Polar Bear 1

[Christopher Thwaites]

Wow,
Ah.....nice flooring! Tragic tale. Kind of glad I got to see something that will never be repeated. I hope your friend's husband has a good group of people to help him now. I don't know any of you but I am struck by this...stunning!

[angler]

Super cool build thread! Bookmarked.

I was at BM this year for my first time. Have wanted to go for years and this was the first time I was able to put it all together. Great pics!

Originally Posted by 12bproper

What I heard from some dealers when I was shopping, that ford redesigned the engine and it didn't fit into the vans.
International made the engines pre 2004. I also hear that the 6.0 lack power.

This guy (http://www.powerstrokehelp.com/6liter/6vs7/1of6.asp) has some really informative videos about the 6.0 vs the 7.3. The 6.0 had some serious issues, but they are good platforms if maintained. I have several friends with early 6.0s that have had zero issues. Many of the kinks got worked out by 2006 or so, according to this guy. If you dig a little deeper into his site, there is a really good set of videos on what to look for when buying a used diesel. http://www.powerstrokehelp.com/PSD_c...D/used_PSD.asp

[Zaskoda]

I covered my doghouse this weekend. Here's what she looks like:



I took some shots of the process I will post shortly, I'm about to run out the door. I bought my first sewing machine ever for this project. =)

[WVvan]

Good job. I like the snaps holding it on. I might copy that.

[TroySmith80]

is that to cut down on unwanted heat?

[Zaskoda]

So, I started with a $2 cover I found in the junk yard. I was just going to dye it, but after 3 bottles of dye I realized it wasn't working... at all... so I decided to cover it with black clothe.



I bought a sewing machine for this project. I'm still new enough to sewing that the first cut into the clothe is still a big deal. I flipped the edges over the original and sewed them down. That part was pretty easy. I had to rip a main seam and then sew that seam back together with the new clothe. That was challenging.



Then I used little screws and screw covers to attach the clothe to the doghouse.



Other than the crappy brown carpet for contrast, I think it came out looking pretty good. I'm looking forward to having the black rubber floor down soon.

Originally Posted by TroySmith80

is that to cut down on unwanted heat?

Yes, but more than that, unwanted noise. My old rig is very... noisy... so reducing cabin noise is a never ending goal. The more engine noise I reduce, the more I hear the creaking of everything else though.

[Zaskoda]

The floor was delivered by Fedex this morning. My house mate helped me install it this afternoon. I still need to trim out the door wells.

So we started by pulling the doghouse and seats out. We adjusted the fit of the front board and screwed it into place permanently. (It was previously only held down by the seats.) Then we unrolled the flooring and got to work.




We left a little extra in most places so I can trim it up as we finish out the walls. My sandwich ended up being:
- a coat of roll-on bed liner,
- a layer of foam,
- the 1/2" plywood,
- and the vinyl flooring.

The amount of sound insulation provided by the flooring is exciting to me.




Also... we now have a trampoline.

[Christopher Thwaites]

So did you glue the vynl down? Looks like nice stuff. What's next.....? Headliner?

[Christopher Thwaites]

VINYL...sorry

[Ford_6L_E350]

C'mon Chris, you could just edit your post to fix the spelling. Just click on the red 'edit' button.

Mike