merc camper

[Guest hmmmnz]

Discussion Thread - //oldschool.co.nz/index.php?/topic/38294-hmmmmmmzs-camper-refurb/

 

 

 

 

well, as some of you know im back in the uk, via a ski season in france,
before we left new zealand we bought a project camper sight unseen, but knowing we'd have to do a bit of work to the camper part,
the van is based on a 1984 207d with the legendary om616 2.4l diesel motor,

its only got 59000miles on the clock and the cab and chassis is rust free,





the inside of the cab


and the back before the strip down



doesnt look too bad you say.... bollocks,
there has been a leak in one of the skylights and the windows have leaked,
so all the roof timbers were completely rotten, and all the thin ply (3mm) on both sides of the roof timber, and most of the ply on the walls as well,

so the strip down begins,











as you can see, its a full strip down,

plan is to replace the timbers in the roof with tanalised timbers, an actual frame on the walls (just insulation on the sides, whole roof is held up by a support on one side and the wardrobe on the other, and the pathetic 3mm ply on the walls) then 6mm ply over the whole lot,
full new electrical system, new bath room, new seating lay out, change to the kitchen set up, etc etc.

will keep up to date as it happens, approx time frame 6 weeks

[Guest hmmmnz]

well the kitchen in the back is now out,

not much holding it together,

first of the new timber is down, ive used tanalised stuff,

so if it ever does get a leak in the future its not going to just rot away,

also decided to add some vertical timbers, im surprised its still upright,

the only thing that holds the whole thing up is the foam and the alloy outside skin,

and that was yesterday, more of the same today i suspect

[Guest hmmmnz]

right todays efforts were finish the door framing,

empty the rest of the bath room area of its tray etc

and start getting the top plate in on the door side

http://s58.photobucket.com/user/hmmmnz/media/merc207d%20camper/SAM_1181Medium_zps133af6f7.jpg.html?sort=3&o=6

happy...

although the sleeper area is starting to get full of crap

duck?

some sort of heating system in the bottom of the wardrobe

and some quality electrics....

time for a beer... i think so

[Guest hmmmnz]

well today, i picked up the bath room... well half the bath room, still waiting on the shower tray to turn up,

but got the cassette toilet and the outside door for it

it'll live beside the van till im ready for the install

no more porta potty for me

then i set about ripping out the wardrobe, remaining electrics and the bed/seating area

here is the internal air heating unit, apparently about 600 quid to buy new, so thats a bit of a bonus

ooo and bought a set of fold away steps/step

and for all my hard work, the beer of the day, is old engine oil, and some pork crackling just because

2b continued.....

[Guest hmmmnz]

today i dub. "1 step forwad and 3 steps back day"

arghhh, well not much happening, found more rot in the floor, bugger, i was tempted just to cover over it,

but my better nature got the best of me, so up came the rear part of the floor,

as you can see im just making more and more work for myself, oh well its the way it has to be,

even my camera was disapointed and took blurry photos in sympathy

until it saw the beer of the day,

[hmmmnz]

well id lie t say ive been really productive... but that would be lying,

how ever some progress has been made

i laid down the first layer of ply

and started putting the internal frame in pace

and made and installed what will be the step

the design of the camper in reguardsto the floors is shite, they never even ran timber or steel from the chassis, so when the floor rotted out the whole body of the van dropped as well, about a inch and a half, which was shit, i had to jack the whole body up around the chassis and add a whole lot more timber to hold it there,

any way from underneath

next job before i put the top layer of ply and floor insulation down is :

rip of the completly fucked rear fibre glass part of the van,

ill make/get made a new panel to replace that section made from sheet alloy and bent to suit

and beer of the day,

[hmmmnz]

well today was spent ripping out the fucked rear fibre glass panel, reinforcing the floor at the rear, and filling the floor with insulation and then popping the top layer of the floor down,

panel

most of the insulation down and me measuring for the floor reinforcments

floor down and re-inforcements in

beers of the day,

lunch

lovely root/ginger beer, very creamy

and endish of the day

quite nice coconut to taste that evolves in to a malty stout,

[hmmmnz]

well, got my ali back panel back,

lurvly

also had the mrs under the van varnishing all the exposed timber and the bottom layer of ply, fun times for her

also started re-framing the back ready for the panel, and also redoing the glue/silicon on the sides,

pics...

panel

the back ready... almost]

the finished step

the back still looks like shit, but its actually all dry now

and thats today,

i really need to lift the rear on the drivers side about an inch to make it level, before i put in the back,

fuck knows how ill do that, was easy on the other side because i had the hole where the door was and all the timber was new, so had strength, not so the other side oh well something to ponder tonight

after the fursty ferret

if you see that blue moon beer about its well worth getting, its a nice oat beer, very similar to a wheat beer but even creamier

[hmmmnz]

well no update for a couple of days,

i havn't been idle, just havn't been taking pictures

any way these arnt up to date, but the back is on

 

 

and beer

 

 

its actually coming along, ive been trying to find a moulding for the back, but not much luck finding a matching peice, hell even finding moulding is proving to be a mission,

 

ill post more pics later today, on the state of the inside,

 

[hmmmnz]

ok, update time...

well most of the frame is in, boo ya, almost time for electrics...

and of course beer of the day

brew dog, 5am saint,  a hoppy pleasure

 

[hmmmnz]

as per usual, no posts for a couple of days,

any way you didnt come here to read about it, you came for the pics

 

wiring in, gone for the house style of wiring, since ive gone and built a frame and all

 

 

roof repairs, there is another skin over the top, but thought id patch the holes in case the skin gets a hole

 

boom first of the panels to go in, 9mm marine ply bitches,  slightly excessive, but, after that shit 3mm stuff that was originally on was just like wet cardboard, i thought fuck it,  all or nothing,

 

 

the new switch board locations, 12v on the left and 230 on the right, 

 

the mrs doing her bit  (sweet fuck all)

 

 

oooo getting closer to a complete wall

 

and its in, wee hee

 

 

and a ginger beard ginger beer for a ginger beard   angry ginger beard

 

and thats up to date,  more soon

 

[hmmmnz]

cock up of the day,   wrong angle ;(

 

oh well these things happen,

 

[hmmmnz]

well pretty much all the walls are up now,  took a bit of time adding even more supports etc,

but the van feels solid now, which was the aim

 

still to do the front bits behind the drivers and passenger seats,

 

but thats tomorrow...  depending ...

 

 

and my cock up now fixed

 

roof next,  but ill wait until my lights turn up, just in case they arnt bright enough and i have to add more,

 

 

[hmmmnz]

ok, today i managed to get most of the roof/ceiling up,

which was a bit of a sucess since i didnt start till late in the day,

just the wee curve at the back of the van to do and that'll be all the lining done on the inside,

 

 

 

 

looking toward the back

 

that was all done in 6mm ply, so has a bit of flex, but still miles better than the shit that was on there,

 

and my lights turned up,  well the lamps 4.2w led  fitted into a g5 halogen down light fitting,

i wasnt sure if 5 was going to be bright enough, but they are probably going to be too bright, luckily i bought fittings with little switches, so individual lights can be turned off,

 

so onwards and upwards,  the end is in sight... ok its still quite a way off but i can see it

[hmmmnz]

well, well, well.

umm, well, hasnt been a busy few days, but any how,  added the ply to the front

 

and first interior wall is in

 

 

 

beer of the day

 

[hmmmnz]

chucked in the led lights,
5 of the buggers 4.2watts each

 and the light given,  pitch black out side, no flash,


pretty damn good, i reckon

 

[hmmmnz]

well reasonably productive day,

got the second wall of the kitchen up,

 

very art deco with all the curves

 

 

spent alot of time with the router trying to get the right curves and such so the kitchen fits flush in the gap,

worked out pretty well,

 

 

 

and then made a start on the first seat/bed frame

 

on the kitchen side it'll be 2 seats facing each other with a table between, which will come down and form a bed..  a shortish bed at 182cm long,  but the other side will have a slightly longer bed/sofa which will be about 195cm  so if i get kicked out of bed above the cab, ill have some where to sleep

and that was today

[hmmmnz]

well its been reasonably productive couple of days,

managed to finish the 2 seats,

 

 

 

beer of the day

 

 

then set about putting up the laser to mark a line around the van

so i had a mark to work from when putting up the cupboards

 

next up was making the frame for the cupboards and what not,

 

future wiring if i decide to add lights under the cupboards

 

 

hmmm afternoon beer???   well ok if you insist

 

next up was boxing in the cupboards

 

 

and beer of the day.... be rude not to

 

 

 

 

beer

 

 

 

[hmmmnz]

well i got my splash back... back today,

the guys at pentland tech did an awesome job as always, (they do all my bike related stuff when im in scotland) and did the ali back panel as well,  pretty talented bunch of guys,

any way

 

also added the door and blank panel on the right side (bloody took me ages)

no way could i be a kitchen fitter, i would have been fired if some one was having to pay me an hourly rate,  was starting to get seriously fucked off with it, but got there in the end

 

 

and my separating wall,  with the nogs in for the shelves to hold up the grill and oven

 

yeah bitches it has a grill,  for cheese on toast midnight style,  have to get the guys to make me a stainless surround for the grill, as it looks like ive thrown out the original ;(

 

 

shiney stuff (how do you spell shiney?  shiny? shinee? )

 

and of course,  beer of the day

 

maplemoor,  quite nice maple taste

 

 

[hmmmnz]

well id like to say a productive day, but ran out of timber.

but did manage to make the shelf for the oven, and the cupboard and a little bottom plate, to tidy the kitchen area up

and then started on the bed frame on the drivers side

 

yeah, so beers of the day

samuel smith beers today, i bought a multi pack that came with a free pint glass!!!

 

and their chocolate stout,  almost as good as mikes brewerys version in the naki (stop in at mikes if you are heading to the naki, worth a visit)