Minivan conversion

[ride4321]

I'm not ready to hit the road yet but will be in a year or so. I travel a lot via motorcycle though and figured it was time to plan ahead and get my vehicles ready for retirement. I'm going cheap and small. Picked up a Sienna which is going to tow some sort of small light trailer, not sure what yet but exploring a TD trailer design that can fit the bike as a toy hauler or may go the easy route and buy a light cargo trailer. Figured the bike will be in the trailer while traveling so I'd make the van comfortable to sleep and live in while on the road plus it also gives me two rooms which can't be a bad thing. I'll get into the trailer build once I decide which way I'm going but for now will focus on the van build.
Got the van a few weeks ago and just completed the bed. I'm using a 25" x 75" tri fold memory foam bed I bought on Amazon for $50 and built the boxes which gives plenty of storage and comfort. Came out pretty good after I made a few alterations. The rear two boxed are hinged on the back. The small piece of ply hinged up on the first photo lays down when the drivers seat is moved forward. Hard to fit 75" length since I will be building a kitchenette in the rear that utilizes the stow away seat area back there. Also had to level the floor out. I'll be starting a shelving unit tomorrow to utilize the wasted space between the bed and side door which will go to the top of the door frame and have storage below the bed level as well.

 

[frater secessus]

That's really neat. Keep posting those pics!

 

[ride4321]

Thanks.
I'm making everything removable so it can serve duty as a grandkids hauler for awhile.

 

[MrAlvinDude]

Seems like you are off to a very good start.

And keeping flexibility, for multi purpose use, always feel good 

 

[ride4321]

Today I start on shelving to fit in the side door frame behind the bed. It'll also have storage below the top of the bed, an area about 32"W x 10"H x 8"D. Might as well use ever inch available.

 

[Burbanlife]

Good start

 

[ride4321]

Ended up not going as wide with the cabinet because of a cup holder and door handle, much easier this way and it'll let some air and daylight in as well. I'd have gotten the doors cut if my carpenter foo wasn't so weak now-a-days. Wasted enough plywood with mistakes that I ended up shy on the 2nd door. That's the way I roll these days I guess. I used to be a half decent carpenter but it's been awhile.

 

[Sleep]

 I'd have gotten the doors cut if my carpenter foo wasn't so weak now-a-days. Wasted enough plywood with mistakes that I ended up shy on the 2nd door. That's the way I roll these days I guess. I used to be a half decent carpenter but it's been awhile.

Yes, I can tell by all of these photos that your skills are lacking.  So in order to help you get your mojo back I am willing to let you practice on my van!

(Joking!) Seriously, if you could see all the screws I have used on my bed so far you would feel like Picasso. Oh well, I tried. :blush:

~Sherry

 

[ride4321]

Yes, I can tell by all of these photos that your skills are lacking.  So in order to help you get your mojo back I am willing to let you practice on my van!

(Joking!) Seriously, if you could see all the screws I have used on my bed so far you would feel like Picasso. Oh well, I tried. :blush:

~Sherry

The key is using lots of glue and less fasteners Sherry. It doesn't take many screws to hold something together, let the glue do that part and the screws just work as clamps. Brad nailers are helpful as well. 3rd coat of poly is on and the luan backer board came out really pretty. A shame most of that will be hidden by the doors. Should have a pic of the finished shelves in place later today.
Merry Christmas!

 

[ride4321]

Got the final coat of poly on this morning and basically dry. Merry Christmas.

 

[LPres]

Lookimg good! Thinking my next car may be a sienna. Do you anchor things down some how in case of accident? If so would love some details.

 

[ride4321]

I built a floor to level things out, the front is a few inches lower than the back. The floor isn't fastened in yet but it's a tight fit and pretty heavy so I'm not too worried about it flying up and hitting me in the head. It's in two pieces, the front is 5w' x 4d' and the back piece is about 4w x 2d'. Figured I'd attach them together with mending plates and then attach the rear piece to the rear seat brackets once I remove the seats. The bed boxes are bolted to the floor with angle braces and the shelving bolts to two of the bed boxes, I used wingnuts on all of those bolts for easy removal. I figure with the 3 bed boxes bolted to the floor panels they are somewhat securing everything together.
Now, if I were to do this again I think I'd go a different route and try not to use a leveled out floor. The main reason being I have to remove the rear section of flooring to put the rear seats up. Eventually those seats will be removed but in the meantime it would be nice having the use of those seats without having to take anything apart. I think I'd go with this design as it'd allow the rear seats to stay in place and it'd give me a full size bed. Starts at the 3:00 mark.

 

[John61CT]

Yes getting the van floor level really isn't needed in practice.

Surfaces like a bed platform or bench / workspace can be made level without that.

And of course pretty rare to find a truly level parking spot anyway, close enough is good enough.

 

[ride4321]

I gave it some thought before leveling it out. Really wanted the plastic panels on the floor covered by the middle seat rails. In hindsight I'm thinking about removing the floor and just shimming the bed out of building a platform just for that area. As for the rear seats the current bed won't work with that seat in up so time will tell how that ends up. A few extra inches of head room would be nice if I do remove the floor. Not much to begin with.

 

[ride4321]

So I went out tonight and removed the rear box and the back section of flooring to see how the rear seat lines up with my platform for the bed. Works out nice and I think I'll leave it this way for now. I can use the rear seat for hauling my grandkids around and the bed should be just as comfortable this way although I will lose that rear box for storage space. When I'm actually on the road full time I can remove just the 2/3 section of rear seat if I want and put the box back in still having the 1/3 rear seat in place for a passenger or just for sitting in on a rainy day. I might have to cut the foam mattress down a few inches in length.

 

[saracatherine]

I am hoping to do *something* like this in my Caravan. These pics are helpful!

 

[ride4321]

I'm wasting a lot of precious space because I don't want these changes to be permanent. With all the curves in the plastic wall panels I'm wasting a bunch of space. I could have cut the boxes or a bed frame to fit tighter to the walls but that's a lot of work and I'm just not sure if this is going to work or not at this point so I didn't want to go thru all of that extra effort. If I do rebuild the bed I'll make an open bed frame that fits tighter to the walls and have open storage below with storage bins that'll just slide under the frame. Easier, cheaper and probably easier to access stored items.

 

[John61CT]

Yes getting maximum living space, and especially efficient storage, means ripping out all the decorative plastic and building out from the bare steel.

 

[cherterr]

Siennas are so fun!  Here's mine in partial camp mode.  (rear kitchen not in)



Yours looks so Permanent and nice carpentry work!

I'm not full time so my stuff comes out pretty easily if I need to haul animals or wood or ?  I'm trying to cut the umbilical cord and upgrade to a V8 G20 for summer road trips.  (I can't stand Texas heat ANY MORE!!)

 

[John61CT]

When you get a chance, pics of your chuckbox, please?