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Old 02-18-2021, 06:11 PM   #41
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Nice job on the panels.
As I have recently done this as well, I know it takes a lot of time and trial and error.
Great job!

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Old 02-18-2021, 06:58 PM   #42
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Originally Posted by bigriver View Post
Man that's a lot of work that looks great and an excellent addition to the Home Build knowledge base. Thank you and Good on ya!
Thanks, I am happy I can add to the collective! These wall panels have been a ton of work! I guess I may be being more OCD than needed and making it harder on myself, but I think it will be worth it in the end.

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Originally Posted by marret View Post
Well done, coming along nicely. Ton of work, but it will be worth it in the end.

If you don’t get feedback on this post for the electric, you might post it in the electrical forum.
Thank you! At least now with the wall panels it feels like I can see the light at the end of the tunnel.

I got some great feedback on the other thread I started in the electrical section, but haven't updated that thread with Blue Sea or WFCO debate. I'll have to post in there and see if anyone has some thoughts.

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Originally Posted by Twoxentrix View Post
Yep, You've got skills!
Thanks! Thanks it's coming together even though I feel like its going slow. I guess that's the way it goes when you only have a few days a week to work on it!

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Originally Posted by BUFFALO View Post
Nice job on the panels.
As I have recently done this as well, I know it takes a lot of time and trial and error.
Great job!
Thanks! I felt like the floor was going to be more time consuming than the walls, but I think I was wrong. I don't know how many times I brought the driver side panel in and out of the van. Even with the templates I was always too nervous to cut straight to my line since as soon as you start pushing the panel to the curve of the van things start moving around!
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Old 03-05-2021, 08:11 PM   #43
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Wall Panel Subframe

-Got started on the interior wall panels. I decided to use some inspiration from cthayn build and chose to add some framing at the base between the floor and pinch weld, a middle support and a top support.







Testing the wall panel curve





-For the lower framing member I doubled up two pieces of ½” Baltic birch (glued and pin nailed together). I cut them to size ensuring a tight fit between the floor and the pinch weld. After getting them positioned about 1/16”-1/32” proud of the pinch weld I drilled a few pilot holes, painted them to prevent rust and put a few screws in just to make sure they don't wiggle loose over time.


-For the center supports I cut strips of ½” Baltic birch and attached them to the inner metal framing of the van using 1/4x20 rivnuts which I drilled and painted to prevent possible rust. I recessed the heads of the flat head bolts so they won't interfere with the wall panels. After doing an initial mock up of the wall curve I decided I needed to build this out more as the curve was too much on the lower section of wall. So I glued and pinnailed some additional ½” Baltic birch blocks that will become my attachment points.





-For the top supports I doubled up some strips of ½” Baltic birch with a 30° bevel on it to try to plain in with the upper frame member of the van. I repeated the same rivnut process to attach them.

Is it just me/my computer or is anyone else not able to see all of the pics in the post? I really dig your wall frame setup and was trying to incorporate those ideas in my van.
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Old 03-05-2021, 09:07 PM   #44
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Originally Posted by mothgils View Post
Is it just me/my computer or is anyone else not able to see all of the pics in the post? I really dig your wall frame setup and was trying to incorporate those ideas in my van.
I just checked and the pictures seem to be working on both my computer, my phone, logged in and logged out. Just in case I edited the album settings from private to public, so now you should be able to go to the full album and look through the pictures if you want. Obviously they wont have the full context of the text, but it might help.

I'm pretty happy with how the framing came together. I took inspiration from lots of other build threads and can't say I came up with this idea on my own, but I am happy that I did it especially now that I am on the wall panel stage.
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Old 03-05-2021, 09:15 PM   #45
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I just checked and the pictures seem to be working on both my computer, my phone, logged in and logged out. Just in case I edited the album settings from private to public, so now you should be able to go to the full album and look through the pictures if you want. Obviously they wont have the full context of the text, but it might help.

I'm pretty happy with how the framing came together. I took inspiration from lots of other build threads and can't say I came up with this idea on my own, but I am happy that I did it especially now that I am on the wall panel stage.
That might have done it, thanks! I can see them all. Excited to see this build progress. Great work so far!
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Old 03-06-2021, 12:29 AM   #46
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That might have done it, thanks! I can see them all. Excited to see this build progress. Great work so far!
Thanks! Hopefully will have some more updates for the thread by the end of the weekend.
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Old 03-08-2021, 05:52 AM   #47
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Wall Panel Start


[/CENTER]
Excellent progress! Can I ask where you got the finishing washers? I've been on the hunt for something similar.
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Old 03-08-2021, 09:45 AM   #48
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Excellent progress! Can I ask where you got the finishing washers? I've been on the hunt for something similar.
Thanks! These washers are super nice they really distribute the load and give it a nice finished look, but they aren't cheap! They are usually used for body panels for off road racing and such. I ordered them from amazon since I could return them easily if they didn't work, but I have seen them around for a little bit cheaper. Here is the amazon link.

For the bottom and top bolts I used a smaller cheaper option from Albany Fasteners, which is also where I got the other hardware. Here is the link to the Finishing Cup Washers.
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Old 03-10-2021, 03:44 PM   #49
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Wall Panel Update


-I started off by cutting out the passenger side window. I decided to cut the window opening out in place in the van. I did this by first using a drill to cut a hole for the jigsaw and then worked my way close to the window box and finished it off with a trim bit router. Still need to clean up my bottom line but it's nice to have some more light coming back into the van!






-You may notice that I left the wall panel higher than the window box. This was because we plan on bottom mounting some day/night shades and this helps create a pocket so they won't be visible when not deployed.


-I also wasn't happy with how my 2nd ceiling panel was fitting so I pulled it back out and rescribed it to get a tighter fit. This will end up getting covered, but it was bugging me knowing that it wasn't better.


-Then on to the driver side window. I repeated the same process as the passenger side, but got a little better initial results.


Rough Jig Saw Cut


After Using the Trim bit.

-After getting both the windows cut I started on the process of adding all the nutserts/ threaded inserts for all the panels. Up until now I have had most of the attachments using wood screws, which works, but figured a machine bolt would work better.








Bottom attachment bolts


Backside of Driver Panel after all holes have been drilled.

-Then the Passenger side panel all installed using the 1/4x20 Black Oxide Stainless Steel bolts and a combo of flat aluminum washers on the center row and finish cup washer on the rest. As of right now I am liking this combo. My thought was the middle row is taking the majority of the stress, and having a larger diameter solid washer will has less of a chance of pulling through the wood, and for the cup washers 90% of them will get covered by either a trim piece or a cabinet.


Flat 1" Washer on middle row and smaller cup washer on bottom and top.

-I did the same treatment of adding inserts for the connection between panel and window box. These bolts and inserts are much smaller and I believe are 6-32 thread.





-After getting those inserts installed I pulled the window box back out to install some brackets with inserts for the window trim ring to connect to. My plan is to try to make the trim ring have no visible bolts/screws since I will already have a few on the other surfaces. (Ignore the out of order picture here.)

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Old 03-10-2021, 03:54 PM   #50
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Transition Pieces


-Next up on the list was to tackle the transition piece from ceiling panel to wall panel. This was a part that I have been somewhat dreading as I had been struggling with how to make it look clean and intentional. After lots of tests I think I landed on a good option that maximizes the van interior while giving a good clean transition.

-Starting with the driver side I used a piece of ½” Baltic Birch (BB) strip with a 30ish° bevel cut that will be tucked between the ceiling panel. Then I used a strip of Ό” BB to create the drop piece. Once that was mocked up it became apparent how much the van body is curving in every direction. This prompted me to feel like I needed to create some more symmetry. So I marked out a level line from the floor to create my bottom edge. I then took a small section of Ό” BB and used it to fill the void between the trim board and van body. This again was obviously scribed to the van body. To give me a solid attachment point for this bottom plate I attached some blocks of ½” BB with glue and pin nails. This gave me a good chunk for some screws to bite into. Hopefully this all makes sense in what I am describing as I didn't take pictures of every step. This is probably one of the most complicated ways to do this, but I hope in the end it is worth the extra effort.








This was the uncut rear piece mocked up. You can see the pencil line indicating the level line.


This is the additional blocking for the bottom plate.


This is the scribed Bottom Plate


With bottom plate installed.
-After getting the driver side pretty much done, beside some finish touches, I jumped over to the passenger side to start the same process. This side was a little trickery as I am trying to allow enough room for electrical components such as the Victron BMV, the inverter switch, and the heater controller. In addition to these components I also need the create a flat surface for a strip light recess I am putting in over the 60/40 doors.

-I started with the same ½” BB with a 30ish° bevel cut and the same Ό” BB strip of the drop piece. I repeated the process for trying to create a flat symmetrical line to the floor.


-I used some cardboard to start planning what I wanted to do for the electrical section of the trim piece. I am planning on having it be a 3” square bump out that can then die back into the angled section. You can see this was a very rough idea I was trying to work through.





-So after mocking up the transition piece and trying to avoid it since I knew it would be a pain I finally started on building it. The cardboard mock up was a great starting point, but only really got me so far, so it ended up taking me much longer than I would like to admit to get figured out and get done. This will be a separate piece that will be attached using threaded inserts to make it easier to open up and access everything if needed. That is still to come, but at least now it is somewhat together still needs the end cap, threaded insert attachments and final assembly before upholstery.









-After That I went to the rear door ceiling transition and created a little shelf that is squared up off the floor. Again this is using Ό” BB with nutserts for attachment. This will house two puck lights that will be on a separate switch from the rest for our bed lights.





- I also went back and got my end cap put on for the over door electrical section.


-List of things to do before upholstery is getting shorter, and I really can't wait for that! I still need to check fitment of the front stock headliner, build front overhead shelf, finish out transitions, make transition pieces to stock headliner, build door boxes and panels, disassemble and do final assembly on transition pieces, cut out all openings for lights/electrical, create wire pass ways, run main wire runs behind walls, and add insulation. The list seemed much simpler in my head before I started writing it all out.

Next up I am moving to the front to work on my overhead console.
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