And since then I've been thinking, and I've been measuring, so it's time for a thread of lists and plans and so forth. Ideas, you might say.
And on with the show:
Width wise, 1400mm is enough for a queen, however queens are short, nearly as short as me. In north America, Canada and USA, you have a Queen Extra Long size, which would be ideal. This would fit between the pillars/door trim sideways, and snugly fit between the firewall and start of rear wheel arches right down low once the trans tunnel has been flattened. Ideal sleeping quarters with plenty of headroom, unlike a mattress in the rear of this as is, where you can't even sit up.
Front wise, a saber saw through the inner guards will shorten it considerably in no time at all. With the engine and trans gone, and the front cut off, it'll be a lot lighter already.
Once the front is cleared, a couple of hinge points for my existing A-frame will get welded underneath to the floor, and a pickup point welded to the firewall and attached to the middle of the A-frame, ie, about half of it sticking out the front of the new caravan body.
Weight savings will come in many forms. Things to remove:
- Both front seats
- Steeling column and controls
- Rear seat bottom and top halves
- Fans and heater core etc out of dash
- ECU out of kick panel
- Pedal cluster and brake booster etc.
- Fuel tank, pumps, filters, lines, etc.
- Seat belt mechanisms (good spares for the 740)
- Tow bar as towing in a chain of 3 is illegal here, lol
- Spare wheel and tools, no need for these anymore :-D
The handbrake can be retained, but relocated to the rear above the axle somewhere.
Phase one will be a bare minimum approach of stripping out easy/big/obvious things, and attaching the A-frame to the front with a jockey wheel. A WOF and registration can then be obtained, and the fun will ensue.
Phase two will be to cut the floor down and replace with something a lot flatter and more suitable for putting a mattress on.
Phase three will be to gut the diff mechanism and/or redo the rear suspension to be simpler, lighter, and not need so much space.
Phase three will be to pretty up the front end of the thing with some sort of paneling, painted to match the rest.
Phase four will be to build in the kitchenette and facilities to support it.
I don't know about you guys, but I'm excited about seeing this taking shape, and attached to the back of the 740 under tow, Volvo towing Volvo :-D
Comments welcome! :-)
Fred.