Since he couldn’t get anything done Paul started to fine tune the layout, drawing up detailed plans of the bed and storage units. Once we had settled on the layout he looking for the timber he wanted, only to find it was still in short supply. At this point he started looking at companies who made units for campervans. Of which there a many. He also found that whilst the designs were all much of a muchness there were huge differences in quality and price. And none of them suited our needs. One company, local to us, said he could make us some units but when he saw our specifications he gave us a ridiculous quote for the work. So we were back to looking for timber, which was still in short supply. To fix the timber together Paul was looking at the corner fixings used by the companies which made the flat pack units. He even bought a couple of strips but wasn’t overly keen on them so continued his search, eventually finding what he wanted at Screwfix of all places. Then, finally, B&Q replenished it’s stock of timber, so off he went and bought everything he needed to start fitting out the interior.
First to be done was the bed. After much perusing of the internet for “rock and roll” beds; like the one we have in the Dodge; and a lot of discussion, we decided that we didn’t want the bog standard, traditional layout of a ¾ sized R&R bed across the back of the van, effectively rendering the back doors useless. Since the van is a long wheelbase we and have extra space to put any cupboard/storage units we opted for an L shaped design which will pull out to make a full 4ft 6in bed. Within a day Paul had the framework made up. At this point we had to wait for the corner fixings to arrive from Screwfix so he could start boxing it in. We then had several discussions on how we were going to treat the plywood. Since we have decided to keep the van orange we wanted a black and grey colour scheme for a nice contrast.
Initially we looked at painting the ply but I always feel that it looks cheap and nasty, like you couldn’t afford anything better. Then, thanks to our daughter Suzy, Paul discovered the new generation of sticky-backed plastic. Vinyl wrap to the signwriter in him. There is some really nice stuff out there these days and he found just what we were looking for in B&Q. A satin black wood grain effect which looks absolutely gorgeous when applied.
Although he had had the plywood cut to his specified sizes by B&Q he still needed to cut everything to shape. Now, most folks would go out and buy the correct piece of equipment. Once again the Covid backlog struck. He couldn’t find a table saw for love nor money so he made his own, using his old circular saw and a “vintage” headboard; left over from an old bedroom suite which had belonged to his grandparents; laid across a couple of trestles. Don’t try this at home kids!
He soon had all the pieces ready to make up the bed. The bits which would be showing he covered with the vinyl wrap. The corner fixings had by now arrived so before long he had the bed all made up and fixed in place. The only thing we’ve got to work out now is how to support the extension piece when the bed is out.