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Van build finally finished!

22K views 50 replies 26 participants last post by  Mr M 
#1 ·
Well, it took one year to complete, was more stressful than I thought it would be, was more spendy than anticipated. But, learnt some new skills and honed some old ones. Now going to go out and use the crap out of it:D Much thanks to all that responded to questions asked.

Cheers, Mr M.
 

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#16 ·
Barryvan, just a homemade one. Wanted something that slid easily on carpet. The slider is guided by the runners in the cabinet itself so it doesn't bang up the sides when sliding it in, and stays in place once it's in there. Strap comes off a cargo tie down. In the event of a crash i wouldn't want my wife copping the crapper in the back of her head>:D
 

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#15 ·
It looks like a regular cargo with panels put into the indents where the windows WOULD be. A lazy...uh, less labor intensive, short-cut "build" would have flat panels covering the entire wall instead of utilizing the contours, thus losing that space. Or for argument's sake, a floor to ceiling flat wall would allow insulation that space. Yeah, that's the ticket.

The fabric on the foam B-pillar tops, was that installed with a vacuum table?
 
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#11 ·
You should be proud of that work. Very nice finishing job.
 
#12 ·
Beautiful.
I hope your trips are as nice as the van!
Enjoy.
 
#22 ·
Best price I could find was from Perfect Fit.com. Used Ivory on the ceiling panels and Sand on the wall panels. I had not heard of EZ flex carpet, but it maybe similar?

I was going for a land yacht kind of look in this van and liked Hull Liner cos it looks and feels somewhat warm and soft against the white cabinets and dark wood trim.
And the roll is 72" wide and this stuff is pretty cheap and very forgiving to install;)
 
#24 ·
Thanks orton, I visited your site more than once. As you well know,you really have to sit back and nut things through way further ahead than the thing you're currently working on. I've built some pretty trick stuff over the years but this was actually quite the head buster at times!

Heres a few more brag shots :D
 

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#25 ·
I can tell you have lost some sleep thinking how to do stuff. Well thought out.

Is the carpet removable for cleaning? I had not planned on carpet but added it. Sure is more comfortable than a hard floor. I have three easy to remove indoor/outdoor carpet pieces. Currently just cheap big box store carpet but will change it for higher quality.
 
#28 ·
orton, we've always had carpet in our vans. it too is just box store carpet, double sided taped in place. We have a slip carpet that covers most of the floor area, just drag it out and shake. A small hand brush gets the rest and the shop vac gets it all when we get home! Laid the carpet so the carpet 'ridges' run to the slider, makes sweeping those stones out easier too.

Most of our trips involve the desert and those small stones get everywhere and i'd much rather stand on one barefooted on carpet than a hard floor,and it feels warmer in the morning. I'm pretty sure those same small stones, caught in a shoe sole, would do a number on most hard floors too?
 
#26 ·
Very nice!
I like the window inset panels. I noticed that space when removing the poly panels last weekend.

It looks like there's a B2B charger behind the seat. Is that the only equipment at that location that is then run to your house batteries in the rear? I'm wondering advantages/disadvantages to having the B2B behind the seat or located with the house batteries (maybe lack of space?).
 
#29 ·
After posing the B2B location question here on the forum and asking the Sterling folks, I got the impression that it's preferable to be closer to the source.
I'm a total electrical novice so I'm sure there are maybe +- to it, all I know is it worked when I hooked it up - no sparks,flames nothing!

I did have room for it back in the house battery compartment but i also wanted to be able to see all the pretty lights while it was working:D
Underneath the B2B holder is a 110v multi box for the fridge (copied Ortons routing for this)for pre-trip fridge cooling, and an extra fan with thermostat for the fridge ducting too.
 
#27 ·
MrM, Where were you (and this thread) three years ago when I needed you. Makes me want to start over...uh well, maybe not, but am jealous.

BTW, in pic #gopro644 above, what is the little silver “knob” on the aft end (or aft side) of the galley? Is that a lock for the drawers? If so, is it completely DIY or is this a ready made item available somewhere that you adapted?


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
 
#31 ·
Impatient, just a homemade gang lock knocked up from ply scraps. You can buy gang lock units but I figured by the time i'd researched one that may have worked, I'd built it!
It just slides down and interlocks with angle brackets on the side of the drawers.
 

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#30 ·
Mr M beautiful design and love your work! A couple of very basic questions. What size and height is your transit?
Are there rear windows covered by your excellent panels or do they just cover area where windows would be cut out? (Not finding exterior photos, I'm not clear if there are windows). Do rear couches convert to two 27" wide beds or to a queen size (East West) or both? Sorry if these all seem obvious but am keenly interested. Thanks!
 
#32 ·
Kevo, Van is a 2017 T250 148" HR. No side windows, just sheet metal behind those panels. His & hers couches are the beds too, 27" wide for the most part.

No converting. Saves me bothering Mrs M when i make the crawl of shame to the porta potty in the middle of the night!

We always wanted a layout in this new van that gave you somewhere comfortable to sit in the evenings when you'd finish counting stars etc, or if it was windy or cold. I'm too old to be sitting cross legged on a big bed platform that takes up the whole back of the van like most builds seem to. If that means sleepin separate, so be it.
 
#33 ·
Thank you Mr M! How many inches separate the two beds? How high off the floor is the top of the aisle (battery container)? How high are the beds? Also on the open shelf above the bed is that a lip to hold baskets and other items? Sorry for so many questions...
 
#36 ·
Sorry about the slow reply Kevo, was away VAN CAMPING!!!

I did a quick sketch with a few of the measurements.

Now all these sizes came from just measuring comfortable heights for two people 5-9" - 5-11" tall and 130 - 150lb in weight.
The mattress is 5"thick but sinks to 3.5" when seated which helps to clear your head so that it just kisses the top flair out of the side panel. Also, the height and depth of the shelf has taken into account clearances when sitting down on the seating to avoid hitting it.
Mrs M can fully stand up on the step up floor area but I have to stoop, which is fine because you are only moving one or two steps to sit down anyway.
I tweaked the floor height as low as possible but still gave a little space above the house batteries which are mounted on their sides.

I stand corrected on the bed width, which was not 27' but 26', though this has seemed really comfortable during our shake down trip, and all of the measurements seemed to work out as hoped. The Lagun table & it's placement was an absolute game changer for us in this van,so useful.

I just did a lot of real world measuring to come up with these sizes. Just do some measuring to suit yourself and tweak accordingly.
Happy to answer any more questions you may have, fire away at will.

Cheers,
Mr M
 

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#38 ·
Your design and craftsmanship are inspiring. Fabulous job. Your work looks far superior to many professionals. Wow!

In one of your other threads, I noticed that you filled some of the gaps and voids between body panels with fiber insulation. If you happened to use mineral wool, would you mind sharing where you purchased compressible bats/rolls? I'm hoping to do the same, but I can only find mineral wool in semi-rigid bats that don't seem flexible enough to stuff into gaps and voids.

Your cabinetry is gorgeous. Would you mind sharing what wood you used for the cabinet sides and for the drawer faces? I'm hoping to use lightweight, marine-style, balsa plywood with a veneer, but I can't find a good source in the U.S.

Thanks!
 
#41 ·
I used rolls of Black Mountain sheep's wool from Greg Kindig at Eco Building products.com.
Comes in different thickness x width rolls with different R values.
You can cut/pull it apart to stuff in those tight spots.

I think you will have a hard time finding light weight ply with a veneer on it state side, I have not come across such a product in the past, may depend on where you reside though.
Most good domestic ply products with a nice veneer choice seem to have a MDF core in it now. That makes for a nice smooth veneer finish, but does add some extra weight to the sheet product.
Don’t let that dictate your final choice too much though, you’re not talking about a whole lot of sheet product in the finished build weight wise, that’s my thinking anyway.
Even Baltic Birch ply is fairly hefty due to how dense it is ply count wise. I did weigh all my separate finished components before installation and it wasn’t too bad all up.

We wanted a painted finish in this van so nearly all of it is just 1/2" Baltic Birch ply spray finished with Kelly Moore Duro poxy and a clear finish on top.
Drawer fronts and trim are just solid Douglas Fir that I got out of the local landfill a few years back, and just finished with a fake Shou Sugi Ban type finish.

Cheers,
Mr M
 
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