Layout plan.

[pfflyer]

Any more dimensions on the 8 deg shim for upper cabinets? Looks like the shim will be placed in a cut out in the headliner? Please post any tips on locating mounts in headliner when you get to that point.

 

[ccutshaw]

More pictures....

George.

Nice job, One question / comment don’t you think it’s going to be a little hard to line up the t-nuts or drop in nuts behind the headliner when attaching the fiberglass angle? I think that 8 degree shim, and misalignment of the angle is going to be hard to assemble. One trick I can up with was to make alignment pin out of some 2” long ¼ x 20 bolts with the heads cut off. Use the ones that are not threaded all the way, made a big difference when installing panels. The pins hold the nuts in place on vertical 80/20 runs. Calvin

 

[GeorgeRa]

Thank you for comments.

Upper mounts:

Transposing threaded insert location to the headliner is reasonably easy; all headliner sections are snapped to the ribs. The outer snap fastener’s hole is 2 5/8” away from the threaded insert. To mount the threaded inserts I enlarged existing holes. My plan is to drill 1/8” hole in the headliner in this location before remounting them. Drilling through headliner fabric without pulling threads could be difficult so for the final hole I will cut a circle with razor blade then drill.

Lower mounts:
See the picture.

The final design of the lower mount will happen after headliner installation and drilling 1”-1.5” holes for 8 degree shims; at that point I will know the required thickness. The drop-in T-nuts are going to be inserted, locked in place with 5/16”-18 ½” long set screws, and marked before remounting the headliner. To prevent shims rotation they will have either ridge like some 80/20 gadgets have (a lot of machining) or 2 pins/set screws.

George.

 

[pfflyer]

Thanks. Don't know why I didn't notice 1.5 "dia" in the drawing for the insert. Cant wait to see your progress.

 

[GeorgeRa]

The headliner panels are installed. To improve mounting accuracy for the overhead cabinets’ lower mounts to t-nuts I used a laser aligner for both horizontal and vertical holes alignment, worked great.
For the lower mounts I will machine shims from a 1” dia. PVC rod with off-center 3/8” dia. holes to accommodate 5/16”-18 bolt at 8 degree angle. I can glue PVC to fiberglass angle to facilitate easy assembly. See the updated drawing sketch.
Locations for the upper and lower mounts are all marked by predrilled 1/8” dia. holes.

Using insulation hangers with adhesive pads was problematic until I clean the spot with a solvent before attaching a hanger.

I just drove with almost completed Thinsulate / MB Trim, some lower panels are not finished, and improvement in sound level was dramatic. I am very glad selecting this 3M product, heat and sound insulation at low weight in one shot.

George.

 

[GeorgeRa]

More pictures....

 

[GeorgeRa]

The “Infrastructure” phase of the project is almost done. There are 29 cables home run to the rear left corner. All cables and hoses or anchored in designated holes. After some trim work on the left MB wall trim panels the infrastructure job will be completed; which is: all wiring, plumbing, roof solar panels, fan, fresh, grey, and hot water tanks, and water pump.

George.

 

[socal John]

Looks very organized, what is the cable panel material?

 

[GeorgeRa]

The material is 1/2" HDPE (High Density PolyEthylene), very easy to cut with wood tools except hole saws. For large holes I use Forstner drill bits on drill press. I will be using the same material for the 80/20 sofa bed doors, galley, and all other cabinets walls, doors and drawers.

George.

 

[socal John]

It also looks like you used a router on the larger holes to radius the edges .... nice touch!

 

[GeorgeRa]

Some progress. All factory trim is re-installed. Overhead MB lamps are installed with canbus LEDs and additional not canbus LEDs are mounted in all four lamps for camping.

George.

 

[GeorgeRa]

More pictures..

 

[hein]

Great progress and very cool dual light mod. -great idea.
Thank you again for hooking me up with the Thinsulate. It's working out great.

 

[230321a]

It is Pebble Grey, the same price as white.

George.

Very nice color. Thanks.

 

[GeorgeRa]

The project is beginning to take a shape of a camper. I bolted down the sofa bed with 4 bolts but still need to work on one corner bolt. What is left are 2 front and 2 rear doors and safety belts. The sofa/bed weighs 233 lbs. and it is 54” x 75.5”. On the left side I have about 14” of space for cabinets depth. There is a lot of storage underneath but seat height is good for me not so for my wife, this was a mutually agreed tradeoff.

George.

 

[GeorgeRa]

This bed was designed and built based on information available in this forum before I put my hands on the actual van. More pictures..

George.

 

[GeorgeRa]

Sofa bed did well in our test drive yesterday. Switching from the bed to seat and back is very easy. 120 lbs. air spring is just enough to lift the rear and mid panel a couple of inches up after releasing the bed position latch. 140 lbs. would be better but McMaster's maximum is 120 lbs. for this spring.

Unfortunately I discovered some rattles during the vehicle motion:

1. The front seat panel slight fore and aft motion rattles the seat position latching device. I need to figure out how to prevent this slight motion, fortunately there are likely many ways to do it but which one is best is the question.

2. ¼” plywood side panels lost most of little plastic wedges so I need to follow Dave’s example and put a bead of silicone sealant between aluminum extrusion and plywood.

George.

 

[GeorgeRa]

The galley’s frame is almost finished, it weighs 44.85 lbs. The drawers will be mounted on full extension sliders mounted to the 80/20 frame. The sink and alcohol/electric stove will be attached to ½” HDPE countertop bolted down with screws in four corners. With sofa/bed in the seat position there is a lot of space and even with the cassette toilet behind the passenger seat there is plenty of room for a large table.

George.

 

[GeorgeRa]

I mounted the driver seat swivel adaptor to make sure it will work well with the galley; it seems I have located the galley in the optimum location.
Regarding the custom swivel adapter for the Sprinter from the Sportstercraft the installation could have been much easier but:
1. The factory 10mm seat bolts are 0.2” too long. They need to be cut down by 0.2” for the seat to work.
2. The handbrake relocation bracket is not design for MB hole spacing. I needed to drill the tapered holes with 7/16” bit to be able to mount the bracket.
3. The factory 10mm bolts for attaching the handbrake assembly are 0.25” too long. I used various washers to accommodate shallow space available.
For the price, Sportscraft/Eurocampers should:
1. Redesign the handbrake bracket for the correct holes space
2. Provide correct mounting bolts;
a. 2 bolts to remount the handbrake assembly
b. 4 bolts to remount the seat to the adapter.

George.

 

[GeorgeRa]

More pictures...........