Week 59 - Awning

At last, the van is finally completed! This week the awning was added and I think it looks great. Fitting a professional awning can be hundreds of pounds and normally requires the awning to be fitted before lining the van as the brackets are bolted through the side panels. I didn’t even consider the idea of an awning until halfway through the build and therefore decided to create my own without having to strip the inside of my van and drill holes in it.

For my individual (bodged) awning I bought a good quality 5m x 3m green tarpaulin with eyelets in the sides, a pair of 2m tent poles and a few small steel tabs to mount the awning from. The first step was to weld the tabs in position securely below the water channel above the side door:

• Grind off the paint: Use a wire brush drill attachment or angle grinder to remove the paint locally where the first bracket will go. Cover nearby windows beforehand to protect the glass.
• Prep the surface: Dry and degrease the surface, use newspaper and masking tape to protect the van paintwork and prep for welding.
• Tack the bracket: One at a time, tack the brackets in position ensuring that the gaps between the tarp ringlets will fit between each one without being too loose. Repeat the process until all brackets (4 in my case) are tacked in place.
• Finish the welds: Complete the welds before priming and painting to protect from rust.

It took two of us (thanks Tom) about 3 hours to complete the work in the pouring rain but the results are great and the welds are solid. I can now bolt through the eyelets to secure the awning in place, position the tent poles and peg in the guy ropes, job done. The resulting awning is much bigger than can usually be found on the side of a camper and gives an additional side for more protection from the weather – all for around £50 in total. It does however take longer to put up/take down and must be stored inside the van.

If attempting to fit an awning similar to mine, be sure the side door will open and close without hitting the brackets or the bolts when the awning is fitted.

Week 58 - Electrics 5

I have finally completed and tested the electrics successfully and the van is now very much inhabitable! The 230v side is all fixed in place and wired up with the power selector switch now finished and installed. The batteries are also strapped down again after the effort of constantly moving them in and out of their space under the seats. They are charged by the engine when it's running and by the battery charger when on hook up.

One modification I did make was to move the Smartcom unit onto the top shelf where I could alter the voltage cut off point for charging the batteries without blindly fiddling with a screwdriver through a tiny gap.

It is a relief to have finally nailed (what has been for me) the most complex part of the project and although it has taken over a month, by doing it myself I will at least have more of an idea of how to fix any problems in the future. It also makes it easier to add more appliances and I decided to buy and fix a 200w fan heater to the interior to try and give a bit of extra warmth without breaking the bank or draining the batteries. How much difference this will make I don’t know (actually it is better than I expected) but it is now fitted and installed. It can also act as a fan when the weather is hot.

I ordered some seat covers for the front seats as they are still a little grubby in places despite being scrubbed with carpet cleaner. The covers were not a very good fit though so I will have to return them and make do without. The van had a good clean and mop out before the final push to get it finished – fitting an awning above the side door.