Chevy Astro camper interior...why leave the panels?

[Snowgeek135]

I am in the planning stages of my van interior and headed for a westy weekender type interior. As i have looked every one seems to leave the interior panels in place an build even cabinets around them. From looking at my van there is quite a bit of space that is lost back there. I know i will want to mod the panels and cover up my ac and heat but other than that i am planning on pulling the pannels, insulating and marine carpeting the walls. Am i missing a reason every one leaves them in place.

Thanks,

Ryan

 

[mhiscox]

When converting the rear of my LX470 (http://www.expeditionportal.com/forum/threads/77938), I thought long and hard about leaving the panels in place because it was work for Paul to get them out and because the truck was still worth too much in resale to completely give up on making it stock again. But when we got to figuring out how much space we were losing, they came out. (Fortunately, I have a big attic space to store everything; they ain't tiny.)

BEFORE:




AFTER:




I'm glad we did it. It created lots of storage accessible through the lift-out bins along the side, giving plenty of space for tools, straps, etc.




As I recall from my Astro's setup, you could expect to gain even more space. So, bottom line, if you don't think you'll want to resell the truck with the stock panels, I'd give serious consideration to taking them out and using the space for better stuff.

 

[ihatemybike]

I've left mine in so far, because the vans still perform mass human transportation. Grumpy I'm thinking about changing though.