Re-upholstery courtesy of Mum!

Here's my wonderful Mum helping out with covering all the cushions in denim so they look funky, wear hard and are easy to clean. 

Finsihing off

Kept the cupboard door but swapped the hinges from toip to bottom so it opens fully, sanded it down and re-varnished, ths is Karl re-connecting the speakers and shouting job done!!! 

Front cupbaord

And there's the inside of the cupbaord at the front. 

Caz varnishing

This was building the cupboard section - varnished all the wood, some was stained but that looked a bit too dark for the roof and slow drying, inside the cupboard just a coat of gloss. 

Dnne at the back!

How much nicer is that! 

Insulating the roof

Sticking up last X-Trem sheets - 15mm thick and very warm too.

I used spray adhesive to tack it all in place lightly while adding wood to hold it in.  

Ceiling section

We cut this single piece of 4mm ply and shaped it to fit the ceiling - getting it in involved taking it throught he back door/tailgate, taking it right to front to rest on dash then manouvering it up into the top. 

Putting up the ceiling

By this time we were so enamoured of the strength of 'SERIOUS STUFF@ it was mtool number 1 - so here's putting up chaped batons for the ceiling and then wedging in place with offcuts while it dried... 

The front

Showing how easy it is to fit - and how the front top frame looks 

Getting warm in here!

Here we go - that's good insulation now! 

Fitting X-Trem insulation

X-Trem is really easy to work with - soft, flexible foam, but very very warm. Easy to cut with just a sharp stanley blade too.

Get it from CMC Reimo 

Looking back

It's all taking shape now - and this is the end of day 3 - time to go get very very drunk at the lager festival... 

Side panelling

I got some relaly nice looking ply wood - 4mm brazillian, just the normal B&Q stuff but going through the pile there was this one. Took careful measures every 10cm using a set squate and measuring tape along tength of side then marked these on the wood and joined up the dots, cut with jigsaw and fitted in - looks nice hey! 

Upper frame

The upper frame is a bit, err, more bodgy...

As you can see we attached batons to the side of the high top with copious amounts of 'serious stuff' then helpd in place with gaffa tape while that cured/dried.

We then used L-brackets to connect the battens across at the back and along the sides of the bed area - this is why I said earlier I'd do it different a second time around and start with a frame made with the long solid square batons all the way along the floored area warther than adding them after.

Still - we had no plans so were making it up as we went along! 

Done!

And they open! 

Bring forth the sealant

The final stage - adding a small bead of silicon seal then bolting the inside to the outside - nice and easy!!! 

Success?

Well there's a hole! 

Jigsaw

My windows were from Lewmar - yacht windows guaranteed to about 50m below sea level! And openable! Nice.

Fitting instructions here...

Great things, but expensive I guess, mine came with the van!

Notice the masking tape? Stops you scraping or splintering the fibre glass when cutting. You need a good, sharp metal (fine tooth) blade and high speed jigsaw, the cordless one was less good in the end as the battery was so heavy so we switched to more powerful corded one. 

A bit scary...

Still - Lewmar widnows are easy to fit! 

Cutting crew

Mark up carefully... 

Frnt decking

Done with thinner 6mm ply - same same but different as they'd say in thailand. 

Being serious

With serious stuff :-) 

Over the cab

Similar approach - but screwed through into tin near the open area, and botched on with 'SERIOUS STUFF' at the far end - not gonna take as much weight though so fine! 

Bed-tastic

Now screw your 9mm ply down onto the frame and feel well pleased by the progress!

END DAY 1 

Make a frame for your bed...

I woudln't do it this way if I were doing it again, rather run full length battons along the whole top - stronger and more stable. This worked though and gave good supportt on the reinforced segments.