Just got my van, excited to start the conversion

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thezenvan

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Hi everyone, my name is Dotan. I just got a 2013 Nissan NV2500 with 60K miles on it and I'm excited to start the conversion. After checking out a few conversion posts/video I think I'm going to use this as template 

Here is my new ride 
[img=640x480]
 
Holy moley. You picked a masterpiece to follow. I've seen that vid before and am amazed at what he has done.


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Welcome Dotan to the CRVL forums! To help you learn the ins and outs of these forums, this "Tips & Tricks" post lists some helpful information to get you started. We look forward to hearing more from you. highdesertranger
 
Congrats and welcome. Can't get much better of a blank slate to start with and Lou's builds are an excellent platform to model yours after. Can't wait to watch your progress.
 
Nice rig and cool video, but waaaaay too complicated for me.  :p  I suck at woodwork and electrical.  

Looking forward to the build thread and photos.  :cool:
 
Congrats.......sweet new home!!!!! So excited for you and can't wait to see your progress!
 
BigT said:
Nice rig and cool video, but waaaaay too complicated for me.  :p  I suck at woodwork and electrical.  

Looking forward to the build thread and photos.  :cool:

Thanks, I don't have any experience with woodwork and electrical but I'm willing to learn. I was planning on using the resources at my local Makerspace to help with that :D
 
thezenvan said:
Hi everyone, my name is Dotan. I just got a 2013 Nissan NV2500 with 60K miles on it and I'm excited to start the conversion. After checking out a few conversion posts/video I think I'm going to use this as template 

Here is my new ride 
[img=637x480]

How exciting, Dotan! Congrats. A giant step on the road to so many wonderful possibilities. You are encouraging me well in my struggle to decide to purchase a van for our retirement adventuring. My hubby and I have been test driving used passenger and hightop vans recently. We drove a new hightop NV2500 two days ago. This is the first van that my husband has liked. A man slow to speak, his first audible reaction after sitting in the passenger seat was to point out that both of his feet could comfortably rest flat, side by side on the floorboard. Score! Those words were music to my ears. I had not known that was even on the criteria list! He was ready to write out a check right then! But hey! The driver of this team a insists on a road test. In tighter and tighter situations I struggled to get the mirrors set right and learn to use the backup monitor of a windowless van. When we returned to the lot, the salesman let me back us into a parking space between two cars. Amazingly, once home I quickly found your post and followed your link to the video tours of Lee's builds. Oh, my! I am giddy with joy. What a day! Thank you for your timely post that has helped me see a way forward through our doubts. We are so much closer to taking that same giant step following in your footprints. Lead on, sir! Best wishes. Enjoy the journey. TurtleLady.
 
Turtlelady said:
How exciting, Dotan! Congrats. A giant step on the road to so many wonderful possibilities. You are encouraging me well in my struggle to decide to purchase a van for our retirement adventuring. My hubby and I have been test driving used passenger and hightop vans recently. We drove a new hightop NV2500 two days ago. This is the first van that my husband has liked. A man slow to speak, his first audible reaction after sitting in the passenger seat was to point out that both of his feet could comfortably rest flat, side by side on the floorboard. Score! Those words were music to my ears. I had not known that was even on the criteria list! He was ready to write out a check right then! But hey! The driver of this team a insists on a road test. In tighter and tighter situations I struggled to get the mirrors set right and learn to use the backup monitor of a windowless van. When we returned to the lot, the salesman let me back us into a parking space between two cars. Amazingly, once home I quickly found your post and followed your link to the video tours of Lee's builds. Oh, my! I am giddy with joy. What a day! Thank you for your timely post that has helped me see a way forward through our doubts. We are so much closer to taking that same giant step following in your footprints. Lead on, sir! Best wishes. Enjoy the journey. TurtleLady.

That's great to hear! I only started with my conversion but I'm certainly happy with my van choice :D
 
Progress Update

Van Issues
  • After driving the van for a little while the TPMS light came on indicating that the rear right tire is underinflated so I filled it up, the warning light shut off but came back on a few days later so there was a slow leak in that tire. I looked online and found that Discount Tire offers free tire patching (to attract new customers) so I took the van over and about an hour or so later they finished working on it. They patched the tire (there was a small nail in it) and reset the TPMS for free :D
  • My passenger mirror is shaking, I got the NV service manual which fully details how to service (duh) the van so I'm going to tackle the issue during the build. Haven't completely figured out if I need to remove the front door panel yet to do so but I'll update on this later on
  • The third and final issue that came up, I connected a OBDII reader and read the codes from the van's ECU and it popped up a warning with code P0303 (Cylinder #3 Misfire) and a warning light came on. I started searching around and someone suggested to me that it might be because the van has been sitting at the dealership for a while and it built up gunk in the engine so using some STP might solve the issue. I got some STP, cleared the code and drove the van until a few days later the warning light came back on again and the code as well. I received another suggestion to try BG44K (another engine/fuel cleaner) so I might try that. I've searched some more and it seems like there are a whole host of possible causes but the most common one seems to be a faulty spark plug so I think I'll try that later.
Build Progress
I started the prep phase by taking out the wooden panels on the walls, the bulkhead and the cargo floor (by removing the seats). Here a couple of before/after pictures
[img=350x470]http://thezenvan.com/images/IMG_201...nvan.com/images/IMG_20170520_121057.jpg[/img]

And a timelapse video of the prep
[video=youtube]

Most of the work I've done at my local Makerspace since they have plenty of tools and knowledgable people that I can ask about ideas I have regarding the build. I've mostly been able to work on the build during weekends but I'm planning to make more available for the conversion.

Build Plans
  • Still in the prep phase I'm planning on finishing it by removing the cab floor cover (the cargo floor cover was wet so I'm assuming the material holds moisture so I probably won't use it in the build). This will require removing the seats and the center console (and possibly some of the dashboard). I also plan on removing the lights and wiring in the cargo area (and possibly re-use them later in the build).
  • After the prep I'm planning to wash the van from the outside to make sure there are no leaks and then go into the cleaning phase. There's plenty of gunk that I need to remove in the cargo area. After cleaning I want to paint with anti-rust (haven't noticed any rust inside but to help prevent future rust) and anti-mold (for prevention) paint.
  • Next phase is the fan, I plan on using the Maxxair 5100K after cutting a hole on the roof between the cargo ribs (not sure if I want to mount it in the middle of the cargo area or the front).
    After that is the sound and thermal insulation, I still haven't settled on which materials to use since I haven't found the best option for me. I narrowed it down to Closed-Cell Spray Foam, 3M Thinsulate and PolyISO Styrofoam with FatMat RattleTrap. I've seen plenty of posts and videos about people recommending different products but I haven't figured yet what I'm going to go with but I'm leaning towards Thinsulate since from my research I gathered that it is hydrophobic, mold resistant offers sound and and has a good R-value but it somewhat expensive. I'm still researching and am open to suggestions.
  • Next phase is the woodworking, building the cabinets, bed and storage. I've only done basic research regarding this but I'm planning to utilize the knowledge of the people at the Makerspace to help with this phase. The plan so far is to build it all using Birch Plywood and coat it with Durapoxy (used in the example video that I posted earlier)
  • Electrical is the next phase, I don't know much about it and I haven't made the exact calculations as to how many solar panels and what battery capacity I would need but I am planning on going with LifePO4 batteries as I've read that in the long wrong they're a better choice for me compared to AGM because of the depth of discharge and weight.
  • The final stage in the build is the plumbing, I don't plan to have a shower (possibly in a later build?), I will only be using a sink with fresh and grey tanks. I will install a filter but I don't think I need a water heater.
That's the progress and the future plans, if anyone has any suggestions/improvements I'm always open to them :D

I'll be posting more progress reports here and on Facebook or www.thezenvan.com
 

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