Southeastern build

[thestoneman]

Measure ten times and cut once.






You can see in the first photo that i relocated the crossmember.I used a quick dry epoxy and self tapping screws through the roof.

I also took your advice boywonder and put in corner braces in all four corners.



Once the hole was cut i drove convertible style across town for some free labor.We first set the lifting mechanism on.Bolted it on and then set the top and canvas on.The canvas is temporarily screwed down to the roof.Im waiting on the new bulb seals to arrive.



While top was still on the trailer i removed all the butyl and the urethane seals.The best way i found to remove the butyl was to use more butyl that had been balled up and just roll it over top with a pretty good amount of pressure.The butyl was only used on the front and rear everything else was urethane (windshield sealant)or at least thats what it was identified as by two local body repair shops.This is what i will be using to reattach the canvas to the roof.If you look really close you'll notice the top is still silver the body shop said they would rather paint it on the the roof.(I think he was really worried about me scratching while installing though).

I have a few small holes in the canvas that i will have to repair soon.Right now I'm leaning towards cementing patches and also sewing with a speedy stitcher.I looked for threads on this but found none any advice is greatly appreciated.

[thestoneman]

Temporarily set the rear seats in today to get a good idea on my layout for rough in wiring and plumbing.



Hopefully I will be able to get that all done this week.

[boywonder]

Very Nice! A few pics of the electric actuator stuff would be interesting......

[thestoneman]

Originally Posted by boywonder

Very Nice! A few pics of the electric actuator stuff would be interesting......

Here you go.

[thestoneman]

Cut a few more holes in the van Monday night( but just now getting around to taking pics). Shore power,city water and outdoor shower.



12 volt wiring and 110 finished up last night.the plan is to build a chase wall behind the plumbing so that I will be able to mount the 12v distribution,charger ,separator and switch too. No inverter or converter is planned at this point. The two will be a totally seperate system and we will have a generator to power the all outlets, run the ac and charge the batteries at night.i went ahead and prewired for solar although I'm not sure if we will ever need it.





Tuesday we received 8" of snow, that's something that's pretty rare around here.





We ended up taking a walk into town and I spotted this at a local shop. Not sure which is more rare the snow or another camper van. This is a first for me I've seen a few in north Georgia and a few Tennessee. But never where we live. You tell people around here your building a camper van and you'll get quite a few strange looks. Or the " why don't you just go buy one" response. Sorry for the lousy picture but I had to take it through a glass door so.....

[86Scotty]

Looking really great Stoneman! You don't fool around either. Looks like you'll be camping by Spring. On prewiring for solar, very wise. I wondered whether I would ever need it or get around to it but I bought the $175 Amazon 100w kit and couldn't be happier.

Where are you located? PM me if you'd rather not share publicly. I'm in the Knoxville area and would love to meet up and check out your van in person sometime. Camper vans are super rare here.

[thestoneman]

Thanks Scotty. I'm really enjoying this project.

Ha! I hope we'll be camping by summer we are headed to the outer banks in June so that's my deadline. Not really worried about my part of it as I am the things I'll be subbing out to others such as the rear air install and the transfer case install. It will all depend on everyone else's schedules.

I'm located in northeast alabama. Scottsboro to be exact. Would love to meetup with you one day.

[86Scotty]

Cool, Yeah, I heard you guys got the most snow of anyone. We got about 6 inches, but that was on top of 3-4 the previous days. It's a lot for us. We recently went down to Cloudland Canyon for the first time. Check it out sometime if you never have. It's a great SP with lots of hikes, waterfalls and such.

Keep us posted on the van and glad to help if I can.

Eric (86Scotty is the handle but not the name)

[thestoneman]

Cloudland is awesome I've done a lot of work in that area. Great hiking too!

We found an awesome camping spot last year just right down the road from there. It's at the little river canyon national preserve. Just right down beside the little river. Kids had a blast! We found its better to go during the week because it's first come first serve and there are only three spots. The best part is it's free.

[thestoneman]

Built my electrical panel ,finished my rough in plumbing and laid down my subfloor last weekend.



The electrical panel consists of the main breaker(far right),blue sea ACR,fuse box and 110 outlet where the two battery bank charger will plug into.
Electrical panel will be removable just in case there is ever a problem with the outdoor shower that is directly behind it.



rough in plumbing done.Gotta love pex!The sink will be located in front of the fender well and the valve behind the fender well will eventually go to the freshwater tank under the sofa/bed.



tested plumbing tonight .We have water!No leaks!