OK so I've had alot of requests for pictures of the interior. Since this is a incomplete project I do not have completed interior pictures.
First let me just say that anyone who is interested in building thier own interior to save money should seriously reconsider this plan. In my opinion the SMB interior is a fairly good value when you compare it to typical American RV manufacturers. Saving money was not my motivating factor. When I decided to build my interior I was inspired by
http://www.earthroamer.com/index.html an inqired with SMB west about diesel appliances an was told that they were not an option becasue they were not approved by the American RV manufacturers which SMB was a part of. This did not make any sense to me. These components are regularly used in very high end yachts but not good enough for a Class B?
I also just wanted to build my own camper. I have been building cars all my life and really enjoy the project as much as the end result.
So here is the start
The nice thing about Sportsmobile is that they will sell you a half fininshed van. I ordered my van with the SMB 4x4, leather front seats and the penthouse top. I also ordered some other factory ford options as well. The first thing that I did was to insulate the interior with a marine spray foam from
http://rhhfoamsystems.com/ . Hopefully I'll never need any major body work as I've filled all the walls behind the front seats with this foam. As for the cabinetry my goal is to keep the interior as light as possible. All my cabints are 1/8th Birch plywood constructed with fiberglass tape and westsystems marine epoxy. The cabinets are constructed in 3 main sections. Eact section is about 25lbs. Here they are unpainted
The cabinets are being finished with a marine grey paint. I hope to get them back in the van this weekend.
Here is a picture of the Galley so far
The fridge is an Isotherm cruise 85 with ASU
http://www.e-marine-inc.com/products/re ... ruise.html It's really quiet and very energy efficient. The stove is a glass princess that is really classy.
http://www.seawardproducts.com/images/2276.jpg The countertops are bamboo. I built some brackets under the van and installed a aluminium propane tank that comes out with a quick release and can be carried anywhere to be refilled. It is only for the cook stove. We camp in the desert alot so I decided against a diesel cooktop. The hot water heater is also an isotherm
http://www.e-marine-inc.com/products/re ... aters.html It will be mounted directly behind the rear axel under the van and powered by the vans engine coolant as well as an Espar diesel hyronic heater. I allready set up a previous VW camper of mine this way and it really worked well.
Even though this is a work in progress we have used the van quite a bit. It does not have running water yet but the main holding tank is in place and we have a temporary hose with a valve and a switch to torn on the pump. The fridge and stove are working. The espar furnace is aslo installed and functional. So we have the basics. I now have it all apart again and hope to really make some good progress on it in the next couple months. We have a big trip planned in August.
As I get more completed I'll post more pictures. Next time I'll make them smaller