Well it's been far too long ago since i put an update here. Hadn't had enough time to work on my Escort, but here's the update. With what i'm doing in the van made me realize that the topic's title is all wrong, so here comes................

Pimpin' with Plywood!

I've seem to have chosen the wrong profession when i was young, should have learned carpentry, because building something threedimensional in the shed that has to fit in the car out front is a little more difficult then i thought it was. Anyhow, the largest parts are ready now and wil be covered with carpet these days. I've laid them out before installing for a trial fit.



As you can see, only 1 of the upper sidewalls is completely finished. These go from nearly straight at the back to quite curved at the front behind the seats. That's why i made 2 pieces of curved plywood out of 5 layers of 5 mm. plywood. I bent them in their place in the van to get the exact curving of the van's walls.



Here you can see the difference quite good. I didn't want to take the risk of putting them in under tension, they might start bulging outwards in time due to weather conditions.



The curves were screwed an glued to the walls whilst placed in the van. I did this so if they ever have to come out, i just have to place them on the underlaying plank to line-up all the original screws with the holes in the van. The upper walls are a little twisted but that's sorted out when they're in the van and there's going to be another plank on top of the walls to connect the roofliner with the walls.



All in all it's going to look like this. The plank on the bottom has no other use than just looks. I think it'll make the endresult look a lot more "original" and because it will be covered with thick black carpet, it will hide the screws that hold it quite good.



The boxes around the wheelarches are lengthened and curved outwards to line up neatly at the rear doors. I put hinges on the top to create some space for the jack, wheel nut spanner and some other stuff you need to have with you in your car these days. On top of the wheelarches are 2 shallow rooms where i will keep the struts for the caravan style bed.



Behind the wheelarches i've planned the 2 aluminium beer kegs which will house the subs. These will be welded in so they can't get stolen (you never know)

In the meantime i've made a start with the panels for the rear doors. After that i will get to the last parts, the B and C-pillars, roofliner and the parts over the side walls and the rear doors. So: To be continued........


Peter.