Quote:
Originally Posted by Quercus
Very nice. But I am quite sure the 1988 Econoline 150 2wd SMB is quite a bit rustier!
I hope to tackle the flaky surface rust on everything under the van. This thread is an inspiration!
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Thanks. I strongly suggest tackling rust in the winter months. It would be miserable wearing gloves/mask/coveralls etc. when it's hot out, and if you are doing ANY sandblasting it gets EVERYWHERE!!! I knew it would but I still can't believe the places sand will creep, like inside your cellphone in a zippered pocket. Like in your ears even if you have a hood on.
Time for an interior update: I have many of my cabinets and interior trim pieces built but most are not quite stained and finished. I did get the midship couch/bed done though, which enabled me to shore up a lot of the electronics. I added a 400W amp and a Kicker 10" I had laying around and it made a huge difference. I can't wait to rock down the road. One thing I didn't add yet is a toggle switch for the amp power. It was simplest to power the amp from my rear DC power distribution block, but I know this will quickly drag down my house reserve power, so the plan is to always cut the amp and sub if listening to music while camped. Any neighbors when I'm in a CG will appreciate this anyway. I did a sealed enclosure which is not really big enough but it still sounds pretty good.
I also have my inverter and other wiring mostly sorted out but inverter not completely wired yet. Not looking forward to drilling holes in the floor after I just patched about 10 of em up.
I'm really enjoying working with this birch ply. It's pretty forgiving but does chip if you don't have a really sharp blade on your saws or if you get in too much of a hurry. The table saw is really the best way to cut it, and unfortunately I have a lot of rounded edges to work out with the jigsaw.
In other news, my 45 gallon Aerotank (fuel tank) is here! I may have to take a break from cabinets to get this thing running again. I should have a usable 70 gallons until I replace the rusty rear tank with a smuggler's box. If my cabinet build gives her enough storage space for a 3 week trip then I will just keep the rear tank and only use it for long highway stretches. I surely do dig the idea of rolling for 750 miles on a fillup, but that absolute best case scenario.