Now the main frame for the bed is in place the rest of the structure can be added. The bulk of the storage is below the bed to make the most of the space. Wet stuff like wetsuits, boots and jackets are going to go in the back with quick easy access from outside and dry stuff such as clothes in the front.

To make sure dry and wet stuff is kept well separated a piece of ply will be fitted to the middle spar dividing the underneath of the bed into two sections, front and back. To do this kind of work you really need a jigsaw - a hand saw just won't cut it (okay bad pun!). It's too tricky to do the accurate sawing that's necessary to get a good fit around the wheel arches and other tricky places.

The key is to keep the storage simple, so that you don't have to make draws or shelves which require a high level of carpentary skill (we're trying to keep this build as easy as possible). To avoid this we slotted large plastic tough crates under the bed. Four should fit neatly into the back and four more in the front. You can then keep wet wetsuits in the van without causing a mess and it's much easier to pack your clothes quickly as you just take a plastic container up to your bedroom and throw clothes into it.

The box seat beside the bed gives extra storage. This is built off the long bed spar that goes all the way through the back of the box. Our technique when building this was mostly screw and glue and to use L shaped joins - if you're unsure what those are look in the last article.

We didn't fix in any of the major ply until most of the spars/battons where fixed to the wall. By doing this you don't build yourself into a a corner where you can't fit something because something else is in the way. That's why spending a bit of time considering your plan to get the order right is a good idea.

The front right corner is where the 'kitchen' shelving is. Here food, plates, cutlery, pots and pans, oh and chocolate :) will be stored. The ply that was fitted to the end of the box had to be 'scribed' in order to fit the curved wall of the van. Scribing is an art that I picked up while fitting plaster board for a couple of months one summer. It's the trick of being able to use a pencil to draw the subtle curved angles of a wall for example onto a piece of wood, e.g. a shelving support that you are trying to fit flush to it. It's a useful skill to help you get nice clean fits in awkward places and no gaps between surfaces. If you can have a chat to a builder about this it's a good idea as he can give you a quick demo.

Shelves were fitted very simply using batons as supports. The batons were screwed and glued in at the desired height and the shelves were screwed onto the battons. Remember to keep things looking tidy by pre-drilling the holes for screws and counter sinking them. This means that they'll be flush with the surface and won't catch on things.

This is quite a satisfying stage to reach as you start to see the van take shape, with some of the 'innards' in the right place.

Read the rest of our surf van build series