Delica Canada | Mitsubishi Van Club

Well, I finally decided what I wanted to do as far as my sleeping arrangements in the Deli... I based the whole design around the need to fit my dogs crate in the van while camping... Up top there is 2 coolers, 3 plastic totes, a BBQ, a tent and an air mattress... still had some room to spare.
The bed is quite comfy and snug... reminds me of sleeping on my parents boat as a kid. You can see that I mounted he spare in front of the storage... works well...
To get some storage I built lockers over the wheel wells... a nice amount of storage... I am pleased with the outcome and look forward to some camping... can't wait...
Brian

Hi Brian, very interesting set up, I am always amazed how totally differently the L300 can be transformed by each owner. Good idea to use the folding foam chair as a bed.

I notice your 3rd brake light is located at the bottom of your rear window (ours is at the top), in case you can't reach your hand down below your plywood bed to unlock the back door from inside, many people have drilled a hole into the 3rdbrake light to access the pull up lock button (same shape as the lock buttons on the front doors), as the button is still there under the 3rd light. Just drill with a 1 inch holesaw to allow your finger to reach in to pull up the lock button.

Look forward to camping with you sometime.

Cheers, Christine.

Hey Cuz!

You have been a busy fellow since I've been gone! Looks like an excellent job!... wouldn't expect any less. You've even got the weather checker skylight to see if it's worth getting out of your comfy spot. Been thinking about getting into this type of project too.

Cheers Bri!
Ian

You've quite handily overcome the one problem most try to deal with by simply raising the bed platform higher. Most are trying to figure out how to get good stowage when the platform is only as high (or little higher) than the wheel humps. But by fixing it as high as you have, it looks like you've got gads of stowage. Good job!

I see a trailer to the right in one shot, but no hitch on the back of your van - is that the next mod?

Nice job. I love plywood.

Why isn't your spare tire under the Deli?

RichD wrote:Why isn't your spare tire under the Deli?

Because it's bloody hard to get at should you ever need it. But that's just why I took it out from under there when I had a van.

TardisDeli wrote:Hi Brian, very interesting set up, I am always amazed how totally differently the L300 can be transformed by each owner. Good idea to use the folding foam chair as a bed.

I notice your 3rd brake light is located at the bottom of your rear window (ours is at the top), in case you can't reach your hand down below your plywood bed to unlock the back door from inside, many people have drilled a hole into the 3rdbrake light to access the pull up lock button (same shape as the lock buttons on the front doors), as the button is still there under the 3rd light. Just drill with a 1 inch holesaw to allow your finger to reach in to pull up the lock button.

Look forward to camping with you sometime.

Cheers, Christine.

Christine, thanks for the pointer about the rear lock... I believe I can fit my arm down there but have not actually checked yet. As far as the set up goes, one of my favorite things about the Delica is the fact that it is very versatile and quite diverse... a blank canvas for one's creativity...

jaggedfish wrote:Hey Cuz!

You have been a busy fellow since I've been gone! Looks like an excellent job!... wouldn't expect any less. You've even got the weather checker skylight to see if it's worth getting out of your comfy spot. Been thinking about getting into this type of project too.

Cheers Bri!
Ian

Hey Ian... busy... yeah... this project only took me 2 days to do and I only need to paint it now. It was great to do some more wood working again... very peaceful. Can't wait to awaken and look out the sunroof... and hopefully see some sun...

mararmeisto wrote:You've quite handily overcome the one problem most try to deal with by simply raising the bed platform higher. Most are trying to figure out how to get good stowage when the platform is only as high (or little higher) than the wheel humps. But by fixing it as high as you have, it looks like you've got gads of stowage. Good job!

I see a trailer to the right in one shot, but no hitch on the back of your van - is that the next mod?

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Paul

Hey Paul... my dogs kennel was the basis for my design as I want him to sleep in the van while camping but not in my bed or anywhere that I have to listen to him licking himself... I would say that this is about as high as you would want to build a platform in a lowroof as I don't have that much room in there. It reminds me of sleeping under the cockpit of my parents boat as a kid... although that was tighter. I really do have an awful lot of storage area and th lockers are great for all my smaller gear that I carry all the time. As for my next mod... curtains... I need some privacy in there... Trailer hitch would be nice... I need to get my fabricator friend to work for me although more for a bike carrier than for towing.

RichD wrote:Nice job. I love plywood.

Why isn't your spare tire under the Deli?

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RichD

Rich... I too love plywood... nice to work with. As for the spare, as Paul states it is a bit of a bitch to get out from underneath... especially offroad... but the other issue I have is that I keep smacking it into the dirt and rocks when I go offroad... I do not like that sound or the possibility off wrecking it...

Thanks everyone for the comments...

Brian

TardisDeli wrote:I notice your 3rd brake light is located at the bottom of your rear window (ours is at the top), in case you can't reach your hand down below your plywood bed to unlock the back door from inside, many people have drilled a hole into the 3rdbrake light to access the pull up lock button (same shape as the lock buttons on the front doors), as the button is still there under the 3rd light. Just drill with a 1 inch holesaw to allow your finger to reach in to pull up the lock button.

The lever down below only opens the tailgate if it is already unlocked. I posted detailed instructions on drilling the hole in an old post:
http://www.delica.ca/forum/post-aug-199 ... -2026.html

Makes life a lot easier, even if you only use it once!