A van conversion like no other
After completing Pinterest and Instagram trying to find inspiration for my VW Transporter conversion, I was forced to the drawing board to create the most versatile campervan setup for a mountain biker.
I wanted to try and create a dynamic, flexible space for sleeping, cooking, chilling, hauling bikes around and going on road trips around Europe with my bike.
I had previously converted the van in a rush with odds and ends of plywood and 2x4”’s so I could go away in the summer of 2018 with a friend. Fitting 4 bikes and 2 people into a short wheel base transporter for two and a half months isn’t most people’s idea of comfort. But it served a purpose and provided an excellent platform for a fun road trip.
Fast Forward to 2020, lockdown was in full swing and another european van trip was on the horizon. I started by taking out the original ply, to fit full insulation and vapour barrier. After that I applied stretch carpet, laid out the wires for the electrics and started the cladding process. The hardest part of this was setting up and fitting the curved cross beams which went across the van for the cladding to screw into. The cladding was particularly enjoyable. Cutting the cladding lengths to the correct length and shape to fit the curvature of the van was very satisfying.
The kitchen cabinet was built out of 12mm ply throughout. After deliberating over paints I decided on painting the kitchen cabinet with silver hammerite. Not only is this finish incredibly tough and resistant to scratching, but it gave the van a utilitarian feel that this was a tool for adventure and not a trophy for instagram.
The bed is where the magic is really created - No really. I had seen the idea of manhattan beds in small apartments in New York. I liked the idea of flipping the bed up and having a fully usable bed space. This still didn’t solve the issue of the seating space for cooking and chilling after a long day of adventures. Combining the manhattan style bed with a collapsible camper chair the design ideas started to materialise.
I started to design the bed and the placement of where it would be located in the van. This is particularly important as the fixing points through the van floor needed to miss the structural cross beams. The bed also needed to be far enough towards the cab to allow the bike to fit across the back of the bed. This required a lot of measuring and mocking up.
I started by building this simple box section base. The difficult part of the design was making the bed as wide as possible, and making sure the bed could be completely vertical between the van floor and the ceiling. This would also allow for the most storage space when the bed was flipped upright.
The bike is a tight squeeze between the bed and the rear doors, but there should be enough space here for the two wheels and gas locker.
The bed frame was painted with a smooth black hammerite for a hardwearing and contrasting finish to the light pine walls and silver hammerite.
For a safe gas installation I built a gas locker moulded to the shape of the back left corner of the van in order to maximise space. Ideally I would have bought a gas locker, but none of the boxier style gas lockers online would fit in that space. I made the gas locker out of 1.5mm sheet steel, which is vented out of the floor.
The finished gas locker. The top is sealed by a screw down thread and a wingnut. I think in the future I would like to find a more aesthetic way of sealing the gas locker, but currently I think this is a good option.
To match the van interior, I built cladded door stores. This would allow me to store bike spares, chain lube and any small miscellaneous bike related bits. The shoe storage system was less successful, and had to be removed as it damaged my shoes and the system wasn’t very durable.
The bike storage was one of the biggest headaches of the build. I wanted the bike to be secured inside the van in order to be kept out of the way of thieves. I purchased the Thule pincer arm from eBay, which would be mounted to the floor. The back of the bike was held by a clip on dummy axle setup which I manufactured out of steel plate. The dummy hub was bolted to the bike using the 12mm through axle.
The dummy axle stand separated from the clamp, allowing the bike to be removed easily.
A view of the bike clamp in attached format.
The base bed covers were made from 12mm birch plywood. The galvanised steel grating was repurposed waste material from work, where rectangular steel shapes had been punched out of the sheet.
A 2kw diesel heater plumbed into the main vehicle tank would keep the van warm over any cold nights, and be a great help to dry out any wet kit.
After a few more coats of paint, the wiring is complete and the van is finished!
I am really happy with the final finished conversion.
Seat folded down in sit/ chill mode.
When the seat is folded up there is lots of space to carry bikes, motorcycles or load the van up with tools.
Fitting the bike in is a tight squeeze! However, it is good to have the peace of mind that the bike cannot fall over in the back of the van and cause any damage.
Enjoying the finished van after a big day in the bike park!
