Camper interior wood overhaul

[germanx]

Before we picked up our bus we only had seen it on pics (and got feedback by the judgement of a local contact). As it turned out, we had to accept the wooden maple interior was not so fresh anymore as it was displayed on the pics and in the Sales ad. Well, guess we are not the only ones ...
Anyways, we decided to work on it over winter, and I want to give an update on what we do. As we will use the bus on occasional short weekend rides or as a wedding vehicle, my wife and I agreed to toss the sink and tub. The sink has holes anyways, and the water tap works but as we never really will go into the wild, no need to worry about water. What we wanted was a fridge which is key in hot summer temps.
The bus came with a quality furniture built by a guy who made this for a living in the boat business. The built is solid.

We have started to do the following mods:
1. Raise the whole setup (sideboard and seatbenches) by 1 inch to cater for LED light profile at the bottom:

2. Reduce the height of the sideboard to allow a relaxed position (ellbow can rest on sideboard)
In the backend of the sideboard the engine fire system is installed and I need to access it through the top of the sideboard for maintenance reasons. So the rear section of the sideboard will remain at the original height.
We have decided to built in a lowered middle section:

3. The cooler / Freezer unit will be integrated under the forward seatbench on sliding rails. The 'push to open' mechanism is a nice thing, just that with heavy breaking, the unit would unlock by its own weight. I have integrated a lever mechanism which arrests the cooler when locked into place. This lever sits behind the driver seat and needs to be pushed down before the cooler can slide out.
Closed

Open:

Here you can see the seat bench front side cut in half, and the cooler cover already with new Marple veneer.

4. Rounding edges + Radius
Many interiors these days have one or more large radius integrated for a smoother looks. We anted to integrate this type of design and I had planned to make a template to bend Plywood. But than I came across a company which does sell quarter or half circle sections to the dimensions you want. They supply trade show furniture builders, and the reasonable high cost for the piece (2/3 inch thick plywood, 8 inch radius, 1mtr long at about 80 USD) was quickly offset by the time and effort it saved me to trial and error the templates and final pieces. It just has to be cut to length...

Before:

After:

Here you can see the new radius section inserted into the old bench. And the LED alloy profile already fitted.

This one was even easier: See two pics up with top lid of the right seatbench showing a hard edge
after filing:

with new veneer applied:

The application of the veneer is easier than I thought. Ok, I bought very expensive material which is thin wood with a cotton backing. it comes in plates 2.40 x 1.20 mtr. Very flexible for radius work, and no warping and easy to cut and sand.
I use standard all purpose contact glue (Pattex classic) on both surfaces applied with a fine notched spreader, let it dry for 10 minutes and than press the veneer on as hard as the material allows with a round edged piece of wood.

5. All doors and the small drawer will receive new locks. They will be kept closed by two magnetic push locks for each door. All push buttons will disappear, wholes will be closed, and we are left with clean, smooth surfaces.

6. The LED lights on floor level will be controlled by an app through a wifi connected control unit from China.

7. The cooler runs on 12V and 230V AC, this was the smallest I could find to accept normal AC power. We do not drive so often, and the cooler is permanently installed. So I wanted to have the option to pre-cool the box by pluggin it into the power outlet of my garage - saving battery power.

I will use boat paint from international to create a mirror shine on all surfaces when I am done. The floor will be a natural wood design vinyl floor. I have to keep the floor thickness at a minimum to still slide the cooler box over it. Vinyl is the way to go....


Watch for updates...
_________________
'73 Beach Buggy
'66 T1 Deluxe

[earlywesty]

Interesting interior, I like the design, fairly open. Is there a table? Look forward to the updates.

[germanx]

Yes, table there will be - was thinking along those lines:

- Surfboard-shaped table
- Dimensions and position of the out of center leg will allow free rotation of the table to be moved 'over' the sideboard for easy access of storage areas when table is not needed.

- Table supports in two heights:
1. a long leg when you sit at the table
2. a short leg so the table is level with the benches. It has to support of the upholstery elements, which will be used to make up a large bed all along to the rear door (together with the rear trunk area this makes a large bed)

Something like this:

And here rotated in parking position (over the lower middle section of the sideboard):

_________________
'73 Beach Buggy
'66 T1 Deluxe

[williamM]

really like the radius idea- looks great- can we get a pic of entire bus ? On one of my buses I did that table set up only recessed the mount (Big hole- I know) but had tile floor and a piece of tile makes the hole disappear-

Keep the up dates flowing-
_________________
some days I get up and just sit and think. Some days I just sit.

opinion untempered by fact is ignorance.

Don't step in any!

[sgellis]

I like the oval table. Don't think I have ever seen one like it. Looks very useful. Could fatten it up to almost round and still be workable.

Have you considered making a bracket off the cabinet instead of the floor post? I hate floor posts.
_________________
My 64 Kombi restoration
My camper interior build
My 54 standard restoration
The Nova Scotian Barndoor (YouTube)
The Nova Scotian Barndoor (CAD drawings)

[germanx]

[mandraks]

from my experience: the largest table you can fit is just barely big enough. the westy table can be moved around to fit long way or side way. look at the the mounting arm if you can.

It mounted to the furniture....
_________________
regards

Uli

----------------------------------------
'53 3-Fold Oval, L35 Metallic Blue, looking for a narrow hatch panel

[germanx]

Some work done on the sideboard.... getting close to apply new veneer:

Good exercise to get the 6 feet long unit in and out the bus several times until I was sure about horizontal and vertical alignment and a snug fit between fire wall and front seat wall...

Had to shape a new door for the rear section. This is needed to access the engine fire extinguisher mounted on the floor - in front of the inner rear fender. As far as you can look into the compartment (in the picture below), this area will be used as storage room, separated from the fire extinguisher by a wooden board. The door will be mounted with the previous hinges and be held by magnetic push-locks. So no need for a handle or catch-whole...

Rear seat bench already veneered. Got alittle lazy to make some templates and just roughly cut out the 6 hinges from the sheet of veneer, which than was glued in one go to frame and doors. (I wanted to ensure alignment if wood structures).
After application, I had to cut out the doors. This was not possible from the back and I damaged the veneer in two areas where I replaced it with small sections. The whole area will be covered with the seat upholstery, so I will leave it like that. It will be ok after the application of the boat clear coat.

_________________
'73 Beach Buggy
'66 T1 Deluxe

[germanx]

Update:

Have started to fit the modified interior into the bus. Some pics of the first test fitting. The interior was reshaped, veneered and painted with "International" boat paint.
I had to lift the units by about half an inch to create enough space for the cooler / freezer unit (the smallest size which can host champaign bottles in upright position).
LED lights will befitted all around the floor and are remotely controlled by an app.

Parts after reshaping, new veneer application and boat paint treatment:

First test fit:

The retractable cooler unit is locked in place with a hidden fixture to arrest the box during driving. The lever to unlock the hook is positioned between rears of driver seat and seat bench, and mounted flush along the upper edge of the panel behind the front seats. By pushing the lever down, it releases the 2 arrest hooks and the cooler unit can slide out.

Rear section of sideboard:
Top flap to access another storage compartment on top of motor fire extinguisher. Drawer and doors with magnetic push-locks (time will tell if I have to add more to keep doors locked during rides)

And here a direct comparison. The reduction of height of the side board and the curved seat bench seem to do the trick: create the impression of more space...

The red propane Gas bottle (as in the last picture) will be tucked away under the sideboard behind the driver seat. Here the inboard gas heater is mounted to supply warm air to front and rear compartments.

The rear seat bench will be mounted soon...
_________________
'73 Beach Buggy
'66 T1 Deluxe

[germanx]

Seat benches mounted.
Finally, after heater, fire extinguisher, 4 seatbelts, Cooler/freezer unit had been mounted and connected, I have finally installed my seat benches...

_________________
'73 Beach Buggy
'66 T1 Deluxe

[LAGrunthaner]

Nice, I prefer original but lean towards utilitarian
Making use of all the windows is much better than putting one in the closet
_________________
American Red Cross Safe And Well:
https://www.redcross.org/about-us/news-and-events/...bsite.html
Maui Roadsters
www.mauiroadsters.com
http://www.oacdp.org

[germanx]

It has been a while... Well, the motor had some issues I had to get fixed.
And then small things here and there had to get addressed.

The pictures show the interior with a vinyl floor just very slim so that the cooler can be pulled out and slides over it.

I am missing the metal profile at the edge of the floor.

_________________
'73 Beach Buggy
'66 T1 Deluxe