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Old 12-04-2015, 11:55 AM   #281
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Re: Popping my top

BoyWonder your work is insane! I can't wait to get my van back from Weldtec and come over to see your van in person! I like where you keep your portable stove, I may try and fit mine there too.

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Old 12-06-2015, 06:59 PM   #282
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Re: Popping my top

Here is a ridiculously close-up shot of the SIS cable wire end pressed into the solid surface material. The steel end of the cable is a light press fit into the countertop.......I could have made the counterbore a bit deeper but these can barely be seen.

These are on the bottom of the counter top when deployed and are only seen when the top is hinged closed.

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Old 12-06-2015, 07:17 PM   #283
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Re: Popping my top

I used the remaining piece of solid surface material to replace the previously built cork tops that I never finished.....



before:






After:


The solid surface material is 1/2" thick so I made double thickness edges.








Those with a keen eye will notice a difference in sheen between the front and rear piece. I wet sanded a few scratches out of the front piece with up to 400 grit emery paper. This results in a more matte finish than the factory finish. I can either continue sanding the front piece with finer grit paper or use 400 paper on the rear piece.
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Old 01-27-2016, 09:14 AM   #284
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New year bump! This build looks great! Just curious about your galley door setup. How did you attach the bike cable inside the door? I saw you used the nut/bolt as a stop so the door is always sitting 90* but how did you affix that to the interior? Also you passed the cables through the countertop and then heated the ends of the cable and smashing then flat? Love all the work you've done and really like the flush mount galley door!
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Old 02-15-2016, 08:46 AM   #285
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Originally Posted by Gh0ztkid21 View Post
New year bump! This build looks great! Just curious about your galley door setup. How did you attach the bike cable inside the door? I saw you used the nut/bolt as a stop so the door is always sitting 90* but how did you affix that to the interior? Also you passed the cables through the countertop and then heated the ends of the cable and smashing then flat? Love all the work you've done and really like the flush mount galley door!

The cables are fastened to the backside of the door panel....not to the door...

The ends of the cable have tiny steel slugs (Shimano SIS derailleur wire has small ones.....brake cables have larger ends)...I just counterbored the solid surface for the little slugs and pulled the cables through. The depth of the counterbore make the slugs on the ends of the cables roughly flush with the surface.
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Old 02-15-2016, 09:27 AM   #286
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Bought a couple more things for the project....

I picked up a brand-spankin' new ARB compressor from Craigslist and a seat heater kit from Amazon. The heater kit was around $63 shipped and includes everything to do both front seats.

These kits may be interesting for a heated bed setup........it appears that most all of the kits on Amazon use the same pads...they seem to be well made with carbon fiber tracks for the resistive elements.

The seat heater kits come with several options for the controls...simple three position rocker switches (off-low-high) and nifty little roller controls with 5 settings. These are available two ways....a dual-gang control that has both controls in one place and separate controls for each seat. I went with separate controls since there is no convenient center dash location for the double control unit.

The heater pads were quite easy to install, I just unhooked the factory seat covers where the back and bottom of the seat meet and slid them in. I've been curious how the seat covers conform to the concave surfaces of the seat....they do it with crazy thick velcro strips. I didn't have to remove the covers to get the pads in.

I fabricated a small plate to mount the passenger control; if the heaters work well I'll probably relocate the control to the dash plastic. I need to extend the wiring for the passenger side since that seat swivels; the drivers side should be fine.

not done yet....







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Old 07-15-2016, 05:54 PM   #287
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Just finished the door storage on the other barn door......








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Old 07-15-2016, 08:17 PM   #288
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Sweet!


Oh... some more words
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Old 07-15-2016, 08:43 PM   #289
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Wow! I didn't notice the seat heater thread before. How well do they work?


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Old 07-15-2016, 09:06 PM   #290
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Wow! I didn't notice the seat heater thread before. How well do they work?


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They work great.....they take a slight bit longer t heat up than the GF's benz with leather seats...I think because of the thickness of the fabric and foam of the stock E series seat covers.

I have a handful of pics of installing them in the new 2009+ seats.....I'll start a thread showing how to remove the factory seat covers and install the heaters when I have a few minutes.

The factory seat covers ain't easy to remove...lots of hog rings.......
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