Astro interior conversion

[Mr.Audi]

Hello,

I am pretty new around here and I kind of sumbled upon this forum when I got this middle age crisis that gived me the urge to take a sabatical year and wander through the Americas.
After a lot of reading I think the best rig will be an Astro/Safari van and I was really impressed by T-Low and Herbie and some other guys from here and the other forums.
As for the drivetrain Overland Vans seem the obvious destination for the interior I was not that happy with what I could find around here but I found this guys from the UK that seem to do a pretty good job and they are selling the product as a kit and I think they will ship it here.
Anybody has any experience with these guys or can anybody recommend some similar guys from this side of the pond?
I am not really interested to build the ultimate rock crawling rig,neither a fully dressed RV,I will probably travel alone,mostly on roads (I know that they can be very bad so that is why a lift kit will be required) sometimes I hope to sleep in motels and basically I would probably be OK with less interior options than a full RV.
A foldoutbed/sofa would be mandatory and probably a small kitchen/sink area.
I could also envision something like the guys from Adventure Trailers do on their Jeeps with the drawer systems.
Guys,as I am new and also as my plan is not yet nailed down I would really appreciate your input and any ideas.
Thanks.

Mr. Audi

 

[Herbie]

If you don't have an Astro yet, try to find a way to spend some time in one with a measuring device. Failing that, download the GM Upfitter's guide: http://www.gmupfitter.com/body_builder_manuals.html

Click on "Light Duty prior to 2006", then M/L Midsize vans. This will provide some, but not all of the critical dimensions.

What I'm getting at is that the interior is smaller than many people (myself) guess until you start measuring. I've had to get pretty creative about fitting everything in. As a start: It's about 88-90" from the back doors to the back of the front seats (depending on seat adjustment). That's enough room for a full-length bed, but not a bed AND a kitchen, unless the bed is not full width. Take a look at the Safari Condo and GTRV Westy interiors and you'll see that the bed's aren't full width and have to cross in front of the "kitchen" or other cabinetry. I wanted a full width bed, so I had to go with more of a "weekender" interior without cabinetry.

If you're traveling alone, you can do what I've built into my system which more of a "camp around the van" solution instead of "camp IN the van" solution. Kitchen gear and water jug goes into the rear storage area and I'm building drop tables onto the rear doors so that when fully opened I have a prep surface and a table for the campstove. If you're solo, you can usually get away with a single burner, etc., so you'd probably do fine with a small folding table to hold your stove and do prep-work, that could be easily stowed and wouldn't interfere with bedding, etc.

FYI, a Thetford 135 casette toilet will fit (tightly) between the front seats, so even having an interior toilet is possible, you just have to get comfy with your measuring tape and do a lot of research...

 

[Herbie]

OK, just checked out the website again, I'd seen it before but they didn't used to have pricing up.

That price seems pretty good for a full interior kit if you don't get murdered on shipping. I like their cabinetry and the narrower bed probably works for a single just fine.

Another thing to note about their conversion is that they've installed a hi-top roof. This lets them put the seat up higher (and presumably retain storage underneath) without running into headroom problems when sleeping. In my van with a more-or-less standard interior roof height (GTRV poptop leaves the rear 1/3rd of the van roof in place for the upper bunk), My seat/bunk has to be about 16" from the top of the cushions to the floor. Any taller and I couldn't really sit up in bed. Any lower, and storage under the rear bed area would really suffer...