The van

A 2021 Citroën Relay I’m converting myself, to travel and work in for a couple of days at a time, sometimes a week. This is its log, kept as it goes.

The white van on the day it was collected, its sliding door open, parked on tarmac in front of trees. — Day 1, as collected.

AI mock-up of the same van in the same spot, in satin military green with black lower panels, a tinted window in the sliding door, a roof rack with a light bar, black wheels and all-terrain tyres. — Day 1, as collected.

Where it’s at

Latest Day 39 Tue 20 Oct

The van from the side, a new tinted window in its sliding door held with strips of blue tape. — The sliding-door window in, still taped.

5 of 24 jobs done, 1 under way.

Collectiondone, 12 Sept
Ply lining and floor outdone, 19 Sept
Bulkhead outdone, 19 Sept
RustUnder way
Reversing cameradone, 4 Oct
Sliding-door windowdone, 20 Oct
Opening window behind the driverto do
Skylight over the bedto do
Roof fanto do
Wiring, and six lightsto do
Insulationto do
Floorto do
Walls and ceilingto do
Swivel seatsto do
Bed across the back, garage underto do
Deskto do
First night in itMilestone
Kitchento do
Battery, solar and chargingto do
Diesel heaterto do
Water, and a hot shower outsideto do
Roof rack and light barto do
All-terrain tyresto do
Bike rackto do
Satin military greento do

Log

Newest day first. My posts about it on X turn up here by themselves.

Day 39Tue 20 Oct

On X 10:35

After a botched job with a nibbler, I think I've been able to get myself out of a bind.

Close-up of a ragged hole in the white side panel where the cut went wrong, a slit running off from it.

The sliding door with a window-sized opening cut in it and a clamp on its edge; the empty van shows through.

View on X

On X 20:43

Well that's the window in, clamps off, but worried if I remove the tape it'll fall out.

The van from the side, the new tinted window in the sliding door held with strips of blue tape.

View on X

Day 32Tue 13 Oct

North star

How it should look when it’s done: satin military green, black lower panels, a roof rack with a light bar, all-terrain tyres. An AI mock-up, made from the day 1 photo; it’s the second picture at the top of this page.

Day 22Sat 3 Oct

Reversing camera

A camera built into a new third brake light, and a screen on the windscreen. Working the next day: guide lines in reverse, a view out the back the rest of the time.

A hand holding a red third brake light unit with a small camera built into it, wires trailing from the back. — The camera, in the third brake light.

Looking up at the top of the rear door opening from inside, a black cable hanging down into the empty van. — Its cable, coming in at the top of the back doors.

Day 23: the screen in reverse, then as a rear view.

Day 15Sat 26 Sept

Rust

The worst patches ground back to bare metal, and the floor’s seams and edges treated. Not finished.

The load floor from the back, painted white, with dark treatment along its seams and edges. — Seams and edges treated.

Day 8Sat 19 Sept

Stripped out

Ply lining, floor and bulkhead out, down to the metal. Underneath, rust along the floor’s edges and seams.

The empty load area from the back doors: bare white walls, the wheel arches, a rust-spotted floor and the cab seats with no bulkhead. — Empty, from the back doors to the cab.

Close-up of the ridged metal floor at its edge, white paint broken by rust. — Day 9: rust along the floor’s edge.

Day 1Sat 12 Sept

Collected

A 2021 Citroën Relay, the long one with the medium roof. Ply lining in the back, a bulkhead behind the seats, and rust starting along the sliding-door sill.

The white Citroën Relay panel van parked on tarmac in front of trees. — Collection day.

Close-up of the sliding-door sill: flaking white paint and patches of rust above a black plastic step. — The sliding-door sill.

BeforeSun 6 Sept

Layouts, in Blender

Before I’d collected it, Codex modelled the van in Blender from Citroën’s published dimensions and drew up six rounds of layouts: a fixed bed with a garage under it, a bed that folds up against the wall, a bathroom hidden under the worktop. The next day I picked Jon Roams’ layout instead.

Blender render: a cutaway of a bed platform with a mattress, and an open garage beneath it between two pale green cabinets. — Round four: a fixed bed across the back, a garage under it between two service bays.

Blender render of the inside looking back: sage-green cupboards over a sink with a brass tap, a white worktop opposite, a slatted wooden ceiling and a screen on the back wall. — Round five, looking back: the galley on the left, a bathroom under the worktop on the right, the bed folded up at the back.

Blender render: the van in grey, cut away to show the layout inside, with a skylight and roof fan and a bike on the back. — Round six: round five, checked against the published dimensions.

The plan

The layout is Jon Roams’: a kitchen along the sliding-door side, a sofa and then a desk opposite, and a bed across the back with a garage under it. The front seats will swivel round to face in.

Citroën Relay L4H2 2021

Model: Citroën Relay L4H2
Year: 2021
Engine: 2.2 BlueHDi 140
Length: 6,363 mm
Height: 2,522 mm
Wheelbase: 4,035 mm
Load floor: 4,070 × 1,870 mm
Load height: 1,932 mm
Between the arches: 1,422 mm
Sliding door: 1,250 × 1,755 mm
Load space: 15 m³
Gross weight: 3,500 kg

Citroën’s published figures for the model, not measured on this one yet.

Layout after Jon Roams’ van. Sizes are targets from Citroën’s figures, not measured yet.InPlanned