This blog may contain amazon affiliate links to products
3 weeks ago the van was delivered and since then I have been slowly working through the build. It all seemed a bit of a big job and it was difficult to know where to start and what to concentrate on 1st. I have been taking it a few hours at a time and slowly chipping away at the jobs to turn an empty panel van into a working camper/adventure van.
First thing I did was remove the 5mm ply from all the walls, It was not fitted the way I need it to be and I need to insulate and sound proof. I have kept the original ply sheets to replace before I return the van to the lease company in 5 years time.
The ply on the floor has been screwed direct into the floor as are the wheel arch boxes so they have been left in otherwise there will be exposed holes to fill. I will be adding insulation over the floor and laying a tougher 12mm ply floor on top anyway.
Then I started on the sound deadening, I chose to use the Noico 80 mil (2mm) self adhesive mats. They were very easy to cut and stick and I covered about 50% of each panel with them. I recommend using a roller to ensure they are rolled flat and stick properly to do the best job. It makes a big difference to panel noise in the van especially in the wheel arch areas. Using the right tool gets the job done properly.
Next as I had a dry day I fitted the Roof Rack from Rhino Rack. This is the one I fitted.
It came in 3 main pieces and was easy to fit with all the correct fittings supplied and I used grey coloured sealant to ensure all the bolts into the body were watertight. It’s a sturdy bit of kit and has a good load rating of 150Kg which once you take out the weight of the rack itself gives me 105Kg max load on top. My plan is to have the Solar Panels up there and the Spare wheel. I will leave space for a long roof box when on longer trips and adventures to carry more outdoor gear. The high sides should give some protection for trees and overhanging vegetation not causing damage to the panels.
The next thing I did was measure the bed area and garage space with enough clearance for the Mountain Bikes to fit under on slides, I then fitted the main bed supports across the bed area and fixed with self drilling sheet metal screws to the frame of the van. This gives me a great marker to build around.
Then I started fitting insulation, 7mm foil backed self adhesive closed cell foam on the ceiling and in the large wall spaces where the bed and seats will go.
7mm Closed Cell Foam Insulation
This foil backed stuff works best when it has a gap to be able to insulate from radiated heat so is in places where its not in direct contact on the foil surface with anything. Apart from the bed head and foot area where it will be carpeted over directly on top to maintain maximum width in that area for the bed.
I then stuffed the smaller spaces and alcoves and hard to reach areas with polyester recycled material made from shredded plastic bottles. It looks and behaves just like good quality loft insulation but wont absorb moisture or mould and is very green with 90% recycled material.
Recycled 110mm Polyester Insulation
All this took about 10 days to do around the cold snowy weather and other commitments, to keep this post from being too long I will cover the next 10 days or so in Part 2.
Please feel to comment and ask questions, I will do more in depth posts about insulation and electrics etc when I have the van completed and I can post about the whole process on each subject. At the moment I still have many jobs incomplete.
One thought on “Van Blog #10 – 3 Week Build Progress (Part 1)”