Apologies, this one is a bit epic...
I've been modifying my 5.4m Ducato PVC over the winter in preparation for travelling around Europe. There's not much internal space, so I wanted to free up as much as possible inside. I had a few ideas, but I didn't know the rabbit hole this would cause. I believe the project management term is 'scope creep'.
First thing was I asked 'Diamond' Dave Newall to fit an underslung LPG gas tank for me. As well as freeing up my 'inside but only accessible from outside' gas locker, it'd have the added benefit that I'd be able to re-fill in Europe. Dave had the van up on the ramp for a quick look for me before fitting to make sure it'd all fit. To fit the tank, I needed to clear all the existing underfloor gubbins that was passing through the area (the bay immediately behind the exhaust)... so it begins...
The main thing in Dave's way was the gas fed Propex air heater. The intake and exhaust pipes were poking though the floor right where the tank was going to be, so I had to move the heater. No problem I thought, there's plenty of space around the wheel arches at the back. So I ripped out the heater, its power and control wires and the gas connection and filled the holes.
There were also a few water pipes going through the new gas tank area that also I needed to move. So I thought while I was at it, I'd convert to an underslung grey water tank and re-do the plumbing. No more smelly water tank taking up space and sliding around in shower and no need to set up the waste in the rain when all you want it a cup of tea. I ordered a new tank from CAK tanks. It took me a weekend of skidding around on my back under the van to plumb it in. And about a week for my neck to recover.
When the van was up on the ramps, Dave pointed out that my rear suspension bump-stops were knackered... so I replaced them with some air bellows (see here).
The rear of my 5.4m PVC had a 'lounge' area that was largely useless. The seats were stupidly high off the floor, narrow and the overhead lockers meant you were always bumping your head. We quickly resorted to leaving it set up as the transverse bed all the time and just using the cab seats for lounging. Once the bed became semi-permanent, we found the storage underneath is really useful too. Problem was the slide-out bed base wasn't particularly sturdy, the supports through our 'garage' were annoying and nothing stopped everything sliding out underneath if I ever had to brake hard. And now I had added incentive because I had to find somewhere to fit the air heater. So for the last couple of weekends I've yanked out most of the woodwork for the old convertible bed-seat thing to turn it into a proper permanent bed with a garage underneath. I've built it with good quality birch faced plywood and painted it to a good finish using cabinet paint. I really should have tried to use lightweight ply in unseen places though as even though it's less complex than before, I've not saved any weight.
Instead of a collection of cushions from the seats turning into a bed, I bought a reasonable quality foam mattress from Ikea and hacked it to the right size for my bed platform. Much more comfortable.
The last bit of fun was fitting the Propex heater to a spot in the back of the van. It turns out that Ducatos have quite a few chassis rails around the wheels (funny that!), so there's not that much space to drill holes for heater exhaust and intakes. After several attempts (including drilling pilot holes that I had to re-fill) I eventually found a place where the heater would fit.... right where the leisure battery, EHU battery charger and solar controller currently are. After quite a lot of cursing, I removed all the electrics. No problem... until I realised the space remaining was about 20mm too short for the battery. The battery was several years old an of unknown condition, so I replaced it with one of a similar capacity, but shorter and taller. Then it was just a case of re-wiring everything to move 2 foot forwards in the van and then re-running the electrics and control for the heater.
So finally I get to go out in the camper next weekend. Yay!
I've been modifying my 5.4m Ducato PVC over the winter in preparation for travelling around Europe. There's not much internal space, so I wanted to free up as much as possible inside. I had a few ideas, but I didn't know the rabbit hole this would cause. I believe the project management term is 'scope creep'.
First thing was I asked 'Diamond' Dave Newall to fit an underslung LPG gas tank for me. As well as freeing up my 'inside but only accessible from outside' gas locker, it'd have the added benefit that I'd be able to re-fill in Europe. Dave had the van up on the ramp for a quick look for me before fitting to make sure it'd all fit. To fit the tank, I needed to clear all the existing underfloor gubbins that was passing through the area (the bay immediately behind the exhaust)... so it begins...
The main thing in Dave's way was the gas fed Propex air heater. The intake and exhaust pipes were poking though the floor right where the tank was going to be, so I had to move the heater. No problem I thought, there's plenty of space around the wheel arches at the back. So I ripped out the heater, its power and control wires and the gas connection and filled the holes.
There were also a few water pipes going through the new gas tank area that also I needed to move. So I thought while I was at it, I'd convert to an underslung grey water tank and re-do the plumbing. No more smelly water tank taking up space and sliding around in shower and no need to set up the waste in the rain when all you want it a cup of tea. I ordered a new tank from CAK tanks. It took me a weekend of skidding around on my back under the van to plumb it in. And about a week for my neck to recover.
When the van was up on the ramps, Dave pointed out that my rear suspension bump-stops were knackered... so I replaced them with some air bellows (see here).
The rear of my 5.4m PVC had a 'lounge' area that was largely useless. The seats were stupidly high off the floor, narrow and the overhead lockers meant you were always bumping your head. We quickly resorted to leaving it set up as the transverse bed all the time and just using the cab seats for lounging. Once the bed became semi-permanent, we found the storage underneath is really useful too. Problem was the slide-out bed base wasn't particularly sturdy, the supports through our 'garage' were annoying and nothing stopped everything sliding out underneath if I ever had to brake hard. And now I had added incentive because I had to find somewhere to fit the air heater. So for the last couple of weekends I've yanked out most of the woodwork for the old convertible bed-seat thing to turn it into a proper permanent bed with a garage underneath. I've built it with good quality birch faced plywood and painted it to a good finish using cabinet paint. I really should have tried to use lightweight ply in unseen places though as even though it's less complex than before, I've not saved any weight.
Instead of a collection of cushions from the seats turning into a bed, I bought a reasonable quality foam mattress from Ikea and hacked it to the right size for my bed platform. Much more comfortable.
The last bit of fun was fitting the Propex heater to a spot in the back of the van. It turns out that Ducatos have quite a few chassis rails around the wheels (funny that!), so there's not that much space to drill holes for heater exhaust and intakes. After several attempts (including drilling pilot holes that I had to re-fill) I eventually found a place where the heater would fit.... right where the leisure battery, EHU battery charger and solar controller currently are. After quite a lot of cursing, I removed all the electrics. No problem... until I realised the space remaining was about 20mm too short for the battery. The battery was several years old an of unknown condition, so I replaced it with one of a similar capacity, but shorter and taller. Then it was just a case of re-wiring everything to move 2 foot forwards in the van and then re-running the electrics and control for the heater.
So finally I get to go out in the camper next weekend. Yay!
