[Sams stock van]

I've been working on our van build for a few months. It's slow going. A lot of our building materials are leftovers from other projects, including about half the wiring materials and fasteners. I have tackled a few large diy projects (including a two story garage), but this van thing is mental gymnastics.

Sound deadening (one 36 sq ft package), thinsulate and rough wiring are done. I started with sound material first and quickly decided to use scrap plywood for a temporary floor and to copy as the template for the final one. It's much nicer to work on and protects the floor from dropping every tool I own, pointy end down.

The ceiling and upper walls (above the wire chase and slider) are 1/8 luan. The sidewalls are 1/4 AC exterior plywood with 2" deep bump outs. Rather than moving the wire chase or cutting the foam blobs I just worked around them.

Hoping to see my 8020 order soon.

 

[njvagabond]

Looks nice and tidy! Great idea with those tabs on removable(?) panels over the wiring.
Any details/photos of the attachment of the 1/8" ceiling material?

 

[carpen7]

Looks good so far, if your going for frugal, throw in a inflatable mattress and your just about done.......

 

[Sams stock van]

Looks nice and tidy! Great idea with those tabs on removable(?) panels over the wiring.
Any details/photos of the attachment of the 1/8" ceiling material?

Yes, the upper wall and ceiling panels are removable to get to any wiring. The ceiling panels are attached directly to the roof ribs with 5 plus nuts in each rib. I put opposing tabs along the butt joints to keep alignment. If the 1/8 sags, I'll add a stiffener to the backside. The ceiling panels fit such that they can be arched into position and hold themselves in place against the edge strip at the top of the wall panels, then fastened in place. I started at the rear w a 4 foot wide piece around my fan location and worked forward. The last piece before the cab area headliner was/is a real challenge. It needed to arch side to side and slope to the front. I built a quick jig and used copper wire (stripped 14 gauge to get single strands) to "stitch" two pieces together and fiberglassed the seam. Still thing about how to attach its lead edge. The bolts are low profile hexhead. The bolt sticking thru w a nut is 1 of 3 grade 8 fished down thru a rib hole, using single fine wire to pull it in, for attaching cabinets.

 

[njvagabond]

used copper wire (stripped 14 gauge to get single strands) to "stitch" two pieces together and fiberglassed the seam

Like a boat builder. Impressive.

 

[Sams stock van]

Aluminum angle for the bed platform and the over bed cabinet were cut, drilled and installed over the last two days. Gotta love handling aluminum at 10F!

I started buying electrical supplies and components for a 12 volt system months ago. Paired with a fair amount of leftovers from boat projects, I started laying it out. I was planning to charge using a b2b. The plan took a turn when a deal for a samlux 2000w inverter popped up on Craigslist. A temporary install was in order.

Here's the 12 volt system on a temporary panel. It's going in a cabinet over a battery box about where it is now. Short term it will be fed by CCP 1, with a 50 amp breaker. Batteries, cables, and charging side are waiting until spring.

 

[Sams stock van]

The last few days have felt like I've been trapped in a snow globe world. Two feet of pasty snow outside. Aluminum dust flakes inside. This was my first time cutting profiles and angles on a chop saw. Wow. Silver flakes everywhere.

Here's a couples of pics of 8020 framing for cabinets. I had previously installed a temporary floor to work on. The final floor will add 1 1/4" to the thickness, so the cabinets will get raised accordingly. The frames will bolt to the angles and profiles, which are bolted to each wall. I also plan to locate tee nuts in the composite floor to bolt the cabinets down.

 

[Sams stock van]

I've been tinkering with the bed platform framing. The plan was to have the front edge of the bed slide toward the rear to gain space when not in use. When its in place, the front edge is going to be on the sink counter top. The front will hinge and the second cross bar will slide as a slat bed. This nets 21" of counter space and a bench seat on the opposite side.

BTW, I used these to cut the Thinsulate insulation. The fabric cutter was very effective when used with a scrap cardboard to cut on. I replaced the blade twice to cut the 50' roll.

 

[gregoryx]

Nice progress!

 

[Sams stock van]

Yesterday the temperature rose to 50*F so I took the opportunity to finally drop the headliner in my cargo van for sound deadening and thinsulate. I had watched some YouTube videos and tried removing the three orange pins with a pry bar prior to yesterday, but quit as I was afraid I would break them. Armed w an appropriate tool they came out in seconds. No need to drop it further. I rolled on 3 pc of sound material and slid in a 32 x 50 inch pc of thinsulate.

Why is it going so slow?
I've had the van since late August but was too "sick" with tunaitis to focus on the build until the weather turned bad in November.

That's a 1973 boat that I've owned for 28 years.

 

[Sams stock van]

Over the past few days I've been tinkering with the 12 volt house system and relocated the inverter to a permanent location.

I've not made a decision on batteries yet. Also holding off ordering the last of the heavy cables to complete this part of the system.

Yesterday the water tank we ordered arrived. It was incorrectly finished with wastewater sized holes. We'll see what the seller has to say on this later today.

 

[Sams stock van]

We purchased our 22 gallon water tank from National Tank Outlet. Due to our error ordering online, it was supplied with waste water sized outlets. NTO was very responsive, and will be sending us a cap and reducer to configure it for water. The tank is a Ronco Marine water tank, which Ronco offers with a fill, vent and supply for water. NTO doesn't seem to have this outlet package online, but a phone call with them might work when ordering. (Update 4/22 - NTO failed to follow up with us. I do not recommend using them)

I'm hanging the tank for now. If weight is an issue, I'll add support legs later.

Next I tackled the "engine run" signal from the C 33-E connector. I had searched and found posts from @PNW_Camper (thanks for the diagram and details) and @maia (super helpful photos and written process). I didn't need to remove the seat as Maia noted, and I used the same "special" tool, a long handled hex head driver. There are no hex head fasteners. I had my fat stubby hand firmly jammed in tight to pull the plug cap out and the only tool I could reach was the driver! Pressed the retaining clip and out came the plug. I do not know the purpose of the jumper from 4 to 9, but did the same to the new plug that I wired for the relay. I brought the wire out the rear of the seat pedestal and zip tied it for now.

I still have to wire in a fuse holder for the purple sense wire to the b2b charger. Thanks for all the help!

 

[Sams stock van]

I hit the pause button on the last ceiling panel while I figured out how to secure it at the interface with the oem headliner. After trying aluminum angle, I realized the angle needed at the roof rib was about 103*, not 90*. I needed an arched board, so I glued one up. Cut the angle on a table saw and adjusted it with a block plane.

Then it was coated with epoxy and glued it in place with 3M 5200.

Rough plumbing yesterday. Hoping for a parts delivery today.

Working with Pex A was fun but after expanding the tube and ring you have to move fast to get the fitting into the tubing before it tightens up too much! If it doesn't seat correctly, it has to be cut out and redone. No pulling it apart once it tightens down.

 

[GROOVY2]

Looks Good -

 

[Sams stock van]

Presents came in the mail today. Now that I have the pump and rear door shower layout set, I can get the last of the pex fittings. The fill and vent are going against the edge of the d pillar above the bed.

 

[Sams stock van]

A few weeks ago, forum member @Brodo22 messaged to see if we could meet up. As it turns out he lives 15 minutes away. We are both at similar stages of build out and have now gotten together a few times to share ideas and progess.

Brodo22 purchased 3 sheets of minicell for his extended van. He finished his floor using less than two sheets and offered me the balance. As it turns out, he had enough for my floor too! So, three sheets is enough for both a 148" and an extended van, if you are real good at layout to minimize waste.

I used my temp floor as a template to cut the foam. I'm about half finished. Plywood will be joined using 1 x 2 boards between the foam pieces. Brodo22 also suggested a local flooring company that has vinyl flooring remnants. I'm heading to see them later today. They have two different colored sheets that will fit, for short money.

 

[Vanaroo]

I like that idea for joining the plywood sheets. I don't have anything like a biscuit or domino joiner, and don't really like the look of a "line" in the flooring where the joint between plywood sheets telegraphs through. I'm going to add this to my list of ideas for how to handle that

The meetups sound nice. I like working solo, but find that I miss having others around to share the energy (particularly if one person is feeling a bit meh), noodle problems with, share triumphs.... the type of camaraderie you get working on your boat in a boatyard with other people around working on their boats simultaneously.

 

[Sams stock van]

The only time I spent at a boat yard was as a kid with my dad. I've bought a few project hulls over the years and done full refits, all without the internet. Back then you had to find and meet "the guy" for any hope of experience. Now I'm doing a turbo boat on wheels with all kinds of internet help!

I'm hoping for an invisible set of seams under the flooring. West system epoxy glued joints are happening sometime soon.

 

[Vanaroo]

It is amazing now, isn't it? I'm from the "pre-Internet" age myself and often find myself now thinking "How did we figure out ANYthing back then?!" Of course, it's as you say: We had to find that one person, and our information was more limited and we had to rely more on experts to tell us things. Or magazine articles (hope they publish one the same year you want to do that project). I guess that's why we all had boxes and boxes of old magazines to look back at.

Looking forward to seeing you do your epoxying, etc.

 

[Sams stock van]

It is amazing now, isn't it? I'm from the "pre-Internet" age myself and often find myself now thinking "How did we figure out ANYthing back then?!" Of course, it's as you say: We had to find that one person, and our information was more limited and we had to rely more on experts to tell us things. Or magazine articles (hope they publish one the same year you want to do that project). I guess that's why we all had boxes and boxes of old magazines to look back at.

Looking forward to seeing you do your epoxying, etc.

You mentioned in the other thread that you might try 80/20. This is my first time using it and it is fun. It's pricey, but very flexible, modular and with secure mounting options for adding on build features as you go.