Viscount Valiant - Re-purposed

[reddo]

Moulded around the hatch with 25 mm aluminium L section.

Used some diamond sheet aluminium cladding and bent it from the window sill down to the sloping plywood front wall sheets.

Fitted and checked that the tail/brake/indicator lights where working then...Finished sheeting back wall with leftover ply.

Starting to sort out framework for "east / west" bed at front of the van. Will have to incorperate a foldaway motorbike front wheel securing mount in its base somehow??

[Strugglebrook]

Still looking good.

[reddo]

Finally got around to building the bed frame and bike slipper..

Bit of framework..

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Then the bed base..

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Then trial fit the front wheel to see if i had the right amount of cut out??

The bike is offset about 200mm to the right of centre. That way i can get up alongside it on the left hand side . I will build a bench on that side so i can cook and get to the fridge while the bike is still in the van if need be,
Right side will have drop down table and chairs off the wall . and and another bench down further with sink and another small workbench which will be accessible once the bike is removed.

[reddo]

Finished off the retractable wheel "Slipper "

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Then had a bit of spare time ... so cut a door into the left side panel.

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Will probably get around to cutting 2 more doors in over the next few days.
The bed hieght is around 700mm. I have always looked at van beds and thought to myself.. why so low.??.. ifthey built em a bit higher you could get bulky stuff stored in under ther... maybe port a loos.. small bar fridges ( now ya talkin Reddo) .. extra drawers ...nad... bonus.. when you get up ya havent got to struggle to your feet from a low hieght.. bed is around 700mm off the ground.. so when ya swing your legs down to the floor of a morning ..you are standing up.. just the shot for us old penisoners with wonky knees !!

Only going to store lightweight stuff in under bed storage space....... towball weight is already up over 100kg

More later.. cheers

[Strugglebrook]

The old retractable wheel slipper, well done Max.

PSK.

[reddo]

All sort of done down around the bed / and under cupboards / doors / wheel holder etc..

Moved up to the overhead cupboards.. had to make new doors out of 10mm ply. Simple locking mechs .. i used fly screen securing tabs to hold them shut.. . I had no handles in the junk tins .. so after giving the doors 2 coats of clear lacquer i used Motorbike levers for the front 2 .. and 2 spoons and a fork for the side cupboard doors...
Also cut the hatch flyscreen down to suit the hatch opening.

Went up to a mates place in the arvo and picked up a tidy little fridge he had offered me for nix.. so spent an hour shuffling bits and pieces measuring up and starting to sort the kitchen out..

Its going to be on the left side.. not the right as in most vans... Again.. it all comes down to having the bike tied in over to the right of the van ... allows me to get to the sink, stove... and more importantly... The fridge..

[Strugglebrook]

Very much like the spoon handle.

PSK.

[Strugglebrook]

Don`t need to be buying opal cards and worrying about lost parrots, just get that van finished for Shellharbour in a couple of weeks ready for inspection.

[reddo]

hi there Stormy Daniels

I can tell ya now.. This wont be at Shellharbour..
However ..
With all the rain around i locked myself inside the van and knocked up the benchtop... fitted the sink and fridge..Used some of the diamond pattern aluminium sheet i got from Judi Whylie a while back . i turned it to bright side up and covered the benchtop and .. made a splashback . then started on designing a big drawer above the fridge to take just about everything to do with cooking.. one drawer takes all. 730 wide....380 deep ... 150 high.

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Made all the slide rails etc... will make drawer over the next few days now that i have the measurements of where it has to fit.

Before i can do that i have to pull the fridge back out and cut the panel behind it to allow air circulation .. as well as cut a hole in the outside for the fluted metal vent.

Can anyone suggest a chemical to get rid of those blotchy stains on the sheeting. i dont want to go near it with steel wool or wire wheels etc.. would end up looking worse than it does with the blotches ???


up early this morning to greet the new daylight savings times... just finished a cuppa and ... the whole place blacked out... no .. not my fault.. Barnsley and 3 other suburbs on the blink.. as much as the shed of invention has a reputation for smoke and flames .. it wasnt my fault this time..
So.. while we where without power i removed the old air vent from the right side of the van where the fridge use to be .. Found a suitable piece of alloy from the Whylie stockpile .. cut / silastic and fitted the repair patch before the rain comes back to stop outside activities

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..
The van has what i describe as "random dympled" cladding.. the sheets i was given are "Diamond " pattern.. just lucky that the 3 ridge profile is the same and the repair sheet fits the same profile as the dimpled stuff ...

Also tried tracking down a roof leak coming from the hatch lid...plenty of silastic around a few suspect spots.. wont know until next downpour if i have been successful in steming the flow.??

Progress is slow .. mainly due to not having a pattern or a plan to work to.. Just make it up as i go along.. all the time thinking about .. what will work and is where it needs to be .. nothing worse than building something and finding later its going to be in the way of something else you had planned for the same spot... whats the old saying.. Failing to plan is planning to fail.. and believe me.. i have done plenty of that too.

Its all fun... well so they keep telling me.

Do a bit more .. then settle in and watch the Bathurst 1000 with a few cool stubbies this arvo..
GO THE HOLDENS.!!

[Strugglebrook]

Don`t want to hear about the labour pains, just give me the baby!!

Stormy Daniels out.