Very productive morning! We drove to San Jose to meet with one of the only places in NorCal willing to do a minimal build. We spent about an hour with the co-owner of the place, and got to peer around at a van in their shop which had some similar challenges and design features that we're discussing.
In my opinion, the interior quality looked much better than the other place we visited a few months ago. And he gave us some good information about various build materials, including the fact that the Fiberine top could be color-matched to our van's color, instead of being an ugly generic white. Yay!
I think we're going to give him the green light to get started. Which means Dave is going to have to start working some evenings on the wiring, since we need that done before the shop installs the high top and the wall skins.
The breakdown of work is as follows:
- Fiberine 24" hightop, primer white (so we can paint to match, rather than having the color in the gel)
- Shelf over the cab, with a lip
- Paneling, vinyl covered, gray for walls and doors, including molded door covers
- Insulation
- Custom headliner
- Two 48" sliding windows in hightop
- Carpet or rubber matting
- Small shelves along the walls of the van, 3" deep or so, upholstered
- Day/Night shades for rear windows, and curtain & rod separating the cab from the cabin.
Cost estimate is ~ $6K, including materials and labor.
Dave will do the interior LED lights, plus add 3 way switches at each cargo door. He'll do the battery and inverter wiring, to include 2 cigarette power ports in the cargo.
Our questions:
1) What sort of insulation would you recommend? We're concerned about water being trapped in fiberglass insulation. He'll do any insulation we prefer...
2) Cargo net for cab shelf. How would you anchor it so that you're not screwing anchor bolts through the high top? The idea is to have a few tie down hooks on the shelf, and along the walls of the high top, so we can stretch the net to retain lightweight stuff up top. Recommendations for cargo nets that would fit the width of the van also appreciated.
3) Pop out windows? The owner said he could easily retrofit the pop out windows in the rear doors - we buy the parts kit, he installs. It seems like a good idea for ventilation, since we have been known to prop the doors of the current van open (which neither of us have liked, but was necessary). Has anyone done this mod?
4) Flooring. He actually had a BedRug sample to look at, and it was not quite what we thought. There appear to be two options - one that is shaped like the ridged floor of the E350, in reverse, so that it levels the floor with the mat, and it's cushioned. The top surface is then...indoor/outdoor carpet-like material.
The second option is just a thin rubber mat, with very little cushion. He puts plywood down as a subfloor on this, and then the rubber mat on top. Not cushy at all.
Is there any product that has the cushion, with a rubber top too?
Ok, that's all for now. More to follow as discussions percolate more ideas...
Sandi
Linear Mode
