Caravelle Conversions!

[TallPaul_S]

I reckon @TallPaul_S needs to jump in on this thread - his bus has cost me a lot of money!!!

Haven't been on here much as I've been so busy but rest assured the Caravelle is getting used!


My entire build thread is here:

Thread 'TallPaul's Caravelle - MTB wagon!'

3 Jul 2023

Hey all, new member here but I've been lurking for a while, all the time searching for a T6 Caravelle to replace my Skoda Superb Estate which I've owned since 2019, and has been brilliant as a wagon taking me and my bikes to all corners of the UK.

Today, I collected this! It's a 2018 Caravelle Executive SWB, 150tdi DSG, in deep pearl black. Std 17" cascavel alloys fitted, and it's on 42k miles. 1 owner from new, I'm the 2nd owner.

Now, aside from the pretty much standard executive spec caravelle features, this one has had a few nice options ticked from factory plus some extras fitted...

• TallPaul_S
• ablemail bike rack - internal. build thread. camper conversion leisure battery roamer seat base solar victron
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• Forum: Show Us Your T6

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But in short it's a Caravelle with the 2 single rear seats left in and the bench seat removed, then a slide out bike tray for 2x bikes, a single bed that folds out over the 2x sears, a fully custom built kitchen pod with fridge, sink and fresh/waste water, storage, USB sockets etc, pull out table and storage for a 2 burner gas hob. Oh and a full Victron electrics set up with a 230Ah lithium batter, 300w solar panel, 2000w inverter. And a full van X blackout curtain set up.

Everything bar the curtains is attached to the Caravelle seat rails and so it's fully removable with no modification to the interior.

 

[moodsterT6]

Just wanted to say thanks @moodsterT6
The inspiration and advice has been really helpful.
I've added some pics of the final results below.

When stored: The large back piece of wood is fixed to the large back box. The two smaller pieces sit on top and the holes all line up making it easy to lock together. (The two chairs are upright and push back against it all)

When in use: The two smaller boxes pull out slightly and half support the big board and half support one end of the smaller boards. The other end sits on the folded chairs which also get pulled forwards (by splitting the smaller box in 2, it gives the ability for just one half of the bed to be in use)

Used it this weekend for the first time, worked really well!

Next step is to fit panels to the 2 smaller boxes so they can be used for storage (any recommendations of what to use? I was thinking 6.5mm ply to slide in the 8mm slot on the 30x30? Looks like you've used some kind of perspex though?)

Cheers!

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Nice work I used 3mm alluminium composite mostly fitted to the outside of the framework. I think your idea to use ply inside the extrusion channel would work fine too, just nake sure its fixed well or it will rattle. I think if I built it again I would fit the panels inside the framework. My current design is very custom though, it was built they way I did it due to super tight tollerances for my pull out drawers etc.

Cheers

 

[hciR]

Nice work I used 3mm alluminium composite mostly fitted to the outside of the framework. I think your idea to use ply inside the extrusion channel would work fine too, just nake sure its fixed well or it will rattle. I think if I built it again I would fit the panels inside the framework. My current design is very custom though, it was built they way I did it due to super tight tollerances for my pull out drawers etc.

Cheers

It turned out to be a bit of a pain at 8mm. The only thing I could find was acrylic which was crazy expensive. So settled for Polycarbonate twin wall roofing sheets. Which actually turned out to be ideal! (as if the sheets were solid and the full 8mm, I wouldn't have been able to do the nuts up without a bigger cutout)