Westfalia VWT25 -T3-Vanagon; improvements

Making minor improvements to the interior of a Westfalia Joker, based on the VW T25/Vanagon.

As any owner of a panel van camper conversion is well aware, making use of all available space within the confines of such a small living area is vital. Some owners go to the extreme when adding additional storage space by cutting, removing and altering units within the van. Personally, I prefer to simply keep the originality of a classic vehicle by adding storage pockets, or creating extra storage from voids not used by the manufacturer. When I use the term 'void', I am referring to the spaces such as those within door cavity's, such as the unused storage space within the side-sliding door. The space gained might be minimal,  and might only allow for the carrying of a few books, tools, dried herbs for cooking or rolled up underwear, but every inch you can pinch is a bonus, in my opinion.

My first DIY project within the 84' VW Westfalia Joker was to make use of the void within the side-sliding door, cutting a 'pocket' into the existing door card in the lower section of the door, then recovering with a suitable van lining material, in my case a beige stretch lining fabric.

The top photo shows the customized door pocket in situ within the van, which although only allows for the storage of limited items, does make use of wasted space. The whole project took around four hours to complete, and did involve a lot of precise measuring! I had previously made one of these for my old VW T4 camper, and made the storage pouch too deep, which used to rub on the side of the van when the door was opened; so measure carefully. There is a similar cavity/void within the structure of the rear tailgate, so a similar pouch/pocket could be added there.

Staying on the subject of creating extra storage within a VW T25/Vanagon camper, many people make use of elasticated cargo nets and pouches/pockets, often the ubiquitous black plastic variety which you can screw onto various flat surfaces. Looking to go down that route myself, I did an image search of cargo storage nets on the internet, and a wooden version popped up, which was sadly no longer in stock. Having a greater affinity to wood than plastic, and the fact that I just happened to have some spare light oak plank sitting in the garage, I decided to create my own 'hand-crafted', bespoke storage pouches, using the images I had found online for inspiration. 

The images above show the finished results of my efforts at creating bespoke storage pouches, in the sizes that I required. The large pouch was screwed onto the bed/seat base to create magazine storage, but I have since placed a slightly smaller version of this on the side of the wardrobe (top photo) , for use at night, as somewhere to store smart phone/tablet after night-time viewing in bed.

Any owners of a Westfalia Joker will be aware that the original fridges can become rather troublesome after time, especially when trying to light them on gas. The previous owner of my particular vehicle had already made a fridge upgrade when I purchased the van, thus saving me a tidy sum of cash in the process! They had opted for the modern 'Dometic' compressor fridge, which runs only on 12v (pictured below). 

The Dometic fridge, although energy efficient, does require substantial 12v power when camping for any prolonged time, and the previous owner had not gone the extra mile and fitted a solar system. I purchased a semi-flexible 100w panel which I installed on the hightop Westfalia roof (front section), together with a solar controller box situated on the unit behind the driver's seat. I also took the opportunity to relocate the leisure battery from the box under the driver's seat, to the space under the rear seat/bed, for easier access.

 With the leisure battery relocated, I decided to upgrade the two lights over the kitchen area, from fluorescent to modern LED strips, which are far more energy efficient, and of course the lights on the Westfalia Joker run off the vehicle battery, NOT the leisure battery! There is a simple re-wire upgrade you can do to switch those lights to run off the leisure battery, but I have not got around to that as yet. For the two lights, I simply took them apart, cut out the fluorescent transistor, and removed the bulb, leaving the on-off switch in place. I then wired in a small LED strip (see below), making use of the original on-off switch. These lights are now much brighter than the original tubes, and consume far less energy.

The VW Vanagon/T25 has an ashtray to the side of the rear seat, and as this is of no use to me, I decided it would be an ideal location to mount/insert a modern , combined voltmeter/usb charge point. I simply made a ply panel to fit the space where the flip-down ashtray was, and drilled a hole to house the voltmeter/usb. The cables were run down behind the panel, under the seat base, and attached to the leisure battery via an in-line fuse. I can now see in an instant, the state of the leisure battery, and have a couple of usb charge points for my smart phone.

Owners of these vehicles will be aware that there is no interior light provided in the rear once the bed is made up, so I fitted a switched 12v LED light above the bed, onto the base of the overhead storage unit.

Having owned many campervans and motorhomes over the years, one source of annoyance is always having to poke around in the dark when looking for clothing items, especially within the confines of these very small wardrobes. The wardrobe within the Westy Joker is no exception, so I decided an LED light would be the answer. This was fitted in the front corner, with an on/off switch (illuminated) on the outside.

I still have a few more minor alterations to carry out, which include fitted some LED lighting to illuminate the footwell within the cab, and a couple more storage ideas in the planning at present. But for now, the modifications carried out to date make camping life a little easier and more enjoyable.