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Old 01-12-2011, 08:22 PM   #31
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Re: Accrete's 2010 Chevy Express AWD project

Two week after-flare install ...Update...
Our roads on the oregon coast have been a wet muddy mess, and honestly, the sides of the van look nearly as fresh as the day-after-install-wash i did. We are very pleased with the flexiflares. Highly recommend them for any chevy owners looking for a simple fix and keeping the sides clean. We installed the vortex mud flaps so they are part of the equation too.

======>> Four week update Jan 24, 2011 : flare/flap install . I could upload a photo of the van and you would think it just got washed! Four full weeks of slush, rain, and muck on the oregon coast roads and we could not be happier with the flare/flap combination we installed on the van. They are absolutely doing the job of keeping the side of the van clear of muck.

======>> Six Month Update, June 2011. Eeee gads we haven't washed the van since we put the flairs and flaps on...only mother nature has _washed_ it with the rainfall. And i tell you, the van is nearly spotless. Amazing what a nice set of flairs and flaps will do for a rig! (even the back of van is clean).

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Old 01-24-2011, 10:03 AM   #32
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Re: Accrete's 2010 Chevy Express AWD project

I received a nice PM asking about the awning mounts on our van/roof combo. I thought the info was worth sharing in the public thread also and here is my reply:

Greetings.
Van Specialties of Portland Oregon did the mounting (same folks that put the roof on). There is a _slight_ upward angle to our awning but all is well when in use and it looks matched to the roof lines as is. There are two blocks outside (on front/rear ends with 3 stock aluminum L brackets) and three blocks inside with bolts/nuts. The inside blocks are approximately 3/4" x 6" x 6" interior marine ply. The outside are what looks to be UHMW plastic 1/2" block glued into 1" thick by 4" x 4" and looks nice against the white roof. The folks at VS are nice to work with and would probably give you some tips or even have a mounting kit for your roof.

best wishes and feel free to ask me any other Q's.
Thom

PS. I will mod this post with some pictures later on this week.
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Old 01-24-2011, 11:50 AM   #33
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Re: Accrete's 2010 Chevy Express AWD project

Quote:
Originally Posted by accrete
We are leaning toward the RB11 style floor plan at this point rather than the RB50 family. I have always gravitated toward the two long benches in the rear with dinette table. Seems like a nice place to chill out during incliment weather. And an easy fix to a queen sleep area at night (we will utilize the Froli sleep system for sofa benches and backs). We would have under-bench storage for the outing's activity (gold panning / kite flying / etc in the rear area) and dry food storage toward front (thinking of building in a inslutated cold-storage area on street side bench). lots to ponder yet.
We are also planning an RB build for 2 adults. I was very interested to see this layout as an alternative to the RB50 type. It would allow one person to sit in the swivelled passenger seat and a separate lounging area in the rear. We are also concerned about maximizing cargo space since we will be doing longer self-contained camping trips. Some of my other thoughts about this layout (based on our needs) --

- With the lengthwise beds, the "crack" in the bed will be between the sleepers, not under somebody's hips or shoulders. This might be a big advantage.

- We want our bed at least 54" wide. This layout gives a full width bed, which may sacrifice storage. One idea would be to eliminate the passenger side gaucho and replace it with floor to ceiling storage cabinets or shelves. The lounge area would be one-sided but still seat 3 (tight). All of the storage would be accessible from inside, but it might be a little shallow.

- With a one-sided lounge area, there would be more room to stretch out the legs, and two people could watch TV in luxury.

- The area between the seats near the back door would be a great spot to carry cargo, but the cargo would need to be low enough to allow the seats to be made out into a bed. Long items like skis and masts could be stored between the seats but may interfer with folding out the bed.

- If there is overhead storage at the rear of the van, the seat area under the storage shelf may be difficult to get into and outof.
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Old 01-24-2011, 08:24 PM   #34
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Re: Accrete's 2010 Chevy Express AWD project

Hi David thx for sharing your ideas.
My wife and i are still planning on going bare bones no-built-ins this spring/summer and just have simple stuff like cots & action packers and see how the space goes. We too have wondered what a gaucho/berth on one side and tall (yet light) storage on the other. I do like the idea of somehow creating a berth with a single piano hinge length wise. Since ours is an RB i'm toying with the idea of putting the storage on the curb side and still have the slider windows to look out from the street side gaucho. time will tell. it's fun to dream and plan.

cheers,
thom
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Old 04-23-2011, 12:15 AM   #35
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Re: Accrete's 2010 Chevy Express AWD project

any progress?
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Old 04-24-2011, 11:34 PM   #36
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Re: Accrete's 2010 Chevy Express AWD project

Yuppers : )

We took our time insulating the interior.
We went with the bubble wrap/mylar/reflectix sandwich route. The difference in temp is amazing and there is no condensation or cold spots that we've noticed. Next we are doing the wall/ceiling finishing with a nice marine grade fabric and headliner. details on that will follow by next month.

I've played around with the froli sleep system in our spare room...that is gonna be one comfy van bed! Still working out the mounting details there too.

We are taking our time and enjoying life along the way.
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Old 04-25-2011, 12:35 AM   #37
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Re: Accrete's 2010 Chevy Express AWD project

Quote:
Originally Posted by accrete
We are taking our time and enjoying life along the way.
Good plan :-)
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Old 05-19-2011, 08:52 PM   #38
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Re: Accrete's 2010 Chevy Express AWD project

here is a picture of the completed insulation:



my wife and i worked on the van some more today while temps were in the 80's and it was very pleasant inside with just the roof vent open. We installed the headliner and marine grade carpet on walls.

cheers,
Thom
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Old 05-30-2011, 09:44 PM   #39
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Re: Accrete's 2010 Chevy Express AWD project

I just gutted my GMC and now scratching my head on to attach the wall insulation and carpet. How did you attach yours? I see you made a sandwich, but how did you hold (glue) the layers together? Did you glue the Tyvek directly to the metal, then the bubble wrap, then carpet?
Thanks,
Jake
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Old 06-03-2011, 05:57 PM   #40
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Re: Accrete's 2010 Chevy Express AWD project

Hi Jake.
Kids don't try this at home... ( : i.e. i haven't a clue if i got the "layers" in any kind of proper order. i do know that it has been comfortable in the ~40 degree mornings, and an ~80 degree afternoon. : )

From metal side to inside:

Bubble wrap (just like the huge bubble stuff you might pack with) bubble to metal w/3M 77 adhesive spray

Space Blanket type mylar (i used this instead of tyveck at the recommendation of a boat builder)

Two sided aluminized(sp?) bubble foil

Bubble wrap (same as above)

Two sided aluminized bubble foil

Marine Grade carpet attached to prior layers with 3M 90 spray.

all the above added 200 lbs to the van bringing it to 5750 at the scales.

The wall is soft to the touch and we really like it.
(Update on the soft wall set up for summer 2012 is that we love the wall and it has held up fine. Only redo scheduled for fall of 2012 is to put more spray adhesive on the headliner that has detached from bubble foil insulation on roof, but bubble foil is still firmly attached to fiberglass top.)

...next up is getting the froli sleep system / bed platform in there. most likely wed/thur next week (june 8-9/2011) and we are calling it finished. We decided at this point to continue utilizing the action packer set up we enjoyed so much over the last three seasons. This way we can easily take the platform/packers out in ~10 minutes tops and have an empty van for daily driving if we wish.

cheers,
Thom
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