Camperizing an Astro/Safari AWD

[J Henry]

I have a 2wd drive 84 VW Vanagon Westfalia camper. I love the camper layout but hate it's lack of dependability. I have been toying with the idea of camperizing an Astro/Safari AWD using some Vanagon Westy Components, adding a raised roof from a junkyard and building some of the components myself. I want to be able to cook inside the van and use it in cold/snowy weather. No more than two people will be camping in the van. Using Datacad12/o2c, I generated some renderings of my proposed design. Some of the cabinet sides are semi-transparent so you can see inside. I'd like some feedback on my proposals. If this is in the wrong forum, Mr. Moderator, please put it where it belongs.

Van in sleep mode. Are my dimensions ok-will this stuff fit?



Van in travel/cook mode.




Back door view.


Thanks,
John

[Moreforles]

I had similar idea's about a high top astro conversion that i sold not too long ago, my Someday 2BRV, I had stripped a couple rvs for parts and still have some of the items (sinks, counter top, 3/4" folding bed frame - from behind the drivers seat to the back doors.) some pictures of stuff on my fb site.

[LiftedAWDAstro]

Looks good to me! I can't confirm the dimensions but when you get started with pics of the project, I'll move this to the build section. Can't wait to see the results. =D>

[LaGrasta]

I love it!

[T.Low]

J Henry that looks great.

However, the 97" measurement unfortunately is wrong. From the back of the front seat is only 87" to the rear doors. I think it was aobut 16" shorter than the forward control Vanagon. Bummer, but ya gotta take the good with the bad. Keeping in mind that the seat is angled back, I took a quick measurement from about 2/3 the height of the seat, or just above where a cabinet would be.

GTRV does the 5 gallon propane bottles where you have them but on the floor to help with center of gravity issues. But your storage plan may trump COG.

[Rotor]

How close are the dimensions of the westy roof line to the Astro roof line? Just wondering if the westy pop top could be used on an Astro.

[T.Low]

The Vanagon is a forward control cab so the roof line is quite a bit longer. Remember that the front of the Westy top does not lift; it stays stationary and the forward most part of the lifted top is just behind the front seats. So, in effect, if you managed to somehow make the rest of the top fit the Astro, you'd also have to fab some sort of frot egde to it.

The Eurovan is a lot closer, but GTRV cannot use it for the Astro either.

[J Henry]

If you can find it, a poptop from a junked VW Eurovan would probably be a better candidate for transplanting to an Astro/Safari. You might try posting something in the classified section of "The Samba."

[Herbie]

I hate to be the bearer of more bad news, but I think that 64" width is suspect too, at least where it counts.

(From my notes:)
At the floor level, my Astro is 56" wide.
At the narrowest point between the wheel wells, its 50 1/2" wide.
At "seat level", with passenger van plastic trim installed, its 56 1/2" wide.

To confirm Tom's measurements, my notes say 88" from back doors to seat back. I'm a bit shorter than Tom, so I imagine I sit 1-click farther forward!

Check out my build thread, you can see the direction I am taking - transplanting a GTRV pop-top (Westfalia style) and I'll be building a "weekender" style interior.

If you are serious about some of the camperization steps you've laid out, drop me a PM with some contact info. The organ-donor van I pulled my top from has a propane storage locker fitted in more or less the same position as your drawing. It will hold 1 20-lb tank, from the looks of it. It's a molded "box" with an exterior door. Might save you some time in your project. Some pics of it early in my build thread, anyhow - might give you some ideas.

[wkastro]

Great drawings, J Henry, inspirational, even! Has anyone had a better idea for propane and house battery location? I have been leaning towards a barn-door vehicle, with the spare mounted outside on the door. This frees up some room where the spare used to be, for a house battery or two, and a propane tank well in the floor. I have crawled all over my '03 AWD and can't think of anything better.

[Herbie]

Great drawings, J Henry, inspirational, even! Has anyone had a better idea for propane and house battery location? I have been leaning towards a barn-door vehicle, with the spare mounted outside on the door. This frees up some room where the spare used to be, for a house battery or two, and a propane tank well in the floor. I have crawled all over my '03 AWD and can't think of anything better.

For a variety of factors, including convenient access, I am planning to use the jack "cubby" for my house batteries. My camper van is headed in the "overlanding" direction, so a lift is coming soon and my stock scissor jack isn't going to do me much good going forward anyway. A pair of group 22NF batteries should fit nicely in that space with room to spare for fuse block, etc. Since I'm building my van without any permanent camper cabinetry (bed platform will be removable, etc.), I like that the batteries will hide behind the stock jack access panel even when the van is in "daily driver" mode.

Yes, spare tire location is a bummer for the Dutch Doors. I have looked and schemed, and short of a full custom swing-away bumper, there's just no way to get the spare out from underneath, and even the swing-away will create some new limitations (I like being able to swing the lower doors a full 180 degrees, for example). For now, I'm leaving my spare where it is and focusing on maximizing space elsewhere. For example, I have a 36"x19"x9.5" space under my conversion van bench/bed. I can either fit a pair of drawers, or a water tank in that space. I'm currently leaning towards the water tank, with the added "input factor" being that Sportsmobile owners report problems with exterior water supplies and plumbing freezing in certain climates...

[wkastro]

One of my self imposed constraints is the ability to park the finished result in my ordinary garage. I must confess to garage envy for t low's brother-in-law's "three bears garage" - baby bear, momma bear & pappa bear doors. Very cool.

Has anyone tried these?

http://www.discountvantruck.com/rvvanse ... tbases.htm

Some of the Vanagon campers have swivel seats, which are useful for obvious reasons. Raising the seat 1 5/8" might be a bother - I will check. I wonder if they rattle...

[wkastro]

One more thing - fire egress. Has anyone added a mechanical rear hatch interior release for a Dutch door M/L van? If fire starts in the middle of the night, I have had a hammer nearby to shatter a tempered glass side window. It would be nice to have a bail out ring to open the rear hatch in a, uh, thermal emergency. We were taught in the Scouts way back when to keep a knife handy to "open" the tent if necessary.

[Herbie]

Has anyone tried these?

http://www.discountvantruck.com/rvvanse ... tbases.htm

Some of the Vanagon campers have swivel seats, which are useful for obvious reasons. Raising the seat 1 5/8" might be a bother - I will check. I wonder if they rattle...

Using the Discount Van/Truck seat as supplied: http://picasaweb.google.com/mherbst/Dis ... directlink

After modifications: viewtopic.php?p=64412#p64412

[ihatemybike]

I haven't added an interior release, but I've manually released several in the JY by pulling the interior panels. Doesn't seem that adding a release would be hard to do.