Van in a usable state

The van has been put together but is far from a completed state. There is still LOADS to do! However it is in a 'usable' state - so i'm off to the continent to enjoy her company. After all isn't that the whole reason for being a T4 owner?

Bed from Ikea

I bought a single Lycksele futon bed from Ikea the other day. My plan was to simply add boards that were a bit wider, carpet over them and then add angle brackets to the four floor feet. So this is what I did:

I am in the process of sourcing some foam but due to time constraints will most likely buy a sultan mattress from Ikea and cut it to my own size. I have already bought the covering material from Ikea which was only 99p a metre in a sale!

Some other foam suppliers I have been considering are:
www.bespokefoamsupplies.co.uk
www.acefoam.co.uk
www.efoam.co.uk

My original bed plan was to make sure I could fit kayaks under it so I was going to ask a local welders to make this which I got priced up for under £100:

Electrics

I've been sorting out the electrical side of things with the van today, mainly as it was raining hard. I managed to complete all the ICE wiring, split charge relay, tailgate 6x9 speakers and extended the main battery wires (via butts and battery wire) to allow room for two batteries in the bonnet area. I did this by making a larger battery tray that still fits into the cornered off area. The design is on the VW books site. I bought most of the parts from vehicle wiring products.

I also fitted a Bonnet Bra (from eBay) to hide my scruffy bonnet and prevent further stone chips. The idea being it can be carried to a new van and have a bit of longevity. Looks great!

Carpeting

I bought 2m x 9m of black un-backed carpet from a eBay seller who sells T4 carpet kits. I also bought some red canned Evo Stick that is very heat resistant. It took about three days to carpet the entire van! The panels were pretty easy enough to do but the door posts and wheel arches required quite a bit of skill. I got the hang of it in the end but got some glue drips in places -DO NOT spray directly onto the carpet! I've also discovered that black shows up dirt way too well :(

Rust
As it's an older van i've been trying to stop the onslaught of rust to some degree. The immediate problem being the wheel arches! As i'm intending this to be a 'working' van for climbing/kayaking I simply painted the whole wheel arch with red oxide paint. I know this is a temporary measure but i'm not sure it's worth sanding and repainting them at this date. I'll have to have a think about it.