Reducing interior weight.

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J4yman

Well-known member
Supporting Member
Joined
Oct 16, 2022
Messages
91
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Location
Coventry
Year of Your Van(s)
1972
Van Type
Dormobile
So I currently have a stock 1.6 Dormobile conversion. I am wanting to replace the interior with the same but want to replace it with a lighter material. I think it's currently 15 or 18mm plywood which is seriously heavy. I am looking to see what others have done to replace the wood with some other material that is strong enough to support door hinges and doors. I was thinking of Polycarbonate roofing and supporting the edges with a wooden trim. It will be covered with vinyl so you wouldn't see the roofing and it would look like the original setup. Just wondering if anyone else has done this. I am thinking it will be less stress on the 1.6 and also better fuel economy and faster. Thoughts please.
 
If you go ahead with this please start a thread as would be super interested to follow and see how it works out .. good luck 🌈👍
 
If you go ahead with this please start a thread as would be super interested to follow and see how it works out .. good luck 🌈👍
I think it has to go ahead. I took out the cupboard behind the passenger seat and it's heavy, like probably 15 - 20kg heavy. If that can be reduced it's got to be good for the bus.
 
I’m with you- i nearly put my back out fitting my dormobile interior. It certainly does add up !!
Will you keep to the same design?
Interested in the cost though. 🌈👍
 
Be great to see some pictures of the project as you go I need to update my dormobile interior for more storage; any suggestions welcome
 

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I would weigh everything first you may not gain as much as you think, obviously they need to be rigid enough to be practical too, I think dormobile stuff is more like 5mm with thicker edges
 
my van was empty when I bought it so my units are all new from scratch and I went to Moreland for some light ply. it is half the weight but its expensive
 
it took 2 sheets to build this and i have just enough to finish the overhead locker
 

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it took 2 sheets to build this and i have just enough to finish the overhead locker
Looks nice, I have to reduce the weight. The Morland material looks nice. For the price of it I will probably save that in fuel once the weight saving is done.
 
Looks nice, I have to reduce the weight. The Morland material looks nice. For the price of it I will probably save that in fuel once the weight saving is done.
As above I would weigh what you already have and compare the weight to a sheet of the new material, I'm not sure you are going to gain much better fuel consumption as thats down to the design of the engine, don't expect a huge change.
 
As above I would weigh what you already have and compare the weight to a sheet of the new material, I'm not sure you are going to gain much better fuel consumption as thats down to the design of the engine, don't expect a huge change.
Weight is a huge factor in fuel consumption. If both engines were the same eg a stock 1600 twinport, an empty panel van will be noticeably better on fuel than say my pop top Westfalia camper
 

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