Chair & Upholstery

Some relatives were throwing out this futon so I used it to make the recliner chair.

The base of the chair is in two parts. They can be removed independently to access various areas for potential maintenance reasons.

I simply stapled the fabric to the base parts. Perhaps not the best solution and in the future I may re-upholster the chair with separate cushions – but for now it works.

Not my best work.. but it is effective!

The back is an independent cushion with a shape that works in a reclined position. I have a sleeping bag I store behind it to keep it in place. It’s a good place to put the sleeping bag and serves a purpose.

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Get the Van Conversion Guide: https://www.thevanconversionguide.com/

 

Bed-side Cupboards

 These are my bed-side cupboards.

The design is actually pretty awesome because it means you can put a pillow against it and turn it in to a comfortable place to sit.

I have actually had four people sitting comfortably along this to watch a film. I used mahogany – because I had it – it presented some added challenges and using 22mm ply (or similar) would have been easier. But you could use any sturdy material to make them.

I originally planned on having four flap lids but in the end I went for two. It is better this way as you can see more inside. I did not put dividers in the cupboards. I use it for clothes and I have these fabric dividers which have worked well so far.

At the ends of the unit I used some bent-open brackets to secure it – before screwing on the end-pieces, and glueing the edges together for structural support.

The handles from Hafele were kind of pricey but they look great.

The cupboard also has my main light switches. This is nice as you do not have to leave bed to turn them on. I tend to just use my toes to do so! The switch layout is designed to avoid needing labels.

Switches. Front LEDs, Back LEDS and, separated; side light LEDs.

In the middle, and at the end of the cupboard I have put USB plugs.

This means you can have your phone or other device charging at a place you can easily reach it to kill that damn alarm..

Slider panel & image

The slider is part of my 'new' bulkhead.

The slider serves three purposes:

1. Makes the van look more like a builder's van from looking into the cab
2. It isolates the heat (or cold) of the cab from the living space
3. It enables you to access the cab without going outside – open it up for ventilation, natural light in bad weather or, if in winter to capitalise on the warmth the front of the cab generates in the sun

The slider was made with the following layers;

• 9mm hardwood ply
• Foil insulation
• Auto carpet
• Big canvas image

I spray glued and staple gunned the insulation to the wooden panel. It is 1.5cm narrower than the slider area to make it easier to use.

Then I applied the canvas image – this is a photo of Yosemite – where some of my longer term climbing goals are. Using a liberal amount of spray-glue on the wood and carefully, from one side smoothing and rolling the image on to the wood.

The canvas photo was purchased online and it was bought (without a frame) for about £50.

I then put on the auto carpet – also stapled on the sides and glued.

Adding the handle was pretty easy (the holes in the wood were pre drilled). I used a scalpel to cut the hole in the canvas for the bolts to go through.

Fixing the slider up

The slider is fairly heavy and I originally added two push-fit clips to the top of it. These mostly holds it up, but not with vibration of driving. So I just have a bolt that I slide in - behind the recliner seat which locks the panel in place.

I leave a neo-dynium magnet on the back of the bolt so I can just attach it to a screw when it is not in use.

       

Bolt that stops the slider moving, and right – a magnet holding it to a bolt so it does not get lost.

I was really happy with the slider aspect of the design. It has worked really well and being able to have an isolated place to dry towels or put a solar shower to warm up has been useful.

I broke my leg and the plastic boot I had to walk in got fairly smelly – it was nice to be able to get it out of the living space at night! Same goes for climbing shoes sometimes.

Slider handle – just bought from a DIY store. Screws in from the back.

The slider when down.

Flooring

The useable flooring was pretty small for my van design. I bought some Oak laminate flooring and some Gorilla (strong) glue in a tube.

This stuff is really easy to lay, you just measure the length, cut it, lay it down and use the offcut as the start of the next section.

I needed just under 2 meter square for my build, including the draw fronts! It cost about £35/$50 for the laminate flooring. Well it would have if I did not order twice as much as I needed!

The depth of the oak flooring acts as a stop for my food drawers.

Notice the wear on the laminate flooring, this was because the edges of the bottom of the crates were quite rough – I have now rounded them off and they do not seem to mark the laminate too much.

Aluminum Edging

I bought this aluminum edging and cutting it to size created a protective edging. I glued and screwed this down to the flooring (and into the original block work I put down when I insulated the floor).

The edging. I also put some wood at the back of the step – it just hides some of the white metal work.

Door matt

I got a simple design door matt from Ikea and cut it down to size. This I glued down with ample amounts of Skilaflex to the metal step.

The doormat (one cut in to strips) looks great and fits nicely with the colours and design of the van.

 

Split Charger

Another back-up power system I have not yet used!

I bought a split charge kit, wired it all in, apart from the bit where I just connect a wire to the battery. It just lays there – again the solar system is just too good.

That said, it is good to have it as a back up.

This is the basic circuit for the split charger:

Electronics & Circuitry

Oh yea, this bit is fun! And a little bit to get your head around.

This is my 12V circuit board. Note that this is the 10Amp charge controller.. it was too small (and it did not seem to work with the MT-50 remote monitor unit).

Depending on what you have, you will need different configurations.

I have created a really nice full-diagram of electronics which is in the eBook.
There is a link to how you can get the eBook at the end of this page.

< Circuit diagram in eBook 

I used 1.5mm wire for most of the circuitry. For wires that needed more flexibility I used multicore, but really it is probably better to use multicore wire for most of your electronics.

Ground

I found a sturdy bit of the metal work, sanded it down, put a bolt in to it, and used it as my ground.

For a full list of components, specifications and suppliers please refer to ebook.

Lighting

This is the lighting set-up I have used;

Essentially four lighting choices; front, back ceiling lights, side lights and a door light.

I used these LEDs for the ceiling and door light.

They are low profile and just push in to the wood. They are kind of small, but they actually fit pretty well into the van design. They feel appropriate for the size of the space.

Note: The second set of LEDs (from the front) are off-set to the side so they are not directly over your head when cooking. If you are tall you might keep casting an annoying shadow on what you are doing.

For the LED side lights I used these;

3M Warm Light LED Strip LEDS (5m roll)

You can find strip LEDs for van conversions online for extortionate prices! However these cost £30 ($45) and 5 meters was more than I needed.

They do use quite a bit of power, perhaps more expensive ones use less, but the solar system can easily handle them. Plus the feel of them in the evenings, compared to the ceiling lights are so worth it!

The LED side lights in situ – I have pulled back the fabric panel to show them.

The reel of LEDs comes with a connector – but only one. I found I was able to connect my strip LED to a chocolate box by splitting the contact and screwing the chocolate box on to it. So far, so good!