Building my Adventure Van (2011 NCV3)

jpowter

New member
What a great thread, read every page like a well-written novel. Do you have completed pictures of the inside and outside of the van in one post?
 

mugget

Member
Love those workshop photos Geek! Always good to see how people organize their workspace, I'm always taking notes and learning!

jpowter - I don't think there have been any "completed" photos, because it's not completed yet... so stay tuned. :smilewink:

And yeah the scenic pictures are nice, but I'd also take a coffee table book with workshop and Sprinter fitout photos. Haha
 

synergy_58

2009 Navion and 2015 Crew
Regarding your shop, whats the size of your garage door? I'm in the process of designing my shop and I'd like to have enough clearance to be able to get my wife's crew inside, as well as most any high top Sprinter. Anything you would have done differently?
 

Rod E

Big Red Hightop
There’s something wonderful to be said about the “less elegant”, magnetic solution; swoop, I’m in and it closes by itself behind me, instantly and unassisted -- swoosh, I’m out and it closes by itself behind me, instantly and unassisted.

:thumbup:
A good source for mosquito screen is: https://www.mosquitocurtains.com/store/

They have mosquito netting in wide widths and have very strong magnets, the magnets are a mined product. They are located in Atlanta Georgia. Their also very prompt with their orders.
I hope this helps,

rod
 

MotoFly

New member
The end of the thread?? Nooooo!!! :thumbdown:

Thanks Geek for sharing such a great build. Fellow member on ADV and followed many of those as well. BTW...it's expensive to follow your threads! $1,600.00 for Safari tanks...NOW I gotta find a 4x4 Sprinter too?! :bash:

Props for taking a massive amount of time to share! :cheers:

Peace.

Tory
 

aram marks

New member
Dave,
Can I ask how your 1515 rails are attached to the walls of the pickup?
Are you able to access the cavity behind the sheet metal to tighten the nut of a carriage bolt? Or is there some way to do a blind connection?

I'm thinking of using some 80/20 rails in the conversion i'm planning for a Ford E-series van. I can't access the inside of van ribs to simply fasten the 80/20 with carriage bolts. the solution I see is to put Rivnuts in the van wall, screw aluminum angle to the rivnut, and then attach the 80/20 rail to the angle using the standard carriage bolts.

Am I missing a way to do this more cleanly? Thanks in advance for any tips! I'm just learning about 80/20 and have a ways to go....



How about no threads exposed? Use female eyebolts.

If you have access to end of extrusion use 1" 5/16-18NC carriage bolt. No access then use 80/20 1" T-slot stud part # 3295. Galvanized 5/16-18NC eyebolt is part # 3019T15 from McMaster-Carr. 5/16" thick x 1" OD nylon spacer is part # C38520 from Product Components Corp in Martinez Ca. 1-800-336-0406. Use a 5/16" flat washer between the eyebolt and nylon spacer. The pictures show 80/20 installed on a 03 Dakota. Been there outside everyday for 9 years. Did notice I need to replace the nylon spacers. A couple are starting to crack. I have used the rails and eyebolts to tie down conveyors for delivery. Work great since you can move them anywhere on the length of 80/20. Use screwdriver in loop to loosen and tighten eyebolt. They have even been used to tie down a motorcycle. The nylon spacers can also be cut from Nylon 6/6 from McMaster-Carr. Part # 8628K49 for 7/8 OD x 3/8 ID x 5'.
 

Graphite Dave

Dave Orton
Dave,
Can I ask how your 1515 rails are attached to the walls of the pickup?
Are you able to access the cavity behind the sheet metal to tighten the nut of a carriage bolt? Or is there some way to do a blind connection?

I'm thinking of using some 80/20 rails in the conversion i'm planning for a Ford E-series van. I can't access the inside of van ribs to simply fasten the 80/20 with carriage bolts. the solution I see is to put Rivnuts in the van wall, screw aluminum angle to the rivnut, and then attach the 80/20 rail to the angle using the standard carriage bolts.

Am I missing a way to do this more cleanly? Thanks in advance for any tips! I'm just learning about 80/20 and have a ways to go....
On the NCV3 Sprinter you can reach into the cavities to put the nut on the carriage bolt. I recall the bolt closest to the rear doors was a bit difficult.

On the pickup I put the extrusions on the flange along the sides. Drilled holes in the flange for the bolts.

The angle solution will work. You should include a thermal barrier or the aluminum will be close to the temperature of the van steel. Piece of plywood between angle and extrusion. Also an insulator between the bolt and the nut on the angle. I used small nylon washers.

Also suggest using elastic stop nuts. Some connections came loose on the Sprinter build so changed to ESN's on the Transit build.
 

casmith32

Member
How'd you end up dealing with the slight curve of the roof in the position where you mounted the
corner attachements. Seems like you'd have to bend them in slightly ( < 90degrees) to get 90 degrees for the upper cabinets ? I'm considering custom making my attachments to deal with this; I'm mounting in the same location as you...

thanks!

Mocking up some wood to check sizing of the upper cabinet....


How did I choose the size?




naturally :D

so there's the top rail... the ceiling will insert into the gap above the curved rail:


and hopefully the combination of a fastener on each strut.. combined with a rail on the wall below coming out will be strong enough
 

Graphite Dave

Dave Orton
The Sprinter upper cabinet build:

https://sprinter-source.com/forum/showthread.php?t=17527&highlight=orton+upper+cabinets

The Transit upper cabinets were improved in several ways.

https://sprinter-source.com/forum/showpost.php?p=388019&postcount=9

1. Just made a front face out of 80/20 but did not use 80/20 from bottom extrusion back to the van wall. Used a piece of 15/32" plywood as the cabinet bottom. It was bolted to the bottom horizontal extrusion and to the van wall. Both the cabinet bottom and the thermal isolation.

2. The connection to the van roof was changed to provide a thermal barrier. Aluminum angle bolted to the side of each roof rib and then a short piece of 15/32" plywood at each angle down to the upper horizontal extrusion. Plywood hanger provided the thermal barrier. If you bolt the aluminum directly to the van body, I found the aluminum would get close to the van body steel temperature. Seems aluminum is a good conductor.

3. With the slightly lower upper extrusion location I could make the center section of the ceiling flat and not follow the curvature of the roof. The ceiling edges are supported by sitting on top of the extrusion. Only had one bolt at each rib down centerline of van to hold the ceiling material (8mm Macrolux) in place. Ceiling is also removable.

4. Because the plywood cabinet bottom bolted flush to the bottom edge of the bottom horizontal 80/20, the 80/20 acts as a basket retainer. The top edge of the lower 80/20 extrusion is 1 1/2" - 15/32" higher than the top of the plywood cabinet bottom. That is a high enough that the baskets do not fall out. Eliminated the extra wood rail I had on the Sprinter build.

I will post a PDF drawing of the Transit upper cabinets when get to my office this morning. It will be posted at the "orton transit DIY" post on this site.

Suggest we use my Transit build post for further discussion instead of Geek's post.
https://sprinter-source.com/forum/showthread.php?t=37618&highlight=orton+transit
 
Last edited:

smurph

Member
Putting the interior back in the van this morning for some upcoming vacation :smilewink:

Just showed my wife this picture. She laughed when I told her this is what our next house/garage will look like. She asks 'well where does my car get to live?' 'Well in the other garage attached to the house, of course. I live here... with my sprinter, Trek Fuel EX8 and WR250R.'

Great work, Geek. Great work.


Smurph
 

boyscout

New member
I miss GEEK!!!
BTW i also have a KTM 950. and a Husky 300, and a ktm 250xc, and a KTM 200xc, and a 280 gas gas trials bike, and a very understanding wife.
 

Top Bottom