Jocklandjohn

Thank goodness mine's a boy then!

Sounds brilliant (and bl**dy scary too!).

With a small child.......dealing only with dust would be a luxury! I'm thinking peanut butter, congealed fruit ice-lolly juice, cream cheese (dried), not to mention the 'log-on-the-line' that is the half-eaten Opal Fruit. Could be a disaster of epic(urean) proportions!

In fact I flirted briefly with the notion of taking the router and making 'tracks' in the sleeping platform for him so he could do away with the rail track and just go with the grooves! But the amount of grot that would gather in the track would be a bigger hazard than the typical seasonal UK 'leaves on the line' ! :-)

Cheers! Things going well here, herself doing really well and wee man looking forwards to building his train set on the sleeping platform!

Cheers Tom. Aye there will be two struts which lie across the back inside, hinged at the bottom, (van width is wider than the roof is high) and will pull up and be propped/locked into each rear corner. These will prevent collapses, and form the 'corner' around which the fabric sides will be tightened. There's a fair amount of weight up there!

Progress continues (slowly)! Here's a video of the gas struts doing their thing.

Dont know much about the others but I've fitted an Exmoor Lock/Fold in my 110, for my wee lad to use so if you need any first-hand info about that ask me.

Well I was renovating my 110 and replacing the wheels and decided to replaced the springs with supposedly correct aftermarket ones. Jeez it was nightmarish. First drive down hill from my house and round a corner nearly tipped the whole van over into a garden the springs were so soft. I complained to the vendor (a large UK LR specialist) and they said no-one else had complained and "we've sold dozens and dozens of sets with no issues" but they agreed to replace them. Long story short - they replaced them three more times for me - and after fitting the second set I was so concerned I took the 110 to the local independent Land Rover garage and asked the owner to drive it. He came back 2 minutes later after the first corner ashen faced and said it was so dangerous he'd not allow it on the road. I ended up with original parts LR springs and it was fine, drove perfectly and could go round corners without falling over. I guess the point is what might seem a simple upgrade is not just dependent on the skills and ability of the 'fixer' but on the quality and suitability of the parts. And buying someone else's budget-buys may give you problems that might be more hassle than you need.

I put two layers of closed cell foam in my 110. The first layer was stuck tightly to the alloy, roof and sides, ensuring all the alloy had glue on it so the foam stuck,to minimize uncovered alloy surfaces. The second layer was not so critical, but was stuck well enough. On top of that was thin carpet for 'finish'. Result is zero condensation, or so minimal that it's easily ignored (I have not noticed any). I have a warm, damp-free, smell-free van, that is cooler in summer, warmer in winter, and quiet. Has been like this for over a decade, through serious sub-zero temps, rain, ice and snow. I was looking at a three year old £80,000 campervan last week (not to buy, just for curiosity as the repair engineer was poking at it) and the whole rear wooden subframe in one area is rotten due to water ingress and condensation due to poor design/construction. There's your big manufacturer's workmanship. My £100 worth of closed cell foam did better. I am confident you will easily be able to solve your problem and with minimal cost.

Ah ok. So there's insulation inside the walls. So then the condensation will just be on the inner skin? (and not forming inside the panels and dripping out). If so I guess simply cover the inside with some thin foam or preferably automotive carpet. You can get some that is a little bit 'stretchy' so can neatly form itself all around the various angles and surfaces. I was shown some in a campervan maker's recently. Looks like it would be worth the modest investment to make your wagon less prone to moisture. I watched my 110 moisten up inside after a simple shower of rain - the drop in temp on the alloy roof was enough to cause condensation on the inside. Here's some http://www.megavanmats.com/liningcarpet.htm and on the well-known auction site at a reasonable price here.

What insulation do you have inside? Your picture here: Posted 11 February 2014 - 01:28 PM appears to show very little. Chemical 'converters' will sell you sheet closed cell foam in a large batch sufficient to cover all your internal surfaces and anything else you fancy covering. It's black though and may make it gloomy so you might need to cover it with some lighter coloured automotive carpet. More ventilation wont necessarily solve the problem as all you'll do is make it colder then have to increase your heating to combat the cold and increase the condensation. This is even more of a problem if you use gas heating as its not a 'dry' heat. I've done a couple of 110's with closed cell foam from Kay Metzeler and its brilliant (needs good glue though) and not only keeps the van warm with zero condensation but makes it much quieter too.

Ha! Land Rover, trailer wagon, lots of gubbins, a muddy field, happy people! Looks very comfy. Nice set up.

Well thats the bed more-or-less done. Board pushed to the front - normal daytime position. For sleeping it gets pulled back to reveal the foot end (in two pieces) and the support pipes neatly tucked away. (will get some clips to hold the pipes and stop them clanking). Pipes popped into slots. Then board pulled over for sleeping on, with almost two feet of space left at rear to climb up through. Had a very spirited bounce around on it, sufficient to get the suspension rocking back and forwards and not a creak nor groan from it so I guess its strong enough.

Thanks for the warning! I was going to use it sparingly and apply gradually as I've seen it overwhelm jobs as the stuff expands madly beyond what was anticipated. I'll take your advice about the fires though and forget about installing the fireplace!

More progress. Roof hatch now clarted with Sikaflex and screwed down tight so hopefully waterproof. And inside trimming around the roof hole is under way. Some of this work is the 'you-can't-see-this-but-it's-really-important' stuff that is fiddly fiddly and taking up loads of time. Basically when I whacked the hole out of the roof I cut through the strengthening rib in the middle of the van, the one that runs across the width, and also the one that runs front to back. So to tie these four cut-points into the new structure I'm plugging the holes with some wood, which is screwed into place with a couple of screws coming up from below through the rib's alloy. Once its hammered in and solidly fastened, the surplus is cut off. Then the square pine is installed, and screwed through in to the wood-filled rib. It forms the lowest part of what is basically a sandwich with the pine plate on top (as shown in previous post), the metal of the old roof, a packing piece, then square pine at bottom. A slim facing will cover the joint on the vertical face. And underneath this (above the white hooks) there will be a thin plywood veneer on an angle from the wood where the hooks are, up to the back of the lower edge of the square stuff. This will run from the back of the van to the point where it meets the slope above the drivers seat (where the fire extinguisher is). Behind the ply is a void into which I can run wiring or vents, piping or whatever, or recessed lights. On the outside of that void is the new void I've created between the outside of the old roof, and the back of the new alloy that forms the new roof. It's going to be pumped full of building foam. Alloy L angle for the bed platform to run on. This is the sleeping platform - first pic shows it pushed to front end of van, so a nice big clear space at the rear to walk about in. ..and then pulled out to about 7' from front leaving a reasonable space at the back to climb up onto the top through. And when the main platform is pulled out it reveals the two pieces for the foot end, concealed in the recess. To actual reach these the sleeping platform gets shoved right to the rear of the van so the 2' space is now at the middle of the van and I can pop up through there and reach in to get the foot bits and stick them in. ..this is them pulled out and popped in place to make the foot of the bed. And then the complete thing all assembled, seen from above and below - still have to install the cross supports underneath - they will just pop in and out as required and be stored in the recess with the foot bits. The ply is cr*p and has warped once it was cut - you can see the left bit of the foot is slightly popped up so that needs some remedy or other - maybe a piece cut from a new sheet. However what this system enables is the foot sections to be easily stored and pulled out when needed and to be used as a table top outside, clipped to the van side.

Ha! Aye the bl00dy guide wanders and because you're leaning against it the blade shoots off and either breaks or whacks a chunk out of the work.

Aye I picked up one of those and its an amazingly useful bit of kit, I've been doing all sorts of jobs with it I'd have struggled with. I didn't realize your comment was a question about which tool I'd used! I did most of it with the jigsaw but some of the fiddly bits where I'd to cut back the strengthening ribs I used the oscillating tool.

Thanks Mike. I drew a line with a felt pen along the side of the pine boards, drilled to get started and then followed the line by eye. I did think about a guide but it was an additional bit of messing about and not really necessary as the roof edge will be 'sandwiched' between the pine board above and a 1-3/4' square pine section underneath and the two of them screwed together through the alloy, then a slim facing over the join to conceal and prettify it. I hate to say it but there was an air of Ikea about it with the pine and all the light coming in through the no-roof! I fabbed this 'sandwich' up this morning and simply clamped it as a dry run to see what it was like, and it was incredibly rigid along the length of the roof, and an additional brace across the cut edge behind the seats made it very rigid widthwise too.

Ah well I did the deed this week - and whacked a chunk out of the roof, so no turning back now. I decided to use a piece of red pine on either side and across the back end - apart from being relatively strong and light, it is significantly more moisture resistant than the majority of plywood (without getting into a bank loan for some marine grade ply). Plus its nice to work with. So fitted that first to give me a line to work to all round and then off with the jigsaw. The T piece that we used to support the lifting lid on the bonnet when it was getting fitted was the perfect size to fit in the back and hold the cut piece of roof up so it didn't collapse inwards under its own weight. Worked a treat. I retained the strengthening rib just above the drivers seats where the roof slopes down to the windscreen, and about 18 inches behind that. Basically I've cut across at about 40 inches from the front, and this front section will be well braced and structural and form the front half of the bed platform, with the second half of it stored on top and slid backwards when needed. There's not a huge amount of space between the lifting lid and the bed platform - only a few inches - enough for a 1" thick thermarest mat and an open sleeping bag. If I wanted more space I'd have had to A) lose some internal headroom below the platform which I decided I did not want to do as I'm 6' and don't want a crick in my neck or my knees under my chin when sitting in the back, and its good to have the same usable space below even when the bed is set up so we can move about underneath, or B) use deeper profiles for the lifting section and go higher externally, which again I wasn't keen on doing - more weight, more wind resistance, more awkward to build and fit. As it is it's 'tight' - but this is a reasonable compromise. The added bonus of this is that it also leaves sufficient headroom in the front to allow me to fabricate a sleeping platform for my wee boy William (aged 5). With the seats tipped forwards there will be enough space from the seat back to the back of the seating area (just at the bulkhead) to provide a 30" wide by 50" long platform I can suspend from the channel above the doors on 4 pieces of stainless wire. With curtains all round over the windscreen, doors and across the bulkhead he'll be snug and have his own reading light (the existing vanity light) for comfort. The board can be stored under the seat cushions or on the floor when not in use, or maybe folded down the back of the seating area. The advantage of this is that it leaves the whole back area free for we two adults and he's well out of the way later in the evening and won't have to be disturbed. The pine gives a nice lip all round to catch and store the fabric from the sides when the lid is closed, and handy for putting a mug of tea or some pot plants on. Although William is determined to have a model railway on it (which may actually happen - he has some lovely wooden track I can use.......we'll see!). To finish it off.....well I have no idea. I dashed off to collect William from school just after cutting the roof so had little time to consider options - but I think there will be some substantial bracing across the front cut to strengthen that bit, which is also where the loading from the gas struts comes down, so that will be useful to have - I may use some metal for this. And then some timber along both sides and the rear to strengthen the cut edges, which might be a sold batten with a rebate to fit over the edge. At the sides there will be some verticals coming up from the wheelarch boxes (mines a hard top so has full-length arches internally) which will be located at the crucial points where the internal fittings start/end (sink, fridge, cooker etc), and these might form a floor to pine-lip cupboard so give storage and provide support too. The bracing for the end of the bed nearest the back door will be attached to the bed platform and slot into a rebate on either side so will be strong enough to support two adults and particularly the loading when climbing onto it. The retained curvy bits of roof are amazingly strong - that big curve really stiffens it up. It's just a shame I had the alpine lights in - they leaked like crazy all the time and have left that area a bit wibbly and needing additional reinforcing. The black stuff you can see between roof alloy and the carpet is an inch of closed cell foam - have that all round the vehicle and its pretty good for keeping noise and condensation at bay, heat in and cold out. The hollow at the front of the bed where the roof dips is sufficient to install some speakers, or various electronic bits that need space but be kept out of the way. I'm going to cut a pair of vents in the front right above the windscreen so that warm air can circulate up and under the bed area in the dip, and then cut some holes in the sleeping platform so the top is well aired, and this will help stop condensation.

Aah Mike - love it! The washbasin support is just class. Its these wee things that make life away all that much more civilized!

Wow Simon! On the nail! That's as close as dammit to exactly what I'm looking for. Thanks!

Aye that's kind of close but the slight offset would prevent it from joining panels flat. I'd better keep looking!

I'm trying to locate a source of hinge-type tubing that can be used to join panels. It consists of a solid male section A thats 'tadpole' shaped, and a female cup shaped section B that A slips inside (inserted from the end) and which when joined makes the two panels pretty rigid. It's not really a hinge as it has limited movement, its more a connector, although I have seen it used as a short-travel hinge. Anyone come across this stuff or know what it's called so at least I know what I'm looking for. I first saw it used on a folding caravan that was flat-packed and could be assembled by slipping the sections together.

Well the replacement bottom brackets arrived on Friday and I got them on this morning. Much improved and all-round a lot stronger design. Next up was the roof hatch. A pair of small holes drilled through from below on each side gave me the location of each side, which was connected by a pencil line drawn all round. Then the commitment of cutting with the jigsaw. It was fiddly, but I eventually had the hole I needed. A wee bit of fettling with the jigsaw again and it popped in snug as can be. It's a nice low profile design, self-supporting at any angle, and opens through 180 deg, so right over backwards to flat, has a semi-locked position for ventilation and the handles have integrated locks. Its pretty bombproof - 12mm perspex and rigid alloy frame with oversize seals that are well concealed under the frame. Still have to seal it, but I'll get that done tomorrow or Wednesday. Really fortunate that this space was available for a few weeks, and although its a few miles drive to it, it's been well worth it to be able to continue working through the inclement weather.