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Old 05-23-2017, 10:31 PM   #201
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Bbasso View Post
Remember this since it's your first build, function over fashion. and that will allow you to excuse your temporary mistakes because you will redo it down the road after you figure out exactly how you want to work and that only comes with experience
I appreciate that for sure. I could take you on a tour of my mistakes thus far and it would be long. I have shrunk away from that "perfect van" thing a while back while I stumble through my rookie build. Hardest part is knowing when to quit after a long day of working on things, too much and the mistakes start.

But I am making progress. Soon to have working house battery and shore power. Solar must wait for a while.


Time, just need more time to focus......and a laser cutter......


Dometic had frost in the freezer compartment. I like it.

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Old 05-24-2017, 06:53 AM   #202
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You're going to love that chest fridge. I'm quickly becoming a convert. It's astounding how efficient they are and how fast they work compared to front door models, which I actually prefer for convenience but like I said above, I'm becoming a convert. I put a gallon of water in my chest fridge one day and put it on 0 degrees. In two hours the outside was frozen. It wasn't completely frozen solid of course, but I still couldn't believe it.
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Old 05-24-2017, 08:21 AM   #203
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Great job on your build so far!
I too have been trying to figure out how best to trim out the windows between the panel and the window frame.
Additionally, I have gutted and remodeled my house and I must say, building my own van setup has been about as challenging! Sometimes it's a bit overwhelming. It'd be easy to just slap stuff together to make it work but for a quality product it takes a lot of forethought, for me this involves laying in bed at night staring at the ceiling..
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Old 05-24-2017, 08:57 AM   #204
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I have lost some sleep too!! But thank you.

I think for now I am gonna leave the gaps. I built up stringers right below the windows to somewhat match the pinch welds down near the floor. I bolted some aluminum angle that I made to the pinch welds and that allowed me to put a full height panel in, screwing in above the windows and to the stringers.

No easy way to deal with the factory windows in a DIY manner. Then the SMB headliner is a mess. Basically a 1x2 wrapped in the upholstry and neoprene foam and stretched and screwed into right above the windows. Once I slipped panels in there it is no longer taught, so It wrinkled.

I have some ideas and they will require some careful craftsmanship that I don't have time for right now. But I have a feeling I will be going back over this part in the future.
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Old 05-24-2017, 09:34 AM   #205
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A factory headliner can be trimmed to fit and looks pretty good. Much better than SMB's efforts... see the SEMA van build for pictures
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Old 05-24-2017, 09:55 AM   #206
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I have studied the SEMA van pictures in great detail......it's awesome.

I's like to put a hard headliner in so I can recess some LED lighting into it. Basically I would have to use the SMB "track" for lack of a better word. The outer flange where the mattress sits.....I would drill through that. My idea is flat panels with a flange that mates to right above the windows. then I could tuck whatever window panel I want right underneath the flange. It would be clean, but matching the curvature of the van sides is not trivial. This is not my last battle with that aspect.

Some place I kind of gave up on grabbing the factory window trim and tucking cabinetry in below that. Probably time and $$ in hunting that stuff down. I do like the way the SEMA van cabinetry tucks right underneath, super clean.

I guess I am at a little frustration point with time and $$ and ideas. Some days it's all rainbows, other days stormy seas. Might have to rename this the bipolar driveway build. Either way I am learning a ton and a lot of what I have done is working and will not need redoing.

Just keep telling myself not to get too frustrated. I'll take it for a road trip this weekend and remember how much I love this beast.
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Old 05-24-2017, 10:08 AM   #207
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At some point i realized i am making a 4x4 van, not a show piece. That helped a lot with the frustrations haha.
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Old 05-24-2017, 10:15 AM   #208
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I design and build a lot of products for a living. My issue is that I get to a certain point and it kind of has to be done with. Everyone looks at the stuff and goes "oh that's great!". I look at it and see every mistake I made.

I think I just gotta finish out the interior and get after my rear bumper and rack. I can always come back for a winter project or after the Ginger Army trashes the interior and I need to come up with a seamless stainless steel interior I can pressure wash.

I appreciate the support, I really do. All you good folks have helped me out way back to when I had a little cash and a burning desire to own a 4x4 van. I am humbled at the time and kindness folks have here to help out.
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Old 05-24-2017, 10:27 AM   #209
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Don't lose heart. I think everything I've done on my van I've had to re-do three times before I could get it right (or at least to my satisfaction).
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Old 05-24-2017, 07:12 PM   #210
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Some of my issue is trying to do three things at once. Right now it's electrical, interior, and bumper. We shall see.

Bumper project took a big leap today. Got the steel base welded up and started the swing arms. This is entirely overbuilt, but I want rock solid. I'm sure Aluminess would laugh at how much this weighs, but I will be able to swing my galley box 180 plus degrees


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