The cutaway van

[Dirtyhip]

Not sure if it is considered a van or a truck.

This thread is document the journey and the build 

We are completely changing the floorplan. Swivel seats are no longer an option. 

My spouse did all the diagrams.

@Thaddeus Kosciuszko

[Dirtyhip]

[Dirtyhip]

[Dirtyhip]

[Ralphie ★]

So the mural?

 

[Dirtyhip]

3 minutes ago, Ralphie said:

So the mural?

HODH is against the idea of making this look cute like that.  He wants to keep is stealth.  

I would like to do a hippy mural.  We have reached our first impasse or difference of opinion.

Additionally, I have been informed that I can not have an oven.  Something about space.  

Spoiler

 @bikeman564™

 

[Ralphie ★]

2 minutes ago, Dirtyhip said:

HODH is against the idea of making this look cute like that.  He wants to keep is stealth.  

I would like to do a hippy mural.  We have reached our first impasse or difference of opinion.

Additionally, I have been informed that I can not have an oven.  Something about space.  

  Hide contents

 @bikeman564™

Maybe just do some faux business logo like they use to sneak people into places on detective shows. 

[Parr8hed]

So did I miss a thread where you purchased the van?  I know that some things had changed but was just curious.  

Hope things are going well. 

[Airehead]

It is a trank 

[Dirtyhip]

First step:  Register vehicle in our name.  I am hoping our license plate is something like FUFORD.  @Parr8hed

This weekend's tasks:

Sand down the wood floor of the box. Clean and polish the diamond plate steps.  Clean out the cab.  Clean the exterior of the vehicle.  Make appt at our favorite local auto repair.  Ask them to go through the rig and repair a steering fluid leak,  Clean the cab of the vehicle.  Clean the stainless lock box.  There are two bugs in it.  They will be evicted.

[Dirtyhip]

6 minutes ago, Parr8hed said:

So did I miss a thread where you purchased the van?  I know that some things had changed but was just curious.  

Hope things are going well. 

"Amtrak is fun" thread, I got to hang out with Scrapr and his gorgeous lady.  We went to Portland on hopes that this vehicle was going to work out.  If we didn't buy it, I guess we were planning on moving in with Scrapr.   It was a risk, and it payed off.  The train was fun.  Portland was fun.  We spent like a grand in one day on travel and fun.  I even got some macaroons.  

 

6 minutes ago, Airehead said:

It is a trank 

Yet, it drives so well.  I am not sure what I was afraid of.  I could have easily drove an extended van.  

We were not meant to get the Transit.  The universe was trying to pretect us from ourselves.  This is so much cheaper and I will be able to help built it easier.  The transit's strange lines was crushing my brain..

[Dirtyhip]

17 minutes ago, Ralphie said:

Maybe just do some faux business logo like they use to sneak people into places on detective shows. 

Jones Plumbing.  Let's lay some pipe!

[Parr8hed]

14 minutes ago, Dirtyhip said:

"Amtrak is fun" thread, I got to hang out with Scrapr and his gorgeous lady.  We went to Portland on hopes that this vehicle was going to work out.  If we didn't buy it, I guess we were planning on moving in with Scrapr.   It was a risk, and it payed off.  The train was fun.  Portland was fun.  We spent like a grand in one day on travel and fun.  I even got some macaroons.  

Yet, it drives so well.  I am not sure what I was afraid of.  I could have easily drove an extended van.  

We were not meant to get the Transit.  The universe was trying to pretect us from ourselves.  This is so much cheaper and I will be able to help built it easier.  The transit's strange lines was crushing my brain..

Awesome.  I am glad it worked out.  See, you could drive an f tree fiddy!

[Dirtyhip]

2 minutes ago, Parr8hed said:

Awesome.  I am glad it worked out.  See, you could drive an f tree fiddy!

I guess so.  This thing still fits in many parking spots.  

[maddmaxx ★]

Minor details.  Don't forget to have a place for the fire extinguisher near the stove.  In a camper fires need to be dealt with quickly.

[Dirtyhip]

1 minute ago, maddmaxx said:

Minor details.  Don't forget to have a place for the fire extinguisher near the stove.  In a camper fires need to be dealt with quickly.

Thank you for the reminder.  I will talk to Mr. about this.

[12string]

I was rooting for the Subaru conversion.  I think that had an oven!

You should be able to find spinning seats for that, it's a common RV chassis, and they regularly use them.  Cost, however, could be pretty high.  You can always add them later.

[Dirtyhip]

1 minute ago, 12string said:

I was rooting for the Subaru conversion.  I think that had an oven!

You should be able to find spinning seats for that, it's a common RV chassis, and they regularly use them.  Cost, however, could be pretty high.  You can always add them later.

We modified the plan.  We have a booth now.  

I hope to have a toaster oven. Most of them are under 1500 watts.

[Kirby]

How much of this work will you do  yourselves and are there parts that you'll have to have done by third parties ?   I'm looking forward to this adventure.

[Dirtyhip]

4 minutes ago, Kirby said:

How much of this work will you do  yourselves and are there parts that you'll have to have done by third parties ?   I'm looking forward to this adventure.

We are doing all of the build ourselves.  We plan to take the truck in to have a pro mechanic go through it.  There is a small steerling fluid leak.

I will be doing lots of this build with HODH giving me pointers.  The nice square box should make it easier.

[Parr8hed]

I just caught up on the Amrtack thread.  Very cool!  Congrats.  

So this is a duramax diesel?  That is pretty cool.  

[maddmaxx ★]

15 minutes ago, Dirtyhip said:

We are doing all of the build ourselves.  We plan to take the truck in to have a pro mechanic go through it.  There is a small steerling fluid leak.

I will be doing lots of this build with HODH giving me pointers.  The nice square box should make it easier.

Don't forget to have him check the blinker fluid at the same time.

[Ralphie ★]

9 minutes ago, maddmaxx said:

Don't forget to have him check the blinker fluid at the same time.

And have the mechanic check the Fetzer valves.

[Dirtyhip]

13 minutes ago, Parr8hed said:

I just caught up on the Amrtack thread.  Very cool!  Congrats.  

So this is a duramax diesel?  That is pretty cool.  

Yes. Duramax. It should last I hope.

11 minutes ago, maddmaxx said:

Don't forget to have him check the blinker fluid at the same time.

There is no such thing. 

[Dirtyhip]

3 minutes ago, Ralphie said:

And have the mechanic check the Fetzer valves.

Stop that!

[Ralphie ★]

4 minutes ago, Dirtyhip said:

Stop that!

It is all Razor's Hedge's fault for encouraging me.

Oops, moving target!  Ahspose now it is Chris Sharrley.

[maddmaxx ★]

And with a vehicle that size it's even more important to pay attention to the summer, fall, winter, spring air.

[Ralphie ★]

I see stealthiness mentioned quite a bit in conversion articles.  How do the solar panels fit into this?  Will they be permanently mounted?  Just hidden away on top?

[Dirtyhip]

11 minutes ago, Ralphie said:

I see stealthiness mentioned quite a bit in conversion articles.  How do the solar panels fit into this?  Will they be permanently mounted?  Just hidden away on top?

Permanently mounted.  We are not sure how they will get attached.  We do not want one of those ladders.  We don't want people having the ability to crawl on top.  We plan to have a collapsable ladder for maintenance.  I assume the mount will be a simple rack for solar only.  

[Bikeguy]

5 hours ago, Dirtyhip said:

He wants to keep is stealth.

I think that's a good idea.

[Dirtyhip]

2 minutes ago, Bikeguy said:

I think that's a good idea.

Oh, fine.  Take his side.  Typical. 

[Bikeguy]

6 minutes ago, Dirtyhip said:

Oh, fine.  Take his side.  Typical. 

More than a few times when we were on vacation, we'd park at some remote place at a trailhead.    I'd wonder if our Subaru was going to be OK.  We'd have LOTS of stuff in the car. 

[Further]

31 minutes ago, Bikeguy said:

More than a few times when we were on vacation, we'd park at some remote place at a trailhead.    I'd wonder if our Subaru was going to be OK.  We'd have LOTS of stuff in the car. 

Back when I was more active, Mt. biking and fly-fishing, I would often wonder if I would have a vehicle when I returned to the parking spot. The remote areas seem to have pretty sketchy natives.

I never did have a problem.  

[Further]

5 hours ago, Dirtyhip said:

Jones Plumbing.  Let's lay some pipe!

That is awesome, I laughed out loud    

[Further]

Is the cab open to the back, or is there a solid wall ?

[Ralphie ★]

4 minutes ago, Further said:

That is awesome, I laughed out loud    

Extra stealthy.  I like it.

[Dirtyhip]

5 minutes ago, Further said:

Is the cab open to the back, or is there a solid wall ?

There is a wall behind the passenger and driver.  There is a small pass through door there.  I like that this thing has a bulkhead.  If it is called that.  It is a protective wall that separates the cab from the back.  

[Dirtyhip]

It has some neat options. I really like the steel box thing.

[Further]

9 minutes ago, Dirtyhip said:

There is a wall behind the passenger and driver.  There is a small pass through door there.  I like that this thing has a bulkhead.  If it is called that.  It is a protective wall that separates the cab from the back.  

The work vans I drove for years were open to the back, I had shelves with all kinds of electrical supplies and tools on them. I sometimes wondered how a pipe wrench to the back of the head would feel in a wreck.

[Dirtyhip]

3 minutes ago, Further said:

The work vans I drove for years were open to the back, I had shelves with all kinds of electrical supplies and tools on them. I sometimes wondered how a pipe wrench to the back of the head would feel in a wreck.

Yeah, I had this feeling that vanlife vans might be a little dangerous in an accident. This solves that worry a bit.  The truck/van is really cool.  I look forward to working on it this weekend.  

[Bikeguy]

3 hours ago, Dirtyhip said:

I look forward to working on it this weekend.  

Years ago... more like decades ago...  I'm guessing the mid 70s,...  my HS best friend purchased a full size Ford cargo van for camping.  He was an avid SCUBA diver and after a while an instructor. 

We built that van out for camping.   In the rear was a raised bed. All of the SCUBA gear was stored under the bed.

I got the honors of cutting in a sun roof into the roof.  I also did a lot of the wiring for the stuff in the van.  If I recall, we installed a deep cycle RV battery for power when he was camping.  

Have fun...  

[dinneR ★]

11 hours ago, Dirtyhip said:

HODH is against the idea of making this look cute like that.  He wants to keep is stealth.  

I would like to do a hippy mural.  We have reached our first impasse or difference of opinion.

Additionally, I have been informed that I can not have an oven.  Something about space.  

  Reveal hidden contents

 @bikeman564™

This guy updated his with art. Show K. He'll be jealous and you will get your mural.

[Bikeguy]

8 hours ago, Ralphie said:

I see stealthiness mentioned quite a bit in conversion articles.

How about this mural.?  This would be stealthy

[Dirtyhip]

8 hours ago, Bikeguy said:

How about this mural.?  This would be stealthy

They remove those from the Penske rigs and the ex-company rigs.  They all take their company names off.

[Longjohn ★]

19 hours ago, Dirtyhip said:

HODH is against the idea of making this look cute like that.  He wants to keep is stealth.  

Maybe go with camo?

 

[Dirtyhip]

Steps are clean. There is some pitting. They look better though. 

[Dirtyhip]

Floor is cleaned up and sanded. Ready for insulation and subfloor.

[Airehead]

Looking good

[Dirtyhip]

20 minutes ago, Airehead said:

Looking good

Thanks.  I hope the floor goes well.  I have this little tool that you press into and angle area and it molds.  Then, I guess you trace it on the board.  Cut.  Install.

We are going to buy some new tools.  I need one of those sheetrock lifter things.  It is like a jack for a ceiling.  It will helpme hold the celing in place.

[Tizeye]

On 4/7/2023 at 12:28 PM, Ralphie said:

So the mural?

I thought of DH yesterday. While I took some photos of an osprey nest nearby, they moved the Saturday farmers market from a cramped area to a more open area in the central park next to where I was taking photos. Had to walk through it and saw this - photo studio set up in a VW bus and included 60's attire for modeling. DH definitely needs a mural, even if it is taking air on a mountain bike.