Cargo Van Conversion

Just in time for Christmas. Tomorrow I’ll add a 6″ all foam mattress and I’ll be trying it out for the next week.        The screw holes are covered with cherry plugs then sawed flush.   Finally a lot of sanding.  

I first rounded the corners of the frame and then attached the cherry corners to it with glue and screws below the wood’s surface.     Each compartment access panel has a ¾” finger hole.             The cherry sides are about 4″ high, more than enough for the mattress to fit in….

The top of the bed is ½” thick plywood, to be subdivided to fit the compartments be low.     The two outside corner posts are made of cherry, to reflect the cherry plywood that will be attached to the outside of the bed frame.        

Looking…

As always, I am already thinking about and preparing for the next phase in this project. Before going any further, I’ll have to finish the floor covering. The easy way to go is a cheap, lightweight carpet, but soon I started thinking about office carpet for its durability. Then other choices popped up: Carpet: regular,…

Just in time for the holidays my odometer stopped working. Quick research pointed in the direction of the speed sensor and the van’s maintenance codes confirmed that. A visit to the auto shop resulted in a new replacement part. 5 Minutes under the van at the transmission completed the job. I have to remind myself…

The bed is showing it’s final form. The 3″ overhang extends it’s sleeping surface, while minimizing it’s footprint.     The extension tray (above the toilet, but still under the bed) is planned to be used as a dinner or night tray.     The sliders are 16″ – 100 lbs, full extension, with an…

The area under the bed is divided in compartments, from front to back: batteries, toilet, inverter & solar controller and bed linens with some extra space available on top of the wheel casing. The battery compartment allows a maximum of 4 batteries with a vent hole to the outside. I put the toilet next to…

I am in a bit of a hurry, because I wanted to test the bed out on a trip to South Florida during the holidays. There is a lot of work, but fortunately much of the bed frame was pre-assembled of the last few weeks in my workshop. First I set up a few parts…

Crucial in this conversion, I think, is having access to some woodworking equipment. A few years ago, I got into woodworking with a basic setup that included a jointer and planer. You need these to size the wood to the correct size. The main component of the bed is a 1¼”x1¼” wood frame. As a…

The rear ladder is more decoration than useful attribute, but over the years screws have gone missing and rust has appeared. As it is a small job, I could do it when I had an hour to spare. First removed the ladder by removing the old screws. The rust cleaned up quite nicely and in…