Adventure Van

[P20]

I've been meaning to post this for some time and never got around to it, so here we go.
We bought a 67 plate LWB 150 Highline Manual with the intention of being able to sleep in it and have a garage for the bikes at the back. A full kitchen conversion etc wasn't ever part of our plans.
So the starting point

 

[P20]

This was the predecessor. I got sick of unloading loads of kit, (bikes or tents) out of the Octavia estate in order to get something else out, especially in bad weather. It was cheap, had aircon (the reason why i didn't buy a T5) and proved that a van worked for our purposes. We were still sleeping in a tent with this set up though. The next one we would be sleeping in, hence the LWB!

 

[P20]

Life got in the way and we did not do that much to the van initially and it stayed as panel van for the first 7 months or so. The only changes being better bulbs (Ring Xenonmax) in a bid to help the woeful H4 and a 2nd set of wheels for the winter tyres. I've stuck with the same Clayton 16", this van will never be about looks, its going to a practical thing.

And they got put to use. I’ve ran winters And summers for the last 10yrs, they really do make a difference.
a

We did end up sleeping in it. We were having a trip between Christmas and new year and sleeping in the tent, but the 50mph gusts got the better of us. At around 2am, we rearranged the van and climbed in. It could be sleep deprevaction that made us sleep with ours head next to the bikes, all we could smell was the fresh chain lube!

 

[P20]

We mocked the garage up using an old desktop and cardboard. Working out if we had the space for the bikes and still give us the space we needed in the living area. The neighbours already think we’re crazy so having different combinations of bikes out to see how it went together didn’t surprise them in the slightest.


With the measurements sorted, we book it in to Notjustcampers in Wakefield. Andy and his team are brilliant, not phased by anything and we had friends who have had two vans from him.

we decided to have some of the work and strip the old boards out. It was a plasterers van and it had gone everywhere...

 

[P20]

We knew lockdown due to Covid was coming, but thankfully Andy and his team got the van back to us the Friday before the UK went into Lockdown.
They fitted:
LPS lithium battery system including hook up
Solar panel
Sliding side windows on both sides
Diesel heater
Carpeted and lined
Garage compartment
Golf gti seats on swivel bases (these need recovering)
Lighting and sockets (240&12v)


We absolutely love it. The finish is superb. But due to lockdown, we couldn’t go anywhere with it........

 

[P20]

So with nowhere to go, we planned the mounts for bikes.

And it works as planned! There’s two set of mounts in there, one for the mountain bikes, one for the road/gravel bikes.

My wife came up with the idea for helmet storage on the back door

 

[benp1]

This looks great!

 

[hoggle]

Love it, especially that you have taken time to do some of the work your self's.

 

[Dave A]

Life got in the way and we did not do that much to the van initially and it stayed as panel van for the first 7 months or so. The only changes being better bulbs (Ring Xenonmax) in a bid to help the woeful H4 and a 2nd set of wheels for the winter tyres. I've stuck with the same Clayton 16", this van will never be about looks, its going to a practical thing.
View attachment 87615
And they got put to use. I’ve ran winters And summers for the last 10yrs, they really do make a difference.
aView attachment 87616

We did end up sleeping in it. We were having a trip between Christmas and new year and sleeping in the tent, but the 50mph gusts got the better of us. At around 2am, we rearranged the van and climbed in. It could be sleep deprevaction that made us sleep with ours head next to the bikes, all we could smell was the fresh chain lube!

View attachment 87617

I'm thinking of putting some winter tyres on a set of 16" Claytons. Never had winter tyres before what can you recommend and advise please? Thanks Dave

 

[P20]

@Dave A
I've got Hankook on the T6 as someone gave me a pair, so I bought another pair to match. Previously I’ve ran Falken eurowinter on the vivaro and I think (tricky to tell) they were slightly better in the snow. If you can afford them, the Michelin Agilis Winters are good (I’ve used them at work)

 

[P20]

As we couldn’t go and stay over anywhere, we had a few “van teas” out and about with our evening walks.
The battery system is powerful enough to power an induction hob, but it does use a lot of battery!





We had a night up in Northumberland with the van. Wild camped near Embleton with our camping mats on the floor. Fabulous nights sleep, the curtains are way more effective than we thought they might be. The overnight spot was in the shade, so we drove to find a sunnier spot for breakfast.

 

[P20]

The Thule slidebars have made life a lot easier for loading the canoes. I can load them (15ft perceptions) by myself if necessary. They are now sat on Thule dockgrips since this photo was taken and they’re rock solid. They can be loaded all at ground level, no clambering up on the roof.


Waiting for the ferry to Aran

 

[VanDamMan]

Looks great...thats what I love about vans ..no ones wrong or right about modifying...Just Enjoy

 

[Sturge]

Looks brilliant

 

[P20]

We then began working on the bed/storage unit. we spent a lot of time with tape measures, masking tape and cardboard boxes working out what we wanted. We nearly ordered a unit from theplyguys, but it wasn’t exactly what we were after, so with my father in laws help (and workshop) we built our own.

The prototype:

The unit has various cut outs, some to save a bit of weight (it’s 18mm birch ply). Others were ventilation for the fridge and to clear the “cat flap“ in the garage bulkhead that allows use to put long items through from the back doors all the way to the front seats, very handy for diy projects etc. my father in laws woodworking skills and tools meant we ended up with a far better unit than we could have created by ourselves.



Two coats of yacht varnish



Installed and fastened down



The advantage of not having kitchen units, we basically have a king size bed! It’s using two ikea single mattress cut to suit our needs, but it’s so comfortable! The king size was never planned, the unit was designed to house all the kit for biking/walking/paddling, etc. It also houses the portaloo.

 

[lambo]

Cool story. Love the card modelling to get things right. I'm an industrial designer and we use card mock ups in the early days for everything from surgical robots to vacuum cleaners.
Good to see you're broad minded about bicycle genre too - road and mountain

 

[P20]

Our holiday this year was up to Aran and Kintyre. A mix of campsites and wild camps. The van was brilliant. Even though the weather meant one day was effectively binned off, we didn’t kill each other and the van was comfortable.

Ignore the man maths, it’s solar powered bacon!!
The canoes really do block the solar panel though!!

 

[benp1]

When your van was in an earlier iteration, how thick was your ply lining? And how did you fix those coat hooks in, just self tappers?

Mine is ply lined and some hooks might be helpful for storing bits like that. Did you ever put much weight on them?

 

[P20]

When your van was in an earlier iteration, how thick was your ply lining? And how did you fix those coat hooks in, just self tappers?

Mine is ply lined and some hooks might be helpful for storing bits like that. Did you ever put much weight on them?

It was standard ply, not that thick but the hooks with some small self tappers were fine. They could hold a loaded camelbak. We’ve got some hooks in the new set up next to the bed, but just for jackets

 

[P20]

So the bits left to sort:
Headlights, which should be here this afternoon!
Kenwood head unit with Apple play. So nearly bought this, but decided the headlights were more important.
A table of some description, especially as my wife is now working from home and this will allow her to work from somewhere else!
Get the seats recovered.
Covers for the mattresses.