Out with the old, in with the new

[Ford_6L_E350]

If you can, put some screen over the intake and exhaust of the furnace. Prevents wasps from making a nest in there when the van sits for a few days.

Mike

[86Scotty]

Originally Posted by SCBrian

When I pulled the factory panels I was amazed at how much space is behind them. Passenger side is better than the drivers but both sides have a lot of wasted space. Have you made any decisions for flooring?

Yep, lots of wasted space. It's so easy to use the factory panels to cover everything though. I thought about ditching the back 2/3 of the van and converting is more as a cargo van, but much more work is involved.

I'm putting down vinyl laminate (hardwood lookin' stuff) on the floor for now. I can't decide what I want to do there but definitely not carpet again. I have put down laminate in a couple of campers before and we love being able to sweep it out.

Mike, thanks, I'm familiar with that trick. They make those screens as well for specific furnaces, I'll probably find one of those.

[BIGVANS]

Originally Posted by Ford_6L_E350

If you can, put some screen over the intake and exhaust of the furnace. Prevents wasps from making a nest in there when the van sits for a few days.

Mike

They make all kinds of screens for that ......

http://www.amazon.com/Camco-42141-Flyin ... B00192JFBI

[WVvan]

insulation. I have puzzled over why I should even bother trying to improve it for awhile.

It will help prevent condensation on the inside. Even with the windows.

[Gnarvan]

What are your plans to cover the plywood with? Are you going to carpet, tile or rubber mat the back?

Did you use self tapping screws to screw the plywood down into the metal floor of the van?

I've been toying with the idea of re-doing the interior of my van but after paying someone to weld up all the screw holes from the original wheel chair lift application I'm a little hesitant to make a bunch of new ones. Is there anyway to put plywood down without screwing it to the floor?

Not sure I have the stones to cut a hole in the side of my van for a heater like you did.

[rockbender]

Everything is coming along nicely - I love how many projects you are getting knocked out! Nice job on the heater vent too - I like how incognito it looks with the flat black paint. The furnace certainly takes up a bit of real estate but I must admit it is soooo nice to be able to fire it up after playing outside when it isn't so warm out. Having a furnace is one of our favorite things on our rig.

We really like having hard surface flooring too (we used pergo-ish laminate). Keeping up on cleaning is very easy and you can visually see if things are clean or not. We also like to have a throw rug on the floor which is nice on the feet but can easily be shaken out during the trip and vacuumed when we get home.

Question - it looks like your second row captains chair might have a 3-pt seat belt built in? Is that the case or am I just looking at the female extension end in the photo for the chair that would mount to the left? I'm working with just lap belts now, but as the munchkins grow out of car seats I will need to get some better belting options figured out.

[86Scotty]

Originally Posted by Gnarvan

What are your plans to cover the plywood with? Are you going to carpet, tile or rubber mat the back?

Did you use self tapping screws to screw the plywood down into the metal floor of the van?

I've been toying with the idea of re-doing the interior of my van but after paying someone to weld up all the screw holes from the original wheel chair lift application I'm a little hesitant to make a bunch of new ones. Is there anyway to put plywood down without screwing it to the floor?

Not sure I have the stones to cut a hole in the side of my van for a heater like you did.

1. It's a homebuild and I'm no expert with laminates or anything fancy, so I'm going with good old painted plywood. I've done it before and if you have good sanded plywood it looks fine to me.

2. I did, I used 2" exterior decking screws since I went through 1/2 ply, 1/2 foam, and the ribbed van floor. You could go shorter if necessary. Be careful where you put them! There are all sorts of important things under the floor like freon lines if you have rear air, etc.

3. Yes, check out Teeots build (that just got sold to Mtndewx8?). He glued furring strips in the ribs and then attatched his ply to them, where he didn't have to drill any holes. slick setup but lots of work.

4. Yeah, it took me awhile to get to this point, but once I decided it was going to be a camper forever and not a 'passenger vehicle' again, per se, it's easier to butcher it. I've put lots of holes through the floor for wiring, etc. and about to be more for plumbing and propane. That's the only hole ever going in the body (for the furnace) and it could be patched up fairly easily if needed.

[86Scotty]

Originally Posted by rockbender

Everything is coming along nicely - I love how many projects you are getting knocked out! Nice job on the heater vent too - I like how incognito it looks with the flat black paint. The furnace certainly takes up a bit of real estate but I must admit it is soooo nice to be able to fire it up after playing outside when it isn't so warm out. Having a furnace is one of our favorite things on our rig.

We really like having hard surface flooring too (we used pergo-ish laminate). Keeping up on cleaning is very easy and you can visually see if things are clean or not. We also like to have a throw rug on the floor which is nice on the feet but can easily be shaken out during the trip and vacuumed when we get home.

Question - it looks like your second row captains chair might have a 3-pt seat belt built in? Is that the case or am I just looking at the female extension end in the photo for the chair that would mount to the left? I'm working with just lap belts now, but as the munchkins grow out of car seats I will need to get some better belting options figured out.

1. Thanks rockbender! I'm rushing through a lot of it since we have a week long trip coming up in early October. Trying not to rush too much actually. Yep, I'm gonna love the furnace, still haven't worked out a permanent tank solution though. I might not ever. For now it's gonna be a barbq tank on a quick release hose right in front of the left wheel well for stove and furnace.

2. my thoughts exactly. I did this last in an Airstream I restored and absolutely loved the quick sweet out and ease of cleaning (usually a quick mop with a wet rag). I've got some long rubber mats which I will throw down in the 'hall' and in front of the kid's seats.

3. Actually, that's just the factory ceiling mounted seat belts from the bench seats. I put their seats exactly where they are so the seatbelts would work. If you look at one of those pics of my side-door-step project, you can see where I robbed the quick release off of one of the benches and bolted it to the outside of the right rear seat. This was the only way I could figure out to make it all work, and it's pretty bulletproof I think. the left rear seat belt is bolted to the floor on the bottom. I removed the original female belt buckles from those rear seats (which were front seats). Oh, and the seats are reversed (Correction 10-2-12, no they aren't. I've lost my mind. I was going to reverse them but swapped them back).
Does any of that make sense?

[86Scotty]

continued...................Well, I'm still getting over the scars (literally) of my furnace install. Luckily the rest of that install went great. I've got my cabinets built, all electrical run and on, and flooring in. Also, countertops are in. I'm looking forward to building some cabinet doors this week and heading for the beach for a week next week.
for my cabinets, I wanted to go as lightweight as possible. My last ones were built out of heavy finished 3/4 plywood, so I went with 1/2 on these, and tried to build them in a way where they were just strong enough to do their jobs without adding unnecessary weight. My floor plan is basically an EB31 SMB floor plan, with a shorter dinette/bed in the rear for one, and more counter top space.
Here's the buildup of the curb side, which is fridge and closet up top, with storage and a port-a-potty nook underneath

On the left is a long countertop which will have a 2-burner stove and sink on top and a microwave, furnace drawers, etc. below with one big cabinet for water tank and electrical/plumbing access

Here are some more pics of paint/etc as things came together


Countertops were a very exciting day, and that allowed me to finish out the left cabinet, build some drawers, etc.


I had the countertop man build me a square table for the rear or front, and bought 2 flanges and one post from Panther RV. Personally, this is the slickest part of the build IMO. I love how it transformed the interior. My only regret is that residential countertops are HEAVY!!!

Closer and closer

Sorry for the lousy iPhone pics. Someday I'm going to take my time with pics, but it's too hard to stop and get in that 'zone' when building. Perhaps I could hire a photographer to follow me around making a documentary of my less than boring life..............hmmm...........na, I need a beer

TBC.....................

[twogone]

Daaayumm Bro, you are makin' magic! Big ol' Congrats