My new E-350 Extended van

[coultergeist]

After the main support bars were cut and formed, then we worked on the support brackets for the top where the cross bars will attach.&nbsp; <br><br>These took only a few minutes to cut and flatten.

 

[coultergeist]

After getting the pieces cut and formed came the really tedious part.&nbsp; I used a good primer and primed all the pieces white.&nbsp; I did two coats of primer.&nbsp; After it had dried a day, I used white plasti-dip to spray three coats on all the pieces.&nbsp; The picture shows the line where they were hung to be sprayed.

 

[coultergeist]

After the plati-dip had sat for a full day, it was time to do the really fun part and get it installed on the van.&nbsp; This picture shows the newly painted uprights bolted to the original gutter mounts.&nbsp; <br><br>The two shorter uprights go above the side door on its door gutter.&nbsp; I was originally going to have it attached above the front doors, but a good friend that was assisting me pointed out that the doors would not have opened if I did.&nbsp; There wasn't quite enough clearance.&nbsp; <br><br>The side doors have a bigger gap and work just fine.

 

[coultergeist]

With the extensions attached to the original gutter mounts, it was time to tackle the really fun part and get the racks put on the van itself.&nbsp; I did the back bar first.&nbsp; It was the only place that the gutter mounts attached at the same height.&nbsp; I figures that would be the best way to make sure all the cross bars were level.<br><br>The next few pictures show them all attached.&nbsp; It took quite a while to level them and figure out the exact best placement and such.&nbsp; Its not a real quick job.&nbsp; It takes a bit of time and patience.&nbsp; <br><br>They are a lot more sturdy than I would have expected.&nbsp; They should be more than up to the task of supporting the solar panels and overhead cover.&nbsp; <br><br>The poles will be cut down to the appropriate height once I know exactly how high the panels will sit.&nbsp; They will probably end up being about half the height they are now.

 

[coultergeist]

I'm still waiting on a few solar parts to show up so I can't mount the panels yet.&nbsp; Should be able to in a week or two.&nbsp;&nbsp; <br><br>In the mean time, I was kind of burnt out and worked on a few small things.&nbsp; First was this.&nbsp; I finally got the labels made for my main switch area.&nbsp; They are magnetic and stick directly to the steel cover.

 

[rokguy]

<EM><STRONG><SPAN style="COLOR: #888888">She's looking good there, coultergeist. Man you weren't joking, that is a high roof rack mount. Enjoying your build good stuff.</SPAN></STRONG></EM><BR><EM><STRONG><SPAN style="COLOR: #888888">Geoff</SPAN></STRONG></EM>

 

[daminc]

I really enjoy following this build

 

[coultergeist]

Thanks Geoff and Daminc.

It is coming along. I appreciate the support and interest. I hope it helps others with their builds in some way.

If you guys think of anything I could do better or improve, feel free to let me know. I'm always in search of great ideas.

Patrick

 

[coultergeist]

I worked a little on the solar setup this past weekend.&nbsp; I'm still waiting on some pieces to mount the panels themselves, so I worked on the parts I had the pieces for already.<br><br>The first thing I did was install the MPPT charge controller.&nbsp; This is it attached just to the battery bank.&nbsp; The hole below it that the wiring comes through will be finished out once all the wires have been ran to the controller.<br><br>It seems to be a pretty good little controller for the cost.&nbsp; It is nice to finally have a full time battery gauge.&nbsp; The charge points are adjustable too.&nbsp; I think it will do a good job.<br><br>

 

[coultergeist]

The next step was to get the power cables from the solar panels into the van.&nbsp; I didn't want to drill any holes in the roof if I could help it.&nbsp; I looked around a lot and eventually decided on this type of connector.&nbsp; It is designed for boats to plug in trolling motors.&nbsp; It can handle up to 50 amps of power at 12v or 24v.&nbsp; <br><br>I decided to mount it just above the tail light on the driver's side.&nbsp; There was plenty of space in that void for the connector and cabling.&nbsp; There is no way to reach it from the rear, so I temporarily removed the tail light and used that opening to reach in and tighten the back of the connector.&nbsp; <br><br>The second picture shows the receptacle after installation.&nbsp; It is waterproof.&nbsp; The connector you see in the third picture will be attached to the cable coming from the solar panels and will plug into the receptacle.&nbsp; <br><br>Now I just have to get the panels themselves mounted.

 

[Ballenxj]

Hi Patrick, No, you don't want to drill holes in the roof if you can help it. Geoff (RokGuy) posted a neat weatherhead that allowed the wiring to enter from the side. He said he never had a leak. <br>The ladder racks give your truck a more "industrial look, which I think is good. <br>Cant wait to see the panels installed. <img src="/images/boards/smilies/smile.gif" class="emoticon bbc_img"> <br>-Bruce

 

[coultergeist]

Thanks Bruce.

I'm hoping to get the panels up this weekend or next week depending on when the mounts get here or if its raining. I'm really anxious to finally get them done.

Patrick

 

[coultergeist]

I'm going to continue this post here on the new forum. Hopefully, the rest of the posts will show up before too long.

This picture shows the charge controller working. This was at 10:00 in the morning. I think it's a pretty good charge rate. Made it up to 15amps during the first day, but that was with the van in partial shade.


This picture shows how the van looks from the side with the panels mounted. I was going to cover the front with a plastic panel for extra shade, but I think I will go ahead and get more panels and finish out the roof that way.


Patrick

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I started working on the passenger side door exhaust fan yesterday. I am using a server type fan. It flows about 250cfm. I had one on one of my old computers and they work great.

I took off the fabric panel that covered the upper part of the door on the inside and took out the super thin insulation they had there. I then scraped off the old adhesive and repainted the inside of the door. After that I marked and drilled and cut out the holes for the fan.


After that, I mounted the fan itself.


Weather was a bit chilly today, so I didn't get much of anything done on it today. I will mount the outside cover and run the wiring tomorrow hopefully.

If the fan doesn't flow as much as I'd like, I can bolt a second fan to the front of this one and greatly improve the air flow, but I think one will be just fine.

Patrick

 

[coultergeist]

I worked on getting the exhaust fan finished up today. This is the outside vent cover. It was meant for house use. It only had four mounting holes originally. The first step was to drill additional holes around the edges so that it could seal properly.



It originally had a flexible steel pipe section for a hose to attach to it affixed to the back side. I removed that. The exhaust hole was basically exactly the same size as the fan. In order for it to sit flush against the door, I had to cut out a few notches with tin snips for the fan mounting screws.



This next picture shows how the exterior of the door looked before the hood was attached.

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The next step was to apply putty tape around the edges of where the vent cover would attach. I put extra putty tape in the corners since the mounting holes didn't go all the way to the corners. I figured that would add a little no-leak insurance.



After applying the tape, I needed to make holes for the screws to go through. I've found that using a center punch is the simplest thing to do.



The final outside step was to mount the exhaust vent hood. This shows it mounted on the door.



This next picture shows the fan from the inside. I got the wires hooked up and tried it out today. It flows a lot of air. It works better than I expected. I will get the wires routed and secured tomorrow.



Patrick

 

[coultergeist]

We were super busy at work the last few weeks, so I haven't gotten a whole lot done. The overtime did make it easier to finally order a lot of the remaining things that are needed. A good friend found this dish strainer a few weeks ago.

It can fold flat and take up very little space. When it's folded out it is almost a perfect fit for the sink.

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I did a little black Friday shopping. I picked up this temperature gauge for the fridge and the van interior.


I wanted to see how cold the freezer section in the fridge was getting. From a warm start it took about two hours to get completely cooled down. It made it down to 4 degrees in the freezer part. I was really surprised it got that low.

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I also picked up a blue ray/Dvd player for the van during a black Friday sale. It was only $38. I wanted one before but couldn't ever find one small enough to fit in the space set aside for it. This one fit perfectly. I guess sometimes you just have to be patient.

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My first big piece showed up today. It got here pretty fast. It is a front mounted receiver hitch.


On some models on vans there is a notch you can insert the bolts through, but on mine it was necessary to first take off the bumper to install it. It's not as bad as it sounds. Just four bolts that came off pretty easily.


After the bumper was off, I had to drill two holes a little bit larger and than it bolted right on. It was actually a lot easier with the bumper off. You can reach right in and insert the bolts where they need to be. If anybody wants to install one of these, that's the method I recommend.


The last step was just to put the bumper back on. This went pretty easy too. It is not nearly as heavy as I would have though it would be.


With it in place, I can mount any hitch mounted things to the front of the van as well. I plan to have a winch mounted there normally. It will be in a hitch mount so it can be moved and used at the back if needed there.

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I have a regular hitch for the back coming as well as an antenna and a fantastic fan on the way. They should all be here in the next few days.

 

[coultergeist]

Several more parts have showed up in the last few days. I got the hitch mount for the winch a few days ago. The winch won't be here for a few weeks, but this is the mount in the front receiver to give you an idea of how it will look.

 

[WheelEstate USA]

Sweet

 

[coultergeist]

The rear hitch arrived here a few days ago too. This is it on the ground.



I got it mostly installed today. It would have been done, but it started raining not long after I started and it hasn't stopped since. It was going really well. You just have to drop the spare tire out of the way. Four of the six holes are already there. You use those to mount it and then drill for the last two holes. I got one of them done before the rain started. Shouldn't take long to finish up tomorrow.



Both this and the front receiver hitch are curt hitches. I ordered them both from amazon. They had the best price I could find and had free shipping. The total for both was less than $300. Considering that the rear hitch is a class IV with 10,000 lb rating, that was a really good deal.

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I picked up this hitch mounted cargo carrier a month or so ago. Finally able to see it on the vehicle. I intend to make a box around it to hold my generator and possibly propane tank.

 

[coultergeist]

I finally have about a week of days with no rain at all in the forecast. Decided I would work on getting the fantastic fan in. I've been holding off on this a long time because I wasn't entirely sure where I was going to put it. I have more solar panels coming to put on top, so real estate up there is pretty scarce. After much soul searching, I have decided to mount it on the back of the van in the high top. It will be right almost at the same height it would be if it was in the roof and will pull more air through the bed area, which should make it more comfortable at night for sleeping. As a bonus, it won't take up any room on top of the van.



This was pucker time. It's one thing to decide it's the best place for it. It's another thing altogether to cut a huge hole in the fiberglass top of your vehicle. This was the first cut. There was a little bit of insulation in there when I removed the piece, but not very much. I intend to pack more in there before I tighten the fan down.



After cutting the hole, I test fit the fan in the outer hole. It fit great the first time. No trimming required. A good start so far. This picture gives you an idea how it will work. There will be a vent cover that will go on around this so that the fan can be left on in the rain without the inside getting wet.



The next step was to get the inside hole cut. This was more challenging. It needed to line up with the outside hole pretty closely. I thought about it a while trying to figure out the best way to make this happen. The difficulty is it has to be cut from the inside. Finally, I came up with what I thought was a simple way to make it happen. I took a piece of cardboard and inserted it into the hole from the back of the van. I put it up perpendicular against the cut resting on the inner wall of the high top. I used the cardboard edge to trace the corners on the inner wall. Then I used a drill and made a hole exactly in each corner.

These holes became the aligning marks for the inside. Went inside and used a straight edge to draw a line between the outer part of the corner circles. Then it was pucker time again. I cut out the inner hole.

It turned out really well. The bottom was a little lower than I wanted, but not enough to matter.



This shows how it will look with the garnish installed. The inner and outer wall of the high top are a lot further apart than I thought. There's almost six inches in there.

Tomorrow I should be able to drill all the screw holes and get it mounted up permanently.

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I ran out of daylight before I could get the screw holes drilled for the fantastic fan. I was emboldened by how well the cutting in the fiberglass went, so I decided to work on a mini project in the front of the van.



There is a dead space in the front of the high top above the windshield. On some similar vehicles this space is used for storage or electronics of different sorts. On mine it was closed off. I decided to take a chance and drilled a pilot hole to see inside. It was a dead space so I cut the hole a bit bigger. The white you see in the hole is the minimal insulation they had in there.



I pulled out the insulation and it turned out to be a pretty big cavity. It's about a foot deep and as tall as the high top. I intend to make the entry a bit bigger and then frame it out and put a set of doors on it.

The jack antenna will also be mounted through this area. Hopefully, that will get done in a few days.

 

[coultergeist]

I worked on the fan and other things over the holidays when I had time. The first picture shows the fan as seen from the inside of the van.



The second pictures shows how it would look with the garnish in place. The roof is much thicker than I thought. It almost wasn't deep enough.



This picture shows it bolted down from the outside.



I put a vent cover on it so that it could be used at all times, even in the rain. I figured it isn't much use if you can't use it when you need it. Definitely gives it a distinctive look.



At the point in the next picture it should have been done, but I decided to adapt it a little bit. Looked great for about a day.

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The fantastic fan that I installed did not have the thermostat option. I would have liked it to have it, but it was just too good of a deal to pass up. I had ordered a temperature controller for a different fan. When it got here, I realized it would probably do a good job for this fan as well. The first step was to take off the fan garnish and measure out and cut a hole for the controller. It isn't very big.



A little simple wiring and it was mounted in the hole.



I think this is actually a better option. It can be set on a heating or cooling mode. It will normally be on a cooling mode, which will turn on the fan as needed when the van gets too warm. This would be mainly in exhaust mode. You can set how long it will run before it shuts down and how much of a tolerance you want to set before it starts back up again.

In heat mode, it would draw in warmer air from outside. If it has been a really cool night, it could be set to draw in warmer air as the day gets warmer and thus keep the inside warmer automatically.

The only down side is that the temperature reading was only available in Celsius. It's not a big deal. I will make a chart to sit on the wall next to the controller so I can quickly set it.

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I got the upgraded charge controller and the other two solar panels on Christmas Eve. It was quite the adventure to get them. I ordered them directly from the manufacturer in China. Ended up being a good deal, but it was a bit of extra work. I posted about it under the electrical area of the forum if you're interested in the story.

The first two pictures are the charge controller and the lcd panel that came with it. It is a 60 amp controller. It should easily be able to handle what the panels can put out.





The next picture shows the new panels. They are rated at 190 watts each. I already have two 158 watt panels, so the total possible output would be around 700 watts.

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The first thing I did was install the new charge controller. I knew I would have to move the panels that were already installed, but I wanted to verify the charge controller was working fine before I did that. The first picture shows it installed in place of the original controller.



The second picture shows the display when active. It goes dark after a few minutes to save power. It is in standby mode in the picture because it was after dark when I took the picture. You can make quite a few adjustments between the controller and lcd panel.

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The next step was to add the new panels to the roof. This is more complex than it sounds. I wanted to maximize roof usage, so there is very little extra room. In order for them to fit I would have to remove the original panels and remount them all in a different direction. This proved to be more challenging than I thought it would be as there is not much room under the panels to work with. The first picture shows it from a ground level.



In the second picture you can see it from above. The panels effectively cover the majority of the roof. It's not quite completely done in these pictures. At this point, the bigger panels on the driver's side are completely bolted down and done. I had just finished the wiring so I could test it all out. The panels were putting out about 36 volts total at around 10 amps later in the afternoon. Hopefully I can see it under full load today and get a good feel for how much it can produce.



It is winter and the sun is fairly low on the horizon with a few trees that partially shade the panels where it is sitting as I work on it. All in all, the power it was making yesterday was a good indicator of what it should be able to do.