Damn the Van build up

[rumbay01]

Decided it's time to post my build. The wife named it..... First up, the plans. The van is a 2001 E350 EB, 5.4 and 83k on the od.
1. Strip it down to the bare bones, repaint and seal the interior.
2. There are some rough spots on the exterior. Repaint to get rid of the white "stalker" look.
3. Build out the interior with sleeping for 2 adults and 2 children ages 9 & 12. No plans for a penthouse top.
4. Water tanks and a built in cooler.
5. Solar panels and AGM batteries.
And the usual "as we go along add ons"....


I have a lot of work completed so I will get to work on posting what I have completed up to now.

 

[rumbay01]

The history of the van, I bought it from a young guy who was using it for his pool business, he got it from his dad who ones a roofing company in West Palm Beach. The van interior was covered in tar and smelled terrible. There was some body damage, nothing serious. Most of all, mechanically the van is solid and rides very comfortable. The ride home was about 100 miles and every thing was perfect. First order of business, strip it down and clean it.

 

[rumbay01]

The rust was a concern to me but it turned out to be surface rust.

so after running the wire wheel brush, seal it and paint it.

Now for some roll on bed liner

After that was completed I did a COMPLETE tune up and inspected every component.

 

[rumbay01]

Reflectix from top to bottom, side to side and front to rear.

Lay down the flooring

 

[rumbay01]

Dog house was in bad condition,

found a new box, cleaned up dog house, painted and attached new box to dog house.

Picked up new seats

 

[rumbay01]

On to the exterior...
The previous owner had backed down the side of bricked mail box, from the middle of the front passenger door to the rear taillight. Replaced the barn doors and done some metal and bondo magic.



Also replaced the windows with pop out windows.
All windows have been removed, cleaned and resealed with new black gasket.
Still need to replace passenger side door.

 

[Gnarvan]

Looks like you've been busy. Keep the pictures coming. I enjoy watching the clean slate type builds happen.

 

[bodhi1960]

Love the name. My wife would have chosen the same for ours. Blank canvas builds are great. Mine is a 2008 Ford EB. No windows in it except the front. When I first got it I got the "Silence of the lambs" jokes everywhere. When I pulled up my floor mat I actually thought of getting out the Luminol...
Keep the pics coming and good luck..
Paul

 

[rumbay01]

Gnarvan, yes I have been busy buts it's fun!

Bodhi1960, every time I would mention going out to work on the van, she would comment "Damn the van" so it stuck. Our daughters that it's name was Dan the van until last night when the oldest one was watching me post this thread and informed me that I spelled it wrong. The wife is very helpful and supportive. I know whe is ready to go camping in it.

Now for walls... The walls are made up of a layer of Reflectix, fiberglass insulation, luan plywood and covered in indoor/outdoor mold/mildew resistant carpet. I attached wood battens using liquid nail and metal screws.





The only windows that are going to be used are the ones on the barn doors and the one directly behind the drivers seat. The windows will only increase the temperature. With only reflectix over the windows, the temp was about 5 degrees cooler, with all insulation in and curtains pulled over remaining windows the temp is about 15 degrees cooler. I will be adding 2 fantastic fans to help with cooling the van.

 

[WVvan-SMB]

Good work! Mind if I ask what you used to paint the doghouse?

 

[rumbay01]

Good work! Mind if I ask what you used to paint the doghouse?

Thank you and let me say that you have been a huge inspiration in my van build! Ask all the questions you want. I used a plastic based paint for boats. I bought it from West Marine. Its a paint/gel coat mixture, so it provides a more scratch resistant coating. Coming from a boating background I will be using a lot of marine products in my build. We had a 39' Bayliner and a lot of the build design will come from that and a previous camper that we had. One major thing will be the kids sleeper berths......

 

[WVvan-SMB]

Thanks Rumbay01. Could you give me some more info on the West Marine paint/gel coat mixture (part #, color, how it's applied)?