Jake's Caddy Camper Build

[Jase14]

Cheers and thanks for your help

[jakemcc97]

Sorry Jase, haven't got round to doing any wiring diagrams/cost lists yet.

Been busy with my girlfriends Polo. Bought it, got it up on Dad's lift, only to realise that it's been crashed and the sill repaired badly. Sorting that took a bit of cutting and welding but it's in much better shape now.



Fresh underseal, and after a bit of paint it should look as good as new (from a few feet away, or if you have bad eyesight...) Quite pleased that I managed to make it match the messy OEM VW underseal.



Anyway. Managed to get back to the van for a bit today.

I've been trying to work out how everyone fits their rear interior ply when it just covers the window recess, not the entire side of the van. Only way I can think of doing it while keeping it removable is this... (I don't want to use self tappers for two reasons - 1. I hate self tappers, and 2. I'm terrified of firing one through the side panel of the van.)

So, nut welded to a plate, bit of epoxy to hold it in place:



Two of these slotted into the vertical brace:





Panel cut from 1/4" ply to fill in the recess. This will have 2 countersunk holes drilled to allow it to be bolted to the two new anchor nuts.



I think I'll carpet this separately to the walls of the van, that way it can be removed if I want to screw something into it at some point. Will add a dab of silicone to each corner to stop it from vibrating at the edges (since it's only properly fixed in the centre)

[jakemcc97]

Some big progress recently, feels like I'm getting somewhere!

First opened up a little slot at the drivers side rear "window" recess for the reading light wire. This will hide behind my new ply panels.



Dad made some washer plates for the side panels, bit sturdier than countersunk screws straight into thin ply.



Test fit:



Bit of leftover floor underlay on the back, and added some carpet to the front.



Test fit, should look nice.



Decided the floor needed a bit of insulation. Used some bubble wrap type LVT floor underlay, has self adhesive strips on the underside which is handy.



Panels back off and all holes in the walls taped up with ali tape. Took ages.



Finally, carpet on the walls. What a horrible job to do, ha. I wasn't looking forward to this and wouldn't look forward to doing it again! Glad it's done now. This should definitely make the van a bit quieter, and it feels SO much nicer inside now. Ended up with a couple of seams but overall I'm quite happy with it - it's not perfect but it looks decent enough.

For reference it took about 6m of carpet, 4 cans of spray adhesive, and about 35 "oh f***"'s



Floor temporarily back in, I installed some M6 riv nuts to bolt it down - 5 in original locations and two in slightly different spots. Holes zinc primed then a bit sprayed over from below. I'm using the original floor panel, tidied it up a bit with some filler and will put some lino over the top like everyone else.



What a change!