I had planned on building this van with raw birch and pulling it apart for stain when it goes to CCV for a pop top. Well, I got to experimenting with stain and slowly but surely the whole interior build got closer to finished. Not liking the mix I decided to just pull what I hadn't done yet out and stain it. It will cost me some work after CCV cuts up the top since I'll probably have to rebuild a couple of my tall walls to match the CCV roof cut.
First up though, countertop. I didn't want more wood or wood look in this van. There is plenty already since I used the flooring I used. I've always wanted to try butcher block but couldn't source it easily in 1" thickness. 1.5" seems awfully thick and heavy. I found a great price on a 24"x6' though and decided to try something with it. Black polyurethane.
First, I cut it to shape with a circular saw and jigsaw and rounded over the edges with a router.
Untitled by
E A, on Flickr
Untitled by
E A, on Flickr
After excess material was removed I felt better about the weight. I considered having it planed down to 1" but no one in my area has a planer big enough to do a 24" wide piece.
Next, experimenting with black:
Untitled by
E A, on Flickr
Untitled by
E A, on Flickr
Not at all satisfied I kept sanding and recoating and in the end basically covered all woodgrain and it's now smooth black. We like the result. It's not really even obviously butcher block anymore though.
Untitled by
E A, on Flickr
What came through in the pic above is more streaks from wet stain than woodgrain. In person it just looks black.
So, after pulling and staining the rest of the cabinets the interior is more or less complete:
Untitled by
E A, on Flickr
Untitled by
E A, on Flickr
Untitled by
E A, on Flickr
I added some holes for the Truckfridge fan to breath a little better and the vents to the right of that are for the eventual rerouting of the rear AC when the pop top is installed. Also, not sure if I've mentioned it but I'm holding off on couch upholstery until I get the top done and also figure out front seats. I hate the sheets on the cushions but for now it will have to work.
Untitled by
E A, on Flickr
Apparently I forgot to take final pics with the grill off but I did a fairly elaborate on-board-air system with 2 seperate Viair compressors plumbed to one big tank, so I can run one or both from seperate dash upfitter switches. I added a 9 gallon tank under the rear of the van.
Untitled by
E A, on Flickr
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