Square Peg into a Round hole

[Scott3569]

Hey guys Need some help and opinions here

Trying to figure out How I can make some supports so that I can start building my Storage Cabinets

Took me a little while to figure this out, But I finally got a good profile of the contours if the body.. 

When finished these will be places where I can attach my storage to.. 

OR

I will just Cut these profiles out on a full board to make a "side" so to speak.. 

Keep in mind I am not building this for it to return back to a minivan, it will be a camper the rest of it's life.. 

also this is an 06 grand caravan

What you are looking at in the photos is just inside of the sliding driver door, Just behind the door seal..

Also the finished piece will most likely also be attached to the bed from on the bottom side.. 

Hope I have given enough info..

 

[bullfrog]

By storage what do you mean, wooden cabinets? My personal opinion is in a van and especially a mini van everything should be as light as possible. I would use several plastic totes for storage of heavy items that would set under an interior door with 1/4" plywood glued to the top to use as a bed platform. I would anchor it with a few eye bolts and a ratchet strap. the cabinets would be the foam ones discussed here before that not only fit the contour of the wall but wedge between the ceiling and the floor again maybe a couple of eye bolts or attachment points. Cargo nets or milkcrates could be used as well on the foam shelves instead of wooden shelves and cabinets with heavy doors again I would use eye bolts and straps. Wood is very pretty but very heavy and expensive now days. It is important to remember vehicles like these don't usually like heavy loads. You are not building a house or even a boat, you need to be thinking like someone building an ultralight airplane. Just my opinion and none of my stuff will win a people's choice award at a car or RV show! LOL!!!

 

[Scott3569]

Well my friend, I am trying to keep things as light as possible, and in hind sight, I probably should have never tore out the interior.. 
That said I have figured out the template that I needed.. 
Yes it will be wooden Cabinets, Most likely from 1x2's and 1/4 ply 

would I do this again in a minivan absolutely not, But it is what I have at the moment or at least the next 1 year or 2. 
When it is all said and done, the weight I am adding to the van will probably be about equal to the seats I have removed.. believe it or not, The seats that came out of it, were quite heavy..

 

[bullfrog]

Hope it turns out well and works for you! Yes the seats are heavy, the one I saw they actually managed to lose weidht by useing the foam for the build out after removing the seats. They got a really neat leather look by using brown paper bags as a layer to cover the foam.

 

[Scott3569]

That sounds cool.. and interesting I never thought of using foam, wouldn't think it was very study

 

[bullfrog]

Once it is coated and completely encased in canvas or cloth and TightBond III (if you want to be sure it is waterproof) the cloth shrinks and stresses it. Those shelves can easily hold canned goods and it is easily repaired, if you hit it with a hammer hard enough to dent it you can hit it with a heat gun and it pops right back. There was a series of videos on YouTube doing a van build out but the stickies on tnttt.com foamies forum has the basics. I have a trailer and a camper I built using their methods and I backed the camper straight on into a 3" diameter tree branch and snapped it off without much if any damage, it really is amazing. You should check it out!

 

[Scott3569]

Well thanks now you got me sucked into youtube, and thinking that is how I need to build the rest of it out.. Because I needed more wood.. But with this.. WOW

 

[bullfrog]

You really don't need many tools as you can make really nice cuts with almost any thing. A hot wire cutter can be made easily or Harbor Freight has a hot knife for less than $10 I believe if you want to avoid dust. If a paint brush fits in your hand you can do this. Old sheets make a smooth fine surface but I like the coarse Harbor Freight canvas drop cloths as they hold paint better. You can use stewer sticks and pin everything together while gluing or duct tape. It is just really crazy easy and light as you can pick up completed cabinets one handed to install. Just make some test pieces or make something small and see how it works for you.

 

[Scott3569]

LOL one thing I do not do is go small, I either take it full force and fall flat on my face ( which happens most of the time) or I succeed and learn a new skill..

I watched some videos before I proceed with my build, I will watch more. honestly these has so many benefits, I am surprised more are not doing it

 

[bullfrog]

Like many things there is no one right way and there is some art and crafts skill involved to make it look really nice (I don't have any of those skills) but there are ways to trim edges and flat panels are pretty easy with the "Poor Man's Fiberglass" (which doesn't involve any fiberglass) or PMF as described on the tnttt.com site. Using waterproof TiteBond III glue you could use it to make a sink even. Using lightweight base material makes construction much easier. To build my trailer and camper I used damager interior doors as they were the cheapest per square foot and lighter than plywood knowing I could waterproof them with PMF. You can also use heat to permanently form the foam which is something the teardrop trailer folks are just now starting to do. Green Rhino construction in Tempe Arizona has developed the method to a point they stack 10" thick blocks of foam, carve it with hot wire tools and coat it with their products and create a pretty much tornado proof, super insulated house that meets all requirements of the 50 states. There is even a tiny house kit that they just load on a utility trailer to deliver it is so light.

 

[Scott3569]

Well bullfrog, I am experimenting, I got 3 sheets of 4x8 1/2 foam board.. Might need to take 2 sheets back and drive a little further.. But I am testing the process on one. I am a little skeptical because the only 1/2 in foam board I was able to get has an aluminum side and a plastic coating on the other.. So, I might just find myself taking another road trip to return the two remainder sheets, and get the normal FPS board everyone is using on youtube.. 
I will see after today.. I am also using ppg(glidden gripper primer) and your run of the mill fiberglass screen..

 

[bullfrog]

If you do PMF and completely cover it, it will probably be fine but a lot of work. You can use an old bed sheet or tee shirts for the PMF and get a really nice smooth finish. PMF makes things pretty strong when you completely enclose them using the "sock" method. You could probably use a cardboard pizza box, PMF over the screen then once dried fill it with spray window and door insulation foam them make a shelf that would hold a pile of bricks.

 

[bullfrog]

You might check with jimindenver about using the foil sided stuff to make a solar oven! Lol!!! The rigid styrofoam insulation (pink or blue) works much better. Interior doors are 1 3/8" thick and with a few wooded filler pieces to fill the edges where you cut them work great. I haven't bought any damaged ones lately but the last time it was less than $20 for a 36" x 80" door with no holes.

 

[Scott3569]

I understand what your saying with the PMF.. However I did not want that second step.. And I think if I am able to get the other FPS board the paint will adhere much better.. and with the screen from what I have seen it will be plenty strong enough for what I need.. I just need to get the correct Insulation board.. the good thing, the one sheet I am testing, I can use on the ceiling..

in the end I see another road trip probably tomorrow.

 

[bullfrog]

Good luck! Let us know how you do. I usually over build everything, Lol!!! At joints after gluing I usually use strips of cloth or drywall tape and TightBond III glue then the screen and cloth on top with a thinned TightBond III and 25% water (makes it easier to get out air bubbles) is brushed (a lot of times I just use rubber gloves to smooth things out) over the whole thing and let completely dry for several days. Then paint it with oops water based exterior acrylic house paint. I have used gripper in place of TiteBond glue but didn't seem to hold as well as the glue but really not much difference. I mainly use Gripper as a primer to help fill the holes in coarse woven canvas (my prefered material is Harbor Freight drop cloths) when I use it instead of sheets or tee shirts before painting.

 

[crofter]

I had to look. Link to tnttt.com forum

http://tnttt.com/

Endless threads about self built teardrops.

Good info about TiteBond III glue, having the right chemistry with your glue when working with non-porus foamboard makes all the difference. Available at HD.

http://www.titebond.com/product/glues/e8d40b45-0ab3-49f7-8a9c-b53970f736af
-crofter

 

[bullfrog]

^^^If you go to the second section "Tear drop design" about half way down is a "Foamies" thread. Click on that and there are several "stickies" before the actual discussions that cover all aspects of glues and foam construction, one of the more useful ones if I remember right is titled "What sticks to what".

 

[crofter]

What sticks "stickie" converted to youtube video. Results after 4 hours, but needs 24 hours cure time or more for max hold with some of the glues.
-crofter

 

[Scott3569]

Good luck! Let us know how you do. I usually over build everything, Lol!!! At joints after gluing I usually use strips of cloth or drywall tape and TightBond III glue then the screen and cloth on top with a thinned TightBond III and 25% water (makes it easier to get out air bubbles) is brushed (a lot of times I just use rubber gloves to smooth things out) over the whole thing and let completely dry for several days. Then paint it with oops water based exterior acrylic house paint. I have used gripper in place of TiteBond glue but didn't seem to hold as well as the glue but really not much difference. I mainly  use Gripper as a primer to help fill the holes in coarse woven canvas (my prefered material is Harbor Freight drop cloths) when I use it instead of sheets or tee shirts before painting.

I will most certainly update.. In fact I will probably start a new thread. the current thread does not really match the current topic of conversation   
I can say this, I am excited to really try this out. I think it will be much more forgiving than wood, and much easier to shape.. and I already have ideas on how I will finish it.. But at the moment I just want to get the main structure done.. 
I also don't think there will be much time difference between working with wood vs. the insulation.. there actually might be a little more time involved with the insulation process. 
But the benefits, I believe will out weight the difference

 

[PeterPiper]

Meaning: Where there's a will (and determination)....there's always a way