Thoughts on older camper vans

[exitinn]

slow2day , find you a boat canvas person to make you some screens . Put snap fastners in them with foam between the snaps inside the fabric . I had this done it worked great .

 

[Patrick46]

I found a high-top at the junkyard that was a perfect fit for my '91 Ford E-350, for $100. ($150 if I had them take it off their van.)

I sold the van just this spring, so I never did the top...but when I went serching, I found several of then in various types, from high-tops, to the mid level custom type tops (from a cutom conversion) that had the slick-looking visor windows, all for under $200.

Very easy to swap over to another van of the same model/type/brand.

 

[Small_e_900]

For cheap window screens you will need access to a sewing machine, an old screen tent and a few old refrigerators.

The door seals in refrigerators have flexible, flat strip magnets in them that are about a half inch wide and as long as the door seals.
Old refirgerators are a dime a dozen and are always put out on trash day. You just need a pocket knife to get the magnets out.

Old screen tents that you can get at yard sales for $10 have enough screen material to make screens for an entire van.
If you cut some screen a couple inches wider and longer than the window you want to cover and sew strips of magnet into the edges, you will have screen that can be used on the inside of any size window.

When not being used, you can store them in one of those round cardboard mailers, or just leave them on the window.

You can aslo make screens for the windows in the front doors by sewing a pocket into the screen material that is shaped like the top of the door.
You fit the pocket over the door and close it, using magnets to secure the sides and bottom to the door.

 

[Patrick46]

that's a great idea Small-e!! ^^^

 

[highdesertranger]

just have to make sure that you have ferrous metal around the window for the magnet to stick to. after market widows have aluminum frames magnets will not stick to them. check first. highdesertranger

 

[SternWake]

Getting a fiberglass roof from one van to fit properly and be mechanically fastened to the new Van is not as cut and dried as commonly believed.

Especially where the new roof is to be screwed to the new van above the windshield. I always had issues in this area, and the last time I had my roof lifted off to attend to roof gutter rust, I left out the fasteners and used 3m 5200 to seal and adhere the front of the roof.

The 3m 5200 is an insanely strong and effective product, but could not flex enough could not deal with the forces involved, and cracked, allowing in moisture which got into the frame from the previous screw holes and festered and rotted it out.

I've recently gone through rather elaborate measures to properly attach the fiberglass roof in this area, and everything is now beefed up to an incredible degree and will be more so by the time I apply the paint.

By the way, Fiberglass can be tapped for a machine thread screw and it can be very strong if done correctly.

These 1/4 -20 machine thread Stainless screws are biting through a minimum 5/8 thickness of solid fiberglass, and I will submerge the thread inserts within fiberglass too

U used to have screens in my pop out windows by removing the seal and re installing it over the screen, I had removed the closer hardware from the window and put the screen under this so that there was no way for the mny screen sized bug to get through.

But the screen was abrasive to the tint and reduced clarity, and I find I rarely open these windows with my forced ventilation which pulls in outside air through a screen. I removed the screens a few years ago, and will be retinting the windows soon as they have bubbled and faded and make the van far too recognisable, at least to my mind.

 

[masterplumber]

One possible shortcut to starting your conversion is to check utility department actions. I know Colorado Springs has a couple vans that would be perfect candidates Ford F350 cargo vans, Diesel engines, high tops just like the ones preferred, a built in generator if that is something you want, and the crowning item, already converted to 4wd! I don't know when they will ever trade them in, as they tend to not put many miles on them, but it's got to happen sometime. Also check for similar vehicles in fleets like Halliburton and other oil field contractors. You can probably save a lot of time and money by purchasing one of these type vehicles at action. Check out Richie Brother"s actions also. They have auction sites all over the country and the world and you can even search past auctions for the selling price of similar vehicles. Hope this helps.

 

[user 423]

....vans that would be perfect candidates Ford E350 cargo vans. Diesel engines, high tops...

Mini-school buses can be found on auction sites also. These would make a pretty good camper and I almost bid on an '80s Ford unit but found that the headroom wasn't so great. I believe the newer ones have more standup room.

 

[66788]

One possible shortcut to starting your conversion is to check utility department actions. I know Colorado Springs has a couple vans that would be perfect candidates Ford F350 cargo vans, Diesel engines, high tops just like the ones preferred, a built in generator if that is something you want, and the crowning item, already converted to 4wd! I don't know when they will ever trade them in, as they tend to not put many miles on them, but it's got to happen sometime. Also check for similar vehicles in fleets like Halliburton and other oil field contractors. You can probably save a lot of time and money by purchasing one of these type vehicles at action. Check out Richie Brother"s actions also. They have auction sites all over the country and the world and you can even search past auctions for the selling price of similar vehicles. Hope this helps.

The Ford 6.0 diesel motor is probably the most problem prone and hated diesel motor on the planet. Just Google Ford 6.0 problem and more than 1,000,000 pages will appear. Although I love Ford trucks, anyone contemplating living in a vehicle powered by the 6.0 diesel should research this and perform their due diligence before making a decision.

My good friend is a diesel mechanic and has nothing good to say about Ford 6.0 diesels other than working on them put his daughter through medical school.

Just food for thought.