Building your own interior?

Discussion in 'Camper Conversions' started by VWStratts, Sep 5, 2017.

  1. Hi there,

    I'm currently working on giving Dougal, my 1979 Devon Moonraker, a bit of TLC, part of which involves a new interior. Stripping the crumbling damp old interior was no issue, and I've saved all of that to pinch bits of fittings from and make templates in the hopes of building a new one.

    My question is to those of you who have already attempted and hopefully succeeded at this- I have absolutely zero carpentry skills, can I do this? I've seen a lot of fancy looking interiors that have been put together by those of you who are carpenters, joiners or handymen and have that skill base already- I teach kayaking! If I'm up for learning on the go and not having the most beautiful looking product at the end of it, should I go for it, or just fork out £300+ for the MDF flat pack interiors? My main limitation here is budget, hence why I'm tempted to try my hand at cobbling together a moonraker-esque interior that'll do the job, but I don't want to spend out on wood and fittings only to find that building your own interior isn't for a complete beginner...

    If I go for it, I shall of course attempt to document the process and post the results on TLB!

    Thanks,
    Stratts
     
    Lasty likes this.
  2. Making your own wont be hard, but you need to weigh up your skill & time + cost of materials against buying. Flat pack for £300 sounds pretty reasonable to me

    Do you have all of the tools you need to make your own? ...wood can be unforgiving if your not accurate, or are cutting by hand.

    Cost of timber isn't always cheap either, I've made plenty of cupboards, garden furniture and other stuff out of wood as I thought it would be cheaper. By the time I'd bought timber, screws, paint and spent a few weekends of my time, it's sometimes worked out about the same as I could have bought the same items for ....sometimes mine has been better quality though compared to what I could have bought ...and sometimes not!!

    depending on what timber you use, prices can be between £20 -£40 for a sheet of ply

    You could try one of the simpler items first and see how it turns out, sometimes having a go your self is all part of the fun :thumbsup:
     
    VWStratts likes this.

  3. I reckon I'd start by trying to make the rear overhead locker, as that doesn't look too complicated! Tools wise I'm sure I can use the workbench and any tools we have at work- if they were good enough for building boat racks they'll work for building smaller wooden things, but my recent attempts at making shelves at work did highlight that I need some practise when it comes to cutting straight lines and screwing screws in horizontally...

    The flat packs I've been looking at were these ones:

    Volkswagen T2 Interior cupboards furniture. VW Units Cabinets Fridge version
    VW T2 Volkswagen Transporter Interior Units Kitchen Furniture Cupboard t2_f2_r
    VW T2 Volkswagen Transporter Interior Units Kitchen Furniture Cupboard T2_FF_R
    Volkswagen T2 Interior cupboards Bay window furniture. VW Units Cabinets

    All of which come to roughly £300 with p&p (though living outside of the UK mainland I'm sure I'll get stung with higher rates!)
     
  4. That's very cheap !
    Make sure it's light weight MDF



    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
     
  5. I`m hoping to sort mine out over the winter .
    I planned on using the basic B&Q flatpack kitchen stuff but having fitted a few kitchens (work) in the last few months or so i`m having a rethink - they weigh a bloody ton . Same with the flooring i quite fancied ...
    It`s a bit of a compromise i suppose . I could make and fit one myself but would i be happy ??
    Probably not .
    It would be far more fulfilling doing it myself but getting an interior custom built using lightweight materials would be easier , quicker and hopefully a better finish so i MAY go down that route . If it`s down to budget i`d do it myself but hopefully doing it once and doing it right with minimum fuss would work for me right now ....
    I`m no interior snob as anyone who knows me , and the van , will testify .
    I just want the same layout , as it works , but the units are getting tired , hinges are loose ... etc. etc. so time to rip it out and renew - whichever road i decide to head down :thumbsup:

    :hattip:
     
    Last edited: Sep 5, 2017
    paul2590 likes this.
  6. From the listings:

    "Our cupboards are cut from moisture resistant MDF. The fronts and doors are made from 15mm for stability and the rest from 12mm."

    "These units are manufactured from 12mm MOISTURE RESISTANT MDF"
     
  7. If you got all the tools at work your onto a winner ....even better if you can get advise/help from those at work who use them regularly :thumbsup:

    for the top locker, you will have to get the profile right to match the roof, which could be tricky unless you've still got the old one as a template, also the brackets to hold it up can be tricky to make.

    I you have access to a router with a flush profiler bit, and have carefully stripped the old units down, then you can use the old ones as a jig to get an exact copy

    don't forget that most timber suppliers can trim down sheet materials (some charge) ....so you could get them to do most of the hard work, and you know the sizes will be accurate
     
  8. I personally steered clear of MDF and decided on Birch ply, 5mm & 8mm flexible ply to create the curves and finished with Formica
    You can use MDF just go on a diet to compensate


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
     
    Geordie likes this.
  9. I've been working on my interior recently and fully ripped out my moonraker cabinets and appliances.
    Decided to go for 80 litre Compressor Fridge. Tambour doors all round and 200W of solar and 230Ah of leisure battery.

    I glued Amtico to the 12mm plywood cabinets I made up and it is definitely more practical than my old interior.

    Nearly finished, just need to get the upholstery done.
     

    Attached Files:

    VDubvan, paradox, VWStratts and 5 others like this.
  10. :hattip:[/QUOTE]
    Looks awesome! Very space age! I'm hoping to go solar as well but prioritising getting the van road and camp worthy first, solar will be one of the last ones on the to do list!
     
  11. The only good thing about MDF in a campervan is for taking it to a bonfire.

    Buy a old westy interiors or just parts
    On eBay all the time. It's a no brainier.
     
    Razzyh likes this.
  12. Buy cheap buy twice :cool:
     

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