van build up thread:

[Automan2164]

It looks like a sink? :dunno:

 

:D

 

Looks good man, keep it up. Maybe you can graft part of this into the MJ and make an MJ camper. :brows:

 

Rob L.

[Sir Sam]

It looks like a sink? :dunno:

 

:D

 

Looks good man, keep it up. Maybe you can graft part of this into the MJ and make an MJ camper. :brows:

 

Rob L.

 

I have plans to put a shell on the back and build a platform for a bed and camp that way.

[Sir Sam]

Some fridge modding:

 

Fridge running on 120V, in my garage, without 12V (so the rear fan never kicked on, nor do I know if the rear heat exchangers ever got hot enough to warrant it).

 

I have a 60mm fan sitting on top of the cooling fins for testing purposes. It is currently blowing downward(only way to set on the fins without mounting it is blowing downward).

 

First test. Fridge has been running on 120V for over 24 hours. Temp sensor is placed about 5 inches from the bottom of the fridge. After about half an hour the outside temp reads 90 degree. Inside temp(in the fridge) reads 42 degrees. Thats 48 degrees difference.

 

Second test. Fridge still on 120V, temp sensor in same location. After allowing to come to equilibrium for 30 minutes Inside temp reads a steady 46 degrees. Outside temp starts dropping from 90 down. Temperature difference starts around 45 degrees but as outside temp drops the temperature difference decreases. At 80 degrees outside the inside temp reads 43 degrees. Only a 37 degree difference.

 

Conclusion:

With the fan running inside the temperature difference recorded was not as high as without the fan running, however it is likely that with the thermocouple placed in the lower part of the fridge that the air was not at a homogenous temperature throughout the fridge. With the fan on forced convective cooling must be higher, and the temperature more uniform throughout the fridge. Additionally the forced convection occurring when the fan is running is likely to cool down food placed inside the fridge faster. Or, in the case of something cooler than the ambient temperature of the fridge is likely to cool the fridge faster than by natural convection alone.

 

While I did not place a thermocouple on the condenser fins on the backside they never got particularly hot. Only warm to the touch. I am wondering how much a 12V fan running all the time would make in the inside temperature difference.

 

Fridge has been on 120V this evening without inside or outside fan running.

 

Outside temp currently 75, fridge temp 40 degrees at thermocouple location.

 

 

So today after running the fridge all night with both inside and outside fan on I have Data:

 

Overnight low temps(with both fans on):

 

66/32

 

Thats 66 degrees F outside, and 32 degrees inside the fridge.

 

By comparison the night before(with inside fan on only):

 

66/35

 

So at night the inside temperature was further improved by the rear fan running.

 

Additionally after observing the temperature during the daytime(where outside temps are 80-90F) with and without the fan running, it looks like the inside temperature was different by about 5 degrees.

 

 

So in addition to the inside fan, and replacing the outside fan. I think I might place two 120mm fans(as pictured on the floor behind the fridge) side by side blow the lowest cooling fins. Then using a piece of scrap aluminum sheet place it over the back off all the fins. The idea being that I want to increase the airflow over the cooling fins, rather than just blowing air past in the general direction.

 

I'm going to do everything I can to milk cool outta this old dometic! In general I have noted everything from a 32 degree difference on the low end, to a 48 degree difference on the high end.

 

Some pics:

[Sir Sam]

Got the donor roof off, ended up deciding to do it a little differently than most people. Going to leave the roof above the drivers head, and make the seam just behind where the cargo rack bolts. I will overlap the front roof with the donor roof and put in a series of spot welds.

 

Pictures:

 

Only used 3.5 spot weld cutters, this old steel if soft! I used about 10(for much fewer welds) replacing the roof panel on my 2005 Jeep Liberty.

 

Time to cleanup the garage and start deconstruction on the '91.

[Sir Sam]

Got the roof prepped for the new roof, got the new roof all cleaned up and straitened out. Sprayed weld through primer on the areas to be welded. Got the hinge brackets welded on. Need to get some more trimmed at the front where I am making my lap weld. Then I've got tons of welding to do.

 

Hopefully I can wrap up the welding tomorrow and then start on bodywork.

 

You can see the copper colored weld through primer here:

[MiNi Beast]

looking good.

My old man just got water running in his van as well, used a wiper washer pump to run the water. :shake: All this so he could take a nap at work on lunch. :nuts:

[Pete M]

Don't get those 2 mixed up. :D

 

[Sir Sam]

Ok I got the fiberglass pop top and luggage rack painted today, I started painting the roof only to have the new paint pull away like there was a wax or grease on the roof. The roof had been scuffed and washed, but there still remained something that caused problems. Stopped painting the white on the roof and got more primer on. Tomorrow morning when it is cool out I will spray the white roof. By getting the roof painted and then doing the rest of the van later will allowing me to move forward with getting the tent canvas on the pop top, and getting the pop top installed. This way I can continue onto getting the sound proofing installed, and then after that the interior done.

 

Two weeks from now I want to take the van down to Ouray for labor day weekend. Gives me two weeks from today to get the camper done on the inside.

 

Otherwise, I sure love white, pure white is the way to go, contrasted with dark tint windows and flat black lower trim it will look good.

 

 

This is the sound proofing material I will be using, I have 10 gallons of this stuff so hopefully I can get lots of coverage in the van. Its a water based product that is supposed to be low oder and no VOC(since its water based). From the product information and reading around online about it its supposed to do a better job that dynamat and is easier to apply for less money. I guess time will tell how well it really does.

 

If anyone is interested here is the product website:

http://www.quietcoat.com/

 

And the reprimed roof waiting for paint tomorrow:

[Sir Sam]

No, I told them it was a camper when I insured it.

 

 

 

I got my floor installed today:

 

I used spray on bedliner over the sound deadening material to make a water proof coat. I rounded the edges of MDF and wrapped the vinyl around it and both glued and stapled it down. In different places I left a little extra material to wrap up the sides and make something of a minor "bucket" to contain water. Hopefully I won't have to worry about water inside the van and will be able to hose out the floor when I want to clean it.

 

Otherwise, I like the vinyl floor, its soft and has some give to it, and at the same time it has some good grip to it. Hopefully that means my furry friends won't be sliding all over the floor.

[Sir Sam]

Ok, some more progress:

 

[WahooSteeler]

Nice work. There is VDub shop here that has about 8 of these sitting out on the lot in various condition. I need to take a pic and post for you.

[Sir Sam]

This:

[Sir Sam]

Got all the upper bed stuff installed today. Climbed on up and layed down. Its been quite awhile since I climbed up to sleep there. Easily ten years. Apparently I was much shorter then because it was a longer way down!

 

[Automan2164]

Looking good. I like how every part of the van has a use.

 

Rob L. :thumbsup:

[Sir Sam]

Last of my pics that I never posted, dad is living in the van out in california in the parking lot at work and just out on the streets in places, so far so good. Still got work to do to it, but its getting there.

 

[Darren]

Why are you letting your dad live in a van?

[reson46]

Why are you letting your dad live in a van?

 

He needed a place to stay by the river in between motivational speeches.

 

Willy

[WahooSteeler]

Why are you letting your dad live in a van?

 

He needed a place to stay by the river in between motivational speeches.

 

Willy

 

Chris Farley was hilarious.........

[Sir Sam]

Why are you letting your dad live in a van?

 

Because the 6 weeks he has lived in it would have cost more for an apartment than to buy a van, buy a bunch of parts for it, and drive it to california.

[Sir Sam]

Wow, long time no updates, getting ready to goto alaska to drive up the dalton highway:

 

New fridge is installed, watching the freezer temps:

 

 

 

Second deep cycle battery installed down on the left, new outlet wired to 800W inverter, two 12V outlets crammed into the old breaker box. New propane regulator hooked up with 1lb bottle adapter. The stock westy's have a much larger tank that mounts on the outside down low, this was used for both the stove and the old dometic fridge, since all I will be using for is the stove the 1lb bottle should work just fine.

 

 

So I used some 3/4" angle iron doubled up to make a ledge for the swivel seat:

 

Then I once all the welding was done I realized that I welded it in backwards.........YARG

 

After some correction. The seat swivels:

 

 

fridge sticks out a little further than the stock one did, but it doesn't mess up the interior space or anything:

[Darren]

I honestly really like this thing. I love how functional it is for its size. You've done some pretty cool things to it too, sticking with the premise of the vehicle, while making some very smart and functional upgrades. Well done, I'm proud of you Sam.

 

I'm going to add one of these to my "vehicles to get" list. I'm even going to model my build after yours and I'll name it "Sir Sam". (Mine will be better though, just so you know.)

[Darren]

Oh, I almost forgot. Lets see some more pics, like exterior shots and the bed. What kind of milage can you pull with this thing?

[Sir Sam]

I honestly really like this thing. I love how functional it is for its size. You've done some pretty cool things to it too, sticking with the premise of the vehicle, while making some very smart and functional upgrades. Well done, I'm proud of you Sam.

 

I'm going to add one of these to my "vehicles to get" list. I'm even going to model my build after yours and I'll name it "Sir Sam". (Mine will be better though, just so you know.)

 

Oh, I almost forgot. Lets see some more pics, like exterior shots and the bed. What kind of milage can you pull with this thing?

 

Because of the....odd....design of the vehicle some things come together to make a great package.

 

This van is rear engine, RWD, this means that without the need for a drive shaft tunnel, and an integrated unibody, the main deck area sits very low(like minivan low). This is in contrast to an american van where the frame hides high from the ground, with a body on top of it, this makes it pretty good step up. This may not seem like much, but when camping like this you really want to go in and out all the time.

 

The engine sucks, the trans is ok(think about 50-75% of the way between a peugot and a ax-15. The engine sucks because it is such an old design of layout, its somewhat archaic and cobbled together. On the flip side subaru licensed the rights to the boxer engine design in the late 60's, subi ran with it and developed some GOOD motors. 3.3 flat 6 making 222 hp and 220 ft-lbs torque, that was in 1992. So subi motors are a popular swap, and the complete kit runs about $1500 to do it.

 

with the stock engine, mileage sucks 18-22mpg, subaru engine, about the same(but with 2-3-4x as much horsepower as stock(93hp)), diesel engines are popular and routinely get 30+ mpg. (not sure if I believe them, the liberty CRD struggles to break 30mpg).

 

Let me dig up some more pics, haven't really spent much time camping in it, since my dad lives in it most of the time.

[Sir Sam]

[reson46]

Is the bed in the pop up?

 

Willy