Before
Yea, so all that work I did to the van has got me motivated. I got an itch and it just had to be scratched.
Soon after the bed re-build, I ended up tearing out the old, ratted, upholstery and re-doing it. It was a simple matter of removing the rear shelf at the back of the van, removing the two interior side panels at the top of the fiber-glass camper, then remove the top panel. The sides were 12 feet in length and the top was a 5′ X 10′ plank of wood as one large unit which barely squeezed out the rear doors. It did allow me to get in behind all the wood to support the awning mount to alleviate my concern of the 60lb awning ripping off at highway speeds.
After
It took a few days of work to remove all the old upholstery and backing. Scraping all that backing off was a pain, and very messy. I did all this bare-foot to avoid stepping in all that foam-dust while wearing shoes. This turned the bottom of my feet black for a few days (and the bottom of the shower too) but it all eventually came off. After purchasing 8 yards of automotive headliner I applied it to the paneling using spray-on adhesive and staples. I re-installed curtain rods and all the lights so they all face the same direction (you never knew wish way to slide the on/off switch before… so aggravating) and did not bother to re-install the large shelf in the rear. This gave me more head-room at the loss of a shelf that weight over 50 lbs and could only hold items no taller than 4 inches (pillows, folded blankets, etc). It really was not a very useful shelf.
Considering I have never done any type of upholstery before, I am very pleased with how it turned out.
I was going to use a futon mattress for the couch/bed. It did work, but it was too large and weighed a fair bit more than the foam cushions I had before. I was smart enough not to throw away the old cushions, instead deciding to cut the foam and glue them together to make the size cushions I now required (This after pricing new foam… whoa!). Turns out, slicing and gluing the foam together was not difficult at all. Though it took a few days for the glue to dry (one piece at a time) and for Imelda to sew the new upholstery, the end result was well worth it.
And lastly, I installed the fold-up (removable) table in the rear of the van to cover where the propane tank was mounted and to give some additional counter space when needed. It can also be removed from it’s rail and mounted in other areas of the van to use as a desk space when we are at our camping location.
Next project is the curtains including some that cover the front ‘driving’ windows (windshield and side windows) and if I can find the right price on a sink and tanks, I’d like to install a sink.
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