Re-making my interior

[epowell]

[Zeitgeist 13]

[epowell]

REGARDING THE FLOOR WIRES:
- blue one goes nowhere
- 4X speaker cables (2X go nowhere), other 2X easily re-routed
- red one goes to glow plugs rely (PO mod.)
- 3X black ones all go to a rear-view video camera (which I never use)

So yes, in fact I can run the essential ones through a plastic tube UNDER the van, and the speaker cables easily re-routed...

Thanks guys for taking the time to suggest the obvious! It helps!

[MidwestDrifter]

[epowell]

Beautiful!
That looks like rubber stuff from old 60's beetles

[MidwestDrifter]

Thanks, it came out pretty good. I just found a commercial flooring supplier, and asked them if they had some durable rubber.

The seams are all made with black sikaflex (don't remember the type) which was recommended by the supplier.

It held up great on our 2 year roadtrip. The combination of the rubber's weight and the foam beneath made a great impact on road noise compared to the stock floor. When were done it was possible to have a conversation on the freeway.
_________________
2004 Dodge/Mercedes Sprinter (Custom Camper)
2000 Jetta TDI
1982 Diesel Westy W/ ABA I4 hybrid (Sold)
Epic Road Tripping since 08/05/12 | http://VagariesAbound.blogspot.com/
My Current Build | http://sprinter-source.com/forum/showthread.php?t=41215

[?Waldo?]

I wouldn't have any live wires where they can be stepped on, ever, but most notably not the glow plug wires. That's just crazy talk. 50 amps before the fusible link will blow can make a nice little weld/fire the 179th time it's stepped on and finally frays the insulation and shorts out. Without the stock relay, I'd be curious if the PO even wired in the fusible link. Without the fusible link, it would definitely be a burned up van at some point if people walk on the wire.

[epowell]

[epowell]

$45 worth of Spruce wood... getting ready to build the floor, bed, and kitchen

_________________
www.edwardpowell.com

[MidwestDrifter]

A woodworker you must be.

Its probably obvious, but making mock ups, or even temporary cabinets will save you a lot of effort later on. 3/8" plywood, or even cardboard works just fine.

Good luck!
_________________
2004 Dodge/Mercedes Sprinter (Custom Camper)
2000 Jetta TDI
1982 Diesel Westy W/ ABA I4 hybrid (Sold)
Epic Road Tripping since 08/05/12 | http://VagariesAbound.blogspot.com/
My Current Build | http://sprinter-source.com/forum/showthread.php?t=41215

[epowell]

[MidwestDrifter]

It depends on how much you drive. But you will most likely want some sound and thermal insulation on the floor.

The heat from the radiator flows under the floor, and can make it quite hot. Adding that to a hot day, and you may find yourself miserable.

On cold days you will have a hard time keeping the cabin warm with no insulation on the floor as well.

The noise adds to the fatiuge of driving. Of course if you don't drive very much, then it is less of an issue.

Regardless, removable carpeting can always be washed to remove odors.
_________________
2004 Dodge/Mercedes Sprinter (Custom Camper)
2000 Jetta TDI
1982 Diesel Westy W/ ABA I4 hybrid (Sold)
Epic Road Tripping since 08/05/12 | http://VagariesAbound.blogspot.com/
My Current Build | http://sprinter-source.com/forum/showthread.php?t=41215

[epowell]

All very good points! We will start like this, and possibly add stuff when we feel the need - perhaps temporarily - perhaps permanently.

There is also the issue of wall and ceiling insulation... again, we will start with basically nothing, and see how it goes. I will design absolutely everything in the interior so that it is all removable in a flash... ...next Autumn I will need to do something about the rust issues... [for right now I think I will clean all the rust - hit it with rust converter - then spread some oil on it all... just as a very temporary 'slow-down']

_________________
www.edwardpowell.com

[epowell]

making the neighbours crazy (probably) trying to cut all of this wood with this wimpy little 'table' saw... slowly slowly...

_________________
www.edwardpowell.com

[jimf909]

Great pics. Nice progress. It'll be great to see what you saw in those massive blocks of wood. I also like your approach to start minimal and add from there. That way you'll know what you really want (Although I definitely prefer sound insulation, or hearing protection, extended periods of noise over 85 db or so can damage hearing. It's kinda like smoking, it may not be a problem at first, but 30 or so years later your body may reveal the harmful effects of choices made years earlier.)
_________________
- Jim

[epowell]

[epowell]

Last week I finished jointing and gluing up all the boards - each one. Then took them to a woodworking shop where they have a 60cm planer, and large sanding machine - and they processed all the boards there... saved me A LOT of time and work.

At the moment I am still distracted with building some instruments for clients, and now some more mechanical problems - so my interior project will have to chug along slowly slowly.... [there are only 24 hours in the day]

...and Summer needs to be enjoyed also

_________________
www.edwardpowell.com

[epowell]

Today I started back on intensive work on my van, mostly getting the interior ready for hopefully some tripping in August/Sept.

I bought varnish for the wood, interior paint, carpet, panels - and a grinder and sander... among other things - investing about $200 today.

Then finished removing absolutely everything remain in the interior and get to work cutting out some rust. There is a frickin' hole right where the folding bed attaches, and because of this hole the bed was attached 5cm to towards the center... I want the bed/couch as far against the wall as possible so that means fixing this hole first.... I cut out the rust and ground down the edges, and tomorrow will take time to create/bent a perfect patch - then I will take it to the local garage and ask them to weld in the patch. Once that is done I am home-free to install all the new stuff

_________________
www.edwardpowell.com

[zuhandenheit]

That sucks!

I have two suggestions:

One, ask the garage to ONLY do the welding, and that you will finish it (coat it) yourself. As you know, the one time I paid for this kind of repair, the welding was far worse then my own very first attempts to weld! You should see exactly what their work looks like.

Actually, scratch that--it would be best to have them spray some kind of primer, since you won't have access to the equipment for spraying two-part paint, and so you don't get surface rust on the repair. Ask them to coat the bare metal and do no more. That way you'll get to see their welds. The best thing is epoxy primer.

I remember that we discussed this before, and I showed you a true two-stage epoxy primer in a can, but you couldn't get that where you live.

Second, if for some reason your wanted to fix it yourself, this would be a pretty good job for panel adhesive, since you don't have to worry about the repair 'mapping' through the paint. This is what happens when you use have paint over panel adhesive -- it means you can see faint lines where the repair was done. I've got an example of this on my own van.

Here's what I have used: https://www.amazon.com/3M-08115-Panel-Bonding-Adhesive/dp/B000PEW4MI

You should buy the applicator gun (another $50), but you can get away with mixing it by hand.

Oh, third: I suggest that you remove all of the paint and undercoating from both sides of the repair, with a wire wheel on a grinder. This will either save you money, because the shop won't have to do it, or give you a better repair, because there's a damn good chance the shop won't bother to do it, even though it's important for getting a good weld.

[epowell]