Friday, April 10, 2009

Interior Pics


View of the seat/storage locker from the back.


View of bed platform and seat from front of van.


View of hinged access to "cargo holds" in bed platform.


Hinged access to storage in seat.

As promised, here are pictures of the interior. It's still not 100% as I'm waiting for paint to dry on shelves and trim boards to hold the bed in place.
The sun is at the wrong angle to take pictures from the back, so later in the day I will post more.
The shallow storage area over the rubbermaid shelf will likely hold warm/bulky clothes and or raingear. There are shelves for food or books next to the rubbermaid shelf. You could smuggle a person in the deep cargo hold in the bed platform near the outside wall. The storage under the head of the bed is accessed by opening the back doors. That will be for camping/auto repair storage.

I'll start moving in this weekend. I'm using a system I learned from Bill Mollison's book on permaculture; The storage areas easiest to get to rate a "1" (center console, bench storage) while the most difficult rate a "4" (deep hold under bed).
Items I need to use regularly go into "1" compartments, and things I won't use on the trip (sentimental items, bulk food, 120v power tools) go into "4" storage.
Auto maintenance stuff like my hand tools and extra fluids rate a "2". Backup parts and assorted hardware are a "3", along with most camping stuff.
I'll have 'easy food', coffee, french press, stove and propane in a rubbermaid tub in the 'kitchen' area.
5 gallon jerryjugs of water will fit perfectly in the step for the side doors.

I still don't have the top for the battery box/center console done. I killed my RO sander yesturday while sanding the exterior of the van. Apparently I have more stamina for sanding than my little Craftsman random orbital.
It had a good life. :(
Working on vehicles tends to kill sanders pretty quickly. I went through 5 of them while refinishing the sailboat in Key West.

Well, I'm off to buy a new sander and brackets for my shelves.....

8 comments:

  1. Lady, you can definitely be on my team ANYTIME!

    You do good work, my friend!

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  2. First class job! I'm likin' the brass lamps too, gives it a kinda "boaty" feel.....

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  3. WOW!!! I am REALLY impressed!!!! Like Mayberry said "FIRST CLASS WORK!!!
    THAT'S as good as it gets!!!
    YeOldFurt

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  4. Nice work. My wife and I, and a dog once traveled the country for 6 months in a Neon. Put a cargo buddy on the back. Ran a second deep discharge battery off a battery isolator. The battery ran a 12V cooler and my c-pap. Packed w tents, one huge one for long stays and a small one for over nights. Had a canoe on the roof.

    Your van is plenty roomy compared to what we used that year.

    -Sixbears

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  5. Thanks guys. I'm kinda impressed myself, now.

    Sixbears, I can't imagine a long road trip in a Neon, but I guess I did one in a Toyota Celica so...
    And to think I was worried about cargo room.
    Maybe I shouldn't have sold so much stuff...
    Nah. Good riddance.

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  6. Looks great! It looks like a lot of hard work was put into it and it shows. Hope you get lots of good use and happy memories from it.

    I would suggest at least one LED type of light, maybe even one of those cheapie 'hat brim' lights to save you the kerosene and summer heat gained from the lamp though.

    Again - my congratulations on a job well done.

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  7. Here's a great link from RV Survivalist guide to those LEDs I mentioned up there.

    http://tinyurl.com/cgkafs

    Hope this helps.

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