Building Carmon

[KatBalouE350]

Finally getting started! Please meet Carmon, my first try at converting a van. Well.... of course my son is 
the meat n bones to the labor. Lol!

 

[KatBalouE350]

Lots of work inside and out. But he runs well and walks through brush and mud and over rough bed rock roads like a champ as u can see by his fresh Mananita scratches. Lol! These pics seem big...i can't find anything but crop on photobucket...help greatly appreciated.

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[KatBalouE350]

Tearing it down..

 

[Putts]

Nice! One step at a time. That's how they climb Mount Everest!

 

[AbuelaLoca]

Carmon is absolutely gorgeous!!!!! What fun! Looking forward to your conversion!

 

[KatBalouE350]

All those holes to plug! Lost count at 25. We use the bolts after cleaning them for the 2 plates and bench we took out. Plugged the others with pennies and silicon or just silicon on small screw holes and covered all with with liquid rubber in a can. Used Rustoleum reformer on surface rust then painted entire floor. 

 

[KatBalouE350]

That is how I had to overcome feeling of remorse at seeing bare wires and metal yesterday by saying to eat an elephant is one bite at a time. I have been living in the van over a month now so it was a shock to my eyes at first when I checked on my son's progress towards the end. Was glad to see the extra space in the ceiling though. Will probably take out the crossbars.

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[ArtW]

Nice platform to start from!

 

[KatBalouE350]

Hoping the a.c. blower in back dosen't splice into my main a.c. in cab. Have to take it to an ac guy before I move the unit out. Has anyone any experience with this?

 

[masterplumber]

most of the time the ac are connected. You definitely want to have it capped correctly before removing the rear unit.

 

[Queen]

Sweet van, really like that high top.

 

[ArtW]

Masterplumber is of course right, they usually run off one compressor for both AC units, they're a PITA

 

[AbuelaLoca]

Mine runs off one compressor and the mechanic said he couldn't cap it off (no clue why, but decided if they didn't know how it wasn't worth it)!! I was very fortunate that the conversion from R-12 to R-134A was already done!!!

 

[highdesertranger]

the AC's ARE connected together and they CAN be separated but must be done correctly. you need to change the hoses up front. have an ac guy do this. then after the rear is disconnected you can remove it, NOT before. highdesertranger

 

[KatBalouE350]

Thanks all for the input! I love this forum! Will take van in to a.c. guys. In the meantime need to figure out how I'm going to bring in power. To be honest no matter how much I have poured over the wealth of information in this forum on a solar, alternator or generator supplied auxiliary system I still am confused on which fits me and how to make it all work. Maybe if I give my circumstances and needs some of the more experienced, "in the know", members can give me guidance.

I'm small, 5'2 and older, 58 yrs, with shoulder issues. So can't push around or lift much weight...maybe golf cart size batteries? Certainly won't be able to climb onto roof to reposition panels...maybe suitcase panels?
I am pretty much stationary, staying in a small town in stealth mode or about 30 to 40 minutes out in campgrounds or boondocking on FS/BLM land.
Funds are limited so must be frugal.
Need a vent fan. Thinking about splurging on the better Maxx Air because I may not get an AC unit and I have 2 dogs that must not be without circulating air in the heat. My Service dog can go anywhere I can, if behaving that is...sometimes he doesn't, but have a smaller dog that can't. I like an occasional DVD movie, heat soup or leftovers in a microwave. Have to charge phone and laptop, which my starter battery is doing now with 100w inverter.  I want a fridge but have not found one not to pricey. Also, I would like a small water pump for sink and maybe a hot water heater. But, I want to be able to add to power bank if I get a AC unit later.

Should I go small generator in combo with alternator to charge a few small batteries...or just solar to charge them? Stumped!

 

[CottonTexas]

That is how I had to overcome feeling of remorse at seeing bare wires and metal yesterday by saying to eat an elephant is one bite at a time. I have been living in the van over a month now so it was a shock to my eyes at first when I checked on my son's progress towards the end. Was glad to see the extra space in the ceiling though. Will probably take out the crossbars.


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I'd be worried that those crossbars are for structural integrity.  Might want to check into that before you do anything irreversible.  Cotton

 

[Putts]

Ditto. If the top installers built that I'd check back with them. It's likely they do it so people can mount a bunch of stuf up top. If you're not going to put stuff on top it might be okay...but as CT said, I'd check back with them.

 

[rvpopeye]

I'd leave the bracing in.
It will give you something solid to attach the ceiling to and you can fill the space in with insulation.

Cut those vents and wire pass through in first though.

 

[KatBalouE350]

I was rethinking taking out the crossbars for both reasons mentioned in above replies. My son found a slip of paper giving the maker name and model # but there is nothing on Google for a company called Millenium that works in fiberglass. Maybe they stopped building them as so many did.

 

[masterplumber]

Just my $.02 on power. For your needs I'd do a small solar system on the roof for your normal day to day needs like fan and charging electronics. 200 watts should be enough with an equal amount of battery storage. This will also run a small 12 volt fridge as long as it's an efficient one. Then have a small generator to run the microwave and ac occasionally. The panels can be mounted flat, yes they will gain more power if you tilt them, but as long as you park in the sun they should be enough without tilting Mount your generator on a hitch hauler or similar, preferably in a locking box. But make sure you can run it without having to move it as you'll need probably a 2000 watt generator to run the ac and you won't want to be constantly lifting that. You could even have the box made out of expanded metal, basically heavy screen material, so it could breath and stay cool.