...continued from "Going Boondocking" in the intro section

[gizmotron]

Got after it today. Got the interior walls built and installed.

The back wall and the bathroom front wall are made of 3/4" CDX plywood and 5/8" CDX plywood. The 3/4" is held short of the ceiling's top about 4 inches shorter while the 5/8" goes all the way up. Later the 3/4" will go all the way up past the ceiling top and stick up an additional 4 to 5 inches above the roof's top. This will make the base for the pop up bathroom top. It will be a very quick fix once I cut the roof away. That's needed because winter is coming fast.

The inside bathroom wall is done the same way.

many pics.

 

[gizmotron]

more pics...

 

[gizmotron]

Wow, I got my solar tilt kit rails. And I'm stuck with what might be winter about three weeks early here in Idaho. The temp drops on Tuesday. I mean below the recommended temp for 35 year clear silicone calking. It says 40° f for the low temp. I have maybe Sunday and Monday to get them all installed. Does anyone know of a weatherproof calk that lasts a long time and works in colder temps? Thanks

 

[gizmotron]

Made it. Got the rails for the solar panels installed with bolts, washers, and 35 year silicone calking on both sides of the roof, inside and outside. No way these babies are flying off.

I snows late tonight.

 

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This is what the solar panel rails bolted down looks like on the inside:

 

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There is no way that these panels are going to be ripped out by the wind using fine threaded machine screws provided by the manufacturer. It would take Godzilla. They are bomb proof. Those are lock nuts.

 

[gizmotron]

Cool. Or should I say warm?

I have some blank space between the living room and the mechanical room where the lifepo4 battery is located in the ends of the bathroom space. One is under the sink and the other is above the water tank on the opposite side. I was going to put two holes in the shower wall to circulate warmer air to the mechanical room in back. But that was a design flaw that was not too good. But it occurred to me that a couple of 12 volt dc computer box fans might do the job if I build air ducts for them from high in the heated living room space and sent to a low point in the mechanical room while the second fan / duct pushing cold air in the mechanical room back to the living space from under the sink space in the shower / bathroom. I'll place the toggle switches for the fans near the wall mounted propane heater in the living room.

My goal is to have a clutter free living room. All that will be there is a table that folds down and the bed / couch. You will not see a mess. The mess will be in the back where the mechanical room is shared by the outdoor kitchen. I found a place for a three or four coat wide closet in the living space. The Iceco 40 will sit where the passenger seat use to be along with food storage. I want to get access to food both inside and outside. So you gain access from the passenger front side door from the outside and just grab stuff while you are inside if you must.

All the cookware, pots, pans, spatulas, and cups are in the back. If it storms I will bring them forward and set up the table for cooking and eating inside. Otherwise the table is set up in back for outdoor camping style living. It's meant to be like the teardrop trailer style of camping. Only I have plenty of solar power and propane lit heating, water heater, and flattop griddle. I'm building a vent for the 5 gallon propane tank with it's quick connect for all three of these propane fixtures.

I took Bob's advice for the heater from one of his videos. I love the Blackstone two burner 21" wide flat top griddle. Between that and my Ninja Foodi pressure cooker / air fryer / broiler it will be possible to be set for any meal I might want to make.

This is my idea of minimalism. I have a place for food, clothing, music equipment, bathroom personal items, and little else. It's like going to a motel room with a kitchen too. Everything fits under the bed / couch. I'm doing this that way to put an end to my usual method of living like a slob. I learned a million years ago to live out of a backpack on the side of a mountain in winter. That is the ultimate reality minimalism. I once crossed the High Sierras in winter with just a 16lb pack. I slept several days overnight in the snow. I used bivouac gear meant for stranded mountain climbers combined with my already excellent mountain climbing clothing. After that you gain a real perspective of what you need.

 

[gizmotron]

Got the back wall to the bathroom / shower done. That wall makes up the warm air space for the fresh water holding tank and warm air pumped into the mechanical room at the back. It ended up being way to small as a storage for a few items. All those walls will be covered in FRP for the shower walls. The three inches held back at the top with the inside layer of plywood is to anchor the pop up roof and to give me the exact location to cut when the time comes to install the pop up. There is enough room to use the toilette as it is if I duck my head just a little.

 

[gizmotron]

Got some more done.

Here is the duct work to move air from the mechanical room back into the living room to be heated back up again. It also includes the opposite end wall, that looks like the side wall of the shower / bath in these pictures.

Turns out that my folding 4ft by 2ft table fits perfectly into the space above the air duct.

 

[gizmotron]

I've decided to scrap the traditional RV door with the screen door in a false wall. It would be nice but I think a full screen in the opening of the two side doors would even be better. It also means that I will get done sooner. Another plus will be loading stuff in and out will be easier. What the heck, this is my first van build.

 

[gizmotron]

Here is the deal on this van. I don't want to bother trying to make it cosmetically pristine. I'm a guy. I'm not dragging along a flower bed, a lawn to mow, or doilies on the windows and placemats. I've spent my life turning over-glorified ding-bat homes into pseudo mansions for people to gloat about. Every van build is judged by how great the walls and cabinets look. Then how wonderful the bucket of poop, the anemic jug of water, and the garage for junk that you can't live without all works. They are still trying to make it a house. I know for a fact that the best things in life are places that you get to go and see. It's the people that you spend time with. I'm stuck between painting the CDX, staining the CDX with all it's imperfections and grading stamps, or spending a bunch of money showing off that once again I'm a real craftsman.

I like Bob Wells' "ground zero" modern look, where you know this is where the bombs landed. His newest backdrops behind his videos are great too. You can just hang up a curtain and presto, you are in scenic bliss. I like the roughed in new frame look, the way that it is now. It looks like the inside of a coffin without the velveteen brocade. Anyway, who gives a damn what the inside of a coffin looks like?

I think I will go with, what a jerk, he's too cheap to make it look like a craftsman's van. In fact it looks just like a craftsman's work van with a bathroom so that the craftsman can take a break without having to ask the customer to use their bathroom. It's a kind of an insurance broker's stealth. It looks just like a work van with a bunch of camping crap in it for a weekend fishing trip.

So I have a bucket of Glidden Griper primer. I could cover all the plywood in that, even the floor. Or I could get some other kind of clear covering. Then there is nothing. Or I could hand rub the dogsh*t plywood with MinWax Wood Finish Stain. That might look nice. It's my mancave on wheels.

 

[gizmotron]

Got the step area done so that later it can be covered in diamond plate aluminum.

 

[gizmotron]

Decided that I wanted the RV style screen door after all, so I went ahead and built the false wall for the inside. I also decided to do the interior walls in Poor Man's Fiberglass. I like that painted canvas look. The ceiling will be pine shiplap and the bathroom ceiling will still be the same FRP as the bathroom walls.

This might surprise a few here. There are no cabinets. Everything is stored in shallow tubs under the bed and where the passenger seat once was. The entire back of the van is dedicated to outdoor cooking. The living room is just a bed / couch and a bunch of open space.

 

[gizmotron]

Worked all day on this one. A few years ago I found an unused replacement RV door, casing with hinges, screen door, and interior trim from a  Habitat for Humanity store @ $100. This door package sells typically for $700. I took it apart and remanufactured it shorter. It now works at 45.5" tall.

 

[gizmotron]

Got some more done. Very tempting today. Looks like last 70 degree day here. I wanted to rip a hole in the roof for the pop up bathroom roof.

Not going to happen. But I did get a bunch more done. Almost ready to insolate the ceiling and board that up with lighting. Going to insolate the roof with 2" solid pink foamboard. I will temp the bathroom at no pop up height for now. Still, I might rip the crap out of it and hope for a later winter. Who knows. I would love to do the pop up in Quartzite this winter.

 

[gizmotron]

Are any of you starting to get this? It's a Cadillac Teardrop trailer in the style of a motorhome. It has the same side door, it has a bed, and it has a full bathroom. The kitchen is out back in the same stylizing. I will experiment with small computer fans running in the living space instead of roof vent fans like traditional RV's. I have two right now. They exhaust from the bathroom to the back mechanical / kitchen space and then get re pushed from the back space into the blank space at the side cargo doors outside if the RV door and that wall. That is where a tilt out window is in the existing van door. It drives the air out there.

 

[gizmotron]

OK, got all the firing done on the ceiling. Now I'm ready for the 250 Foamular 2 inch pink stuff. the wiring for the LED lighting, and the already stained and finished ship lap pine boards. I will cut slices in the foam on the convex side so that the very rigid stuff will bend with the roof. That's a trick I learned from Teardrop trailer builders.

 

[gizmotron]

I got the insolation in the ceiling installed and the first stained pine shiplap set in the right spot.

 

[gizmotron]

Got all the insolation in and the pine shiplap ceiling done with the wiring for the four surface mounted LED lights. Temped out the top section of the bathroom so that I can build the pop up bathroom roof in the spring without too much trouble.

 

[gizmotron]

Getting ready do design and build the backend mechanical area and tailgate kitchen. So a new isolation wall will go in above the right edge of the 30 gallon water tank. This will separate the plumbing and DC electric water pump from the main electric area that will all be on the left side. I have room for two 200ah Lifepow4 batteries, one on top of the other, and below the solar charger and inverter.

That leaves the right side for a pantry, and several really nice cooking tools like a Traeger Ranger, possibly a Blackstone 22 inch flat top griddle, and a Ninja Foodi Pressure cooker / air fryer, broiler. Also enough room for a 5 gallon propane bottle. Maybe even an instant hot propane camping water heater that will hang on the open doors when in use for a shower or big deal cleanup.

The area is 15" deep before the doors start to slope inward. So up high on the wall it's a few inches narrower in there. I've got room for the custom made ducted ventilation system with four 4" diameter DC powered computer fans, all with independent on/off switches located in the living room. There won't be a typical RV style roof vent like everyone uses.