[V50_M66]

Hello everyone,

I am finally happy with where I'm at mechanically with my Disco, and I've been daily driving it with no issues for the past couple months. As such, and with no need for back seats or a large cargo area, I have decided to start converting it into an overland-style camper, with everything I need to live comfortably off grid for a couple days. This has been a dream of mine since I bought it, and I am excited to finally start this process.

This is my truck that I will be converting:

I started this process when I first bought it, stripping out the seats and plastic trim in the back to make it better for hauling large items, but didn't really do much else with it since then, and I haven't had a use for the large cargo area as of late. As such, now seemed like the perfect time to start my conversion, especially considering the fact that the whole interior is apart for my recent interior changes (new headliner, door panel inserts, etc.).

I have a good idea of what I want the camper setup to look like in my head, so right now I have been getting measurements, planning out everything, and toying with a few different ideas before I decide on a final design and start building.

I can't wait to see where this project will take me. I will be updating this thread with progress on the build.

 

[redtruck12]

Sounds like a great project
I will definitely be following along 👍

 

[discovering]

There's so much room in the Disco when you pull the seats! I look forward to seeing the progress!

 

[V50_M66]

There's so much room in the Disco when you pull the seats! I look forward to seeing the progress!

With just the seats pulled, there is a lot of room, but once you pull the plastic trim in back the space is truly cavernous. There is probably a good 6-12 inches of space behind the plastic depending on where you measure from.

 

[reverendALC]

Awesome! I had a ‘72 Volkswagen Transporter which we gutted out the back and made compartments and a bench that turned into a bed. Had many an adventure in that thing, I could only imagine if was a disco

 

[V50_M66]

Awesome! I had a ‘72 Volkswagen Transporter which we gutted out the back and made compartments and a bench that turned into a bed. Had many an adventure in that thing, I could only imagine if was a disco

That’s awesome! One of my buddies had a Vanagon Syncro a few years back that he converted into a (very) rudimentary camper (basically a few cabinets and an air mattress), so I wanted to follow suit with my Disco and one-up him haha. I was also planning to make a bench that folded into a bed in my D2 given the relative lack of space, with some storage underneath for parts and tools. I pretty much have a plan of what I want, so I’ll start building it in a day or two and tweak along the way if needed.

 

[reverendALC]

Yeah my build was mostly plywood and big box store hardware. Had some foam cushions upholstered in black vinyl to match the buckets, but it wasn’t a show rig. Got the job done! Toured the Oregon high desert, lava lands, even up into canadia in that jackolantern orange 4spd bucket. Poor thing died climbing a mountain, was retired somewhere in Oregon and I caught a greyhound home lolol

 

[V50_M66]

That’s amazing. I can’t wait to take my truck all over the place once I’m done with it. Hopefully I have better luck on the reliability front lol. I taught myself how to build cabinets a few years back so I want to make it kinda nice - something that will live up to the Land Rover luxury image (even though the truck itself isn’t all that luxurious).
I bought some plywood this morning so it’s time to start building. Hopefully I’ll have enough done tonight to start updating.

 

[sierrafery]

I like this one

 

[V50_M66]

I like this one

That's a super cool setup. I love how the backrest fits perfectly into the floor there and completes the bed. I'll have to incorporate some of the cooler aspects of this build into mine.

 

[V50_M66]

Okay, so I wanted to explain what my plan is going forward with the build. On the right side, I will have a bench. This will fold out into a bed for sleeping, and, when in bench mode, will fold up to store things underneath. On the left side, I will have the majority of my storage, as well as a countertop for prepping meals (among other things). The counter will be towards the rear door, so that I can use it while standing outside the camper if I have to, with ceiling-height cabinets behind the driver's seat. There will also be plenty of space under the counter to store things. The walkway down the middle will be completely taken up by the fold-out section when in bed mode.

As anticipated, I started the build today. Because nothing is square and nothing is guaranteed to line up like I hoped, I'm starting with the cabinet side first, and then once I have it secured in place, I will use the measurements of the leftover space to determine the dimensions of the bench so that the bed fold-out will fit perfectly. Here is a picture of what I've built so far:

I started by figuring out what I wanted the length to be (back of the truck to the dip in the floor), and then I planned around the counter going to the end of the window, as this will look good and bring in as much light as possible without compromising on storage too much. Then I made the cabinet face frame (subtracting some distance for the angled piece on the end), and eyeballed the angle I needed to take up the rest of the space while kicking the cabinet out about as far as I wanted. Once I got that on, I used some CAD (cardboard aided design) and made a template of the complex metal shaping to the right of the window, and traced and cut it into my plywood. I then trimmed that piece to the length I needed and glued it all together. That's where I'm at right now.
It's not a whole lot, but it's pretty good for just a day (albeit a very long one) of progress, and it gives a good idea of what the space will be like. Nothing is mounted up yet or anything, but it's certainly already coming along nicely, and seeing it in person rather than just in my head already makes me excited for the next steps.

 

[Richard Gallant]

This will be interesting to follow

 

[V50_M66]

Alright, I made some more good progress in the last couple days. I made the side and back panel for the large storage section, as well as a top, and got the whole unit bolted in. The side panel was a bit of a pain to get perfect because it had to be cut to the shape of the wheel well (lots of cutting, test-fitting, repeat). I’m trying to use factory mounts as much as possible, so I used the upper seat belt bolt, a seat bolt, a panel screw, and a cargo d ring to secure it to the truck (making my own brackets where necessary to make this possible). I also painted it with some house paint I had. Here’s the result so far:

Note the bracket holding the upper portion of the cabinets to the upper seat belt bolt above the window. Unfortunately, the depth of the cabinet means I can’t use the factory door panel for the door behind the cabinet, as the cabinet sticks out too far and keeps the door from closing, so I’ll have to figure something out for that. It closes fine with room to spare without the door panel on, so I’ve left it off for now. Now that this side is bolted into place, I can also begin measuring for the bench side. It has been coming along surprisingly well so far - it’s like the Disco was made to be converted into a camper. The floor in the back behind the footwell is almost perfectly flat aside from the wheel wells, and there are mounting holes and bolts everywhere to attach everything. The rear sunroof will also be nice to use as a vent when I’m cooking and when sleeping to keep it from getting too humid or stale inside, and the plethora of glass makes it really light and airy inside.
I think I’ll start on the bench side tomorrow. Or maybe I’ll figure out the door panel situation. Not sure yet. Either way, I’ll keep you all updated.

 

[reverendALC]

It closes fine with room to spare without the door panel on, so I’ve left it off for now.

perfect opportunity to make your own flat panel door card with a pop-up table on it!

 

[V50_M66]

perfect opportunity to make your own flat panel door card with a pop-up table on it!

I’m not sure the rear door opens wide enough for a useful table, but I’m thinking that would be a great idea for the rear cargo door. Plus, then it will match the side door. I’m thinking sheet metal would work well for the door panels, although I’m not sure the doors are thick enough for the speaker to fit once I do this. I guess I’ll find out when I try it.

 

[reverendALC]

If you must retain the speaker, look into speakers with neodymium magnets. They’re super thin due to the special metal, though what they lack in size they make up for in cost hehe

 

[V50_M66]

I don't really need the speaker, so I'll try to see if the factory one will fit. If it does, great. If not, I'll just run no speaker.

 

[V50_M66]

Update!
I got the flat door panel made in the last couple days. The factory speaker did indeed fit, as did the tweeter and window switch, which I had to move lower in the door so they didn’t run into anything on the backside. I made the whole thing out of sheet steel and riveted everything together, and used a cloth strap keychain as a door pull, which reminds me of an old race car. It has a cool industrial look that I really like. It’s definitely too small for a table, but I like this look, so I will certainly be doing the same for the cargo door. Perhaps a table would work better there.

 

[reverendALC]

You could probably do a bifold table, but you're right the rear gate would be best. What else can you do with that door? A spice rack?

 

[V50_M66]

You could probably do a bifold table, but your right the rear gate would be best. What else can you do with that door? A spice rack?

A spice rack would be nice, but the way it’s set up you would need to get out of the truck to get at the spices because the cabinet is in the way. Not exactly optimal. I’d say a paper towel roll or something, but it’s likely too thick.