Chevy Van Build

[paxbnm]

Hi All,

I just want to say hi and ask a couple of questions. I found this site while searching for ideas and help with a simple build I am undertaking on my Chevy Express 3500 15 passenger van.

One of my sons wants to go camping but I am not too interested in spending time wet and cold in a tent. We hatched a plan to build a platform in the back of the van to accommodate an air mattress with some storage underneath. So I spent last weekend in the rain, and this weekend in the cold working on this platform. So much for staying out of the wet and cold. Of course, once I found this forum the scope of the project has increased as well. And that leads in to the first question.

I am making the front half of the platform in to a dinette. I already fabricated the seating area and drop down table. I didn't know how far to separate the seats so I searched for camper table tops and used the dimensions from a standard commercially available table top. Ended up making it 38 x 28. I would have liked to go a little wider but was space constrained. Now I am trying to figure out how high to make the table. Any advice would be appreciated. In particular a top of chair to top of table measurement is what I am looking for.

Also, I am planning to use a pole mount to support the table. As I need to be able to convert back to a 15 passenger arrangement I am trying to limit the number of things I bolt to the floor. So far this will be the first but I suspect that will change. If there are any other innovative ways to mount the table I would be interested in hearing about them.

I have many more questions but I think I will try to work on this one at a time. I have been reading through the older posts, that has already answered about half of my questions.

Thanks for the help.

pax.