ranchworld
'06 158 2500 Passenger
You would like it!Superb! Your family is gonna love this. An Espar under the passenger seat might just be my next install.
Blooper Buildout
- Thread starter ranchworld
- Start date
Midwestdrifter
Engineer In Residence
Setting the D2 on a timer to wake in a warm cabin is freaking awesome.
ranchworld
'06 158 2500 Passenger
Blooper Buildout Back Up Camera
I used one of these; http://a.co/g4kG8Hu based on a recommendation from SneakyAnarchistVanCamper. There is a factory hole covered by a plug just forward of the third brake light on the roof. I popped the plug, ran the wire into the van, fished it over to the driver side and ran it up to the front. Sealed up the cable hole with a grommet and Sikaflex and put a dab of sika on the camera mount screws. I tapped into the reverse light positive at the passenger side rear lamp and ran that up the right side. Power came from the EK1 terminal strip under the driver seat. I wanted a low profile and inconspicuous mounting so I cut a hole in the headliner and made some 1/16" aluminum stock tabs to fit into the slots on the side edge of the monitor. Hidden when the sunvisor is up, works great and makes me feel much more comfortable backing the big girl up especially at night.
I used one of these; http://a.co/g4kG8Hu based on a recommendation from SneakyAnarchistVanCamper. There is a factory hole covered by a plug just forward of the third brake light on the roof. I popped the plug, ran the wire into the van, fished it over to the driver side and ran it up to the front. Sealed up the cable hole with a grommet and Sikaflex and put a dab of sika on the camera mount screws. I tapped into the reverse light positive at the passenger side rear lamp and ran that up the right side. Power came from the EK1 terminal strip under the driver seat. I wanted a low profile and inconspicuous mounting so I cut a hole in the headliner and made some 1/16" aluminum stock tabs to fit into the slots on the side edge of the monitor. Hidden when the sunvisor is up, works great and makes me feel much more comfortable backing the big girl up especially at night.
ranchworld
'06 158 2500 Passenger
Blooper Buildout Interior Panels
A dark blue Sprinter with black side out thinsulate lining is like a light absorbing sponge. Even with windows all around it's dark as a cave. The windows are "option H21", a super dark tint. Great for privacy but not so good for light cheery interiors.
Since I had set up to cut plywood sheets for my upper cabinets I went ahead and made three interior panels. Most of my walls below the glass will be covered with cabinets but not the rear doors or the slider. I made paper templates of the factory passenger panels when I removed them so a few quick slices with the shooting board to split up the 4x8 panel of 1/4" birch veneer ply.
I traced the paper templates and cut the corners and notches. Two coats of clear satin Aqua Zar (recommended by sprint2freedom) and they were looking good.
I took whistlepig's advice and covered the backside with flooring underlayment. I had some left over from my home kitchen remodel, https://www.homedepot.com/p/FloorMu...ardwood-and-Laminate-Floors-0264049/204077418 , a 2mm thick high density foam sheet. Should add a bit of noise dampening and act as a vapor barrier.
I stuck it to the ply with some old Nitto double sided tape and used a heavy roller to secure it.
Marked out the holes. First I held the panels up and marked no go zones then used a centering rule to lay out a pattern. Ran some blue painters tape first to help reduce veneer damage from drilling.
A dark blue Sprinter with black side out thinsulate lining is like a light absorbing sponge. Even with windows all around it's dark as a cave. The windows are "option H21", a super dark tint. Great for privacy but not so good for light cheery interiors.
Since I had set up to cut plywood sheets for my upper cabinets I went ahead and made three interior panels. Most of my walls below the glass will be covered with cabinets but not the rear doors or the slider. I made paper templates of the factory passenger panels when I removed them so a few quick slices with the shooting board to split up the 4x8 panel of 1/4" birch veneer ply.
I traced the paper templates and cut the corners and notches. Two coats of clear satin Aqua Zar (recommended by sprint2freedom) and they were looking good.
I took whistlepig's advice and covered the backside with flooring underlayment. I had some left over from my home kitchen remodel, https://www.homedepot.com/p/FloorMu...ardwood-and-Laminate-Floors-0264049/204077418 , a 2mm thick high density foam sheet. Should add a bit of noise dampening and act as a vapor barrier.
I stuck it to the ply with some old Nitto double sided tape and used a heavy roller to secure it.
Marked out the holes. First I held the panels up and marked no go zones then used a centering rule to lay out a pattern. Ran some blue painters tape first to help reduce veneer damage from drilling.
ranchworld
'06 158 2500 Passenger
Blooper Buildout Interior Panels
I used modified truss head screws to mount them because that's what I had around. We are going with a very light colored wood interior, a white ceiling and silver trim where we can. Thinking of a bright colored marmoleum floor at the end. This doesn't seem like much but it's nice to see what the final product will look like. Next is some wiring before I install the rear upper cabinet.
I used modified truss head screws to mount them because that's what I had around. We are going with a very light colored wood interior, a white ceiling and silver trim where we can. Thinking of a bright colored marmoleum floor at the end. This doesn't seem like much but it's nice to see what the final product will look like. Next is some wiring before I install the rear upper cabinet.
ranchworld
'06 158 2500 Passenger
Hi MsNomer, I have been following your build blog here; https://msnomersvan.wordpress.com/ and really like it! Thinking of a green kind of like what you used. We put in Marmoleum in our house bathroom remodel.
ranchworld
'06 158 2500 Passenger
Blooper Buildout Upper Rear Cabinet
Time to start the rear upper cabinet. The van had rear AC so I reused the mounts to hold up some white painted 1/4" ply. The AC mounts are 18mm diameter solid metal cylinders with M8 holes tapped into the center. They hang down about 1/2" bellow the plane of the ceiling. I cut some slices of 3/4" ABS pipe and used them as spacers to get the ceiling level.
We are mimicking our old Westfalia with a couch that pulls out into a bed with us sleeping with our heads at the back of the van. When we sit up in bed to read we lean back against the rear doors.That means the upper cabinet at the back needs to be higher up than the side wall cabinets, easiest thing to do is make it the same as the front cabinet and have it sit on the top of the wall just like the front cabinet. Right? But guess what? The van is MORE than 5' wide at the back... Just a little bit.
I am already committed to the 5'x5' Baltic birch so time for some thinking. I put two 1/4-20 rivnuts in each wall between the windows and the ledge at the top of the wall. Measured the angle of the wall and cut two strips of ply that can bolt up and act as ledges for the upper cab to rest on.
Time to start the rear upper cabinet. The van had rear AC so I reused the mounts to hold up some white painted 1/4" ply. The AC mounts are 18mm diameter solid metal cylinders with M8 holes tapped into the center. They hang down about 1/2" bellow the plane of the ceiling. I cut some slices of 3/4" ABS pipe and used them as spacers to get the ceiling level.
We are mimicking our old Westfalia with a couch that pulls out into a bed with us sleeping with our heads at the back of the van. When we sit up in bed to read we lean back against the rear doors.That means the upper cabinet at the back needs to be higher up than the side wall cabinets, easiest thing to do is make it the same as the front cabinet and have it sit on the top of the wall just like the front cabinet. Right? But guess what? The van is MORE than 5' wide at the back... Just a little bit.
I am already committed to the 5'x5' Baltic birch so time for some thinking. I put two 1/4-20 rivnuts in each wall between the windows and the ledge at the top of the wall. Measured the angle of the wall and cut two strips of ply that can bolt up and act as ledges for the upper cab to rest on.ranchworld
'06 158 2500 Passenger
Blooper Buildout Upper Rear Cabinet
Building this cabinet revealed a flaw in our basic plan. Mimicking the Westfalia sounds good but the scale of the Sprinter means that things are bigger than we imagined. This upper cabinet is 5 feet wide and 32 inches long! In order to be able to reach the far insides of the cabinet through the smallish front door we ended up with a back shelf 8" deep! It will all work out and our experience living in vans is there is never too much storage. That open back shelf accessible from the back doors is a great place for fishing poles and rolled up bug nets etc.
Laying out the design and cutting parts;
Then it was time to make sawdust! I used a router to round off all the exposed edges and used a new tool, a biscuit joiner to make grooves that will hold "biscuits" that strengthen the joints. I want as few exposed fasteners as possible.
You can never have too many clamps! I glued and nailed battens at the base of each "wall" to strengthen the joints. Using "Titebond 2" glue.
Anyone who has owned a Westie should recognize this...
Building this cabinet revealed a flaw in our basic plan. Mimicking the Westfalia sounds good but the scale of the Sprinter means that things are bigger than we imagined. This upper cabinet is 5 feet wide and 32 inches long! In order to be able to reach the far insides of the cabinet through the smallish front door we ended up with a back shelf 8" deep! It will all work out and our experience living in vans is there is never too much storage. That open back shelf accessible from the back doors is a great place for fishing poles and rolled up bug nets etc.
Laying out the design and cutting parts;
Then it was time to make sawdust! I used a router to round off all the exposed edges and used a new tool, a biscuit joiner to make grooves that will hold "biscuits" that strengthen the joints. I want as few exposed fasteners as possible.
You can never have too many clamps! I glued and nailed battens at the base of each "wall" to strengthen the joints. Using "Titebond 2" glue.
Anyone who has owned a Westie should recognize this...
ranchworld
'06 158 2500 Passenger
Blooper Buildout Upper Rear Cabinet
I was thinking about what kind of door/hinges to use when I read hein's post about the Southco adjustable prevailing torque hinges in this thread https://sprinter-source.com/forum/showthread.php?t=64569 . Never heard of them before, just another example of how awesome this forum is. Thanks to all the contributors. Anyway I went ahead and ordered a pair off Amazon, http://a.co/52hU5cx , about $12 each hinge. They make two sizes, these are the smaller ones. I also ordered 6 of the Southco latches since I am going to need them and there is a price break for quantity, http://a.co/4261GXc , about $14 each. There are several sizes of these too, both diameter and door thickness. Check southco's web site to be sure you get what you want! I drilled the 2" hole in the door with a sharp Forstner bit and a drill press, http://a.co/1vZupVM . It turned out nicely and the hinges work well. They have a screw to adjust the "drag", you just set how much friction you want on the hinge. Thanks again to everyone on the forum.
I was thinking about what kind of door/hinges to use when I read hein's post about the Southco adjustable prevailing torque hinges in this thread https://sprinter-source.com/forum/showthread.php?t=64569 . Never heard of them before, just another example of how awesome this forum is. Thanks to all the contributors. Anyway I went ahead and ordered a pair off Amazon, http://a.co/52hU5cx , about $12 each hinge. They make two sizes, these are the smaller ones. I also ordered 6 of the Southco latches since I am going to need them and there is a price break for quantity, http://a.co/4261GXc , about $14 each. There are several sizes of these too, both diameter and door thickness. Check southco's web site to be sure you get what you want! I drilled the 2" hole in the door with a sharp Forstner bit and a drill press, http://a.co/1vZupVM . It turned out nicely and the hinges work well. They have a screw to adjust the "drag", you just set how much friction you want on the hinge. Thanks again to everyone on the forum.
ranchworld
'06 158 2500 Passenger
Blooper Buildout Upper Rear Cabinet
Installed the cabinet, there is a long strip of ply held up with rivnuts and bolts and a smaller piece of ply at the back mounted with sheetmetal screws. The small panel is for access to electrical and a smurf tube at the top of the last pillar. Reading lights will be mounted on the small panels.
Next up - the upper side cabinets.
Installed the cabinet, there is a long strip of ply held up with rivnuts and bolts and a smaller piece of ply at the back mounted with sheetmetal screws. The small panel is for access to electrical and a smurf tube at the top of the last pillar. Reading lights will be mounted on the small panels.
Next up - the upper side cabinets.
ranchworld
'06 158 2500 Passenger
Blooper Buildout side overhead cabinets
Working on the upper side cabinets. Measuring for final dimensions. About 14.5" tall and 12" out from the wall at the bottom.
Started cutting, a beautiful spring day in Seattle.
Gang cutting a notch in the "walls" for the front lip. These are the 12 vertical panels at each end of each cabinet section...
Ok, back to making sawdust!
Working on the upper side cabinets. Measuring for final dimensions. About 14.5" tall and 12" out from the wall at the bottom.
Started cutting, a beautiful spring day in Seattle.
Gang cutting a notch in the "walls" for the front lip. These are the 12 vertical panels at each end of each cabinet section...
Ok, back to making sawdust!
ranchworld
'06 158 2500 Passenger
Blooper Buildout side overhead cabinets
Got everything cut out and glued together.
Basic box.
Then I attached the angled rear board.
Waiting for the glue to dry.
I drilled 1/8" holes in the wood where I wanted to mount the cabinets, got my neighbor to help me hold the box up in place and used the predrilled holes as a guide to drill into the van sheet metal. Used sheet metal screws to temporarily mount the boxes, everything fits! Took the boxes out to sand and polyurethane coat them. I will use the 1/8" holes as pilot holes for rivnuts and install the boxes with 1/4-20 bolts. In the last photo you can see that I left the "shelf" part of the box run 6' long at the rear to make small shelves over the bed. I will trim all this out later.
Got everything cut out and glued together.
Basic box.
Then I attached the angled rear board.
Waiting for the glue to dry.
I drilled 1/8" holes in the wood where I wanted to mount the cabinets, got my neighbor to help me hold the box up in place and used the predrilled holes as a guide to drill into the van sheet metal. Used sheet metal screws to temporarily mount the boxes, everything fits! Took the boxes out to sand and polyurethane coat them. I will use the 1/8" holes as pilot holes for rivnuts and install the boxes with 1/4-20 bolts. In the last photo you can see that I left the "shelf" part of the box run 6' long at the rear to make small shelves over the bed. I will trim all this out later.
ranchworld
'06 158 2500 Passenger
Blooper Buildout side overhead cabinets
Here is a good profile of my upper cabinets. Once the ceiling and upper wall is done I will scribe a cover panel. The majority of the strength comes from glue but there are also screws added afterwards as insurance in places where that could help and that won't be visible.
I finally found a use for reflectix in my build! Cheap, sturdy and flexible it makes great liner for the back of the upper cabinets.
All finished with water based polyurethane and mounted with 1/4-20 rivnuts.
Here is a good profile of my upper cabinets. Once the ceiling and upper wall is done I will scribe a cover panel. The majority of the strength comes from glue but there are also screws added afterwards as insurance in places where that could help and that won't be visible.
I finally found a use for reflectix in my build! Cheap, sturdy and flexible it makes great liner for the back of the upper cabinets.
All finished with water based polyurethane and mounted with 1/4-20 rivnuts.
ranchworld
'06 158 2500 Passenger
Blooper Buildout side overhead cabinets
I am using Blum Aventos HK-S hinges on the 4 main upper cabinet doors. The cheapest place I could find was woodworkerexpress.com https://www.woodworkerexpress.com/c...-lift-mechanisms-and-cover-sets-11217595.html I also ordered the parts that attach to the doors and mate with these hinges. https://www.woodworkerexpress.com/b...ing-plate-set-includes-2-mounting-plates.html There are 3 different hinge springs available, Blum calls them "power factor" and has a formula on their website to determine the right size. I bought one set to check it out and mocked up a door and mounted it on a kitchen cabinet. The medium power or "C" model worked just right for a 30x14x1/2" plywood door. The hinges align using two 5mm pins molded in the side of the hinge so I made a jig, drilling 5mm holes in it to use as a guide.
Clamped the jig in place and used a stopper on a 5mm bit to drill shallow pits for the locator pins.
All mounted and ready to go.
I am using Blum Aventos HK-S hinges on the 4 main upper cabinet doors. The cheapest place I could find was woodworkerexpress.com https://www.woodworkerexpress.com/c...-lift-mechanisms-and-cover-sets-11217595.html I also ordered the parts that attach to the doors and mate with these hinges. https://www.woodworkerexpress.com/b...ing-plate-set-includes-2-mounting-plates.html There are 3 different hinge springs available, Blum calls them "power factor" and has a formula on their website to determine the right size. I bought one set to check it out and mocked up a door and mounted it on a kitchen cabinet. The medium power or "C" model worked just right for a 30x14x1/2" plywood door. The hinges align using two 5mm pins molded in the side of the hinge so I made a jig, drilling 5mm holes in it to use as a guide.
Clamped the jig in place and used a stopper on a 5mm bit to drill shallow pits for the locator pins.
All mounted and ready to go.
Hey, it was great meeting you today--thanks for stopping by and saying hi. You'd actually replied to one of my few posts here https://sprinter-source.com/forum/showpost.php?p=639534&postcount=3 and I'd even visited your thread... never realized I'd driven by your van multiple times, hah!
Nice work on the cabinets (hadn't heard of those hinges... they're awesome). Looks like I have some catching up to do! If you ever need another set of hands for something, I'd be more than willing to help, as I'm sure I'd learn a lot.
Nice work on the cabinets (hadn't heard of those hinges... they're awesome). Looks like I have some catching up to do! If you ever need another set of hands for something, I'd be more than willing to help, as I'm sure I'd learn a lot.
ranchworld
'06 158 2500 Passenger
Hey Joek! Nice meeting you yesterday. My daughter goes to school with the kids who live at the place where you were working on the van. Stop by anytime, I would be glad to help you too, small world in some ways.
ranchworld
'06 158 2500 Passenger
Blooper Buildout side overhead cabinets
I swear some days I spend more time spinning in circles than I do moving forward.
OCD kicking in...
But it is better to measure twice and cut once. First two doors up and latches installed.
I swear some days I spend more time spinning in circles than I do moving forward.
OCD kicking in...
But it is better to measure twice and cut once. First two doors up and latches installed.
ranchworld
'06 158 2500 Passenger
Blooper Buildout side overhead cabinets
I made a small electrical cabinet at the rear of the driver side upper cabinets. I put in a sub panel and ran a single 10ga pair up from where the main electrical area will be on the floor behind the driver rear wheel. Not many places to run wires up in a windows all around passenger van... I also ran the data wires for my battery monitor and MPPT controller up the same smurf tube. The two wires for the remote temp sensor and the one wire for the Easystart come up the driver "B" column and back along the top of the wall. Power to the easystart comes from the sub panel.
Cutting holes. Measure many times, cut once...
Populating the panel.
In place!
Powered up. Notice the under cabinet LED lighting and the dimmers in the Penn-Elcom dish... More about that later.
I made a small electrical cabinet at the rear of the driver side upper cabinets. I put in a sub panel and ran a single 10ga pair up from where the main electrical area will be on the floor behind the driver rear wheel. Not many places to run wires up in a windows all around passenger van... I also ran the data wires for my battery monitor and MPPT controller up the same smurf tube. The two wires for the remote temp sensor and the one wire for the Easystart come up the driver "B" column and back along the top of the wall. Power to the easystart comes from the sub panel.
Cutting holes. Measure many times, cut once...
Populating the panel.
In place!
Powered up. Notice the under cabinet LED lighting and the dimmers in the Penn-Elcom dish... More about that later.