I haven't mentioned this in the blog because it's been a work-in-progress, and in fact it still is. But it's getting close to done, and I'll be taking a couple months off from the project, so here it is: Jami's van "Muzzy" (named after her grandmother).
She bought the van brand new and drove it directly here, handed Dad a credit card and said "Get to work!" (She didn't really say that, but I like to tell people she did...)
Drawings
First I did drawings in Adobe Illustrator. They evolved as we went along, but these are pretty close to the final product.
Mockup
Next came layout and mockups
We added sound deadening and insulation
Walls and ceiling
We copied an idea from a great van builder named Quinn to line the walls and ceiling with black, covered by slats. We call them "Quinn slats."
Tanks
I made fresh- and grey-water tanks out of sheet ABS plastic.
Bunks
Jami and I made home-made bunks using upholstery webbing.
The top bunk tilts up out of the way when not needed.
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| Even Cousin Karen got involved making custom sheets. |
Toilet
We made a home-made "composting" toilet.
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| I'll let you figure out how it works... |
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| Seat height tester |
Counter top
Our good friends Sarah and Scott had to have a large dead elm tree removed from their yard, so we fired up the chainsaw and started the process of making a "live-edge" countertop.
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| I filled all the cracks and holes with black epoxy. |
Refrigerator
I had talked Jami into buying a huge heavy refrigerator, and then had the task of shoe-horning it into a very narrow space.
Because of the countertop overhang and the fridge's swing-up lid, I had to use extra long drawer guides. To fully open, it goes all the way to the bed on the other side of the van. Working this out took longer than just about any other part of the project, and one more inch would have been big trouble.
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| Special vented drawer front for the fridge |
TV
A dream vacation van has to have a smart TV, and this one folds up out of the way and even swivels around for watching from outside.
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| The beat-up looking edges are just the new-product plastic film that needs to be removed. |
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| Movies by the campfire - sacrilege? you be the judge... |
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| DVD player tucked up above the TV |
Galley
The galley is pretty much finished now...
Closet
...and so is the closet
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| Hidden away inside the closet: an ice maker! because why not? |
Last-minute addition the morning she pulled out, a fold-down cook top.
There's still plenty to do, including flooring, covering more of the metal with wood, and the bathroom/shower, but that will have to wait until after the summer van-life season!
Stay tuned!
