Rock 'n' Roll Bed Part 2

I've done copious amounts of research on how the California Seat should be fitted to the van.   On good advice from someone who fits these down in Oxford, you need about 7 or 8 bolts per rail.  The rails I have, only had four bolts per rail and no nuts included, so, I needed to order these from my local VW dealer.  8 more bolts and 16 nuts.  Came to an eye watering £56 inclusive of the VAT.  If you don't have any of the proper high tensile steel bolts, these are the one's you'll need:-

http://www.banwy.co.uk/product/t5-parts/Seats/bolt-m10-x-28-square-head-caravelle-rails

and these nuts:-

http://www.banwy.co.uk/product/t5-parts/Seats/kombi-floor-bracket-nut-fixings

Then I looked into the fittings, which are required for the underneath of the van to distribute the load and ensure the bolts don't just rip through the floor in the event of a crash.  The brackets I need are four of these, which are all proper VW rail brackets:-

http://www.banwy.co.uk/product/mirrors/Seats/floor-reinforcer-mounting-strengthening-seats

and four of these smaller brackets, also proper V Dub:-

http://www.banwy.co.uk/product/mirrors/Seats/seat-floor-reinforcement-fittings-kombi

You can see the brackets (1) and (14),(15) which I have ordered above.

Rock 'n' Roll Bed

Well, I think so far, this has been the hardest thing to decide on.    Even before I bought the van I was considering my options for what bed I was going to choose.    On my initial search I found a few good, solid looking Rock 'n' Roll beds with nice upholstery and thought, yep, about £700 - £800 will get me a pretty nice setup with seat belts and all the fixings.  My favourite one was the RustyLee Bed.

Here are some of the standard Rock n Roll beds I looked at:

http://www.volkswares.co.uk/t5/t5-a-frame-bed/
http://www.vwrustylee.com/vw-t4-t5-beds/
http://smart-beds.com/smart-bed.php


However, after I'd bought the van, I had a more thorough look.  This is when I realised that, because the seat belts were integrated into the seat, they needed to be pretty strong and robust if I was going to carry passengers in them.

Tested Beds

So, more research and I was then looking at Crash Tested (tested in vehicle and simulated crash) and Pull Tested beds (Pulled under force on a frame outside of the vehicle to simulate crash forces).  Not cheap at all.   I almost contemplated buying a Smart Bed Evolution.   I made a phone enquiry and someone said they'd email me the breakdown of the costs.  The frame alone was £1000 then there was a £150 charge for fitting (to get the certificate) and seatbelts, boards, foam and upholstery were going to be extra, plus VAT on top of all that.    I think I was looking at about £1750 all in.  So I emailed them back and asked if they'd throw in the boards, which they wanted £65 for + VAT.  I thought that if I was going to spend nearly £2K on a bloody (not even Crash Tested) bed, they could at least throw in some bits of plywood.   They didn't even give me the courtesy of responding.  So I thought, stuff 'em, and decided to do this properly and get a second hand VW California Seat Bed.  These are made by VW, Crash Tested, had rails and look pretty good.  Unfortunately, they were pretty costly still and the rails incurred an additional cost.

Here are some of the Pull Tested beds I looked at:

http://caledonianconversions.co.uk/rnr-beds/
http://jdsmetaltech.co.uk/m1-pull-tested-rock-and-roll-bed/
http://www.titanbeds.co.uk/titan_beds_2-3_seat.html
https://www.reimo.com/de/582681-variob_333_1325_655_t5_weekender_stoff_pla/
http://bebb.co.uk/rock_roll_seat.html
http://smart-beds.com/smart-bed-evolution.php
http://rnrbeds.com/

Searching on ebay and gumtree came up with some interesting choices.  There was the California Beach style seats, various colour schemes of the bog standard California seats and then there was the decision of either double seat or triple and finally, cloth or leather.

California Seat Bed.

California Beach Style

The California Cream Style which I bought.

After a couple of weeks looking for the right seat I finally found it on ebay.   A standard California double seat in a cream cloth fabric.   I wasn't that keen on the colour but I'm hoping to get it re-upholstered in the future.  Being a double seat was perfect because I wanted the extra space for cupboards down the right hand side.    The cost was £1500, which was still pretty steep, but cheaper than the other beds out there, which were only Pull Tested rather than proper, in vehicle Crash Tested by a big corporate vehicle manufacturer, and in my opinion, THE best vehicle manufacturer in the world.

I emailed the guy selling the seat and he said he would throw in the rails for the £1500.  I couldn't believe my luck.  All of the other sellers wanted between £300 to £600 extra for the rails on top of about £1600 to £1750 for a cloth fabric seat.  So, I snapped it up and arranged to go and collect it in Chesterfield (Yes, a Chesterfield seat) today. Here's Mike's ebay site:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/usr/greenmotobikerossi46

This morning, I drop down to Chesterfield to Mike's garage where he was in the middle of converting a T5 into a camper.  There were about 3 other T5's kicking around in various stages of conversion.   One of them, a lovely white California conversion which looked outstanding.  The finish was superb and it just looked the business.  A nice young lad, who I guessed was Mike's son showed me around the other campers which were also really great looking vehicles, with some very innovative design features.    It's a shame Chesterfield was about 2 hours drive away, otherwise I'd be there at their workshop quite often, buying bits and piece and getting some good advice.  After being inspired by these lovely distractions, I got down to business regarding the seat I came to buy.   They had about 4 or 5 seats to choose from, all in the same cream fabric.  I had a good look, made sure they reclined ok and that the seat belts all worked and finally chose a nice one out of the lot.  The guys carried the seat and rails into my van for me and I handed over the cash.  I was given some instructions on where the seat rails should be mounted and how.  Apparently, the fuel tank needs to be lowered to fit the rail bolts.  I think I'll hand the fitting job over to my local mechanic who has a ramp for this kind of thing.

Door Seals

I've seen a few YouTube videos of people who've installed extra rubber door trim to their vans to make them shut more solidly and reduce vibration and rattling when then are closing.  After a lot of research, I found the rubber seals which I purchased from here:-

http://www.carbuildersolutions.com/uk/18mm-x-15mm-self-adhesive-neoprene-eared-rubber-d-section

I bought about 6 metres which cost me about £25.  It should be ample for the two front doors.  If it works out, I will buy more for the sliding door and rear doors.  Apparently, the California camper version of the Transporter has these seals pre-installed by default.  

I'll let you know how the fitting goes and how much you need to do the job later.

Wheel Trim

Now that I'm in massive debt to the bank with my new van purchase, I need to save some of the money I borrowed to pay for the Rock 'n' Roll bed, which seems to be a bit more pricey than I had envisaged.  So, it looks like the alloy wheels will have to wait.  Instead, I bought a set of 16" black wheel trims which arrived today.  They even came with VW badges (which I had to stick on myself). It took me about 5 minutes to pop them on the steel wheels and zip tie them, as an extra precaution.
The total price was about £28+£6 postage and they actually look bloody awesome.   I can't believe how much they've transformed the look of the van and for such a low price.  All the bling without the ker-ching as they say.


http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/171772718669?_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT


<photo coming soon>

Windows Installed

I had the windows installed last week.  I was recommended a firm by VolksWerks in Middlesbrough which I phoned to get some quotes.  The company quoted me £500 for 2 side windows and 2 rear door windows or £800 for 4 side windows and 2 rear door windows.  I decided to go for the £800 quote as I liked the idea of having a panoramic view in the back.
The fitting was booked in for last Friday but the weather wasn't supposed to be very good, so I phoned them to see if they could make Thursday, which was supposed to be nice and sunny.  They were fine with that so, on the Thursday, they arrived with the pre-ordered glass.  I was a bit anxious about the whole process, considering I didn't know if they were as good as VolksWerks had said and the whole idea of them cutting up my new van.
After about 2.5 hours of nail biting, the windows where installed, I inspected them and all seemed ok, so I paid the money by cheque and they left.  On closed inspection, I noticed the two side windows were not aligned at the top on the left hand side!!!  Luckily, the adhesive takes a good 2 hours to set, so I took off the tape holdig them in position and tweaked the alignment and made them look spot on.  I then re-applied the tape and left them to set for about 4 hours before taking the tape off.  All nice and straight.

<photos to come soon>

The next step was to remove the trim the window fitters had installed round the new windows and sand down all of the rough edges and carefully apply black Hammerite to all of the exposed metal.
I didn't want condensation slowly rusting my van to bits!!  It took a good few hours to do all of the windows as I had to masking tape all of the glass.  I did ask the window fitter if they could do this but they looked at me like I was an idiot.  Obviously, £800 doesn't go far in terms of quality of service.  On retrospect, I should have phoned a few window fitters to see what their process was and pick the most amenable.  Anyway, I gave the window edges a further coat of Hammerite the following day and left it to dry for a few days before installing the trim back onto  the windows.   Another job done.

<photos to come soon>

Floor Preparation.

I've just bought some smooth, white Hammerite rust protection paint.  It has an 8 year rust protection guarantee.  Accourding to the tin, it says it has rust prohibitor mixed in with the paint to stop rust from forming.  It also goes straight on without having to use primer first.

First off, I removed the plywood wheel arch boxes and then the two section plywood floor panels. They were all screwed to the metal floor which suprised me.  The screws left nice holes showing the bare metal around the hole edges.  Not good!!! Anyway, all should be ok now because I swept the whole floor then wiped it down with a cloth before roller painting the whole floor and wheel arches with the hammerite.  It took about half an hour but it looks pretty good.

<picture to follow>

I waited until the next day and painted another coat and got a brush and made sure that all of the edges and small nooks and crannies were covered.  I paid special attention to the screw holes where the ply was fixed down.

The plastic step tray was removed and also hammerited.  So, now the floor is super protected against rust.  Next step will be to source some silver insulation foil and put that on the floor and wheel arches to stop condensation build up.  Another protection against rust.  It will also help keep the warmth in the van on cold nights.  I'll post how it goes.

Window Fitting Booked In.

I've booked my window fitting in!! I Sourced an Automotive Window fitter called Gary Palmer in Middlesbrough to come and fit my windows this Friday coming.  He was recommended by VolksWerks, a VW specialist in Middlesbrough who use him to fit all of their windows.  Hopefully, the weather will be good because he is coming to my house to fit them.  I don't have a garage so it better be sunny.  Total cost for all 4 side windows and 2 rear barn door windows is £800 inclusive of vat.  They are all fixed windows as I've heard that the opening windows tend to leak.
I'm a bit worried about the windo fitting as it's my lovely new van and the bloke is going to cut chunks out of it.  Anyway, as soon as they are fitted, I'll let you know how it went.

What to do first??

My aim is to get windows fitted all the way round.  Four on the sides and two on the back doors.  I'm going to go for 'Privacy' glass which should hopefully look cool on a white van.  Then I'm going to source a nice Rock 'n' Roll bed and insulate and line the insides in a medium grey carpet.  The flooring will probably be some sort of laminate or linoleum.  I haven't decided yet.

Purchasing the Van

Hi, welcome to my new blog.  I thought I'd record my little journey into the world of creating a bespoke, cool, modern VW Camper / Day van.  Hope you find it useful.

After a good month's worth of searching I have finally found the perfect van for my Camper project. Well, I say perfect, but there wasn't much in the way of colour choices.  I would have preferred to have a black or Pure Grey colour but most of the vans out there with the sort of specifications that I wanted are Candy White.    The thing that convinced me that white might be a good choice was this...

and this...

So....I now have a nice white panel van which I purchased  from a company called Van Monster. They are part of the North Gate van rentals company.

My lovely 'new' van has low mileage (43k miles) and is only 4 years old with Full Service History.