The caravan restoration project is broken up into 3 phases:
Phase 1 – Gut and replace rotten wood and metal including floor, part of wall, front & rear window sills, ceiling near skylight and drawbar!!! Can you believe it? <Phase 1 is completed – see previous post for details.>
Phase 2 – Install new remodelled interior including bed, kitchen, desks and book shelving.
Phase 3 – Install new PV solar system including batteries and inverter.
I will update this blog entry with progress pics as I go. So check back every few weeks for updates.
Phase 2 and Phase 3 are the fun stuff as it is all design and build – not dirty and boring repair!
I will spend another month or so, on and off (between work to earn money for my next project) on the following..
…complete the fit out of the caravan including the…
bed (with 800mm slide out drawer),
kitchen unit
desk
and shelves.
fix wood panel to front window lintel.
remove side windows and reseal.
paint interior and exterior.
fit break cable,
fit LPG gas to kitchen (NOT USING GAS INSIDE NOW. PORTABLE SINGLE ELEMENT INDUCTION COOK TOP FITTED INSTEAD!!!).
fit new electric light cable for hitch.
fit 12v LED lighting
fit external gas and water and electricity adapters on exterior wall below kitchen window.
reregister and get new number plate!
I have partly completed the bed, kitchen unit and desk, just in time for Sukkot (the biblical feast of tabernacles).
UPDATE 24th January 2018
I have more or less completed the refit and rebuilt. The interior is painted. I have installed the 800mm slide out drawer under the bed. The Caravan has been lived in since Sukkot 2017. The kitchen unit is completed. I have installed various shelves as can be seen in the pictures below. And I have the curtains complete but I have yet to properly install them. I am pretty happy with how it is working for me as my own little tiny tiny house on wheels. But I pretty fed up with working on it and the pace has slowed down. I need a break. I have been doing a few tiling jobs in between to give me some money. But I have pretty much completed the project.I just have some cupboard doors to make up and some brass trim to add (I may do that at a later stage. Will put a few more photo’s in a few weeks. I have also installed an external guttering to fill up my water tank with rain water.
I still haven’t painted the exterior or fitted the break cable and gotten it registered. But I have installed the 12V DC PV solar system and battery. I will outline all that in the follow up blog post on the phase 3 PV Solar installation.
Initial bed structure installed but not screwed to floor yet.12mm marine ply bed base that will have compartments that open.800mm bed drawer sliders.What’s left of the old kitchen unit will be replaced with amuch deeper (700mm)one with a solid wood top, a large dual sink, slide out chopping boards, small moveable gas cooker on a flexable chord that can be placed in sink.In the new kitchen unit the new fridge will go in the same place (i.e. the gap under the drawer).The front windows have been reinstalled and screwed, glued and sealed with Sikaflex Marine sealant glue which makes a fantasticly strong connection. I still have to seal along the top of the caravan seem.I have just installed the new kitchen as seen here (minus the wooden bench top)A view of the newly installed kitchen unit with the fridge in it’s little home.These 3 small sample pieces of stair tread show the type of bench I will build. I have been promised 6 off-cuts of about 1.2m (4 feet) length each. The bench is about 1.7m (5.6 feet) long and 700mm (2.3 feet).The microwave is going in here over the wheel well. There is just enough clearance to fit it it. It’s too heavy for the overhead cupboards and I don’t want it taking up space under the kitchen bench.Here is the view of the small passageway and under the bed where the 800mm long slide out drawer sits.Shoes can go under the wardrobe now I have cut out the base and removed the dated looking drawer. My cat will have cat food & drink bowls where the paint tins are sitting.Another view of the cupboard. Shoes will also go in under the desk……Here is the new desk. on the left and front will be space for my laptop and maybe a printer and bits and pieces. Shoes will go under the left side of the desk as you enter the caravan. You can also put them under the wardrobe, also on the left.Below the desk under the window (behind the seat in the pic) will be a small bookshelf that will have a 12v DC light. There will be plenty of room for my knees.This area of the desk will be where I have my Breakfast / Dining table and various things like toaster, Coffee grinder, bread maker and a rice cooker (once I get it).A better look at the large desk area (1200x1150mm).The drawer will slide out a full 700mm (2.3 feet). A chopping board will also slide out in a cleaver way). The open area will have a shelf and a curtain for storage of this and that. At the bed end of the bench will be a spice rack on the side with a fancy pieces of carved wood to hold it.A scratched area under kitchen window where gas, water and electricity will be available for external gas heater and shower.Plastic toolbox needs to be cleaned up and painted white.Rust removed from around hinges and latches and then masked off for galvanised spray paint.Added shelving for books under desk. Plenty of clutter because I am living in caravan now and still working on it.New overhead shelf above desk near entrance.Single element 2kw induction cook top which sits above sink on removable plywood top.700mm deep cutlery drawer.Cutlery drawer ready for installation.Large 650mm deep kitchen cutlery drawer installed on sliders.Pull out chopping board area above drawer.800mm deep Bed drawer ready for installation.Pull out drawer for bed. Sorry about the mess.Pull out drawer for bed. Sorry about the mess.slide out desk drawer.I still need to clean up and put clear polyurethane finish on desk drawer.My cat eating his food in his out of the way space under the wardrobe where near wheel arch.Myriam measuring up curtains for installation.Added small gutter to replenish water tank from rainfall.
