storage combo (just waiting to see if they can make it a tiny bit taller to fit a Dometic compressor cool box under it when it’s pulled out).

Correct me if I’m wrong but you can’t drive with passengers on that seat can you?

I have a Torridon unit in pieces at the moment. It’s a custom job as I wanted it taller than the stock one. It took a while longer than expected to arrive but that’s no surprise at the moment. It had come straight off the CNC, packed and shipped. I’ve had to clean up the edges and varnish it all. The panels are drilled but not countersunk so that’s another job before I put it together. There’s no screws or latch and hinge for the cupboard door. It should be a decent bit of kit when I’m finished with it though.

Correct me if I’m wrong but you can’t drive with passengers on that seat can you?

This actually seems to be a bit of grey area regarding conversions in that I think they don’t have to be crash tested. That said, I’d never fit something that wasn’t, if we wanted to carry passengers. However, it’s only the two of us, and as Kirsty Alsop says, I’m not designing my house for occasional guests.

Thanks @mister_p – sounds like the design is good but maybe needs some work to get the finish right. Good luck – be interested to know how it goes.

It doesn’t have to be crash tested, but non crash tested seats are generally overbuilt and heavy as there will be some guidelines as to the strength. Seats of timber construction are not suitable to mount seatbelts.

A friend made something similar to some of their stuff for a friend/customer of mine (i buy and sell transporters as part of my living), similar idea with unit one side, pull out rear drawer, designed for storage boex to hold stuff below and top pulled out to make a bed combined with the back of the kombi seat.

as Kirsty Alsop says, I’m not designing my house for occasional guests.

You’re thinking of Josef Fritzl

To be fair, you never see them in the same room together..

I’m having issues with them. I wouldn’t recommend ordering if you need something this summer.

Hummm. Thanks Maurice. They also haven’t yet replied to my email either. We aren’t in a super hurry – we spent the last 10+ years sleeping in a tent. But useful to know.

I ordered a Gisburn bed in white.

On the positive side it looks great, was really well packaged.

On the downside most of the joints were not a good fit and too tight, it wasn’t a 5 min job like their video claims. More like 85 minutes with much use of a rubber mallet and sanding.

I’m about 8 weeks in and still waiting for the missing cupboard doors to arrive which will be another week or two.

There keeps being delays due to material supply issues which they are struggling with.

I would probably order from them again, but not with any time constraints.

On the downside most of the joints were not a good fit and too tight, it wasn’t a 5 min job like their video claims. More like 85 minutes with much use of a rubber mallet and sanding.

Well I guess that resolve one query I had about how much it might rattle. However that is a shame, as one of the things I liked was we could take it out if we need the van in gear lugging mode!