Step one. Bought the van.
Hello Everybody, First post. I camp a lot in tents but after spending three days straight in a tent in the rain at Dolly Sods I swore I'd make a change. Here it is. Bought it Wednesday. Dro...
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Webasto heater install continued:
When I ran the flexible electrical conduit under the van I left it's final positioning until after I had a better idea of where the heater would go since they would be sharing the space under the van around the side step.
Now with the heater in place I can finalize the conduit install. First take some measurements. Notice these holes in the frame beam. I'll be using them.
One the other side of this frame beam is the exhaust system. Covering the exhaust system is the exhaust shield. As you can see in this picture the conduit is close to the shield while the fuel line is resting on it. I want to keep both the conduit and fuel line farther away from the shield so I'll need to raise both of them up. Use the measurements to construct a metal support.
Here are some of my practice welds. I've been cutting the long steel stock into short pieces and welding them together. Secure the welded pieces to the vise and use a wrench to stress the joints until they fail. Then check weld penetration on the separated pieces. Getting better but not there yet.
But good enough to make something like this T-brace.
Line up the T-brace with two holes in the frame beam and mark with soapstone where the conduit will cross the top of the brace.
Drill out holes on each side of the conduit path.
Need to transfer the location of the two holes in the frame beam onto the T-brace. I had trouble using the soapstone so cut out a poster board template.
Reach around inside the frame beam and mark through the holes onto the template with a sharp pencil.
Using the template as a guide drill bolt holes onto the T-brace. Bolt the T-brace to the frame beam.
View from the other side of the beam.
Route cable ties through the two holes on the top of the T-brace and around the conduit then secure.
Use more cable ties to secure the conduit farther along to the side of the frame beam.
This will keep it from hanging down. I'm counting on the cable ties being tough enough to hold the conduit in place. I'll check it after some use to see how it's standing up.
I next secured the heater fuel hose to the conduit at the top of the T-brace with cable ties.
Here's the "after" picture looking across the exhaust shield. Both the conduit and fuel line are now suspended above the top of the shield.
continued -
When I ran the flexible electrical conduit under the van I left it's final positioning until after I had a better idea of where the heater would go since they would be sharing the space under the van around the side step.
Now with the heater in place I can finalize the conduit install. First take some measurements. Notice these holes in the frame beam. I'll be using them.
One the other side of this frame beam is the exhaust system. Covering the exhaust system is the exhaust shield. As you can see in this picture the conduit is close to the shield while the fuel line is resting on it. I want to keep both the conduit and fuel line farther away from the shield so I'll need to raise both of them up. Use the measurements to construct a metal support.
Here are some of my practice welds. I've been cutting the long steel stock into short pieces and welding them together. Secure the welded pieces to the vise and use a wrench to stress the joints until they fail. Then check weld penetration on the separated pieces. Getting better but not there yet.
But good enough to make something like this T-brace.
Line up the T-brace with two holes in the frame beam and mark with soapstone where the conduit will cross the top of the brace.
Drill out holes on each side of the conduit path.
Need to transfer the location of the two holes in the frame beam onto the T-brace. I had trouble using the soapstone so cut out a poster board template.
Reach around inside the frame beam and mark through the holes onto the template with a sharp pencil.
Using the template as a guide drill bolt holes onto the T-brace. Bolt the T-brace to the frame beam.
View from the other side of the beam.
Route cable ties through the two holes on the top of the T-brace and around the conduit then secure.
Use more cable ties to secure the conduit farther along to the side of the frame beam.
This will keep it from hanging down. I'm counting on the cable ties being tough enough to hold the conduit in place. I'll check it after some use to see how it's standing up.
I next secured the heater fuel hose to the conduit at the top of the T-brace with cable ties.
Here's the "after" picture looking across the exhaust shield. Both the conduit and fuel line are now suspended above the top of the shield.
continued -
