Mangrovejack's 2012 VW Caddy Maxi Camper

[mangrovejack]

Hey Stu, thanks mate, you've given me a big head! It's slow going, but I'd prefer to do things the right way the first time if I can.

Yep, love the aussie safety boots! Even in Canberra in the middle of winter I'd still be rocking those!

Had to leave the RS3 and the i30 both outside for a few months as it's only a double garage and with the caddy in there with doors open I needed all the working space I could get to be honest. I tried working around having two cars in the garage but it was too annoying.

Feel free to hit me up with any questions etc, happy to share my experiences and learnings whilst doing this. Sounds like there may be a few of us from Brisbane, so we should organise a meet-up sometime.

I'll continue uploading more progress shots today as I still have a few more things to update. It's far from finished, but it's getting closer to the end now.

[mangrovejack]

Installing the light bar bracket and Stedi 21" LED light bar above the number plate. The plate is bolted through the bumper into aluminium rails mounted behind for extra strength. It's a pretty heavy lightbar bouncing around the front.

This lightbar brightens up the road nicely. I'm still debating whether I want to add a roof mounted lightbar too (highway driving at night in Australia you really need all the lights you can get sometimes). Also thinking of mounting some flood lights in the factory fog light location to get better peripheral lighting too.

[mangrovejack]

Rear door panels. Used 9mm marine grade plywood as I plan on bolting some folding shelves to this down the road. I installed rivnuts into the factory holes so that I can bolt down these panels, but just as equally take them off again without ruining any threads into the factory metal.

[mangrovejack]

Next up carpeting the door panels. Due to the curve in the barn doors and the thickness of the plywood not able to conform (and I didn't want it to as I wanted a flat surface), I've had to build up the backs of the panels to hide the gap.

Finally I sprayed the carpet with some Nikwax waterproofing spray since these will potentially get some water on them.

These aren't fully finished yet, still thinking of either adding a door handle (I don't like the lanyard idea) or better still, adding remote unlocking via a central locking motor (and a conveniently mounted button somewhere inside) to be able to open the barn doors from inside.

[mangrovejack]

Installed the drawer slides. On one side, the sliders come out 1400mm and can support up to 257kg. This side will contain a microwave, cooktop and pantry. The other wide only comes out 1000mm and can support 127kg but will only be used for a collapsible sink and other miscellaneous stuff. I left this one shorter so that I had room in the middle of the van to later install more lithium batteries (I can add probably another 300aH worth of batteries if need be).

[mangrovejack]

My original plan for interior lighting was for the LED light strip (for ambient lighting mostly) and then 3 other individually switchable LED lights on bendy stalks, but when I saw these Stedi rock lights in amber, I decided to switch to these instead. I used the 45 degree mounts to angle them so that they shine out of the car. At night inside they provide enough light without blinding you, but they also do double duty in that they light up the area outside each of the doors if using from the outside. The rear mounted one should hopefully be enough when cooking at night too.

[mangrovejack]

Ok now we're back outside to handle the solar panel and lighting mounts. My criteria here is to not have the panels on top the cross bars as that would prevent me from using the roof rack to hold things. So what I did was build a frame out of 4040 aluminium, bolted that underneath the cross bars that will hold both panels (but keep them below the cross bar height) and also allow a rear mounted light.

[mangrovejack]

Solar panels mounted. The rear most is a narrow 65W unit and the other is a 130W unit. I have enougn room to install probably two more 130W units, which would be ideal.

[mangrovejack]

Small update to the inside, installed the 4 storage nets. Still debating whether to get another 2 more to fit in between these (I deliberately allowed space for another). As it stands now, all nets are accessible from each of the door openings, the middle ones would only ever be usable from the inside. These nets are great, I've seen some crappy ones with plastic frames, these are metal frames with a plastic cover, so they're much stronger.

[mangrovejack]

Installed hardboard bracing wood to the top of the framing to spread the mattress load. Drilled holes to help ventilate the mattress rather than for saving weight. It's been polyurethaned down to the frame and also screwed down via t-nuts (I don't like rattles or squeaks!). The top has had a polyurethane coating, then painted to help blend in a little better.

[mangrovejack]

Put the mattress in the caddy for the first time! We may end up changing this mattress for a thinner one (this is a pillow top mattress, so it's super thick) later down the track. Even still, this mattress height is still below the rear window height (didn't want to obscure that).

You'll notice the gap at the top of the mattress closest to the front seats. That was deliberate as I am building a frame up there to support the pillows (I'm 6'4" so I need all the length I can get out of the van) and will also add more storage (things like books, mobile phones, etc - things used when sleeping). Still figuring out what to do here, but I have some ideas.

Test kitty gives her approval - in fact plenty of times I was looking for her and found her sleeping away in the caddy, she obviously appreciates all the sound proofing I've added!

[mangrovejack]

Some other random things done.

The T5 rear wiper upgrade, boy this thing makes the rear look so much better, the original Caddy one reminds me of cars from the 80's! Works just as good as the original too.


I forgot to post this one in the roof section. It took a lot of stuffing about to build this to my liking. Because of the curve to the roof, but the flatness of my headliner, I had to build up underneath this piece before I could screw this down to secure the front edge of the headlining. The screws will disappear once I install the curtain. At this stage I'm thinking of making my own based on either press studs or neodymium magnets or a combination of both.

[mangrovejack]

This is my solar panel connection box that is used to connect all the solar panels to the battery. I'm using MC4 connectors for the panels and also used an SAE quick disconnect for the solar blanket. The whole thing has had copious amounts of polyurethane squirted into it for weatherproofing. All connections done via crimps and sealed with heatshrink where required.

[mangrovejack]

Final update for now. Got these recently from Beeb & Co in UK. They are fantastic! The fit, quality and attachment method is awesome. I was originally going to make my own, but when I saw these which was exactly how I was going to build them, it was a no brainer. I like that you can fold down the top if you still want to let in some light, otherwise it is full blackout. I'm probably going to spray some 303 fabric spray to protect them from UV damage just in case.

[stu_b]

Mangrove

mate your big head is well deserved - you should also add a trophy around your neck
you've done an amazing job seriously
(I might have got one too looking at your pics )
the planning, thought process, execution and quality are next level

I do recall you saying you were tall, something to do with the seat height and awning height, but even being 6'4" it looks like you accommodated for all that and then some

The bed, looks like stock mattress, you can pull it in n out as n when you need it - can update / upgrade if needed

How does the solar go into the Caddy ?

Glad the project supervisor is giving her paw of approval !!!

Can totally understand about the i30 (kinda didn't even need a mention), but the RS3 taking back stage had me laughing

all in all, an excellent job
you can be sure to stand back and be proud - the first time round

Mate I would def be keen to meet up (Brisbane crew or even visitors) and glean some knowledge, I don't think I could add to yours but you could certainly add to mine
I am waiting to be able to be added to the full list after reaching the 30+ status - then I think I can PM ??
not too sure how all that works
but 100% interested to grab a coffee

lets see if there is a time post Easter