Monafly build

Monafly

2015 2500 short tall 6cyl
Back to the build story.

Here's what I did for the rear interior walls and ceiling.
Base wall structure is Coroplast. It's basically corrugated plastic. I liked using it as it's somewhat flexible, yet resilient. Rot resistant and provides a small extra layer of insulation (dead air space). It also comes in large sizes (4x10, 5x8, 5x10) and various thicknesses. I used 4mm for the walls and 10mm for the ceiling. After fitting the sheets for the window cutouts and other 'features' the sheets were covered with fabric. I found a local cheap source of upholstery fabric for the walls and used JoAnne's foam backed automotive headliner for the ceiling. Fabric was attached with 3M 90 spray adhesive.
wall pass rear upper corex.jpgwall pass finished 2.jpg
The lower rear wall sections actually used the slightly modified original panels (mine started out as a cargo van), as they are similar material to the Coroplast.
wall lower rear inside w:fabric .jpg
This is the backside with fabric wrapped around. Here's the finished front side.
wall lower rear inside.jpg
Attachment was by capture behind the L-track that runs horizontally along my walls vertically at the front and back, and various Rivnuts with finishing washers in the middle. Also the rear window trim ring holds it. I think it all came together quite nicely.
 

Monafly

2015 2500 short tall 6cyl
Here's a shot of one of the ceiling panels. I will have to go take some more detailed shots to show installation, lighting etc. since I apperantly haven't taken any of that part of the build. The large hole is for the Max Air fan and all the stuff on the right side is to clear the courtesy light by the slider, which remains functional, and fit against the wall. Ceiling panels are held in place by L-track running along every other ceiling rib, with the same finish washers along the other ceiling rib. Lights were also installed in the ceiling.
ceilng front panel w:fan cutout.jpg
 

Monafly

2015 2500 short tall 6cyl
Since I don't have pictures of the ceiling, here's what I did with the cab area. After pulling the headliner out, I installed sound dampening and insulation throughout. I attached some netting for holding small items (gloves, hats, etc.) and also all of the window shades.
headliner shade storage.jpg
headliner storage detail.jpg
We find them quite handy for light items.
 

Monafly

2015 2500 short tall 6cyl
Here's some detail of the upper cabinet that's been installed.
I fabricated it out of 3/4" square light weight Al tubing. with 1/2" birch plywood bottom and dividers. The back is formed from 4mm Coroplast that is just attached with 3M UHB tape. With such short spans, it worked great.
cabinet upper frame.jpgcabinet upper test fit 2.jpg
The frame is bolted to the wall along the bottom, at the top back to the wall and at the front to the ceiling ribs.
cabinet upper w:dividers.jpg
The open shelf shown on the right above, is actually on the left when installed and ultimately was rounded on the front and had a lip put on it so that small items, glasses, water, flashlight etc. would be in easy reach from the bed. Again-I'll take and post better pictures at some point.
Here's the finished install. With the door safety latches.
Upper cabinet latch open.jpgUpper cabinet latch closed.jpg
 

Monafly

2015 2500 short tall 6cyl
Here's some additional shots of the ceiling and the upper cabinet shown above.
upper cabinet shelf.jpg
And here's a couple of shots of the ceiling and lighting. All the small puck lights are on dimmers.
lights:ceiling.jpg
You can also see how the ceiling panels all fit. They are held in place with under the L-track and with additional bolts/finish washers into the intermediate ribs.
One thing that I would do differently if done again, I would NOT leave factory the wiring covers in place. I'd remove them, maybe not the ones on the rear pillar, but certainly along the side. I'd zip tie or do something to secure all those wires and then do a small piece of ceiling or wall covering to cover that area. I thought it would be easy to take the factory covers off and get to the wiring, but it's not easy to get those covers back into place.
lights, front, ceiling fan.jpg
Eventually I'll do something to finish off the corner of the passenger B pillar.
Under the upper cabinet, is where the ceiling dimmers are located along with another LED light for the stove and work area.
lights under cabinet.jpg
Provides plenty of light.
 

Monafly

2015 2500 short tall 6cyl
Here's one of the other unique installations that I've done. I haven't seen anyone else do a table like this, but for the two of us that are typically in the van it's been super convenient. As anyone with a 144 knows, space is at a premium and we figured out that putting the table here checked all the boxes. It's very easy to put up and take down. It's very functional for eating, playing cards, reading etc. Why have the swivel seats if they can't be fully used.
table.jpg
Table is mounted in three places. Two dash mounts and then the leg that is secured into the L-track in the floor.
Table full.jpg
Here are the dash mounts.
table mount.jpg
The two brass studs are mounted into an Al block that I installed into the structure within the dash. Unfortunately I was unable to find a suitable metal structure within the dash, but did find a substantial bunch of plastic structure there to mount into.
dash support1.jpg
The circled bolt is where the brass studs mount. As can be seen in the earlier shot, the studs come out between two of the plastic trim pieces.
The table has two connectors that connect to these brass studs. The connectors are furniture cams similar to these:
furniture cams.jpeg
With a knurled knob to tighten and loosen them.
 

Monafly

2015 2500 short tall 6cyl
Here are a couple of more shots of the table. Front, back and installed with the lights I put in the headliner. When not installed it currently fits behind the driver seat.
table top.jpg
table back.jpg
table w:lights2-sm.jpg
When I redo the main cabinets (currently just a temporary mock up) I'll provide a bit more clearance for access to the drivers seat. It's easy on the passenger side, but tight on the drivers.
 

45Kevin

Well-known member
Wine drinkers eh?
Nice build.
How noisy is the van driving back to the racetrack?
And could you get your van down the Lippencott Road?
 

Monafly

2015 2500 short tall 6cyl
Haven't been back to the Racetrack since doing up the interior. It was deafening as a bare cargo van. Looking forward to that real soon now. I've biked down Lippencott and would consider taking it down. The real question is whether the dunes further N and soft sand would be passable. I'd not like to try to drive it back UP Lippencott (I've only got 2wd).
 
Here's the finished floor, showing the layout-floor brackets between the wheel wells, L-track in the forward area and front and back edges finished off with L-track.
Hey Monafly, just stumbled across your build. I'm also re-using the factory floor, but mine isn't quite as nice as yours.

How did you mount the L track you used to cover the joins and finish the edges of the floor?
Was it just screwed in to the floor? I've thought about it, but was hesitant to drill through the floor to mount it as I've basically already done most of it.
 

Monafly

2015 2500 short tall 6cyl
The L-track in the middle of the floor was secured with Riv-nuts. I had some L-track that I scrounged from a wrecked Sprinter that has a different profile (much deeper with a box design. I don't have a picture of that to share.) so that I could attach it directly to the floor. The floor was routed out so that it is level with the floor surface. I put small wood 'rails' under the edges of the L-track to support the floor under the L-track flange.
Since I don't expect in my build to have significant loads on these L-tracks I'm fine with the Riv-nuts. If I'm securing a load, I've got access to the D-rings which are really solid.
The pieces at the front and rear are standard flanged L-track. They also are attached with Riv-nuts.
 
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jason09

Member
Here's more on the L-track mounts for the bed platform. In one of the above pictures you can see the two L-tracks, one on the rear pillar and the other on the C (?) pillar. In order to mount them, I had to bend them to the shape of the walls.
View attachment 165000
To make these bends, I used a the following technique. Took some care, but was pretty easy once I got the hang of how much force to apply and where. Small pieces of plastic decking protected the surface.
View attachment 165001
After fitting for shape, I drilled holes for the Rivnut mounting.
View attachment 165002
On the C pillar I could mount about every 6-8". The rear has a section toward the bottom where it has no support for 8-10", but is mounted securely below and above where feasible. It's not going anywhere. I was careful to mount these supports parallel, so no adjustment of the bed rail mounts is necessary when one changes their positions.
Ultimately, the L-track will support the wall coverings.
Bed was finished off with two 4" thick foam pads, covered with upholstery fabric. The bed panels are all 2' which gives 6' long bed. The rear pad (pictured) is 2' deep has the corners cut off to match the rear door contour. The other is 4'. We find it very comfortable.
View attachment 165003
The only issue I have with them is that we usually sleep in sleeping bags and the static build-up is shocking.
I want to bend L-Track like this. What kind of press did you use to bend the L-Track? Thanks!
 

Monafly

2015 2500 short tall 6cyl
I used a relatively common floor type hydraulic press (sort of H shaped). Placed a couple of blocks generally as far apart as possible and a small piece of Trex type decking (to spread the load and prevent marring) on the press. Once I got started, it was pretty easy to judge how much to press and how much spring back one would get. By adjusting the under support distance and moving the track back and forth and adjusting the amount of press force, one can get shallower or sharper bends. Go slow at first to prevent over bending (which can be undone by turning the L-track over).
 

klempak

Active member
Bed panels in place.
View attachment 164973
View from below showing the side rails and gas shocks (small black lines on the right) used to provide outward pressure to push the panels open. There's a small catch to hold it closed (shortened) for storage etc.
View attachment 164974
Here are some shots of the side rail supports. If I was to do this again, I wouldn't use the double size 8020. It's overkill, as regular size would provide plenty of strength.
View attachment 164975
These rails are attached front and rear to L-track via brackets for easy, no-tool vertical adjustment. I'll detail later the L-track.
View attachment 164976
I am wondering what size of 80/20 you used for side bed support. Was it 1.5” x 3”? I am hoping to use 1” x 2” but not sure if that will be strong enough.
 

Monafly

2015 2500 short tall 6cyl
Klempak: I used 1.5x3 but it is definitely overbuilt. 1.5x1.5 would work just fine. I even think the light weight (vs med or heavy) would be fine. The bed panels themselves have far more flex etc. than any that would be introduced by the side bed supports.

Heating to bend L-track would work fine, but one will remove the temper when you heat it up. Be careful until the temper naturally returns (months?) or it may bend in ways you didn't want it to.
 

klempak

Active member
I think I will go with 30mm x 60mm 80/20.….thanks for feedback on bending L-track, definitely good suggestion!
 

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