DDK - Die Deutschen Klassiker

Same heater I have in my T25

Bootsy wrote:Same heater I have in my T25

And I'm assuming it does the job then? Looks like it will be quite a toasty output - you like?

OK - Insulation.... or not.... sound, heat, vibration. All things that can make life in a van just a little bit harder.

I did a lot of looking around on what to do with this - and ultimately I decided that from a thermal perspective, I really didn't want to be putting wadding in there - I know there's stuff that doesn't absorb water and all that, but I just figured that having porous material behind the panels was something I didn't want to do.

Add that to the fact that you're going to get so much heat loss from the windows, not to mention the roof tent and that we have an installed heater, made me decide not to thermal insulate. And I can get the family some good sleeping bags. What could possibly go wrong...

So then I started looking into sound insulation - turns out there are two types you need, anti-vibration on the big panels and then anti-noise to stop some of the stuff coming up through the floor, like engine and road noise.

Bearing in mind that this is a 50+ year old design and the bus itself is nearly 50, we're never going to get to modern standards. But I did want something that would make it a more relaxing place to be on motorway cruises, so I opted for a kit by NK Engineering - they do lots of other things, but do one specifically for a bus that combines both anti-vibration and anti-noise.

It's here if you're interested... https://www.nkgroup.co.uk/product/motor ... amper-kit/

The silver stuff is the anti-vibration and you don't need to put it all over the panels. Just in strategic places to stop the panels vibrating







And then the black stuff is just a hi density foam matting that sits on the floor and over the engine bay (its also under the wooden floor too....)



We also have some 15mm 'egg shell' foam on the roof that will go under the lining.

So that's that job done. On to the cabinets....

So one of the great things about working with Johnson's is that they have people around them who will bespoke-build - there are other companies out there who will let you have kits and stuff, but they all likely need altering and you can spend a lot of time and effort on a lot of money to fit one of those.

So we decided to go bespoke - and not as expensive as you'd imagine - this whole interior cabinetry was a lot less than other specialists would charge.

I also wanted this to be as light and hard-wearing as possible, so it was made out of plywood, with an applied white veneer - and then put a lightweight 'rosewood' work-surface on it - I want to cook in this and I'm just not keen on having white everywhere - the wrong pot in the wrong place could be very expensive - hence the work-surface.

Another tarty thing I did was to ask for a 'pop-out' table just under the cooker. It can be a right PITA to have to get the table out to cook, or have somewhere to rest your cup of tea, so that's the little slot thing over the fridge gap.

You can also see that this is a straight, single run, so no sharp corners for people to bang their heads on in the event of a bump. The hole towards the base of the unit is where the heater outlet will be - the locker above it will have a false floor in it, so we can have 'dry' food in there but there will also be useful storage place next to the heater for other things. Like a mallet. For example. Maybe some other more interesting things. But right now it has a mallet and my spare number plates in there. And a spare set of curtains. As you do.





At the back, I wanted cubby-holes, storage for one of the batteries and somewhere both to house the electical stuff (CTEK kit) and general things like tools, camping chairs, inverter, compressor, bottle of Pimms, that kind of stuff.



That bubble-wrapped thing is going to be a drinks-holder / phone dump / general shite thing that sits between the front seats. However, I've also had it altered so it can come into the cabin and be used as a little cubby seat - it's held in place using a wingnut and bolt, so will be secure when driving. Also had it trimmed in the 'Raw-hide Fat Biscuit'. Which are four words I never imagined typing together to describe something...

So now it was onto the upholstery - this was done by Nick at Autobahn Customs - remember he was the one with the sound design advice too - here's some of his work - and to top it all, great prices and a really good partner to work with - big thanks to Nick for all he did...
http://www.autobahncustoms.com/images



A 3/4 Rock & Roll seat / bed



Front seats and cubby seat / box / drinks holder





Panels



Headliner



And top bunk - also trimmed with the headliner, so when it's down, it just looks like an extension of the rest of the headliner - I didn't ask for this, but it's a great idea and a good example of his attention to detail...



I also wanted USB sockets up high, so when you're in bed you can charge your phone / tablet stuff (kids eh?) and Nick worked a great solution for that too...



He also fitted the pop-top tent. So a complete upholstery service and a thoroughly professional job.... really recommend him if you have some stuff that needs doing.

And finally - and most contentiously at home. The Curtains...... Didn't want flowers. Too cliched for me. Nor Hawaiian. Nor Psychedelic. But it needed to fit with the colour-scheme, look period, but not trying too hard.

Ended up with this as a shortlist.



Trouble was, Amy & I wanted one thing and the kids another. Now it's easy to override childrens' wants. But, it felt like it was one of those things that really we could compromise on. And curtains aren't too expensive. So I bought two sets..... pussy & peacemaker that I am...



We're going for the leaf-one first and the kids can change to theirs whenever they can be ar5ed to do it. Which will likely be never. Lucky we have storage space with the mallet and the spare number plates then.

So - the tarty bits.....

LED lighting. Was really looking forward to getting this sorted. I just wanted some fun lighting in the bus. Two zones. RGBW. Multi-colour controller.....

So the idea was to have lights under the back seat, under the lip of the kitchen surface. And on the cross-member under the pop-top latch



So after much searching I sourced bright, dimmable, multi-coloured LED strips, a wireless controller and plugged it all into the 12 electrics.

And the results? Much hilarity at Johnsons and at home. But you can't take yourself too seriously really....











You'll also see in that last picture a more sensible LED light, that's for cooking and stuff, and rotates on its axis so you can fire it up into the tent above. Works really well actually - and that black circle is one of the USB charging slots for upstairs...

And with all the control stuff put in, we can do the lights, monitor the batteries & solar charging and the Espar heater. There's also a USB combined with a traditional 12v outlet so we can use the inverter and compressor as and when.

I like this, I think it looks pretty tidy and removes the need for one of those big fuse-box thingies - all the fuses are hidden in the cupboard behind.

So - we're coming to the end of the build now - and it was time to get the engine in..... very exciting....

And it looked brilliant - deliberately styled to look stock, but with a couple of cool touches like the distributor and coil being done in black, a stock alternator pulley and a funky fan-shroud. And that exhaust! A CSP python, built to have same-length pipes into a collector, and gives good torque at low end, without constricting the higher RPMs. It does take up a bit of ground clearance though.... as I was to find out...



Up in the air and being fitted....



And finally installed with it's automatic fire extinguisher.... (I've read too many horror stories about buses going up in smoke...)

And that - was pretty much that. We went from this.....



To this....





And with the addition of the original steering wheel - leather covered beautifully by Mr JT Parr of this parish.





















So all that needed to happen now was to load it up with camping gear, family, get on a boat to Spain and do 2,500 km in two weeks in it...

What could possibly go wrong....

Superb!!!!! Very, very cool - brothel lighting is a nice touch. Should help you recoup some of the expense...

Beautiful! I've been wanting do do one myself for a long time and fortunately the wife is keen also, so I'm halfway there already

Great to see all these images again Rich

Do your funky lights bring all the boys to the yard?

What a peach that is.
A real credit to all involved, and a great result.
Love the LED's and that the family thought them a good laugh, bodes well for the happy weekends away.

murph2309 wrote:
I did a lot of looking around on what to do with this - and ultimately I decided that from a thermal perspective, I really didn't want to be putting wadding in there - I know there's stuff that doesn't absorb water and all that, but I just figured that having porous material behind the panels was something I didn't want to ...

Loads of people ram the cavitites with Rockwool etc., myself included once upon a time. The moisture rotted panels out pretty well... I like the idea of a solid structure using foam in the cavity to create the thickness needed, combined with a vapour barrier etc. but I wonder if you have enough non glazed walls to potentially make your best insulation result worth it. Pretty sure you made the right call with it.

I guess looking at the vent you’ve fitted an Eberspacher or Webasto. The typical type of either does around 2000w of heat - that will heat a truck cab fine so you should be ok even with the extra glass. If the pump’s bolted to the floorpan the ticking might get annoying (move it to a chassis rail).

Looking good!