Look what just drove up in my driveway, it's Rusty!

[buckkiller]

Originally Posted by BroncoHauler

So how much will you be asking for it when you sell it in a couple of months?


Herb

:mrgreen:
Buck

[86Scotty]

Lol. No rush.

[BUFFALO]

Really nice job you're doing here!
Thank you for putting up all of the pictures too!

[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!

[86Scotty]

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!

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.

[BrianW]

Are you using 1/2" or 3/4" birch plywood?

I want to rebuild some (or all) of my cabinets, but am having a hard time finding 1/2" oak plywood locally. 3/4" is readily available, but that's thicker than the OEM cabinets and I want to use them for templates and just basically replicate them, but using nicer stock than the OEM SMB "wood."

[86Scotty]

Originally Posted by BrianW

Are you using 1/2" or 3/4" birch plywood?

I want to rebuild some (or all) of my cabinets, but am having a hard time finding 1/2" oak plywood locally. 3/4" is readily available, but that's thicker than the OEM cabinets and I want to use them for templates and just basically replicate them, but using nicer stock than the OEM SMB "wood."

That was my idea exactly, replicating the originals with a few improvements, but I'm using 3/4. I used 1/2 on my last cabinet build and will never do it again. It is just too inconsistent and bows easily. I had a hard time getting my cabinets in the blue van to cooperate. Maybe better with Oak ply if you can find it, but keep in mind oak is heavier. Birch is really pretty though, and light too. I have run in to very few problems going from 1/2 to 3/4. You basically just have to replace some hardware here and there where the OEM bolts are a little short. They are easy to find 1/4 regular thread so cheap and simple to replace. I have never seen 1/2 birch ply but it might be out there.

[BrianBlair]

Are you going to replace the stock countertops? If soo.....with what?

That's next on my list......

BB

[86Scotty]

Originally Posted by BrianBlair

Are you going to replace the stock countertops? If soo.....with what?

That's next on my list......

BB

I would love to find some of that modern Corian/plasticy good looking counter top stuff people are using, but I'm probably just going to go with stained wood for now. I won't actually have much counter top in this van anyway, it has a really small galley, and I'm planning on improving that with some fold up extensions in a couple of places, which is really going to be made easier out of wood.

[86Scotty]

Cabinet number 2 is built and in, actually back out now and about half stained. Also got doors built yesterday.





This is what I will be working on for the moment though.