3D images (day and night)

As I was writing my last post, the 3D images I have been waiting for arrived. Cheers Sandeep!

All being well this is a damned good mock-up of how the van should look when its all done...

Rib seats

The van can now function as a family vehicle! Had the Rib Altair seats fitted by vw-interiors last weekend, and it looks fab. Originally, we were going to go for the standard inka fabric but fortunately I had a change of mind and went for 'Safari Noir' (Black!) and it was the right choice, personally.


One thing I have noticed is that these seats are really deep and my three year olds feet, in particular, don't hang over the edge; instead the mud he will invariably plaster himself in will give our new fabric a real hint of safari. I think we need one of those fitted plastic covers the Americans seem to love for their sofas - I never have really worked that one out!

Under the seat you will also notice a black steel gas bottle locker, bought from GT Campers. Dan (at vw-interiors) fitted this for a small labour charge; I can't bring myself to drill holes in her myself.

I just need to finish off the rest of the insulation and carpeting...

Interior side panel carpets - part 1

It's taken me 9 days to find the time to post this, so here it is...

I chose Megavanmats 'silver' carpet for the interior due to all the good reviews. It is nice and thick and although it was about 6 degrees C when I was sticking this in it was still pretty pliable, although a hairdryer to warm it up makes all the difference.

To acclimatise myself I started off with the cards (re- using the factory fitted hardboard one for the smaller card on the pillar, and 6mm ply for the one above the wheel arch). Cut the carpet - I used sharp scissors as the stanley-type knife I had, although new, was rubbish at cutting - about 50mm wider than the card, lay the carpet on a flat surface, spray the glue on both surfaces and stick 'em together. Creases shouldn't really be a problem, but if they are they can be easily smoothed out. Glue the back side edges of the card (I wish I had bought some brush on adhesive rather than just spray, for exactly this sort of situation) and glue the carpet edges back. Where the carpet ruffles up, pinch the edges and do a tight cut with a pair of sharp scissors - simples!

Feeling brave I attempted the whole of the nearside in one go, including the wheel arch (having never tried this before but buoyed by what I have read on the T4 forum), and I am pretty pleased with the results. So long as you take your time you should do a pretty good job. Having said that, if I had attempted this ten years ago in my early twenties I would no doubt have rushed and bodged it up completely.

The wheel arches are actually very pleasurable to do, although cutting around the floor edge can be tricky. The window wasn't too difficult. Cut a 'X' in the carpet where the window is to allow the carpet to stretch into the crevices, then fold the carpet around the metal. The finish is pretty good but I still think I will try and find some aftermarket rubbers to put around the edge to give a professional finish.

I then cracked on with the wheel arch on the other side so it wouldn't be a major hassle after the Rib seat was fitted.

Poptop, windows, bumpers and floor

Picked up my van from James at Custom Campers (Halifax) after 10 days of separation, and it was worth the wait. The van now looks like a camper having had windows and an Austops elevated roof fitted, plus colour-coded bumpers - when I left James I wanted to drive down the road and sit on my horn, well chuffed!


With little need to generate any enthusiasm I set to work this morning with the aim of getting the floor down permanently. I cut some strips of 6mm ply and stuck them down in the non-ridged areas of the floor pan to make an even base. I also ran a piece of conduit (with some wire already in) across the van (the white strip in the middle of the photo), as I have a plan I may put into action later on - if I don't then nothing is lost. I only thought about taking the photo (left) after getting the floor in, hopefully the weight of the floor has bonded the strip that is sticking up.

Before I put the floor in I laid it over a 2.55m x 2m piece of Altro industrial vinyl, which I got from Andy Rowe (top bloke) in Clay Cross, Derbyshire, and marked out the shape of the floor. His top tip was to cut off an extra 1mm (or so) from every edge so the floor doesn't bubble up - worked a treat!

I also marked on the floor where the 6mm ply battens were so I could screw them down, although a) I am not sure how effective this was and b) how necessary it will be as the floor will be bolted down with the Rib seat etc.

Although Andy said the floor didn't need to be stuck down I used a bit of Megavanmat adhesive, and wished I hadn't. Trying to get large piece of Altro into the camper without it bonding as soon as it touched the floor was bloody annoying, but I got there in the end.

I went for an almost beige vinyl, which I was a bit unsure about, but it looks more grey now its in. I need to sort out how to finish the edge by the tailgate, but otherwise it looks great.

Today, I also fitted the rest of the RAAMmat onto the panels in readiness for the carpet installation. All being well she will be going to VW Interiors next weekend to have the Rib seat fitted, so I need to get the nearside carpeting done in the next few days.