I had been looking at the excellent Amdro Conversions since late Spring and an owner of a Berlingo who had carried out the conversion kindly let me get a look at the completed kit for real. One problem ...what it did to my insurance. Most mainstream companies I contacted wouldn't touch it. As soon as you mentioned the words "camper and conversion" they got confused. That left "specialist" campervan insurance folks - best offer I got doubled what I am currently paying. The costs of this cancelled the benefits. Amdro also do a boot bed which caused less confusion but I wanted the option of still being able to sit in the back on rainy days. As a result, I spent an age doodling until I came up with something that fitted the bill:
1 - was not permanently attached so could be lifted in and out as trips dictated (and solved the insurance issue).
2 - was normally a bench style seat (only for use when parked).
3 - did not significantly reduced the storage space.
4 - could be converted into a level sleeping space.
Got some nice 12mm birch plywood plus fittings and below is the almost finished result.
The chair will sit much further back to allow comfortable sitting but I had it pulled forward to make my breakfast on.
Not only does it fit very nicely (thanks to some laser measuring equipment I borrowed) but actually very comfortable ! Got some privacy shades custom made for the windows to block out a bit of light and fitted some LED lights to save the main battery.
A nice bonus was the fact that the bench seat is the exact size of my Thermarest (the 3/4 lite version). Currently considering if it is worth spending the cash on some custom upholstered cushions or not since the Thermarest option works well !
Next step will be to make a kitchen box to house some cooking gear which will also convert to a table. Cheer to Jim for the inspiration and plans for that part.
To be continued ...
superb Graham, looks great. I'm envious.
ReplyDeleteI know this is an old post but your 'conversion' is very inspirational - thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteAfternoon Campervic,
ReplyDeleteThank-you :-)
Pleased to say the conversion has worked fine and allowed me to "overnight" in some great ...and obscure places.
Don't worry though, I still like my tent trips as well.
Cheers
Graham
Afternoon Campervic,
ReplyDeleteThank-you :-)
Pleased to say the conversion has worked fine and allowed me to "overnight" in some great ...and obscure places.
Don't worry though, I still like my tent trips as well.
Cheers
Graham
I've been doing a bit of research on different approaches to Berlingo 'boot bed' projects. This looks to be the best. Love the simplicity! About to make a start on my own. Any chance you have a set of plans/doodle I might get a look at to save me making up my own and no doubt making mistakes? I don't have access to laser measuring equipment!
ReplyDeleteEvening Henry,
ReplyDeleteCheers ..actually just back from a trip to the NW Highland with "home" being where the van was ! Nice thing about it is stealth camping ...loads of wee out of the way places that putting a tent up would draw attention but the van seems to go unnoticed.
Sadly, I don't have any plans or even doodles. Building it was very much making it up as I went along. I will take some more photographs and measurements over the weekend and get another post on the blog!
That would be fantastic Graham. For the past year I've been mentally logging those sort of potential stealth camping spots through the West Highlands and it's about time I got set up to make use of them! The other big advantage I'm hoping for over my usual bivvying is midge-proofness...
ReplyDeleteHenry,
ReplyDeleteFinally got some useful pictures and found some notes I made ...will get them posted soon - sorry for the delay !!!
Cheers
Graham
Hi, could you please tell what is the length of the sleeping space ?
ReplyDeleteThank you
Wish the seats fully forward and tilted towards the dash - 172cm.
ReplyDeleteIf you are preparted to modify the seat tilt mechanism ....you will get some extra length but I didn't need it.
Wooah! this is fantastic!! I NEED this for my own berlingo! Would love to see any more pics/info/doodle you have of this so I can make my own. Did you make another blog entry for it? I have looked but not found.. Thanks in advance.
ReplyDeleteAye ...I never actually got round to making another post ! Had a look for some photographs that I did take with a view to posting but cannot find them.
ReplyDeleteThere were no plans or doodles ...very much an idea that was in my head and developed as things went along. The idea was simply - a main box section to fill the "boot" area with three verticals for strength then another two "leaf" sections that would make the full and level platform with the back seats tilted forwards.
I made the whole thing from 20mm beech plywood but reckon an thinner wood would have been fine.
All facing joins were made with good quality wood glue and screws. I also used small right angled brackets to give extra strength as well.
The holes in the top sections were made with a good quality hole cutter and were only added for a bit of ventilation / cosmetic value.
I gave the local sawmill the main dimensions to pre-cut for me from measurements take from the Berlingo - sadly, I don't have a record of what I asked them to do !
Made some of the detailed cuts (e.g. the angle from the top edge to the boot section to the floor on the uprights myself with a jigsaw and clamped straight edge.
One thing I did consider was speaking to a local carpenter / joiner to do the woodwork for me rather than a custom van converter - reckon it would have been much cheaper but ended up doing the work myself due to not actually knowing how it was going to pan out and like making my own mistakes.
Couple of years use and the only addition I have made is some small plates over the joins to keep the 3 leaf sections more secure when moving around on the platform.
Will try to get some more detailed pictures loaded up !!!
Damn keyboard ....it was 12mm ply I used but still reckon something a bit thinner would have been fine (I weigh about 66kg and have had about double that weight in the back)
ReplyDelete