leeinmemphis
New member
Hey everyone,
I am just in the beginning phases of my build but figured that I would try to document some of the progress as it comes along. The main purpose for the van is for me to use as daily transportation and to haul camping/motorcycle gear for me and my boys. The basic history of the van is that it was purchased by my company new in '07. Recently we have decided to close our business and I had an opportunity to buy it for $4300 from the company. The van appears to be in overall decent shape. The odometer read 62k miles when I took possession of it last month. I am in the process of closing my business down and will be out of a job after the first of the year. I imagine that I will likely have lots of time to work on it to finish it up. At this time I am not intending to put any plumbing in the van and am going to try to keep it versatile enough to where I can remove everything fairly easily to put something large in the van if needed.
The van is an '07 high top work van without any windows. To start we removed the adrian steel racking/bulkhead. I really had no idea of just how large the van was once the shelving was removed.
I have spent the last two weekends insulating the walls/ceiling of the van. Unfortunately I didn't take many pics of the insulating but the body is at this point pretty much insulated except for the side door, area over the headliner, and front doors. Most of the insulation is just the spray can foam insulation. I had read some issues with buckling the body panels so I a sprayed each area only a little at a time and then came back with several coats to get the insulation pretty much filled in all the voids. So far I have used 120 cans of the spray foam and it is covered on the outside with a layer of sheet insulation(still have to get a couple pics of that). My main reason for going a little over the top on insulating is because I am planning on carrying my boys to Alaska next summer in an extended camping trip so I want to get it as quiet and insulated as possible.
Just this week I had a double din Pioneer head unit installed with a small amp located near the battery and a couple of JL Audio speakers in the place of the factory speakers. Main reason I purchased it was to get a rear view camera. Unfortunately we are having difficulty making it work correctly. I had to drop it off at the stereo store this afternoon to see if they could figure out what was wrong with it.
I also had the front windows, vent windows, and a privacy strip on the windshield covered with 5% "limo" window tint.
Up this weekend:
Installation of a rear hitch motorcycle carrier(will carry the bike hopefully most of the time on the back of the van opposed to having it tied down inside the van)
I have purchased a set seats out of a sprinter passenger van and am still debating on whether to make these work or to use a universal bench seat.(lots of measuring and thinking to figure out but hopefully I'll have a game plan by the end of the weekend)
Then
installation of the minn kota single bank 12v battery charger
some minor electrical installation/pre wiring for using a honda generator
Installation of a 1000w pure sine wave inverter
After that:
I need to figure out how I plan to mount a bed that is both functional and easily removable(still doing lots of reading on that subject).
I plan to add several tie outs on the outside of the body for attaching tarps and ropes on the exterior of the body
I will try to take more pictures for the upcoming work. I always get in a hurry and don't remember to take pics until I'm done.
I am just in the beginning phases of my build but figured that I would try to document some of the progress as it comes along. The main purpose for the van is for me to use as daily transportation and to haul camping/motorcycle gear for me and my boys. The basic history of the van is that it was purchased by my company new in '07. Recently we have decided to close our business and I had an opportunity to buy it for $4300 from the company. The van appears to be in overall decent shape. The odometer read 62k miles when I took possession of it last month. I am in the process of closing my business down and will be out of a job after the first of the year. I imagine that I will likely have lots of time to work on it to finish it up. At this time I am not intending to put any plumbing in the van and am going to try to keep it versatile enough to where I can remove everything fairly easily to put something large in the van if needed.
The van is an '07 high top work van without any windows. To start we removed the adrian steel racking/bulkhead. I really had no idea of just how large the van was once the shelving was removed.
I have spent the last two weekends insulating the walls/ceiling of the van. Unfortunately I didn't take many pics of the insulating but the body is at this point pretty much insulated except for the side door, area over the headliner, and front doors. Most of the insulation is just the spray can foam insulation. I had read some issues with buckling the body panels so I a sprayed each area only a little at a time and then came back with several coats to get the insulation pretty much filled in all the voids. So far I have used 120 cans of the spray foam and it is covered on the outside with a layer of sheet insulation(still have to get a couple pics of that). My main reason for going a little over the top on insulating is because I am planning on carrying my boys to Alaska next summer in an extended camping trip so I want to get it as quiet and insulated as possible.
Just this week I had a double din Pioneer head unit installed with a small amp located near the battery and a couple of JL Audio speakers in the place of the factory speakers. Main reason I purchased it was to get a rear view camera. Unfortunately we are having difficulty making it work correctly. I had to drop it off at the stereo store this afternoon to see if they could figure out what was wrong with it.
I also had the front windows, vent windows, and a privacy strip on the windshield covered with 5% "limo" window tint.
Up this weekend:
Installation of a rear hitch motorcycle carrier(will carry the bike hopefully most of the time on the back of the van opposed to having it tied down inside the van)
I have purchased a set seats out of a sprinter passenger van and am still debating on whether to make these work or to use a universal bench seat.(lots of measuring and thinking to figure out but hopefully I'll have a game plan by the end of the weekend)
Then
installation of the minn kota single bank 12v battery charger
some minor electrical installation/pre wiring for using a honda generator
Installation of a 1000w pure sine wave inverter
After that:
I need to figure out how I plan to mount a bed that is both functional and easily removable(still doing lots of reading on that subject).
I plan to add several tie outs on the outside of the body for attaching tarps and ropes on the exterior of the body
I will try to take more pictures for the upcoming work. I always get in a hurry and don't remember to take pics until I'm done.