189 Holes and Counting - My 2017 170 2x4 Conversion Story

hmbltn said:

Decided to tackle a few low-hanging-fruit tasks to feel like I'm actually making some progress. Plumbed the air compressor lines: one quick disconnect by the slider and one at the rear. It gives me hope that one day I may actually be able to use these to fill up my dirt bike or mountain bike tires. One task closer to that day...


In all sincerity, my favorite part of the van right now is the under-side. Everything is nice and straight, with easily routable passages, and it gives me no grief.

Ran out of the plastic conduit but, frankly, it's unnecessary. I did use a short section of high-temp sleeve where the line passes over the exhaust.



(I have the washer on the wrong side on this one)

Admittedly, I struggled with how to terminate my air lines and which of the gazillion air line related accessories were necessary to complete the system. I ultimately stumbled upon some great air coupler brackets from Wits End parts, a dude that makes parts for Land Rovers. They're perfect: http://absolute-wits-end.com/air-coupler-bracket-angled/

Also, McMaster Carr provided the ever-important through-wall adapter along with the push-button sockets:
https://www.mcmaster.com/#catalog/124/351/=1csrvp9

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How well do those push to connect adaptors work? I have some from amazon that are similar but when the system is pressurized I have to push pretty dang hard.

Thanks!


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Midwestdrifter said:

That down loop on the vent may cause trouble, as it will hold water and impede air. It will also put pressure on fill, and vacuum on empty. Only about 8" of water head pressure, so not a huge amount.

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Thank you for pointing that out and for the advice. You probably saved me a lot of grief. I chopped it and left it dangling. I'm wondering if a check-valve would be a good idea or just leave it as-is.

sprinterPaul said:

How well do those push to connect adaptors work? I have some from amazon that are similar but when the system is pressurized I have to push pretty dang hard.

Thanks!

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Not sure yet how they work. Hopefully no problems!

I would not put a check valve on the vent. It needs to flow both directions. I would suggest a filter, screen, mesh etc to cap it though. As insects or debris can get in. Personally I would run the vent as high as reasonable. That way you don't get crap splashed in, or dust pulled in. Small low areas (less than 3x the tubing diameter are generally not a problem.

Makes sense. Appreciate the advice!

sprinterPaul said:

How well do those push to connect adaptors work? I have some from amazon that are similar but when the system is pressurized I have to push pretty dang hard.

Thanks!


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I have them on a lot of pneumatic fittings on some pretty big machinery at my shop. They work fine. But just like anything, they could wear out and need to be replaced at some point. I'll be curious to see how they hold up underneath the van, and with dirt and water getting to them constantly.

The light at the end of the tunnel is getting brighter. Only three major tasks remain: finish wiring lights, fans, outlets, wall/ceiling paneling and wheel well and amp covers. I hope to finish the first two within the next week. I temporarily put up the lower oem wall panels and am taking a quick break to finally enjoy the van. It definitely helps to renew my enthusiasm. I'm glad I didn't drive the van off a cliff after all.



This will be covered in a shallow box.

Brap

Just posting a follow-up to this thread... After taking a brief hiatus from providing updates here and working on my van, I have finally 'finished' this van upfit. All told, this took around 9 months from start to finish (not contiguous work). It would almost be worth creating a new build thread to take a retrospective look at the process, the frustrations and all the learnings I made along the way. I made a ton of mistakes, spent way more money than I should have and nearly drove my van off a proverbial cliff throughout the conversion process.

One thing is for certain - if I were to endeavor this build again, I would most certainly start with Adventure Wagon's complete conversion kit. I wasted so much time and money trying to do all of this work myself, that it makes their base conversion kit seem like a no-brainer. However, what's done is done and I'm happy to say my van is in fact "done" for now. I still need to fab some wheel well box covers to conceal the rear-mounted Espar heater, but the bulk of the tedious work is behind me.







Something else I need to finish... a cover for the amps:

Stellar work! I really like the clean aesthetic and automotive look.

I'm curious about the crew van's seating capacity. The Mercedes site says the capacity is up to 5, but your van has two sets of seat mounting grooves. I'm sure you didn't install the second set of mounting grooves, did you?

The reason I ask is I have a cargo van and would like to install additional seating & and wondering about how to do it.

Also, I checked out the Adventure Wagon site since you mentioned them. They show the interior "kit" starting at $10,000 but they don't seem to list or show what the kit includes. I just see their bed, tracks, insulation supplies, and the fabric wall lockers. There must be more than that included in the kit?

Your build looks great. Looks like you're ready for an adventure. (Thumbs Up)

The fabric wrapping on the B pillar is excellent. Nice work.




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Very nice!

sprinterPaul said:

The fabric wrapping on the B pillar is excellent. Nice work.

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Agreed! And I'm jealous of the upholstery work on the front headliner!

GlennR said:

I'm curious about the crew van's seating capacity. The Mercedes site says the capacity is up to 5, but your van has two sets of seat mounting grooves. I'm sure you didn't install the second set of mounting grooves, did you?

The reason I ask is I have a cargo van and would like to install additional seating & and wondering about how to do it.

Also, I checked out the Adventure Wagon site since you mentioned them. They show the interior "kit" starting at $10,000 but they don't seem to list or show what the kit includes. I just see their bed, tracks, insulation supplies, and the fabric wall lockers. There must be more than that included in the kit?

Your build looks great. Looks like you're ready for an adventure. (Thumbs Up)

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The Crew configuration comes with the rear passenger seat in one mounting location (which in my picture is the forward most mounts), however the holes for the additional seat row are already there, you just need to buy additional seat mounts, which is what I did. I wanted the option to move the seat back for additional space. The additional seat mounts are about $80/piece and it's a relatively easy job to add them to a Crew van. The hard part is figuring out where the existing nuts are located to drill the holes through the sheetmetal floor. There is a thread on here with the exact measurements needed to find the existing nuts below the sheetmetal floor. Then all that's needed is to cut the rectangular holes in the floor substrate to accommodate the seat mounts.

CORRECTION: I do not believe the Cargo van comes with the pre-welded nuts for the additional row of seats. I believe those are something you would need to add. The reason being is the Cargo van is not classified as a passenger van, where-as the Crew and Passenger configurations are.

The Adventure Wagon base conversion kit includes all of the pre-cut insulation, pre-cut and upholstered wall and ceiling panels, L track for walls and ceiling, the special AdWag wall and ceiling bracers, MaxxAir fans, wiring harness, and LED lights. The kit does not include the MOAB bed or storage bags.

In my opinion, there is considerable value in having all of the insulation, wall/ceiling panels, bracers and wire harness and lights ready for quick installation. What took me 9 months can be done in 4 days with the AdWag kit. It is by no means for everyone but if you're looking to save yourself a ton of time and grief, it's well worth the investment. I very much like the modularity of the AdWag configuration, which is why I modeled my upfit after theirs. Hubris led me to believe I could do the same work myself, but I doubt I saved much money going that route. The upholstery and adhesive spray alone was way more expensive than I anticipated.

I visited a local upfitter today, Kodiak Upfitters in Charlotte, NC, to see if they carried products for RV use. They seemed to offer everything I could think about asking about, except solar kits. I mainly wanted to see if they offered the AMA Slider windows. I asked about adding a bench seat & installing the floor tracks for it. He said it wasn't a big deal to add the tracks. I assumed the mounting grooves were made into the floor, but it sounds like they are just bolted to the floor.

I had crawled under the van earlier to see if I could tell if there were seat mounting tracks made into the floor. Of course, there weren't but I think there may have been mounting nuts. I'll have to take another look.

I also discovered a little heater on the driver's side under the floor. I'm not sure what it's for, I guess for quicker preheating in cold climates?

Kodiak said they'd email me later with prices. The AMA windows are made in Virginia, so there should be quite a bit of savings from the reduced shipping. I don't know how much they'll pass along to me, but I like to buy local when I can.

I asked about the aluminum track you used and he had a sample of it sitting on his desk. I think he called it "S" track. It looks pretty handy. I need to pay attention to the builds around here and see what all it's used for.

It's great that all of you guys have taken the time to document and describe your builds for everyone to learn from.

Thanks,

Fabbed one of the wheel well covers today. The upper 6" will be storage for air & water hoses, tools and other miscellany. 1/4" plywood sides covered in coinmat and thinking of using some left-over 1/2" bamboo plywood for the lids.

The aluminum looks great. I'd like to learn to weld aluminum sometime.

Put the finishing touches on the wheel well cover... I made a mistake (among many) with the length of the gas springs, but otherwise all the hardware and lids are mounted. The open end will be closed up as soon as it stops raining.





The driver's side box should go much quicker now...

Finished.