George Clarke's Amazing Spaces - "ultimate camper" build

[Dave_S]

Well... that was "interesting"... possibly the most pointless and unusable build he's done yet, and that says a lot! No insulation, obvious light/air/water gaps, vehicle appears pretty much unusable, 4 berth but only 2 travelling seats. And they pay this idiot to build this crap... Wow.

We only watch this as some of the small house stuff is interesting, but dear god, tonight's Transit is a whole new level of stupid.

Or is it just me?!?

 

[joinerman]

I'm actually working on a project he is following at the moment, mum's the word at the moment but watch this space.

 

[moggy1968]

I'm actually working on a project he is following at the moment, mum's the word at the moment but watch this space.

keep us posted

 

[StarCruiser]

I'm actually working on a project he is following at the moment, mum's the word at the moment but watch this space.

Looking forward to seeing that JM.

 

[Dave_S]

Well I hope its better than that POS Transit abomination JM!!! Is he as much of a cockwomble in real life, incidentally, or does he put it on for TV?

 

[StarCruiser]

I can see I’m going to have to watch this.

 

[joinerman]

I haven't met him yet Dave, i am doing work for a customer who's involved with him, my work is being monitored & photographed at the moment, i may get a mention when the program is aired.

 

[Dave_S]

Cool JM - hope its something worthwhile having your name attached to, mate. Anyone else watched this yet? Am I being unfair?!?

 

[StarCruiser]

Watched it last night and thought yes and no. I thought the restoration of the transit was superb. The rest of it looked unfinished and very ill conceived in places. All that room taken up by the tiled sink was crazy and wasteful with nowhere else to cook or prepare food. The pegboard was an even worse idea that just was totally impractical. Now the bench seats would have been ok but sitting on something that’s back is 90 degrees to the base is never comfortable and there was no bed. All that space and nowhere to sleep. I liked the mechanism that allowed the sides to come out but it meant the basic camper was almost unusable as nothing could be fixed to the walls and remain in the same place for storage. Eg kitchen utensils (not that you’d need them as there was no kitchen) would be close at hand when folded up and 8 feet away when opened up. Finally the gaps all round the ceiling to wall join would have let horizontal rain and wind in so it wouldn’t be comfortable. As you say, no insulation. No windows when it was closed up. Skylight light yes but no chance of seeing the view and that waterproof sheet as security, crazy. A triumph of form over function that I really think got rushed and presented as finished for the programme. It could have been so much more.

The fella that restored the transit looked like he might be thinking ‘what the hell have they done to it’ as he sat looking around.

They’re both clever blokes. To see GC draw buildings freehand I’ve always found fascinating. Will Hardy has come up with some clever stuff in the past but this was the tail wagging the dog where the camper was created for TV rather than documented by TV.

 

[Dave_S]

I think that's a fair summary SC. This series they have had a number of very ill conceived vehicle conversions - I do find it odd that they include a warning about checking planning regs, but never mention checking DVLA/MOT/Insurance/GVW etc, when it comes to vehicle builds.

 

[joinerman]

I don't suppose there's any harm in me disclosing what i'm doing as it's freely available to view on my customers Facebook page, https://www.facebook.com/VintageMobileCinema/?tn-str=k*F
I don't know if the link will work.
I'm doing all the woodwork on the trailer which parted company from the cinema bus nearly 40 years ago, it was bought at some stage by Lord McAlpine who also owned the Flying Scotsman but somehow the trailer disappeared to be found a while back & has been reunited with the bus, that's my ugly mug in todays pics.

 

[Dave_S]

See, JM, I have no problem with that kind of thing - you're restoring something of interest - rather than creating something pointless. Good work, fella.

 

[StarCruiser]

Ah, now isn’t that the one that has been around for a while and was something like a Technical training vehicle? If it’s the same one then I've seen it a few times at Goodwood. At the ‘Vintage’ event and out on the road. It’s quite iconic and a very striking design indeed.

 

[joinerman]

I assume your talking about the cinema bus !

 

[StarCruiser]

I assume your talking about the cinema bus !

Indeed.

 

[joinerman]

The bus was bought a few years ago for £1500, then restored at a cost of £35000 and then sold to the current owner for £120.000, it's not good underneath though.

 

[hopeless wanderer]

Well George hasn't been in touch so I don't know how he got that title ;-)

I've just bought one of these and pick it up in Christchurch in a couple of weeks.
I'm ashamed … It's a Datsun I know. I wanted the Toyota Coaster with a HD-FT but they were big money, I even looked into importing one from Japan but the admin seemed prohibitive.
After pouring thousands into Brenda, I'm gonna be a bit more frugal on this (Repeat after me NO ENGINE MODS) I've even got a spreadsheet for the build instead of "OMG I love that" and buying it.
I wish I had you guys for advice but I know I've done a very bad thing :-(

 

[Dave_S]

HW - could be an ultimate camper ;-)

I do like the idea of converting something like this: https://www.japanesecartrade.com/2735182-japan-used-toyota-coaster-minibus-1998.html

 

[hopeless wanderer]

HW - could be an ultimate camper ;-)

I do like the idea of converting something like this: https://www.japanesecartrade.com/2735182-japan-used-toyota-coaster-minibus-1998.html

That was exactly what I wanted but it's difficult to import to NZ, biosecurity is a nightmare and even the slightest rust and they're rejected.
Mitsubishi do a 4x4 one the same size but all the ones I saw were rotten. The one I got is an abandoned project (they're the best) all stripped out, already registered as a camper and he has had new tints fitted and fancy leather seats from a Subaru.

 

[StarCruiser]

I’ll be watching the build with interest H.
I do like the look of that coaster though.