Chevy C/K 3500

[ahh_me2]

Oh, and I almost forgot!

I had my first meal in the van today....breakfast!

Can't wait to get her done and move in!
Still living in my other 2 vans in the meantime.

 

[ahh_me2]

Things are moving slower than I wanted, but I am making progress!

I started framing up the ceiling the other day and I'm using 2"X3"'s to do it.
In between the studs will be 2" blue SM styrofoam, which will give me 3.5-4 inches of ceiling insulation.

I framed an oversize opening around the roof vent so I can more readily make a winter plug for it, as well as
having the ability to build a light barrier because currently my rooftop Camco vent cover glows at night!
Not very stealth unfortunately.






I also picked up a new Suburban 16,000 btu RV furnace, NT-16SEQ which I went with because of the smaller footprint
and due to it's intake/exhaust plate I will now be able to mount it midship out through the sidewall.
I had originally wanted to go with a gravity furnace but the vent cap was large and protruded some 4" so I would have had to mount it
on the back wall. The problem with that is that I would lose too much space and not be able to install a larger man door.

 

[ahh_me2]

A bit of progress was made, some issues encountered as is to be expected.

Since it's getting cold out I figured I might as well mount the RV furnace out the back wall on a temporary basis so I can have some heat
while I work on the build.



I have it hooked up to a thermostat on the wall and the propane tank is just outside the vehicle on the ground.
I also don't have the front grille/cover mounted as the furnace is just sitting on the floor and would need to be raised a few inches,
like I said it's a temp install.

Since I am working on this build at a friends place, I have to drive there and I end up staying in my non-insulated Dodge Ram 250 short van. Even with shore power and an electrical heater, I find it is still cold at night, so once Installed the furnace, and saw just how comfortable it was I realized I needed to quickly install a bed and sleep in there instead of the Dodge.

Anyway, the ceiling i what I was working on last, and it presented a few problems of it's own. Basically the ceiling was spray foamed, which is good of course, but they spray in rows and it creates valleys and mountains, and near the cross-members, you can see where they cut off the peaks of the mountains get flush with the steel brace.

So I got the 2X3's mouted without too much problem, but the 2 inch styrofoam was another matter!
It wouldn't sit flush with the furring strips!
So after trying a few different tools I settled on an extended bread knife!

It is very awkward trying to cut the peaks off between the lateral supports!
But, it moves forward as long as you keep cutting away, but it is time consuming!
Cut , fit, test, repeat until satisfied, move on too the next piece!

This is where I have gotten so far...

 

 

[dhawktx]

Progress is good! I'm glad to see that the Rv furnace is working for you - a great way to have dry propane heat. I'll have to keep an eye out for one too.

 

[ahh_me2]

Finally finished carving the high ridges and installed the rest of the styro panels.

 

A couple things left to do on the ceiling are routering out some channels for my power cables for the lights and for eventual hookup of a
Fantastic Fan or equivalent, and also where it looks like there is a gap 2/3rd's down is where a cross strap will go to have a solid backing
for the ceiling panels to back onto and fastened.

I won't be installing the ceiling panels until the walls are up as I want the ceiling to be removable without having to undo any walls.

Next will be the floor but I have a big chunk of floor to remove from underneath where the generator box used to be, and then I need to rebuild that section.

Also, I have 2 coolant heaters in the back, and I will be only keeping 1 of them, but it needs to be relocated, so I have to get underneath and disconnect hoses and move stuff around, but I have yet to pick a final location for the heater.

I've been sleeping in here for the past few nights, and it's nice and big, I can almost go for a walk compared to my other 2 vans!  

 

[highdesertranger]

very nice, keep up the good work and keep posting pics. highdesertranger

 

[ahh_me2]

very nice,  keep up the good work and keep posting pics.  highdesertranger

Thanks! And that's the plan man! haha

 

[ahh_me2]

So the ceiling is basically ready to be paneled, I will probably put up a vapor barrier though, and I have actually routed the ceiling wires to where they belong.

The problem is the floor under the old generator access box. I had cut out the box, we used a plasma cutter so that went quite smooth and easy, but now I have to remove/replace the rotted wooden floor.

I did some preliminary cutting to get it back to good/solid wood, and now I'll ponder my next move over the next few days.
I figure I'll have to weld some bracing in there, and probably router out part of the existing floorboard, so I can do an an overlap joint.

Anyway here's a few pics of the exposed back corner...

   

I guess I also have to figure out what I'll do with the old access hatch, weld it shut, or take it off and put a plte over the opening.
It can't really be used as is, it needs to go ....

 

[ahh_me2]

Well I covered up the genny hole and will save it for later and have continued my insulation progress.

I started on the drivers side wall working my way to the back, and I'm using 2 layers of 1/2 inch plywood stacked to give me 1 inch furring strips and I am using 1 inch styrofoam.

This what the framing looks like.



With the insulation added.



I have figured out how I am going to insulate/frame around the wheel well boxes and should be able to tackle it over the next day or so.
I was able to remove the front coolant heater that was in the way of the above area, but I had to fight with some rusted bolts and it took me longer than expected.

Somewhere along this wall I plan on installing the furnace so I will need to provide a recess/cutout so the panelling won't happen for a while yet.

I have managed to build in cable runs at the top and bottom of the walls, I'll post pics later on that.

Progress is slow because working a full time job and living in the vehicle means I only have a couple hours a day to work on it.
But I am on a private property while I build, so I'm not feeling too rushed atm, except I can't wait to be done! lol

The nice thing about living in it while building, is that I can figure out my space usage a little better and I can sit and brainstorm/design my next steps in order to end up with a design I can really enjoy living in.

 

[ahh_me2]

Progress has slowed a bit, but still continues....
I opted to leave the big hole for now and focus on the other side as I had a CO leak that set off my alarm.
It turns out the rear coolant heater was installed right above the gas tank feed line with a big gap in the floor and the exhaust right under it, so fumes seeped in very quickly.

SO I basically had to build a box that would go against the wall/floor and have all edges sealed and the box filled with expanding foam in order to fully seal out the exhaust fumes.









And I added some 2 inch strips of styro and a temporary board to prevent expansion while leaving the foam open to the air to set and cure

 

[highdesertranger]

I just got to ask. why didn't you just seal the hole in the floor? highdesertranger

 

[ahh_me2]

Well, the floor is sagging a bit in that area as well as the gaps behind the gas fill tube, so I didn't think I could just do a floor seal.
With the twin exhausts sitting directly below and a bit more inset from the outer wall, I figured a sealed protective box might just
be the easier way to deal with it.

 

[ahh_me2]

Ok, always good to make progress, however slowly!

The expanding foam took over 24 hours to cure, as at the 24 hr mark it was
still oozing out between the boards, so when it stopped, I cut off the excess
and put the face plate on with a generous bead of caulking which was then
trimmed after it had hardened.



I figured out Friday night how to deal with floor opening at the back.
So yesterday and today I worked on it and it turned out good!

There are hidden lips that can't be seen in the pic but the left end of the
plywood is resting on one, as well as both ends of the styrofoam.
To the right of the ply you can sort of see a test piece of aluminum, with a Z
bend that will be the first part of sealing the wheel well gap.



Here is a closer view of the Z bend piece and how it will straddle the cross
member and eventually seal the whole inside of the well.



I used a home made metal brake I made a few years back.



Next was to test fit some foam panels from below as they will prevent muck and
rock from spraying up onto the bottom of my new plywood piece.

 

[ahh_me2]

Next was to fit a good quality plywood into the gap, in one piece if possible!

Here I managed to do just that.



Another view of my brake, making the Z bends, since my brake is only 10.5 inches wide and my wheel well is 22, I have to make 3 pieces to span the length.



Here is a view under the wheel well to see the fit of the Z bend pieces.



The floor board in place and the Z bend pieces temporarily affixed.



I figured I might as well insulate the door as well, even though it won't be used I'll simply screw it shut.

 

[ahh_me2]

I was now able to finish the framing/insulating of the back section of the wall.



When I do the back floor section I will seal up and add insulation to the door recess area before boarding up the wall.

 

[ahh_me2]

So I went to a RV dealer blow out sale on parts which are very rare around here, and I lucked out and scored some good stuff cheap!

I'll put it in it's own thread.

 

[highdesertranger]

that's a nice looking brake you built. highdesertranger

 

[ahh_me2]

Thanks HDR, it has served me well!
I built it heavy duty because I often need to bend short thick pieces of aluminum or steel.

 

[ahh_me2]

Well after last weeks snow storm that dumped a foot of snow on us here, and dropped the
outside temps to a rather chilly 0-F for a few days I figured I should get back to work on
the back corner again.

Also, I had ordered a new 40# propane tank last week and it wasn't until Saturday morning
that I was able to pick it up.I needed it to mock up my build.

I'd been pondering how I was going to go about it for the last little while, especially in
light of the fact I found out that I can't legally run 100# tanks in here so I decided to
go with 2 -40# which is legal here.

So the back corner is also going to be the propane and gas shack, so I have to finish it
up with that in mind.

Anyway, I used 3/8 plywood on the side wall to cover up the insulation and had the floor
sealed and roughed in, but there was still a gap on the floor with regards to the
thickness of sheets used to come up to the 1" of the neighboring OSB.

I used 2 X 1/4" pieces of sheet and laid them down as in the pic here...



This made the whole section of floor even, but I also had to deal with my rear lip where
the roll-up door used to be.
I'm putting a solid wall across the back with a custom made 30" door I will make.

Anyway, I had already figured out the setback up on the wall for the outer skin and so used
the same dimensions on the floor part. I used two different pieces of ply, different widths
to accommodate the contouring on the lip and the lower one was fastened with self tapping
sheet metal screws and the layer above it with normal wood screws.

 

[ahh_me2]

I wanted the floor to be waterproof, because hauling propane tanks that had been sitting
in the snow or rain, would eventually leave a puddle and rot out the wood.

Since I build custom road cases I have a lot of old cutoffs of 1/4 inch ply laminated with
ABS in different colors.

Of course the van is red, so I needed some red ABS!

It just so happened I had a piece that was just the right width, 29-1/4, but a bit longer
than I needed, so one saw cut made a perfect piece!

Here I have screwed the ABS to the floor and set some 2x3's around as a visual frame and
set the propane tank and gas tank in place to see how it would all fit.

So the plan is to run 2 x 40# propane tanks and a couple of jerry cans of gas and some
room for various oils;brake,windshield wiper,transmission,engine,power steering etc.

This is just the floor work at this point, I will build up insulated walls and a ceiling
for it and then it will be sealed from the inside and vent to the outside.

The plan is for the generator cage to be built atop of this, and the summer A/C unit to be
mounted above that.

A couple of views the layout...