This is a picture of a
standard LWB panel van, and yes it is on the drag strip at Santa Pod. It's not
my van, but its exactly the same. (Incidentally, it did the 1/4 mile in around
21 secs but was loaded at the time).This is a picture of a
standard LWB panel van, and yes it is on the drag strip at Santa Pod. It's not
my van, but its exactly the same. (Incidentally, it did the 1/4 mile in around
21 secs but was loaded at the time).
Before the camper conversion proper was under way, I fitted power windows and transferred my stereo from the old van.
I didn't fit the side windows
myself, mainly due to the noise it would create at home; so I found went to Van
Window Specialists in Leeds to have 3 fixed and 1 opening side windows in the
load area.
They also removed the full-height bulkhead. I applied tinting film (the lightest shade) and this provides a welcome degree of privacy and keeps the interior from heating up too much in summer.
CAK supplied one of their marvellous underfloor water tanks
(capacity 59 litres), together with a Whale Clearstream 700 pump, water piping
and fittings. The water pump sits in a specially-made tray under the main floor
(but not decreasing ground clearance) because initially I thought the pump had
to be the same level as the tank (later I found out it can be mounted higher).
It's convenient to have it under the floor, though, as it saves interior space
and reduces noise. At the same time, a Zig water level gauge sender was fitted
to the tank. The water filler was fitted into the offside wall just behinf the
driver's door.
The siting of the leisure battery was a bit of a headache, but eventually I decided to place it at the extreme rear nearside. Ideally it should go near to the alternator but I used thick (70A) cabling to connect the split-charge system. It doesn't help that an ammeter is fitted (so I can see exactly how much electricity is going into or coming out of the leisure bettery). I'd also designed a rather elegant split charge wiring layout, so I can choose between batteries connected when alternator is charging (as normal), always connected or always disconnected.
Later improvements included a permanent 12V transformer/charger and another leisure battery (paralleled to the existing).
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