Barney’s Landy · Sep 24, 2020

The 2nd row seat is in and working well on the new two new striker plates. The 40% section seat I am not going to use and will make way for the fridge/ freezer and electrical cabinet.
I had a set of leather covers made, and in total took me a 3-4 hours to fit including the valance and rear bottom trim.
The hardest part was trying to lift the frame in without scratching the floor or car.

The rear panel was fitted once in position.

Barney’s Landy · Sep 24, 2020

Next on my to do list: Adding a panel for the thermostat and water level indicator.

First l made a cardboard template.

I then traced around it into 4 mm plywood.adding a angled cage, so that it fits snug in the rear trim.

Mounting holes were then marked out and cut.

Placed in position.

Covered using Veltrim

The finished panel, all secured using Velcro.

wilfranco · Sep 25, 2020

What a nice job that turned out to be, well done
Willie Wright

Barney’s Landy · Sep 27, 2020

wilfranco said:
What a nice job that turned out to be, well done
Willie Wright

Thank you Willie. I hope that the photographs are not too Zzzzzzz. But if they inspire and help people then it has been worth it.

Barney’s Landy · Sep 27, 2020

Onto the cabinets, Sometime ago I saw a photograph of a Defender with the style of cabinet l liked, So from that moment l mentally designed the cabinets and the look and feel of the whole project. I have seen camper vans In the past, but mostly VWs, not many Defenders. They normally looked like they were made for the Swedish flat pack market. Good, but not very fitting for a Defender. and they weigh a ton.
So I decided to design my own.
I made some wooden templates as seen in my earlier posts, tried a few ideas and came up with a finished design.
From those l made some scaled engineering drawings and exported them out as DXF files. These were given like all of my other designs to a engineering company to be made.
These were made and collected.
They came in flat and as folded sheet.

At this stage I got out my angle grinder. They needed quite a lot of fine adjustment.

And filing! A Dremel was best for this.

Taking shape, hundreds of different pop rivets. I think l used over 400 in total. My hand stated to blister up.

This is the main sink unit.

Trying out a door.

l needed an inspection hole/ panel for the rear light cluster, drilled, cut and rivnuts inserted.

A few of the doors, eight in total.

The electronics and heater cabinet. All finished.

Units are now ready to be delivered and painted.

Just have to pick a grey.
What colour grey do you like?

Bobsticle · Sep 27, 2020

Barney’s Landy said:
Onto the cabinets, Sometime ago I saw a photograph of a Defender with the style of cabinet l liked, So from that moment l mentally designed the cabinets and the look and feel of the whole project. I have seen camper vans In the past, but mostly VWs, not many Defenders. They normally looked like they were made for the Swedish flat pack market. Good, but not very fitting for a Defender. and they weigh a ton.
So I decided to design my own.
I made some wooden templates as seen in my earlier posts, tried a few ideas and came up with a finished design.
From those l made some scaled engineering drawings and exported them out as DXF files. These were given like all of my other designs to a engineering company to be made.
These were made and collected.
They came in flat and as folded sheet.
View attachment 220071
At this stage I got out my angle grinder. They needed quite a lot of fine adjustment.
View attachment 220072
And filing! A Dremel was best for this.
View attachment 220073
Taking shape, hundreds of different pop rivets. I think l used over 400 in total. My hand stated to blister up.
View attachment 220074This is the main sink unit.
View attachment 220075
Trying out a door.
View attachment 220076
l needed an inspection hole/ panel for the rear light cluster, drilled, cut and rivnuts inserted.
View attachment 220077
A few of the doors, eight in total.
View attachment 220079
The electronics and heater cabinet. All finished.
View attachment 220080
Units are now ready to be delivered and painted.
View attachment 220081
Just have to pick a grey.
What colour grey do you like?
View attachment 220082

I like gin

Barney’s Landy · Oct 1, 2020

Received the units back all painted.
I worked on the doors first adding the pull catch and fixing rivets.

The main units also had all of the auxiliary parts fitted.

Barney’s Landy · Oct 1, 2020

I secured the main sink unit using the same two bolts l used for the fixing of the water tank.
The water pipe sections were cut and glued into position.

The pump can be seen on the left, with it’s 12 V wiring and water outlet tube.

Some more spaghetti!

All secured.

The next cabinet to work on was the main electrical unit.

I marked off the base and mounted two L brackets. This section of the unit will have wooden base for the LPG gas heater. This l made from the middle section of the waste wood from the sink unit.

Barney’s Landy · Oct 3, 2020

Onto the worktops!
I ordered the solid oak worktop in one length and then cut it up into three.
Kitchen units when l have fitted them in the past l give a overhang of 20 mm, but because the units
are much smaller l thought 15 mm was ample.
A small bevel was added to the leading edge.

The first unit l cut was the sink hob unit.
I first scribed the work top around the window side trim.

Next l measured out the area for the sink. A mug was perfect for the radius corners.

The hole was cut out using a jigsaw and a router was used for the sides and bevel.

Finally three coats of Danish oil was applied.
The fridge unit worktop. l shaped, cut and added the cargo rails, these will hold the fridge freezer. Danish oil was again applied.

Knappster · Oct 4, 2020

Looking good!

Bobsticle · Oct 4, 2020

I’m not bothering with a sink. I’ll just get some paper plates

auld duffer · Oct 8, 2020

just read through this fantastic build . Great approach that is looking totally professional . Looking forward to the remaining instalments.

haza88 · Oct 9, 2020

Very nice

Barney’s Landy · Oct 19, 2020

Small update. I received the new rear stainless steel threshold months ago, but finally l have found some time to fit it.
I used the old bashed up one as a template for the new, it’s wider and deeper, but now it covers up the edge of the
15 mm ply. New rubber as well.
The trickiest part was drilling the screw holes in the exact places.

First part of the installation was to make good the threshold fixing surface.
A quick rub down, primer and spray.

Plenty of silicon and new shiny screws, although l might change these to pop rivets at a later date.

Barney’s Landy · Oct 25, 2020

The electrics continues...
With the main electrical unit out of the car l internally measured up the inside of the cabinet. I used those dimensions dimensions to cut some 9 mm MDF panels, these were bolted through the sides. The panels are a perfect way to fix all of the electrics.
The gas heater base l made earlier was positioned and checked, also to test out the location of the other electrical components. The gas instructions advise a 25mm air gap all around the heater.

Why a gas heater? And not use a diesel heater like all of the VW Campervans.
The simple answer is space, and if l have gas anyway supplying the hob why not the heating also,
and maybe an external BBQ.
I will not need an external cabinet or internal cabinet with a vent, just space to mount the LPG tank on the chassis rail, easy to fit and fill.
The cabinet Is now fitted to the vehicle. The photograph shows the CTEK, and 240 V system.

The heater base, trickle charger, isolator, and fuses also positioned. The wires are from the lights and from the 240 V
hook up.

All tidied up! Holes were made through the floor to fit through the exhaust and air inlet hose.
I made a small shelf with door, perfect for my hookup cable and water pipe.

Heater is now positioned and screwed to the base board, pipes are also secured.

Added a small catch to the internal door.

All done for now.
The electrics have all been tested and they all seem to work fine, really very surprised! .

Barney’s Landy · Nov 22, 2020

Issues with my MAF sensor and engine management light, so l have been side tracked for the last few weeks.
Plenty of car tinkering going on.
A massive update to the car coming shortly.
But in the meantime...
Replaced the intercooler and added some silicone pipes.
New compared to old.

While l was at it l stripped off all of the metal brackets, bonnet stay and had them all powder coated.

The side steps have also been stripped and powder coated.

The pop rivets were drilled through the top tread plate.

The shaft part of the pop rivet was then drilled through the main body of the step.

Rivnuts were then inserted into the holes after the steps were powder coated. All the metal work prior to powder coating also had a special rustproofing coat applied. The guy did tell me what it was, but l think l was thinking about something else at the time.

The tread plate was stripped and secured by new stainless steel domed screws.

New end caps purchased off an auction site finished off the small project.

Barney’s Landy · Nov 23, 2020

Some finished piccies of the sink/

auld duffer · Nov 25, 2020

The fit and finish and attention to detail on this conversion is astounding , Its great to see people building things to this level as it gives folk like myself something to aspire to. Even though I cant match the quality it encourages me to make the best job possible with the funds and tools available to me .. This is what its all about .. Looking forward to seeing the end result which cant be to far off now .

One question, what is the part with the initials ARB ? I looked back the post and couldnt see any reference to it , maybee I overlooked it ..

Barney’s Landy · Nov 25, 2020

auld duffer said:
The fit and finish and attention to detail on this conversion is astounding , Its great to see people building things to this level as it gives folk like myself something to aspire to. Even though I cant match the quality it encourages me to make the best job possible with the funds and tools available to me .. This is what its all about .. Looking forward to seeing the end result which cant be to far off now .

One question, what is the part with the initials ARB ? I looked back the post and couldnt see any reference to it , maybee I overlooked it ..

Thank you for your kind comments. It’s great to know that it will hopefully help you with your build. If you want to know anything, feel free to ask

. This is my first build, but has generally gone okay, not much l would change,
or add. I did encounter problems sourcing out the quality products off the shelf and this is why l have had a lot made.
I am actually only about 75% through the build, and should hopefully be finished by next spring, then off to the mountains l go, providing the COVID-19 situation improves of course.
Jobs to do:
Halo rail- next.
External side mounted table,
270 degree awning- next,
LPG gas tanks, BBQ point, indicator,
Shower and rail tank,
Graphics,
Lift in/ out cabinet,
Leather front seats, cubby box, carpets, under seat aluminium lockers, s/s trim,
Re-trim door cards, grab handles, glovebox,
Cushion bases,
Curtains,
Cargo webbing,
Springs,
More security!
As you can see still plenty of jobs till l finish off.

The ARB initials you see belong to the anchor straps that hold the fridge down onto the cargo rails.
I will upload some more photos of the finished cabinets in situ, and should show it more clearly.