My van before I put it in a metal box !

I had to take some photos of my van for the insurance before I shipped it so here it is, finally complete after a lot of work. Hopefully next time I post a picture of it on here it will be on the other side of the world and in one piece !




and I might've tidied up the bed by then too!

Looks amazing.

Interesting to see the similarities and subtle differences between yours and mine. Both look very complete, which is great to see.

Yours has the later grill and front light arrangements but externally there aren’t many differences. I have body-coloured mirror backs and I intend to add heaters to these. I will switch these to a different circuit to the tailgate window heater as I rarely find I need to have both of these on at the same time.

What are the items below the front door area and on the rear quarter? Are they lights? I’ve been wondering how to add a bit of external lighting. I’m not keen puncture the skin or top but some camping lighting would be good. I might just get some rechargeable yellow / white puck lights with magnetic bases, but I might have got wrong what these are on your van? Are the cabin windows tinted? Did you add this?

I like the ‘blue’ interior. Mine is the earlier(?) grey, so are my curtains; yours also look a bit blue. Is your pop-top fabric original? As far as I know mine is, and it’s in great shape, but it doesn’t have the large front window / vent and the side windows are smaller. Maybe the company that made the later ones learned a bit. The big window must be a great place to see the dawn come up wherever you’re heading off too.

I don’t have a side awning and I think I will fit one, but likely either a 180 or 270 degree roll-type / pull out version rather than a wind out one.

Inside I see you have the larger, single ‘ice-cream hatch’. I have the double, but not the Velcro, fabric bins that should be inside. I’ve not decided whether to make these to fit or make changes here. I wouldn’t have minded the single hatch, which does give better access. I might add access to the side of the storage area with a pull-out or hinged hatch or two, but that’s for the future.

I see you have the foldout legs on the additional bed piece. Mine just has two pillars on the base, which makes it hard to store and useless elsewhere. I contacted OttoEx who gave me suggestions for what they fitted to this piece for a purchaser of one of the CCs they imported, but I think the system you have looks better, stronger and more flexible, still. If you fitted these or have any details of these legs (stickers etc), please can you forward? Having fold-out legs means this piece can be used outside as a simple seat or a step stool in a pinch. It looks like your tap might have been replaced but it’s possible they fitted a different one as standard. Quite a lot of vans have a pull-out hose so the unit can be fitted outside to act as a shower. Hot water optional!

It’s nice to see your blind and cover piece are present above the sink / hob. This on mine had a steel rod to stiffen it and made it hang. I think it’s better to put a piece of stainless steel or plastic rod in there to stop the chance of rust transferring to the fabric. The curtain fabric is very good quality and mine benefitted hugely from going through the washing machine. All the fasteners were fine and I’ve added a dab of white Teflon grease to their insides (for the spring).

Do you have the heat shield for the hob?

Anyway Very Cool!!

Safari njema as they say!

That's why I said snap when I saw yours, they are definitely related as for the differences..

The things below the driver door and on the rear quarter are holders for the awning, you can attach the extendable legs there to support it if you don't want them on the ground. This is handy for just being a shade as it makes the awning go out less but you have to walk around the bars to get in the door.

There was way too much grey in my van and I didn't like it so I got rid of what I could, the curtains are dyed, carpet changed, "kitchen" top painted ( along with some other bits ) and the pop top canvas is new. The old one was alright but looked 30 years old and was really dark looking so I got a new one with bigger windows and a front opening, the front also has a window if you don't want it fully opened.. Fitting it was a bit of a beast due to the claustrophobic small triangle area you have to work in at the back.

The tap is indeed new and luckily the blind cover has got a plastic rod in it ( maybe somebody hit a rust issue ), I forgot about it, dyed the curtains and then had to do that bit separately, I also had to put the blind back up a couple of times because I kept putting it on wrong ! I have got the splash guard and also some weird thing that I presume is for making toast because it's definitely slice of bread size.

All the windows are tinted apart from the windscreen and you can't see in the rear ones unless you open a window on the other side and then you can see a silhouette. They don't look that dark when you're looking out which is useful and I didn't add this, it came like it.

If when I get to my van I can find numbers on the seat I'll let you know. I redid all the seat foam and that one was really easy as it's just foam on a board so whatever you put in there wouldn't matter. You could just bend up a sturdy deckchair and put it on with hinges it's just a board. Doing the other seat's foam was a horrible job so I wouldn't advise it unless you have to.


I forgot the important part, I named my van because the previous owner said it had no name and that was sad. It's full name is Sakura Toyota. I figured that because it's full on Japanese it had to have a Japanese name. Sakura means cherry blossom which is a very important thing in Japan. It is a metaphor for life in that it is amazing, doesn't last very long and is to be appreciated while it is there, it is also a sign of a new start as it appears in the spring. I'm done with the UK, dropping out, going over seas and my van will be my new home... But after working on something for nearly a year it's a bit nerve racking putting your faith in a shipping container !

Where did you get your new pop top canvas from. I've been wanting to get a new one for mine as the current one has a couple of design flaws, like no canvas flaps over the window zips so rain can create in.
Where are you shipping your van to?

I got the canvas from Emlyn canvas in Newport Wales. I timed it for my test drive around Wales, dropped the old one off, headed to the mountains and picked up the new one a week later. It all came to just over £400, taking it off isn't too bad, putting it on can get a bit claustrophobic and you have to be careful to line it up !

They might be able to just cut chunks out your old one and add different windows, I don't know, but they certainly knew what they were doing and were very helpful. If you just added windows it would be a lot easier to put back because all the holes would already be there and lined up, I had to poke around with a bradawl before screwing on the top part.

My van's off to South America and should arrive in early December to find me sitting at the dock biting my nails !