Building an Adventure Van

[kamanya]

The world needs more people like you.

Gets the rest of us to dream and scheme along too!

[DireWolf]

Originally Posted by Geek

ROOOOOOOXXXXXXXXXXAAAAAAAAAAAAANEEEEE!

[pfb]

I wanna see some 80/20!

[morini-ford]

I like the thread, so far quit similar the things i did to my van, even used the same swivels. I insulated and isolated minimum 2 inches ( floor, walls, roof, ..)
Did you had to adjust (lower) the handbrake ?

[Geek]

The instructions said I was going to have to lower the hand brake... I took it off, looked at the bracket (which wasn't going to fit in any way/form/shape) and realized I didn't have to lower it at all.. seat swivels over the park brake in its stock position

[RumRunner]

When are you going to paint it black?

DW

[Hayduke]

Originally Posted by RumRunner

When are you going to paint it black?

DW

Geek will probably replace all the body panels with carbon fiber.

[tweetie]

Originally Posted by Hayduke

Geek will probably replace all the body panels with carbon fiber.

[Geek]

I got white because in theory it'll be better for wrapping it with my company's logo/graphics.

That said.. I don't want to wrap the van at this time because I can't handle my current work load so I really don't want to make my phone ring more.

...so painting it black isn't out of the question

I'm already planning on some carbon accents in the cockpit

[ganshert]

Originally Posted by Geek

I'm already planning on some carbon accents in the cockpit

I'm busy through 2015

[Nailhead]

Originally Posted by Geek

...so painting it black isn't out of the question

Better plan on an auxiliary A/C.

[Otis the Sasquatch]

Originally Posted by Geek

....(it doesn't take many cuts to dull the box knife).....
I've basically worn the wooden roller out already..

I used to lay rubber, vinyl, and linoleum flooring.
For a knife, try this...



with blades shaped like a 1/2 scale utility blade, but thicker, and the blades last MUCH longer. Also, better control over your cuts. You'll LOVE it.

Gundlach No. 6 Airway Knife
http://www.tools4flooring.com/gundla...fe-p-1088.html
I don't do flooring for a living anymore, but I still use my Airway on projects around the house quite often.

Get some straight AND hooked blades.
Start with two tubes of Straight, and a tube of hooked. The stuff might not be "stiff" enough to use the hooked, but give it a try.

You can find better rollers there also.


http://www.tools4flooring.com/crain-...ler-p-774.html


http://www.tools4flooring.com/gundla...ler-p-776.html

Tools 4 Flooring is a Good Outfit! I used to buy from the same people locally before they started their internet sales division.

Have Fun! I used to get a lot of people asking me to do their vans. Until they got the price.

Sorry I didn't get here earlier!




Otis

[Lomax]

Cool Build Geek. Subscribed to see more Red wire.

Marc

[Geek]

Originally Posted by wagonpilot

Six lengths of 2x10 cut to length to run between the lower sills where your windows would be (i have windows) is what I did. You lay a queen size mattress on that and have all the space of the floor unfettered for storage of all your stuff. The metal window sills are perfectly strong enough. It just bisects the space top to bottom... perfect.
Home depot will cut to length for you and you don't have to do anything.Plus, when you are done with it, it comes out in two minutes.

20 bux

The Test Bed.

Since we are planning on camping 3 days this weekend, I wanted to throw the stock floor back in the back half of the van that isn't sound dampened yet. I laid down some LLP (just loose) and threw the stock floor over it for now.




The plan from the beginning was to build a wooden bed frame and spend some weekends camping at different heights to determine exactly where we want the bed before I go forward purchasing 80/20 to build the final structure (drilling holes in the van, mounting rivnuts, etc).

My gut was that we wanted to be as close to the ceiling as possible while still having the ability to sit up straight in bed. Trying to maximize storage space under the bed while minimizing the number of times I bonk my noggin.

I was going to build an adjustable box frame.. but wagonpilot's post above (suggesting using cross rails on the existing windows sill) was a bit of a light bulb that this would be a quick & easy way to get a bed up as quick as possible for this coming weekend.. and a height to start with.

I got lucky this afternoon (?) and my afternoon client cancelled so on the way home from my morning client I stopped by Home Depot & got a bunch of wood...

I started with a foundation of 2x12s & 2x10s cut to length. The van actually tapers so where the window sill was 72 inches wide at the back it was over 73 inches wide at the front.. necessitating cutting each board individually.



If you look close you can see I have the end of each board sitting on a piece of LLP.. just adds a bit of cushion



After the cross beams were done I made a platform


...and mounted it down with some easy to remove woods screws.


I then laid some LLP over that (just loose.. the goal is for the entire structure to be easily removable)


..and then test fit our queen size self-inflating air mattress


As you can see the 6 foot mattress comes toward the front about a foot further than the window sill.. so the leading edge is unsupported. I addressed this with a couple of nice pieces of 4x4 redwood (love the smell) for strength..



and then I sanded a nice piece of 4" oak smooth for a foot/end cap to the bed (you can see it poking out under the blanket in the middle of the photo below) so that climbing in and out of the bed in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom won't result in splinters or pinched skin.



It came out pretty good!

It turns out the height is probably pretty close to where I'm going to want it in the long term. Sitting up on the mattress my head has about 2 inches of clearance and I can easily fit a mountain bike under the bed. I definitely "over built" it. I didn't want anything rickety that we had to worry about and it feels incredibly solid when you climb in and out. The van moves before the bed flexes.

The final 80/20 frame'd bed is going to be a modular design that the back flips up and the front drops down and it makes a bench seat with storage behind (taking advantage of 80/20's pivot & track setup hopefully)... making the space much more flexible (as well as letting the bed pop out completely if I want to put a motorcycle inside). It'll come after the lower and upper cabinets are completed.. something I've also got to consider with the current height.. the sides of the bed will have overhanging cabinets.. I need to mock up something and see if it is too cramped or not...

I know it seams kind of silly to put some time and money into building this knowing I'm going to be pulling it all out and throwing it away.. but summer is fading fast. Cheryl & I have not gotten to get out enough this summer so I think we'll take advantage of this comfortable setup and head out and just enjoy it for the next several weekends and get our money's worth out of this setup.. ripping it out and upgrading it after the camping season is over

[Geek]

Originally Posted by Nailhead

Better plan on an auxiliary A/C.

Yeah.. that was another reason we went white.