Club 80-90 Forums

Hi

I'm looking to build some units for my T25 (High Top) i've seen lots of images online but cannot find any dimensions, if anybody has any plans or dimensions they could share it'd be a great help and much appreciated.

Many thanks

Richard

I pondered over dimensions for interior units for many an hour!

Thing is, there are so many types it's hard to find something that suits exactly what you need.

My advice and what I did.... measure and make what suits you. Glad I did.

Good luck, Jon.

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Agree. I'm doing a scratch build on a beach-hut theme. It'll take a couple of months to complete but be geared around the way I use the camper and make full use of every inch of space. You can use corrugated cardboard to make templates for awkward or curved areas as you go, but if you start with a box-shaped kitchen unit, the rest just follows on from that. You just keep adding.

cheers guys, i'll see what i can come up with

If you use facebook, you could always follow my scratch-build as it can be finished and adapted how you like. I've started on the construction of the kitchen unit frame using pine and few carpentry skills are involved. Most of it is glued. Each section is held in place in the camper with gate bolts and/or wing nuts so you can remove any unit very quickly if needed. I'll be going right through including the wardrobe. Its planed pine, but I'm raising the grain with a brass wire brush on a drill and giving it a coat of pale blue then beating the hell out of the wood then sanding back for that distressed 'beach hut' feel. Will gradually add it to the WIKI including dimensions. Very easy to build, strong but light.

Cov,

you got a link to follow your post on FB?

I'm going to WIKI it as I go. Just temporarily having to switch jobs as my clutch has gone.

Any kitchen/lounge/bathroom cabinet will fit in a van, you just need a jigsaw to cut the back off.

Yep, I did that for years. The last one was a low sideboard that cost £7. However, I've now reached the point where I need something that works for me rather than putting up with what I can source. That way you make much better use of space and can redesign as you go. One things for sure, no chipboard or MDF is going in there.

CovKid wrote:Yep, I did that for years. The last one was a low sideboard that cost £7. However, I've now reached the point where I need something that works for me rather than putting up with what I can source. That way you make much better use of space and can redesign as you go. One things for sure, no chipboard or MDF is going in there.

Is there a particular reason that you wouldn't use MDF, I ask as I was about to buy a run of units in MDF and then have them sprayed. I have access to a good few kitchen units that I was going to use originally. I bow to your knowledge mate as you always seem to speak with um straight tongue. Rob

No MDF as it will soak up any water very easily and the wood will sort of puff up and become useless. I belive some people have sealed it using varnish etc but not sure on results. Cheap chip board will not always hold small screws very well, they will initially but will in the end come loose. Not sure of any other reason for chip board just now.

The best material is a more expensive birch ply or there is even a product called Voringher ply (something like that) very light but more expensive than birch.

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cheers mate for the help.

Weight is the other factor. In construction terms, many of the commercial interiors (including the Westy) although they look clean, make extensive use of chipboard and often in areas where such thicknesses are not really needed for strength. Once you strip all the chipboard out, it becomes obvious just how much weight is involved. Personally I wouldn't use chipboard and never MDF for those reasons. Its not such an issue when you're moving but you use significantly more fuel (some say 10%) moving from a standing start, and any extra weight just adds to the problem.

Its a tradeoff to some extent ofcourse, but if you can put together an interior that is rigid but light, you'll do better in the long term. Chipboard can be a useful material and not too bad to work with I suppose, but it is heavy and I think is better suited to indoors. Some years ago I made a cabinet that on its own you could virtually pick up with one finger. All I did was run lengths of pine along a circular saw set on low to create a channel the entire length. Once four pieces were assembled into a frame and a piece of ply or hardboard slotted inside the frame, I soon ended up with a very strong but light box. Once you get going, you can put units together quite fast. The principle can be extended accordingly.

If petrol/diesel/lpg consumption isn't an issue then the above can be ignored but if you're building from scratch, its worth thinking about. Certainly this modular approach offers many benefits and if the units are joined to each other with coach bolts, if you need to strip or alter parts of your interior later on, it makes it a breeze to get one or more units out. The fact is, most don't camp much in the Winter which makes extra weight rather a waste. You can even make different units for different purposes - if you have the storage space.

I use a 3-way coolbox during the Summer because its easy to drop in or out, doubles as a buddy seat and can be taken out entirely when not needed. Fridges are good, but you have to weigh up (out of 365 days) how many days it might get used and whether it warrants being a permanent fixture. Common sense would suggest not.

IIRC Poplar is the lightest of the plywoods. Taking design cues from the original T1 interiors (where they only had about 30hp to move the bus) could well be of benefit.
Not ending up with a thin rattly interior when on the move will be another challenge.

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