99 Astro AWD camper (under construction)

[VanGoGo]

Bought this a couple months ago, needed some maintanence, added Nokian tires, Moog Idler arms, rebuilt rearend, changed all fluids, tune up, new alternator, KYB shocks, Installed vermont maple flooring, cabinets, closet, folding seat/bed...working on curtains, 2nd battery, etc, etc,...




Hope to take it to the coast soon, then south for the winter.

99 Astro AWD 124K mikes

[GnarliSafari]

electric koolaid? sharp van fellow Oregonian!

[LiftedAWDAstro]

Welcome! Nice van and very nice interior!!!!

I am moving this to the van camper section. Please post up as many pics you have of the build...we LOVE pics!

[crash]

looking at the added interior I'd swear it was a westfalia .. nicely done

[ihatemybike]

Very nice. Need more pics.

[hpygolkyone]

Wow, that's a beauty.......and some very fine craftsmanship! How many labor hours do you have into all this maintenance and interior work?

[peelers]

man, that is sweet! yeah, post up a few more pics. great work.

[T.Low]

Great job on the interior.

How did you go about designing the folding seat? Do you buy the hinges/brackets from GoWesty or? Is it comfortable for passengers while driving? Is it seatbelt-able and secure?

Can I bug you for a pic from the rear to check out the rear storage? Would like to see how you have it with the fold down bed.

How was it attatching the cabinets to the van?

What ideas do you have for placement of the extra battery(s)?

Thanks.

Keep and eye out for a WestCoast AstroSafari meetup somewhere like the Pelican Brewery (I think that's Pacific City).

[Herbie]

Holy carp, that's an amazing first post for an "under construction" thread.

I'm with T.Low, I want to see more of your interior, especially the bed as a bed, etc. How long is it? You seem to have managed a lot more open floor space than I can manage, so I'm curious to see what you've done!

AWESOME.

[wkastro]

Nice Nice Nice! Any work-in-progress photos? What have you done for house battery, cooling/refrigeration, cooktop, front curtains??

[VanGoGo]

Here are a few pics of the bed (still 'beta version' and under construction). I had a folding matress that I started with, (40" x 72"), It was already divided into three 40" x 24" sections, I used an electric knife to cut the middle section where it folds to make the seat backs, and I also cut the rear pad to match the contour of the rear doors. There is alot of storage below the bed, the individual boards below the matress can be re-designed to make the bed longer, the seat taller, etc. The hinges for the folding parts are made from the seatbelts that I removed from the van...stapled to the wood. I also made a strap in the middle, which you pull when folding the seat...very simple design and easy to fold. I will make a few changes later and make the seat backs taller...of course I will have to make longer matress sections too.




The green cooler is used to support the weight on the overhanging section for now. It does work great, but I may put some doors under the bed that would swing open and act as supports. The 'hinged' part of the bed is back far enough that not much extra support is needed on the overhanging part.



When in 'seat mode' the back-rest boards are kept apart at the bottom so they form a triangle and stand on their own,
the strap on the passenger side is used when folding the bed up (more seatbelt material)





Storage under the seat area (always seems to fill up fast) =P



Storage behind seat



Storage under bed...I also cut the side cover for the jack storage area, so that it can still be acessed from below the bed.



I designed this for my personal needs, I dont have kids so did not need to worry about seatbelts of passengers while driving. I have a small business selling art prints, so I made sure that I had enough room to store the 'bankers boxes' under the bed, which turned out to be a comfortable height for the seating. Still working out the rest of the details (curtains, battery, water, etc).

[loopie]

Nice

[Great A'Tuin]

Gets better lookin' every day!

john

[JTalley]

That's a nice setup! The wood flooring is that extra touch that really makes it look great.

Did you have any trouble fitting the cabinets? It looks like that would be one of the hardest parts of the job.

[beavernation]

Nice cabinets!!...I have been pouring over the net lookin at setups for the back of an Astro and yours is one of the simplest, custom, crafty I have seen! I don't even own an Astro/Safari yet but I am so wanting the right van.