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...
Forum Discussion
Undervan Storage Box continued:
Now that I have the box positioned where I want it and securely jacked into place, time to do some damage. Use a drill with a hole saw. Just eyeball what I think is the center of where I want to put a opening into the box.
Drill away.
Next up the reciprocating saw. The hole I drilled was larger than the blade width.
Do some freehand cutting.
Use my drywall T-square to lay out a rectangle. I haven't decided on the final size of the door to my "basement" since I haven't finalized the layout of the van. I just eyeballed the floor and did some tests with the larger of the objects I'll be storing down there to find what was needed for a workable size. I've marked out 12-1/2" H X 16" W. This could be changed later on in the build.
Use my jigsaw for these more accurate cuts.
Tape up the edges of the hole to prevent any (more) cuts.
Measure from the inside edge of the hole to edge of the box.
Transfer those measurements to the floor of the van.
Use the outline as my guide for where to drill the mounting holes. I'm planning on using 5/16" bolts. The owner of the machine shop suggested 1/4" but no harm in going one step larger. Since the van floor has both ridges and valleys I only drill in valleys. Using eleven bolts. Seems like the right number.
With all the cutting and drilling done use a shop-vac to clean out the inside of the box.
Man that looks big inside.
Put a long 5/16" bolt in each corner.
With the bolts supporting the box remove the jacks.
Here's my first look at how this will appear from the outside when done.
continued -
Now that I have the box positioned where I want it and securely jacked into place, time to do some damage. Use a drill with a hole saw. Just eyeball what I think is the center of where I want to put a opening into the box.
Drill away.
Next up the reciprocating saw. The hole I drilled was larger than the blade width.
Do some freehand cutting.
Use my drywall T-square to lay out a rectangle. I haven't decided on the final size of the door to my "basement" since I haven't finalized the layout of the van. I just eyeballed the floor and did some tests with the larger of the objects I'll be storing down there to find what was needed for a workable size. I've marked out 12-1/2" H X 16" W. This could be changed later on in the build.
Use my jigsaw for these more accurate cuts.
Tape up the edges of the hole to prevent any (more) cuts.
Measure from the inside edge of the hole to edge of the box.
Transfer those measurements to the floor of the van.
Use the outline as my guide for where to drill the mounting holes. I'm planning on using 5/16" bolts. The owner of the machine shop suggested 1/4" but no harm in going one step larger. Since the van floor has both ridges and valleys I only drill in valleys. Using eleven bolts. Seems like the right number.
With all the cutting and drilling done use a shop-vac to clean out the inside of the box.
Man that looks big inside.
Put a long 5/16" bolt in each corner.
With the bolts supporting the box remove the jacks.
Here's my first look at how this will appear from the outside when done.
continued -
