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Building Annie: a campervan conversion

400081 Views 404 Replies 102 Participants Last post by  eranrund, 
skagitstan
Our Annie the Van came home on 21 May., looking thus:
Annie is home! by stan, on Flickr

So, it's now time to start documenting the build. The documenting pictures will be viewable at
https://www.flickr.com/photos/skagitstan/sets/72157653213165316
There will likely be some photos there that I don't post here.


This arrival was followed by a couple of days of head scratching, then ordering and picking up a bunch of supplies for the upcoming project.

The first project, in my next post here, is to install a Maxxair fan.

Stan
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skagitstan
Installing Annie's Maxxair fan

We started by making a template for the opening, locating where the hole will go from the inside, drilling a template center-hole through the roof, and using that to position the template on the outside. The Maxxair's frame corners have about a .5" radius, so I use a 1""punch.




Next step is taping the outline (inside and out) and punching out the corners.





Using a dull scalpel, I cut along the hole outline


Thus creating a place for rain to go if we ever want to turn the sleeping bed into a garden bed


After a bit of smoothing rough cutout edges, and ant-rust painting the raw edges, the frame fits


Cleanup and beer break


The frame is screwed through the roof into plywood strips. The strips are being held to the roof by VHB tape, so I gave the tape a good squeeze to make sure there is good roof contact. The screws are stainless, so there should be no electrolysis issues screwing through the roof. There are strips on the other 2 sides as well, but no pics of that.


The frame is screwed in over several layers of caulking strip, squashed out excess is trimmed off, and we cover the thing in vanilla icing (actually a copious amount of lap sealant). Don't hire me if you want a neat job squirting sealant (or cake icing).


Finally, mounted the fan in the frame


Closed the fan, and we're done.



Next steps will be insulating the floor and walls, installing the solar, insulating the roof.

Stan
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jonsobi
Great post... gives me some confidence to try it myself when i get my van.
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B
jonsobi said:
Great post... gives me some confidence to try it myself when i get my van.
Click to expand...
Excellent post showing the steps. Appreciate the high quality photos and humor, too!
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R
I'm impressed! (Then again, I impress easily.)
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EddieZ
skagitstan said:
The frame is screwed in over several layers of caulking strip, squashed out excess is trimmed off, and we cover the thing in vanilla icing (actually a copious amount of lap sealant). Don't hire me if you want a neat job squirting sealant (or cake icing).
Click to expand...
Are you sure your GVWR can handle that much sealant?

Kidding! This is a nice series, much appreciated.
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skagitstan
EddieZ said:
Are you sure your GVWR can handle that much sealant?

Kidding! This is a nice series, much appreciated.
Click to expand...
That sealant weight was the main reason I got a 350 instead of a dinky 250>:D
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skagitstan
There will be a brief pause in our program

I decided I will wait on the insulation work until I get the propane tank, its feed-through, and the solar panels installed. No sense having to remove insulation to get those items installed. Especially since the mountings still need to be determined empirically.

Since those items are still on order (hopefully arriving within a week), I will instead catch up on bramble clearing and grass mowing (if it ever dries up enough)

Stan
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skagitstan said:
I decided I will wait on the insulation work until I get the propane tank, its feed-through, and the solar panels installed. No sense having to remove insulation to get those items installed. Especially since the mountings still need to be determined empirically.

Since those items are still on order (hopefully arriving within a week), I will instead catch up on bramble clearing and grass mowing (if it ever dries up enough)

Stan
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Which solar panels and insulation are you going to use?

I am looking at Kyocera panels which we used on our RV.
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skagitstan
I'm going with 4 Kyocera KD-140SX panels. Still haven't decided if I'm mounting direct to the roof or installing a rack and mounting to crossbars.
Right now I'm leaning to skipping the rack, mainly because of $$$$.

Insulation (floor and roof) will be mainly solid foam panel (with aluminum skin...forget the brand).
Panels will be glued together to build up thickness. This is so I don't have to try and bend a 2"thick rigid foam board to conform with the roof.

There will be spray foam as needed, and possibly Thinsulite in places where stuffing it in would be the easiest way to go.

Roof insulation will have 2" thickness. The floor will have about 1.5"thick strips, in between plywood floor joists (glued to the ribs of the van floor). The floorboards will be plywood sheet screwed to the floor joists, and covered with some sort of "luxury" vinyl. The total floor height will be raised about 2".

Some plumbing (PEX for FW, PVC for gray H20) will be embedded in the floor insulation, or ride right on the insulation's top surface under the floorboards.

Stan
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skagitstan said:
I'm going with 4 Kyocera KD-140SX panels. Still haven't decided if I'm mounting direct to the roof or installing a rack and mounting to crossbars.
Right now I'm leaning to skipping the rack, mainly because of $$$$.

Insulation (floor and roof) will be mainly solid foam panel (with aluminum skin...forget the brand).
Panels will be glued together to build up thickness. This is so I don't have to try and bend a 2"thick rigid foam board to conform with the roof.

There will be spray foam as needed, and possibly Thinsulite in places where stuffing it in would be the easiest way to go.

Roof insulation will have 2" thickness. The floor will have about 1.5"thick strips, in between plywood floor joists (glued to the ribs of the van floor). The floorboards will be plywood sheet screwed to the floor joists, and covered with some sort of "luxury" vinyl. The total floor height will be raised about 2".

Some plumbing (PEX for FW, PVC for gray H20) will be embedded in the floor insulation, or ride right on the insulation's top surface under the floorboards.

Stan
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Thanks for all the details. Looking forward to watching your progress.
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P
Appreciate all the photos and details Stan.

Lookin' good!
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M
Great post, I'm thinking of something similar.

Question - what made you stick with the 9500 and not go to the 9950 for only $300 more? The DRW? The 3.31 vs the 3.73?
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skagitstan
Metrocpa said:
Great post, I'm thinking of something similar.

Question - what made you stick with the 9500 and not go to the 9950 for only $300 more? The DRW? The 3.31 vs the 3.73?
Click to expand...
Answer - yes. :laugh:
Pretty much all of the above.
I don't expect to come close to needing the extra GVWR. Ride is probably a bit softer with the 9500. I'd rather have the extra internal space between the wheel wells with a SRW. 9950 does cost more, and so will tires down the road.
The 3.31, with the EB's broad torque range, has more than enough torque for my expected use (test drove on some really steep hills), and may get a bit better MPG on the flats.
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M
I agree the ride and fuel economy has to be better in the 9500 SRW. I can't decide. A loaded 9500 Van, a loaded 9950 Van or the Wagon. I like the 3.31. For 2016 I like the dual sliding doors too but you can't get them with full all around windows in the van, and the dual doors are not available in wagon form (I assume because of the windows). The Wagon seems to be ~ $2,000 more similarly configured to yours (a loaded 9500). And you get the seats, interior panels, roof is finished, etc... I'm leaning towards going all in, getting the wagon and using the seats when needed. Of course if I build out a living space it will get harder to use the seats, and I may have to remove the interior trim. Not too sure of the extra $$$s that may come from the DRW, the 3.73 and the +10k gvwr admin/gov't stuff.
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skagitstan
While waiting for the solar panels and propane tank to arrive (and for the rain to stop), I removed the wall panels & started floor construction.
The floor will consist of 1.5" thick joists glued to the Transit's floor ribs, rigid foam insulation glued between the joists, a Reflectex blanket, then .5" plywood panels screwed into the joists. There will be PEX lines running through, possibly a gray water line as well, one propane line, and some wiring in electric conduit.

I will cut or notch the joists once I have line locations settled.

The joists are made from 1" rips of a 3/4" ply sheet. Two ripped strips are glued together.


Starting to glue in the strips. I'm using silicon to keep the joint flexible. I have a silly theory that the impedance mismatch between the joists and the metal floor will aid in reducing road noise coupled to & through the plywood floor. The flexibilty of the glue should aid here (if I'm not just being silly.)


Children are starving just so I can hold down the joists while the glue sets up.>:D


It'll be dry for the next few days and the panels and tank have arrived. Tomorrow, I'll finsh the joists, then start looking at the solar.

Stan
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P
Thanks for the report Stan. Lookin' good!

May I recommend that you do not bury a propane line in the floor? This detail jumped out IMO. Also that you might consider having the ply floor have removable small panels wherever you have plumbing etc., if you can? Or take the gray water waste down through the van's metal floor sooner rather than later? Yeah, a new bridge to cross, but a known and visible one . . .
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skagitstan
Hi Peter,
Agree about access. I will have access panels the width of the floor wherever I have a utility line.

The reason gray water line will be inside is that since it's at floor level, that line is way below any sink drain or trap. We don't have a shower, so there won't be a gravity issue for that. Running it inside has 3 advantages that I see.
1. Reduces the chance of a freezing line.
2. It's a lot easier to work inside than underneath, where I have to snake around the drive line and exhaust.
3. Running inside means one less hole to plumb to an outside holding tank.

For the propane line, I will need to cross the floor for just one appliance's gas supply (the 2 burner hob) .
From what I understand, you must just avoid and joints, unions, etc. in an inaccessible area, like under the floor, but you can run a line inside.
Running underneath also has the issues avoiding drive and exhaust lines. The propane line nay also be somewhat better protected from road damage if it's inside.

I think these are sufficient reasons to do the runs on the inside. Is there perhaps an overriding reason not to?

Stan
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O
One comment: You might consider doing the wiring with "SO" cords. They are just like extension cords. Do not require conduit and are much more flexible than conduit and are easier to install. Did my Sprinter that way and will definitely do the same with Transit build.
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skagitstan said:
. . .
I think these are sufficient reasons to do the runs on the inside. Is there perhaps an overriding reason not to?

Stan
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No overriding reason here, other than a general avoidance of propane lines being hidden at all, especially at low points in a structure. I would pressure test the buried line before charging it, install a visible cut-off valve which can isolate that hidden run, and only open that valve before each use (similar to what we are supposed to do with propane cylinders with a BBQ grill).

With propane every precaution that can be taken should be taken IMO. The assumption that a copper supply line will never leak, it seems to me, is an accepted assumption in the industry, but do you want to be the explosion which disproves the assumption?

I had a friend whose basement propane hot water heater had a defective control valve, which caused propane to fill his basement overnight, until the heater called for hot water the next morning. His house was lifted off the foundation, every window blew out from the air pressure, and the family (on the second floor thankfully) were all awakened -- instantly and traumatically -- from a deep sleep, with no further injury to them. The explosion was so sudden and violent that it exhausted all the oxygen apparently, and none of the wood in the house was ignited. The whole event probably took a few seconds after the initial spark.

Phew, a close call!

Do they make 12 volt propane monitors, or battery operated ones?
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