#madmatz

[lifewithiris]

Floor + Rock ‘n Roll Bed: Pt1

A long bank holiday weekend saw both the floor and bed go in.

After work Thursday I was supposed to be meeting a van and man at the local timber yard to deliver a sheet of marine ply, only to find the place shut at 4 (assume they clocked off early for the bank holiday). Feeling a bit deflated I drove home and remembered Sydenhams is right next to my office, so swung in. Convinced the ply wouldn’t fit in my van (hence the man and van being my original plan), however it slid right through the rear hatch with ease:

Onto Friday and Saturday and we got the closed cell underlay trimmed down and fitted:

Plywood cut to size, sanded and sealed:

One large piece to cover the majority of the floor:

Followed by two smaller pieces towards the rear:

To avoid flexing around the joint I fitted a strip of ply underneath the floor and screwed all 3 pieces to it:

Sunday saw the rest of the cargo area carpet go in.

Stripping the old quarter panels of carpet:

Fitting the new carpet:

And all panels and bulkhead carpeted:

[lifewithiris]

Floor and Rock ‘n Roll Bed: Pt2

Not quite appreciating how dark it was getting we put the glue down for the floor about 7:15 and ended up putting the first batch of tiles on by iPhone and candle light (I couldn't find any of my torches, suspect I left them down the workshop!). Not ideal but looked great:

Finished up the tiles Monday morning when the light was better, complete with 3 coats of polish by Max:

And then fitted the Rusty Lee Rock ‘n Roll 3/4 width bed:

A productive weekend!

[lifewithiris]

Interior beginnings

Since getting the van back on the road last month I’ve slowed down a huge amount with getting bits done on it. I’ve just been enjoying driving it again and having my evenings back. I definitely needed it, but at the same time it’s been a bit of a shock to the system to be honest; feeling a bit lost most evenings. I found this picture from this time last year which just shows how much I got done over 12 months, from a welded up rolling shell to road worthy:

I have however started making some progress on the interior.

Realised I’d forgotten to connect the cold air drain hose. A washing machine pipe from Wickes was the perfect fit:

Got the bed boards and foam in so we can at least sleep in the van:

Made up some membranes for the cab doors to keep the water out:

Fitted the madmatz carpet set to the cab area. I’ve left the cab carpet and kick panels for now as I’m waiting for it to rain again to see if I’ve fixed the leaky windscreen before putting them in:

And I think we’re decided on the fabrics we’ll be using on the upholstry:

Im hoping to start the upholstery next month.

[lifewithiris]

Further Interior bits

My Madmatz set arrived this week. Very happy with these, and should look lovely once in:

Fancying a change I’ve moved onto sorting some interior bits. First up transforming it into the International Space Station with some silent coat sound deadening, followed by Dodomat for insulation:

I’ve started carpet lining the living area. We’ve gone with anthacite grey, feels very cosy (ignore the rough edges, I’ve not trimmed it down yet!): 

Fitted my slightly nicer fuel pump from heritage too:

I’m having a few issues getting the engine to idle properly. It will quite happily run with a small amount of throttle applied, but when released it fails to idle properly. I’m thinking it may be the idle jet in the carb not working as it should. The carb was one thing I didn’t look at when assembling the engine so I’ve stripped it down and will clean it all out to see if that helps. 

[lifewithiris]

Rusty Lee Bed & Lap Belt

My rusty Lee 3/4 width bed arrived this month, as I was keen to get the mounting holes drilled before I paint the engine bay.

It took me a little while to work out how it all went together, but it seems really nicely designed and pretty straightforward.

Once I’d assembled it I got it into the van on top of the Madmatz closed cell insulation, a piece of 9mm ply and the floor tiles I’ll be using to make sure it sat at the correct height:

And then drilled and fitted the mounting bolts:

While the bed was in I made up a large strengthening plate for the lap belt and 3 point belt I’ll be fitting

And a quick test to make sure it fits:

These are the floor tiles I’ll be fitting much later on: