Posts
85
Joined
7/3/2016
Location
Boulder, CO
US
john.aron
7/4/2016 3:25pm
7/4/2016 3:25pm
Edited Date/Time
7/9/2020 8:31am
Hey Vital Folks,
My names John Maguire and I'm a 27 year old former East Coaster currently living and riding in Boulder, CO. I've only been at this a couple years now but I truly believe this is the best sport on Earth. I came to this game pretty late but I'm doing my best to develop as quickly as possible. I've gotten by the last two years riding out of my F-150, which works well for day trips, but it just doesn't make sense for longer destinations. In addition to 3 days a week at the local tracks, I try to go to CA twice a year and TX once a year. I have a pretty flexible work schedule, and can often work remotely so it ends up being the hotels that break the budget and bring me back home. When my dad offered me the old family Corolla, which could be used as a daily driver, I pulled the trigger on the moto-van.
I've spent the last couple months researching all sorts of different builds and trying to figure out exactly what worked best. I think I have a good plan in the works but thought it would be fun to go about this build in a public forum. I'm looking for feedback and ideas. Hopefully this will be useful to anyone else looking to see what works and what doesn't.
9 to 5 I'm a full time aerospace engineer and I also own a small woodworking company. This means that there is a full wood-shop available when we eventually build out the cabinets. I'm hoping doing this in a public forum will force me to do it right and not cut corners.
Thanks for following along and I look forward to hearing feedback.
I've decided to go with a 2009 Chevy Express 3500 Extended. I picked it up for $13,200 out the door with registration, taxes and all fees. It's got 100k on the clock and was a former Lincare fleet vehicle, used for oxygen transport. It was a little more than I wanted to pay but it's incredible how good of condition its in. Since I plan to drive this thing all over the country, I was OK paying a little more for quality.
Here are a few photos from day 1:
The cargo area was in pretty good shape but there were some bare metal spots that I decided to touch up. I'm not planning to do a vapor barrier so I know water will condense on this outside skin. Luckily there was no rust to deal with.
I also went ahead a bought a small pack of Dynmat to install on the metal to get rid of some of the rattling of the panels. In hindsight this was a waste of money. Don't bother with this...You need a crazy amount to make a significant difference and the other insulation achieves the same effect.
I'm planning on having a living area up front behind the driver and passenger seats so I care the most about this area being well insulated. I went ahead and applied reflectix to the first few panels and the ceiling to maximize thermal insulation in this compartment. There are several vents that Lincare installed to mitigate the problems associated with O2 leakage, but it was easy to insulate around these. There is some rust on the inside around the roof vent but since I'm not going to insulate that area, I haven't gotten around to it yet.
More to come in the next post...
My names John Maguire and I'm a 27 year old former East Coaster currently living and riding in Boulder, CO. I've only been at this a couple years now but I truly believe this is the best sport on Earth. I came to this game pretty late but I'm doing my best to develop as quickly as possible. I've gotten by the last two years riding out of my F-150, which works well for day trips, but it just doesn't make sense for longer destinations. In addition to 3 days a week at the local tracks, I try to go to CA twice a year and TX once a year. I have a pretty flexible work schedule, and can often work remotely so it ends up being the hotels that break the budget and bring me back home. When my dad offered me the old family Corolla, which could be used as a daily driver, I pulled the trigger on the moto-van.
I've spent the last couple months researching all sorts of different builds and trying to figure out exactly what worked best. I think I have a good plan in the works but thought it would be fun to go about this build in a public forum. I'm looking for feedback and ideas. Hopefully this will be useful to anyone else looking to see what works and what doesn't.
9 to 5 I'm a full time aerospace engineer and I also own a small woodworking company. This means that there is a full wood-shop available when we eventually build out the cabinets. I'm hoping doing this in a public forum will force me to do it right and not cut corners.
Thanks for following along and I look forward to hearing feedback.
I've decided to go with a 2009 Chevy Express 3500 Extended. I picked it up for $13,200 out the door with registration, taxes and all fees. It's got 100k on the clock and was a former Lincare fleet vehicle, used for oxygen transport. It was a little more than I wanted to pay but it's incredible how good of condition its in. Since I plan to drive this thing all over the country, I was OK paying a little more for quality.
Here are a few photos from day 1:
The cargo area was in pretty good shape but there were some bare metal spots that I decided to touch up. I'm not planning to do a vapor barrier so I know water will condense on this outside skin. Luckily there was no rust to deal with.
I also went ahead a bought a small pack of Dynmat to install on the metal to get rid of some of the rattling of the panels. In hindsight this was a waste of money. Don't bother with this...You need a crazy amount to make a significant difference and the other insulation achieves the same effect.
I'm planning on having a living area up front behind the driver and passenger seats so I care the most about this area being well insulated. I went ahead and applied reflectix to the first few panels and the ceiling to maximize thermal insulation in this compartment. There are several vents that Lincare installed to mitigate the problems associated with O2 leakage, but it was easy to insulate around these. There is some rust on the inside around the roof vent but since I'm not going to insulate that area, I haven't gotten around to it yet.
More to come in the next post...
Before doing any more work, I decided that I was going to have to remove the bulkhead. It was just taking up too much space that could be used for the bed. This involved drilling out 10 or so rivets. I can't say that I recommend doing that without a shirt, hat and safety glasses...oops
For the main insulation, I decided to go with Poly-ISO. This stuff has an R7 per inch efficiency and really isn't that much more expensive than EPS. I've noticed that a lot of people like to use furring strips down the length of the van with insulation in between but I'm planning on having my bed run widthwise and at 5'10", every inch counts. 1 inch Poly-ISO fit flush with the studs and was a breeze to cut on the table saw. Since the van's interior walls are roughly 4' tall and Poly-ISO comes in 4' by 8' sheets, I just made all the cuts down the length of the rigid foam. It fit snug in between the studs but I used foil tape to seal the seams and to make sure it wouldn't move at all. It makes a pretty horrible squeaking noise against the metal. It was getting a little late when I took these pictures...
Next came the time to figure out how to cut the pieces for the walls. Luckily the sides of the van are on the same plane and fairly rectangular but I knew I'd need a template to get around the wheel wells and that other protrusion (I think its for the fuel filter). I bought a roll of heavyweight paintmasking/landscaping paper ($10) and taped it up on the wall. It took two sheets to get the full 4' height.
Then I took a paint stirring stick and drilled a hole in the end that would hold a sharpie, 12" or so from the handle end. I then held the handle end to the floor of the van and traced along the floor, over the wheel well and over the fuel filter protrusion.
I had been somewhat stressing how to do these templates but in total they each took about 20 minutes. After this first one I realized that since the top was so straight, I really only needed to map the bottom profile. I'd then set this at the bottom of the wall material, 4'x8' OSB, and just leave the top as is. The small curve at the top and back of the van I could just do by eye.
I cut the OSB panels out with my jigsaw. I picked up a gallon can of mistake Behr Premium Plus Ultra Paint and Primer for $5 at Depot and gave both sides a thick coat. You won't ever see the OSB surface but I wanted the waterproofing protection that the paint offered.
I'm going to try to install these panels tonight and will post some photos once they are in!
Not trying to be a dick just letting you know for the future. Also try to keep as everything as light as possible, no 1/2 or 3/8 when 1/4 or 1/8 will do. No backs in the cabinets,light weight drawers and doors. It really adds up quick.
Most people over build and spent to much $ thinking they will have this van/truck forever but it never happens that way.
Keep in mind everything you are adding is for function or looks not structural that is why you could use 1/8 on the sides you are templating to keep it light.Take pics or make a drawing with measurements so you know where to fasten the cabinets,bed etc.
The Shop
I don't have time to mess with it. If your close to Indiana 2200.00 and it's yours
Took a break and got the tow hitch mounted so I didn't feel completely defeated...
Here's some photos of my short sprinter build:
I'm in the market for the same setup. I'll be stealing some of your ideas!
I am also getting ready to redo it taking the trip out to Indy to score some rv stuff mainly a flip sofa and I think I am going to take the kitchen table out and put in some captains chairs and a removable table
Thanks again for all the suggestions. More updates soon.
This is my new motovan project.
I'm feeling OK about using the 1/4 plywood but I think I'm going to screw/glue some more material in 12" strips down the length of the back compartment where handlebars rub and where I intend to hang things. This will toughen the material against abrasion and distribute the load of anything I hang on the walls.
Next is finishing the subfloor. The fleet dealer I bought it from installed new carpet mat and OSB on 80% of the floor, up to about half the area I've dedicated to the bed. That last 20% was covered in aluminum diamond plate. I took out the diamond plate and cleaned and painted the van floor underneath where it was. It had been riveted in place so there are not several holes through which you can see the pavement beneath. Any good ideas on how to fill these? I'm thinking about maybe just sealing it with some butyl rubber tape. I'm thinking I'll reuse this diamond plate on the back side base of the dividing wall down the road.
The next step will be to add 1/4" plywood to the ceiling. Probably won't get much done tomorrow but later on in the week I'm hoping to be productive.
Thanks again for all the feedback!
Pit Row
Made my templates with masonite strips some hand shears and a hot glue gun.
Built a wall and screwed it to the back side of the upright roof support, sealed it all with spray foam and metal tape.
painted it with some old truck bed liner stuff I had in the garage.. kind of crappy but it will do.
Built a cabinet base for the bed.
I did insulate everything really well but can't find pics
Great work, have you considered any lighting to be installed before you do the ceiling? It definitely comes in hang for loading and unloading at night. Also a roof vent with fan is a great upgrade that's very inexpensive.
Ran led strips in the support channels in the ceiling. Supernight LED on Amazon. 16 ft, with remote and control box for like 25 bucks.
Here is a photic from a long time ago I took right after I built my bed.
I'm going to finish the subfloor and the ceiling and see what usable space is left before making a final decision. Feel free to let me know your experiences with sleeping next to the bikes. Anything I'm missing?
Also does anyone have a recommendation for a powered roof vent fan? Cheap and Quiet?
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