The ceiling panels were awkward to install with just one person, but I managed to balance the large 4X8 main sheet of paneling on top of the cabinets long enough to get some of the attaching screws installed...
After the two top ceiling panels had been installed, I was able to measure and cut the Fan-Tastic fan trim piece to the right thickness and get it in place. I think the finished product looks pretty good...
What I ended up doing for the extended section of the van was to mount four stringer boards to the last ceiling rib and then cut them to that they were just long enough to sit on the top of the metal trim above the rear doors. The fit was tight which made it easy to keep them held in place while I mounted the paneling. On the sides where I installed two vertical paneling pieces, the Reflectix was already installed, so I simply added pieces of 1/2" foam board behind the paneling and I also added two trim paneling pieces that attached to the rear-most uprights that bolted to the side of the doors...
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| Paneling added to the upright rear cabinet support. |
Something I didn't really photograph, but I will add some recent pictures, was the gap between where the ceiling panel ended and the top of the paneling on the wall of the van began. It seemed that most people boxed this area in b y creating a wooden frame dropping vertically from the ceiling to the height of the wall paneling and paneling that area in. My solution was to cu t pieces of paneling and install them on an angle so as to completely fill the gap...
This required that I mount some sort of support to the ceiling ribs for the trim pieces to attach to. I found that a piece of deck baluster wood was exactly the right size. A 2X2 was too large but these balusters, even though they are sold as 2X2's were actually a quarter inch smaller than a standard 2X2. I marked the mounting location using a small piece of paneling and a short piece of baluster as a guide, cut the panels to fit the opening and attached them to the balusters I had installed like stringers to the ceiling ribs...
Now onto the couch, I mean bed...
As I researched more and more about other van builds, and how they eked out enough space for a bed, it seemed that the vast majority simply blocked off the rear of the van and raised it enough to add some ver y handy storage underneath. Again, I am 6'2" tall and the absolute most I could hope to get out of the width of the van was several inches less than 6'. I felt that a good bed and a good night's rest were going to be very important if I am to live in the van...
Well, at the time I had a couch in m y ho use that I had bought at an online auction. It's pretty cheaply made, and I got it at about half price, but what I liked about it was that the back would lie down and turn it into a full size bed. I had slept on it before and it was comfortable enough, add a nice foam topper and it was even better. So I decided to make it work in the van...
The original Sketch Up rendering I created, included the dimensions of this couch. It was a bit of a snug fit, but I thought I could make it work. Due to the length, and where I wanted to place the couch, I had to extend it over the top of the wheel well on the driver's side. As you can see in the photo below, that is the reason for the short cabinet on the driver's side and it's length was determined b y the amount of space I needed for the couch...
With the driver's seat positioned all the way back, it just touched the back of the couch and I still had several inches to play with between the other end of the couch and the rear cabinet. I had to raise the bed up in order to clear the wheel well, which concerned me a bit. I was trying to keep the height as minimal as possible so that when seated on the couch you didn't feel as if the ceiling was closing in on you, or worse yet, hit your head...
I removed the couch arms and legs, and did what I could to minimize the supporting structure. I added a 2X2 frame, created a structure to mount the couch to but I needed a way to slide the couch out from the wall about 6" in order to lay the back of the couch down into a bed...
Research, research, more research...
The solution I decided was to create a slide that enabled the couch to move, but limited it's travel and held it in place. There are many good videos on the sliding bed concept, but mine ended up being a bit different. I used the slide concept but did it underneath on the back bottom of the bed instead of the usual method of a slide that comes out at the front bottom of the bed...
In the above two photos, you will see a series of 1X3" slats that are actually attached at both ends to two other boards on each end which are actually attached solidly to the floor. The bed frame is not attached at all, it slides underneath the slats forward or backward...
This was the finished work, as you may be able to see now, the bed frame is trapped underneath the 1X3" slats and can only slide forward about 6 inches before it hits the attached board and stops. The same holds true for when you push it back against the wall, it can only travel as far as the board that is attached to the floor allows. I lost some storage area but this really worked out well for me and the sacrifice was worth it...
Next I attached the bed to the bed frame and mounted the whole assembly in the van...
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| Couch in upright position. |
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| Couch pu bled out and back la y ed down into a bed. |
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| Still good clearance, even with the seat all the way back. |
In m y original plan I intended to build a series of cubby hole cabinets just above the couch, but because I had to raise the couch several inches to clear the wheel well, I decided to wait to see if there was room once the couch was in place, but there wasn't enough room, and I didn't want to feel crowded or smothery while relaxing on the couch, so that didn't work out. But I decided to make the section of paneling that covered the corner above the bed removable in case I decided to install lighting over the couch, and my wiring is already there if I decide to go that route...
Overall, I was very happy with the way it fit and functioned and as you can see there is still quite a bit of room to move around...
Getting the bed installed was a big relief as everything had to work out just so-so in order for it to work. M y next big project was the water system...
Continue to Converting Anastasia / Part VI
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