Headliner Shelf - Sprinter Van Conversion
This project took a little bit of thought, what with angles and dangles. You will need
- Cardboard – needed to make a template for the angled corners.
- Plywood – needed for the shelf.
- Wood – used to make a lip for the shelf so your stuff will stay in place when driving.
- Fabric – used to cover the shelf.
- Glue – used to stick the fabric to the shelf.
- Screws and tools.
I decided the position of the shelf based around two factors
- Ease of moving from the cab to the living area and back with out bumping your head.
- Volume of storage space.
Once the location has been chosen put a mark on the headliner. From this mark measure the width at the back and front, I found that the headliner tappers in from the back.
Transfer these measurements to your plywood, I used a piece of cardboard as a template to work out the curvature to front part of the headliner, left and right. (A pencil and scissors will be needed for this part.) When happy with the cardboard templates, put them in position on your plywood with all the measurements then simply draw around the templates and then cut the wood. Some sanding will needed around the edges so the shelf will sit flush.
I fitted a lip to the shelf, simply cut a length of wood to size then glue and screw in position. I covered the shelf in a grey vinyl fabric to match the factory sprinter headliner colour, these seemed to work out OK.
When the time came to fit the shelf to the headliner I found it easer to remove the whole headliner from the van, doing so gave me access to the other side of the headliner, as I attached wooden mounting blocks to the shelf which allowed me to put screws into the mounting blocks through the headliner and then securely into block of wood to the back of the healiner. The end result is a very sturdy shelf for storing all sorts of stuff.
I glued a length of black plastic angle to both corners of the lip. The shelf also gives you a great place to run curtains that block the cab from the living space.
