One Awesome Inch - Van Build

[One Awesome Inch]

Well, I bought my van today. Its a 99 Ford E150 with 132K miles or 214K km. The engine and tranny are tip top and it drives very nice. It did suffer a fender bender and as a result the driver's side upper panel has been replaced. The van's frame is a tiny bit bent as evidenced by the fact that the rear barn door doesnt close 100% the way it should. It does close, but it isn't quite right if you know what I mean. The driver door is slightly off too, but better than the rear door. There is a fair sized dent on the sliding door and the area right behind it. The door still closes properly, but yeah, not too nice looking. I think the body dents and doors add up to a big reason why it was priced as it was... which works for me. The body, while somewhat important, is the least of my concerns compared to the engine and transmission. Aside from that the ignition is a bit wonky in that you have to pull the key out about 1 mm in order for the tumblers to allow you to turn it. Not a huge deal, but a consideration nonetheless. Aside from that, everything looks good. I talked him down to $2200 from $2400. Plus he said I could just keep whatever was in it as far as tools etc. The best of which is this saw:

I plan to use it for my build and then sell it. Any idea of what its worth?


I looked pretty hard for a couple of weeks and this is about as good a deal as I was going to get considering the low mileage, price and overall condition of the van.

As to the build itself its likely going to be a **slow** process. I only have a couple free nights a week I can work on it... for 2 or 3 hours at a time. It might take me til Spring or Summer.... who knows. As it stands now, I am in a situation where I can take it slow and hopefully do a good job, but that could change quickly if the SHTF quickly in my living situation.

I will take pics as I go along, but I warn you that I am no carpenter and my skills/tools are rudimentary. That said, I am a *bit* handy so I do have some confidence it will turn out okay.

Here are some pre build pics.

 

[One Awesome Inch]

So I just took a good look at removing the shelves and noticed there are quite a few bolts that go into the floor of the van. If I remove those am I going to see daylight?

I don't want to leave them in but at the same time I dont want a bunch of holes in the floor.

What's the best way to proceed?

 

[Optimistic Paranoid]

Evidence of a bent frame would leave me a bit concerned about steering and front end alignment issues. Did it steer and stop ok during the test drive? Any sign of abnormal tire wear visible?

I believe I would take it to a good front end shop for an alignment before putting any money into the interior. Don't be surprised if they find worn ball joints, tie rod ends, or other non-cheap parts that are worn and need replacing as part of that.

Yes, pulling the bolts will leave holes in the floor. You have a number of options for dealing with this.

Regards
John

 

[One Awesome Inch]

Yeah, I can probably guess around as to what to do with the holes, but I was hoping someone would chime in as to the *best* way of doing it.

As to the issue of a bent frame, I don't know... seems okay. The steering is straight and does not pull to either side.

Here's a couple pics of the front tires.

Passenger front

Driver front

I didnt take pics of the rear tires but they have more tread and seem to have more even wear.

Thoughts?

 

[Almost There]

You could just bondo or fiberglass over the holes if you're going to put in flooring anyways. It doesn't have to be pretty, it just has to seal the holes so that road splash, dust and exhaust doesn't come in. Test thoroughly to make sure you've got it sealed before laying floor!!

The bolts may be a 2 person job and heat might be necessary depending on how long the bolts have been in place. I took seating out of a van once and the guys at the body shop had to use a cutting torch on a couple of the bolts.

If there's any other work around like taking out the shelves at the floor line and then covering it up, ie sinking insulation layer over the bolt heads, you might want to consider that as an easy way out.

 

[akrvbob]

My cargo van came with shelves and I thought they were a good size and placement so I left them in. Do you have a plan that requires yours to come out?

I had a friend who just used large fender washers and caulk to cover over the holes bolts left.
Bob

 

[Oberneldon]

When I bought my used Class B I had a lot of experience buying used vehicles, but each purchase is different and I am still oped to learn so I took it to my mechanic that I trust and asked him to go through it as I was taking a cross country trip and didn't want to have problems in the road that could have been predicted. He picked up on the front drivers side sitting lower than the passenger side by 1.5". We examined it and found that it was the front coil springs that were not equally compressed.

The 1994 C30 chassis springs were original and I was glad to find the problem. A few hundred dollars later it was fixed and found a truck place to have the front end aligned. The previous owner had put nice new Michelin tires on it and they would have been trashed over my 13K+ mile trip.

I give you this story as I look at your tires. My advice is to have a trusted mechanic look over the suspension. You have side wear on the front passenger tire and the picture is not good enough to tell on the drivers tire. If all is ok get an alignment as the people doing the alignment will tell you if there are other front end issues that are not found by the mechanic and you will save what you have for tires.

 

[gypsycowboy]

I fiberglassed over the holes in my floor.

 

[HarmonicaBruce]

the rear barn door doesn't close 100% the way it should. It does close, but it isn't quite right if you know what I mean.

My old van, 2002 sprinter, had been hit in the rear and my rear doors did close, but if I was out in the rain I would get some droplets on my stuff. I'd lay a tarp over my junk back there. I suggest you use the van, do some camping and such, before getting too involved in decking it out. You'll need to know how water tight it is before doing a lot of work. It sounds like you got a pretty good deal, good luck with it.

 

[Reducto]

The doors might have just been knocked out of alignment a bit in the crash. Mine had the same problem - I just had to loosen the bolts on the door brackets and move it around until it fit right.

I'd keep the shelves personally, but to each their own. I had some bolts that were not easily accessible from the underside so I had to use an angle grinder to remove them from the top. To cover the holes in my floor I glued pennies on top of them. Cheap, won't rust, and can be removed later if you want the holes back.

 

[LeeRevell]

Pennies as fillers/covers..... that is ingenious!
I have lots of old pennies, no need to fear any holes again!

 

[One Awesome Inch]

That penny idea is a great one! Thing is up here in Canada, pennies are actually getting a little scarce as the government is no longer making them and taking them out of circulation for the last year or so.

Still I am sure I could find a dozen or so fairly easily.

I am also not sure how I am going to remove those bolts as they are bolted on both sides. I think I am going to try vice grips to keep them stationary while I turn from underneath.

---

A few days ago I managed to get most of the junk out of the back. Next step is to remove those shelves and get started on the floor.

Progress is slow as I knew it would be. I have a few weeks off for xmas so I am hoping to get a bunch of stuff done then.

 

[One Awesome Inch]

Finally got the time to unfasten the shelves. That was not a fun job even though it appears to be easy. Had to use vice-grips on the inside of the van to stop the bolt from moving while I turned the nut from underneath the van. Broke two bolts in half. Turned many, many times in awkward positions for a whole 8 bolts. Anyway, its done now. Had a guy off CL pay me $150 for the shelving and he said it was a great deal. Guess I underpriced them, but I need them gone so I can get onto the next phase. The walls. Couldn't do anything with those shelves in there.

Before I start the walls, I am going to start the stealth license plate. I will document with pics how I do it. I need ventilation in the van asap. There are droplets of water forming on the bare metal roof even though the van is empty and unoccupied.

 

[One Awesome Inch]

Here is my current idea as far as layout goes. It could very well change as my ideas evolve.

For the chair I think I am going to either buy a car seat off CL or just pull out and use the front passenger seat. Just not sure I want to pull that front passenger seat out as it will likely hurt my stealth... at least a little bit. I plan to bolt the car seat onto a piece of plywood so I can put some small casters on it. This will allow me to move it easier and allow access to the rear door.

The sliding door will be covered over and not accessible.

 

[Optimistic Paranoid]

What kind of heater, and how close will it actually be to the stove/ lpg tank?

Will you be able to stand (crouch?) in front of the stove and comfortably cook with the heater running?

That's the only thing about your diagram that jumped out at me. The rest looks pretty good.

Regards
John

 

[One Awesome Inch]

Considering the humidity up here in Vancouver, I am strongly thinking of getting the vented Dickinson Newport P9000. Its going to run me about $850 after taxes but the only other contender is the Olympian Wave 3 and up here thats going to be at least $300. I'm just not comfortable buying a pre-owned propane heater.

The plan is to have the Dickinson in its own enclosed spot. The heat mainly comes from the front glass and some from the top. The sides only need an inch or so for clearance. As far as access to the stove I think that depends on how I setup the storage drawers beside it. I figure I need 18 to 24 inches to comfortably access the stove. The thought with having all the gas units on one side is that it will be easier to keep the hose from getting damaged as it can all be tucked away.

 

[Duck]

Sent you a PM, but just saw the part about the clearances needed, I had one of the p9000s in my boat, and I found it needed a lot more space than that.

 

[flying kurbmaster]

the sides of the stove don't get very hot, I was surprised how little heat comes from the sides but OP has a point about cooking next to it, here is a couple of suggestions, the stove could go above the toilet and have a separate smaller gaz bottle on that side, aside form my kurbmster I have a small Dodge caravan poptop with a swivelling front seat which is great for extending your living space, you could possibly build that wall so it retracts behind the drivers seat wall so you could still get your stealth but have use of the swivel front seat. As for the holes in the floor, coins work well but you can likely get little plastic plugs made special for plugging holes from your local home depot for a few cents. what kind of toilet are you thinking of getting, I have a porta potti in the kurbmaster but I use a small bucket in the caravan , buy those composting plastic bags, line it and tie them up ,throw them out I do the same thing in the porta potti, use the bags instead of having to dump it, I pee in a bottle and dump that wherever. the van looks good.

 

[One Awesome Inch]

Yeah actually having the stove on its own smaller propane cannister might be the way to go. I am only going to be warming stuff up and boiling water so I am not needing it more than 10 minutes per use. Shouldn't use that much propane that way.

I appreciate your thoughts about having the stove on a hinged shelf near the toilet... that might work. However, I also kinda want everything to have a "home" and not have to pull stuff out every time I want to use it.

The toilet is going to be a Luggable Loo kind of setup. I am wanting to contain it within a wooden box with a hinged lid so that after I do a #2 I can tie up the bag and close both lids. The wooden box would have gasket tape or weather stripping to keep things more air tight. I could put some kind of weighted item on the lid to help with air tightness as well.

The plastic plugs are a good idea. I might be able to get into HD today if its open later and see if I can find those.

As to the swivel chair... I may go that route, but first thought is to have a solid partrition with a 2 inch insulated wall. This will hopefully reduce outside noise, block light and decrease any chance of condensation forming on the windshield.

This van has to be as stealthy as possible as I will live in the same area near my work and children.

---

Sent you a PM, but just saw the part about the clearances needed, I had one of the p9000s in my boat, and I found it needed a lot more space than that.

Thanks bro. Something to definitely keep in mind.

 

[Duck]

Yeah actually having the stove on its own smaller propane cannister might be the way to go. I am only going to be warming stuff up and boiling water so I am not needing it more than 10 minutes per use. Shouldn't use that much propane that way.

I appreciate your thoughts about having the stove on a hinged shelf near the toilet... that might work. However, I also kinda want everything to have a "home" and not have to pull stuff out every time I want to use it.

The toilet is going to be a Luggable Loo kind of setup. I am wanting to contain it within a wooden box with a hinged lid so that after I do a #2 I can tie up the bag and close both lids. The wooden box would have gasket tape or weather stripping to keep things more air tight. I could put some kind of weighted item on the lid to help with air tightness as well.

The plastic plugs are a good idea. I might be able to get into HD today if its open later and see if I can find those.

As to the swivel chair... I may go that route, but first thought is to have a solid partrition with a 2 inch insulated wall. This will hopefully reduce outside noise, block light and decrease any chance of condensation forming on the windshield.

This van has to be as stealthy as possible as I will live in the same area near my work and children.

---

Thanks bro. Something to definitely keep in mind.

---

No problem, the bottom/top/front clearance are definitely the most important but I found the seat back beside the stove got warmer than I'd like, I went with a 6" space, though it says you can get away with 2". I also upgraded the fan on mine, most of the space warming is done by the air that is forced around the firebox and out the vent over the glass, but I found the stock fan didn't move enough air for me.


EDIT: http://www.amazon.com/Eva-Dry-Edv-1100-Eva-dry-Electric-Dehumidifier/dp/B000H0ZDD2
Helps keep the condensation down, I had one running in my boat 24/7 all winter. It's got a transformer brick for use on AC power, I just wired it in direct to my 12V system instead, removed the top grill to get more airflow, and drilled a hole in the tank to add a drain line to my sink. It doesn't solve the problem, but it makes a noticeable difference.