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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Kitchen Cabinet, Post #19
Before starting the epoxying I had the garage door open and a fan blowing directly on me.
Here's the first batch of epoxy mix. Using a plastic body putty spreader to smear the epoxy over the fiberglass. This worked real well because when the epoxy drys it just peels off the scraper. I'll also be using a cheap chip brush which will be thrown away when done. I'm wearing disposable gloves. Went through a bunch of these. The gloves are pretty cheap so I don't know that it's worth the effort trying to clean them.
Spreading the epoxy on this box was one of the stickiest, messiest things I've ever done. Because of the mess I didn't take many pictures for fear of gumming up my camera. From what I've read if you let the epoxy cure there is a problem getting additional layers to stick. So instead once begun just waited till the previous layer started setting up before I added the next layer. Kept that up until I was done. This took a few hours.
Here it is part way through. Didn't put down near enough newspapers. I would pick it up by the base to move it around so all sides could be worked on. It was like working with a giant fly strip. Sticky.
In this picture you can see along the outside corner on the end the fiberglass is a lighter color. I found that this is the problem with wrapping and stapling the fiberglass cloth to the box before starting with the epoxy. As the epoxy is spread around the fiberglass cloth starts to stretch. So even though it was taunt when I began, after awhile it begins to pull away from the wood at each corner.
My solution was to cut through the cloth along the corners then overlap the two pieces. That took up most of the slack. Then cut several strips of fiberglass cloth and use them to reinforce the corners. Spread more epoxy
Cut more fiberglass cloth and used it reinforce the bottom and ends. Epoxied it then added another layer.
After around 4 or 5 layers of epoxy I called it quits.
Let it sit for a day then trimmed off the excess fiberglass strands. The surface of the epoxy is no longer tacky but it has a slight oily feel that takes another day to go away.
Next I have to epoxy the inside of the tank but there is some other things I have to get done first.
Here is the tank under the van. Between the epoxy and the fiberglass the tank is now so wide it's a snug fit between the frame beam and the underside of the van. It's staying in position without me holding it.
I had to add an extension to the Webasto fuel line so it will reach around the front of the tank.
Next decision. How to mount the tank. The frame beam already comes with a bunch of holes. Instead of making my own, see about using a couple of these.
Found a couple that line up with the area where I need the end of the tank to be. Make a bracket that will fit the tank and the holes.
Add what I call a positioning bolt to the end of the tank. The positioning bolt's purpose is to fix the location of the tank so I can remove the tank but still return it to the same spot. Hopefully close enough for what I need.
continued -
Before starting the epoxying I had the garage door open and a fan blowing directly on me.
Here's the first batch of epoxy mix. Using a plastic body putty spreader to smear the epoxy over the fiberglass. This worked real well because when the epoxy drys it just peels off the scraper. I'll also be using a cheap chip brush which will be thrown away when done. I'm wearing disposable gloves. Went through a bunch of these. The gloves are pretty cheap so I don't know that it's worth the effort trying to clean them.
Spreading the epoxy on this box was one of the stickiest, messiest things I've ever done. Because of the mess I didn't take many pictures for fear of gumming up my camera. From what I've read if you let the epoxy cure there is a problem getting additional layers to stick. So instead once begun just waited till the previous layer started setting up before I added the next layer. Kept that up until I was done. This took a few hours.
Here it is part way through. Didn't put down near enough newspapers. I would pick it up by the base to move it around so all sides could be worked on. It was like working with a giant fly strip. Sticky.
In this picture you can see along the outside corner on the end the fiberglass is a lighter color. I found that this is the problem with wrapping and stapling the fiberglass cloth to the box before starting with the epoxy. As the epoxy is spread around the fiberglass cloth starts to stretch. So even though it was taunt when I began, after awhile it begins to pull away from the wood at each corner.
My solution was to cut through the cloth along the corners then overlap the two pieces. That took up most of the slack. Then cut several strips of fiberglass cloth and use them to reinforce the corners. Spread more epoxy
Cut more fiberglass cloth and used it reinforce the bottom and ends. Epoxied it then added another layer.
After around 4 or 5 layers of epoxy I called it quits.
Let it sit for a day then trimmed off the excess fiberglass strands. The surface of the epoxy is no longer tacky but it has a slight oily feel that takes another day to go away.
Next I have to epoxy the inside of the tank but there is some other things I have to get done first.
Here is the tank under the van. Between the epoxy and the fiberglass the tank is now so wide it's a snug fit between the frame beam and the underside of the van. It's staying in position without me holding it.
I had to add an extension to the Webasto fuel line so it will reach around the front of the tank.
Next decision. How to mount the tank. The frame beam already comes with a bunch of holes. Instead of making my own, see about using a couple of these.
Found a couple that line up with the area where I need the end of the tank to be. Make a bracket that will fit the tank and the holes.
Add what I call a positioning bolt to the end of the tank. The positioning bolt's purpose is to fix the location of the tank so I can remove the tank but still return it to the same spot. Hopefully close enough for what I need.
continued -
