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.
Drove it home today.
1999 Ford E-250, 6 cylinder, 125K miles.
Was a home builders work van. Some slight surface rust.
Cargo doors a bit dinged up.
I'm planning on doing a full conversion. Most of the work I'll do myself but some will be beyond my abilities. I'm giving myself a deadline of no later than spring. Van won't fit into my small garage so that will affect how/when I can work on it.
I've been reading this and other conversion forums for a few weeks. It's been a huge help so far. Learned quite a lot already but there's still a lot I don't know. Counting on the pros who frequent this forum for some advice.
Advice like: The previous owner drilled some 3/4 inch holes in the floor for bolted down shelving. Whats the best way to cover these holes from underneath? Should I treat the metal edges of the holes before I start?
Thanks for your time, now and in the future.
WVvan
P.S. I'm thinking of call it "HAL the Van".
Why HAL? Well since my name is Dave....
Dave Bowman: Open the pod bay doors, HAL.
HAL: I'm sorry, Dave. I'm afraid I can't do that.
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.
Drove it home today.
1999 Ford E-250, 6 cylinder, 125K miles.
Was a home builders work van. Some slight surface rust.
Cargo doors a bit dinged up.
I'm planning on doing a full conversion. Most of the work I'll do myself but some will be beyond my abilities. I'm giving myself a deadline of no later than spring. Van won't fit into my small garage so that will affect how/when I can work on it.
I've been reading this and other conversion forums for a few weeks. It's been a huge help so far. Learned quite a lot already but there's still a lot I don't know. Counting on the pros who frequent this forum for some advice.
Advice like: The previous owner drilled some 3/4 inch holes in the floor for bolted down shelving. Whats the best way to cover these holes from underneath? Should I treat the metal edges of the holes before I start?
Thanks for your time, now and in the future.
WVvan
P.S. I'm thinking of call it "HAL the Van".
Why HAL? Well since my name is Dave....
Dave Bowman: Open the pod bay doors, HAL.
HAL: I'm sorry, Dave. I'm afraid I can't do that.
Thanks for the suggestions.
After reading the comments I stopped at the hardware store to look at locking nuts and found this:
It's called a "KEP Lock Nut". Looks like it might be a little sturdier than the lock nuts with nylon at the end.
Does anyone have experience using these?
My drawer sliders arrived today. When they say "Heavy Duty", that's just what they mean.
After reading the comments I stopped at the hardware store to look at locking nuts and found this:
It's called a "KEP Lock Nut". Looks like it might be a little sturdier than the lock nuts with nylon at the end.
Does anyone have experience using these?
My drawer sliders arrived today. When they say "Heavy Duty", that's just what they mean.
I would certainly remove the nylon washer. I don't know if I would even use a metal one. Avoiding the machine shop, I would smooth the adjoining steel by wetsanding with some 220 or finer.
Use no washer, Put one nylon self locking bolt on backwards( nylon side in), and hold it tight with some needle nose vice grips, then take an angle grinder with a cut off wheel and cut the bolt to the thickness of the needle nose vice grips. Perhaps use some threadlocker, or a dab of superglue to keep the nut from backing off.
I would also round out those 90 degree corners so they don't snag and rip clothes or skin.
The threads on the pivot point bolt will eventually become crushed and allow more slop. I don't have a solution for that.
I think the sofa bed that came with my conversion van used a steel rivet as the pivot point, and no washer.
How about a small clevis pin, a washer and a cotter pin?
clevis pins
Use no washer, Put one nylon self locking bolt on backwards( nylon side in), and hold it tight with some needle nose vice grips, then take an angle grinder with a cut off wheel and cut the bolt to the thickness of the needle nose vice grips. Perhaps use some threadlocker, or a dab of superglue to keep the nut from backing off.
I would also round out those 90 degree corners so they don't snag and rip clothes or skin.
The threads on the pivot point bolt will eventually become crushed and allow more slop. I don't have a solution for that.
I think the sofa bed that came with my conversion van used a steel rivet as the pivot point, and no washer.
How about a small clevis pin, a washer and a cotter pin?
clevis pins
Lifting Mechanism.
Started with a piece of steel stock.
After some cutting, drilling,
And grinding,
constructed the lifting mechanism.
The bar across the top is a guide rail for testing.
Once I started testing I found I had to move the central pivot down 1/2". Also the top arm has to have the driving pivot point .8" below the bottom of the bed level.
To create the pivot connection between the different arms I've drilled a 1/4" hole in each arm.
Then used a 1/4"bolt with a nylon spacer between the arms and then a washer-nut-lock washer-nut on the end of the bolt to hold everything in place.
I originally thought I would need the nylon spacer for clearance between the two arms. After having tested it I might just replace that with a metal washer and some 3-in-1 oil to reduce friction.
Looking for suggestions: The pivot connections seem to be a bit of a kludge to me but it's the best I could come up. Can I get some suggestions on how to make a better connection so the steel arms can rotate but withstand lateral(?) force?
There is a machine shop in town but the more I can do myself the better.
Thanks,
Dave
Started with a piece of steel stock.
After some cutting, drilling,
And grinding,
constructed the lifting mechanism.
The bar across the top is a guide rail for testing.
Once I started testing I found I had to move the central pivot down 1/2". Also the top arm has to have the driving pivot point .8" below the bottom of the bed level.
To create the pivot connection between the different arms I've drilled a 1/4" hole in each arm.
Then used a 1/4"bolt with a nylon spacer between the arms and then a washer-nut-lock washer-nut on the end of the bolt to hold everything in place.
I originally thought I would need the nylon spacer for clearance between the two arms. After having tested it I might just replace that with a metal washer and some 3-in-1 oil to reduce friction.
Looking for suggestions: The pivot connections seem to be a bit of a kludge to me but it's the best I could come up. Can I get some suggestions on how to make a better connection so the steel arms can rotate but withstand lateral(?) force?
There is a machine shop in town but the more I can do myself the better.
Thanks,
Dave
Had a slight problem in the sofa-bed build. My home built sliders didn't work out so I've ordered heavy duty drawer slides from a company called Schock Metal America. It's set backs like this why I haven't started a full write up on the sofa-bed build yet.
In the mean time here's a picture of the electric actuator installed.
And a full size mock up of the lifting mechanism for the sofa-bed back I just tested. All the measurements and clearances worked out perfect.
I have lost count of all the different versions of this mechanism I've dreamt up so far. Since this one literally came to me in a dream maybe it'll be the best.
Now to built it out of metal.
Because of the delay I gave my workforce the night off. Not exactly party animals.
In the mean time here's a picture of the electric actuator installed.
And a full size mock up of the lifting mechanism for the sofa-bed back I just tested. All the measurements and clearances worked out perfect.
I have lost count of all the different versions of this mechanism I've dreamt up so far. Since this one literally came to me in a dream maybe it'll be the best.
Now to built it out of metal.
Because of the delay I gave my workforce the night off. Not exactly party animals.
A little housekeeping.
Once I saw this photo of the inside of my garage door I knew I needed to do a little housekeeping once the weather warmed up.
So today's work was some much needed painting.
While I had the paint out I noticed the work table could use a touch-up.
Never looked better.
PS.
Just now.
Final: West Virginia 73, Kentucky 66
We haven't been in the Final Four since Jerry West took us there in 1959.
Once I saw this photo of the inside of my garage door I knew I needed to do a little housekeeping once the weather warmed up.
So today's work was some much needed painting.
While I had the paint out I noticed the work table could use a touch-up.
Never looked better.
PS.
Just now.
Final: West Virginia 73, Kentucky 66
We haven't been in the Final Four since Jerry West took us there in 1959.
Acrylic Lid continued:
Before adding hold-down straps I'm going to beef up the lid with some more supports. None of these might be needed but since this is my first work with acrylic I'll err on the side of caution.
Add an extra panel on each end. Since this panel fits flat against the panel next to it no need for the tedious edge sanding.
Mistake Number 1. When I first went to glue these together I used the squeeze bottle to cover the new panel with Weld-On #3 then leisurely held the panel against the lid to join them. WRONG.
Live and learn. From when the Weld-On #3 first hits the acrylic you have about two seconds to finish applying the glue and get the two pieces together. Not nearly enough time for a piece this big. No permanent harm. Clamp together the two pieces then use the capillary action method for applying the cement.
Did both ends.
Then add a brace across the middle of the lid at the location of the hose barb. Had to notch the end of the brace so it would fit over the end of the barb. In this picture the lid is upside-down. The brace doesn't go all the way to the top of the lid as so not to obstruct the airflow. Used tedious edge sanding on the brace before cementing.
The hold-down strap will be made from a bungee cord I had hanging around. Need to find it's diameter. It's close to 1/4 ".
So if its .25" and the acrylic is .2" thick then four pieces stacked together should give me a good base. Cut out the needed acrylic pieces from some scrap.
Glue together 2 pieces at a time. Since the pieces are so small the "apply Weld-On #3 on one side then slap the two pieces together" technique worked OK. The problem is that once the two pieces touch each other you have about an instant to get them properly aligned.
Next join two sets of two. Because of the quick setting nature of the cement I didn't get the blocks as even as I'd like. Here I'm about to sand a block to even the edges. This is just for looks. I'll be gluing it to the lid using the flat side, not the edge
Drill a hole through the middle for the bungee cord.
WARNING: As the drill bit exited the other side it grabbed the block and caused it to spin. This is apt to happen when drilling harder materials. I thought I had a good grip but not good enough. It spun around and gave me a right little knock on the fingers. Luckily No damage.
Cut bungee cord in two. Feed one cord through the block. Add a washer for extra support.
Fold over the top of the cord. Use three 4" cable ties to squeeze and hold closed the fold. Needle nose pliers work well at cinching up a small cable tie. Clip off excess tie ends. Do the same for other block.
Glue block to end of lid. One each end.
Add a screw hook to the base block. I've glued the bungee blocks an inch off center so the hooks won't be in the way of the bolt that should go through the center of the base block to secure the battery box to the van floor. The screw hook is where the bungee cord attaches to keep the lid shut.
Take the base outside and give it a couple coats of paint.
All done.
In this picture you can see Quality Control Engineer Bob checking where the lid meets the base to see if the closing tolerances are within agreed upon specifications. Either that or she smells fish.
Without the batteries weighted the box and lid with a bathroom scale.
And one battery.
23 + (4 x 64) = 279 pounds of house batteries.
Consider this the finish of the Battery Box build.
Next up is the sofa-bed build.
Here is a scale drawing of a small part of it.
The thing at the bottom is NOT a hand grenade but if I keep having as much trouble as the sofa-bed build is giving me it might get blown-up before it gets finished. Blown-up real good.
Before adding hold-down straps I'm going to beef up the lid with some more supports. None of these might be needed but since this is my first work with acrylic I'll err on the side of caution.
Add an extra panel on each end. Since this panel fits flat against the panel next to it no need for the tedious edge sanding.
Mistake Number 1. When I first went to glue these together I used the squeeze bottle to cover the new panel with Weld-On #3 then leisurely held the panel against the lid to join them. WRONG.
Live and learn. From when the Weld-On #3 first hits the acrylic you have about two seconds to finish applying the glue and get the two pieces together. Not nearly enough time for a piece this big. No permanent harm. Clamp together the two pieces then use the capillary action method for applying the cement.
Did both ends.
Then add a brace across the middle of the lid at the location of the hose barb. Had to notch the end of the brace so it would fit over the end of the barb. In this picture the lid is upside-down. The brace doesn't go all the way to the top of the lid as so not to obstruct the airflow. Used tedious edge sanding on the brace before cementing.
The hold-down strap will be made from a bungee cord I had hanging around. Need to find it's diameter. It's close to 1/4 ".
So if its .25" and the acrylic is .2" thick then four pieces stacked together should give me a good base. Cut out the needed acrylic pieces from some scrap.
Glue together 2 pieces at a time. Since the pieces are so small the "apply Weld-On #3 on one side then slap the two pieces together" technique worked OK. The problem is that once the two pieces touch each other you have about an instant to get them properly aligned.
Next join two sets of two. Because of the quick setting nature of the cement I didn't get the blocks as even as I'd like. Here I'm about to sand a block to even the edges. This is just for looks. I'll be gluing it to the lid using the flat side, not the edge
Drill a hole through the middle for the bungee cord.
WARNING: As the drill bit exited the other side it grabbed the block and caused it to spin. This is apt to happen when drilling harder materials. I thought I had a good grip but not good enough. It spun around and gave me a right little knock on the fingers. Luckily No damage.
Cut bungee cord in two. Feed one cord through the block. Add a washer for extra support.
Fold over the top of the cord. Use three 4" cable ties to squeeze and hold closed the fold. Needle nose pliers work well at cinching up a small cable tie. Clip off excess tie ends. Do the same for other block.
Glue block to end of lid. One each end.
Add a screw hook to the base block. I've glued the bungee blocks an inch off center so the hooks won't be in the way of the bolt that should go through the center of the base block to secure the battery box to the van floor. The screw hook is where the bungee cord attaches to keep the lid shut.
Take the base outside and give it a couple coats of paint.
All done.
In this picture you can see Quality Control Engineer Bob checking where the lid meets the base to see if the closing tolerances are within agreed upon specifications. Either that or she smells fish.
Without the batteries weighted the box and lid with a bathroom scale.
And one battery.
23 + (4 x 64) = 279 pounds of house batteries.
Consider this the finish of the Battery Box build.
Next up is the sofa-bed build.
Here is a scale drawing of a small part of it.
The thing at the bottom is NOT a hand grenade but if I keep having as much trouble as the sofa-bed build is giving me it might get blown-up before it gets finished. Blown-up real good.
Acrylic lid continued:
Supplies:
Lowes
nylon hose barb splicer - 5/8" x 5/8" - $1.41
Loctite Plastic Bonder - 20 Min -.85 Oz - $5.72
The battery box lid has been assembled and water tested.
Now add vent hose fitting.
Here are an assortment of parts for the venting system. Most of these I'll be using later. For the lid I'm using one of the 5/8" x 5/8" hose barbs.
Only need half of the fitting. Used a hacksaw to cut it.The fitting had a ring around the center to separate the two hoses that normally would have been attached. Cut it so all of that ring is on one half. I'll use that half and call the ring the base.
Need to find the diameter at the base.
Closer to 11/16" than 5/8"
Will use a 3/4" spade drill bit. Figure out the hole location. Ultra fine Sharpe works really well for marking on the acrylic. Cleans off with alcohol.
Choose the location just below where the two Top acrylic panels meet. This is the highest point so hydrogen gas will collect here.
Supported the lid from underneath with a piece of 2x4 to reduce the chance of cracking it as I drilled.
Maybe not dead center, but close enough.
Do a test fit of the hose barb. The barb is pushed through the hole from inside the lid. The barb base is up against the lid on the inside. Looks OK.
Here is what I'll be using to attach the hose barb to the lid. I've read that the if you use a slower setting epoxy the joints will be less brittle. That's why I'm using a 20 minute epoxy versus the 5 minute kind. Instructions recommend roughing up the acrylic with 220 grit sandpaper first, which I did.
Mix up the epoxy and apply liberally.
The connection between the acrylic lid and the hose barb has to be air tight. I used clamps with a piece of scrap wood to hold the base of the barb tight against the side of the acrylic lid. I put a piece of plastic shopping bag between the epoxy and the wood so the wood wouldn't also get stuck. I figured I could always just pick off pieces of the bag after it set up.
Let it sit more than 20 minutes. Then when I went to take off the clamps I found that the shopping bag hadn't stuck at all. It just fell right off. So either shopping bags don't stick to this epoxy or it had skinned over before I put the bag against it.
Looks OK. Let it sit overnight before I stressed it. No problems.
continued -
Supplies:
Lowes
nylon hose barb splicer - 5/8" x 5/8" - $1.41
Loctite Plastic Bonder - 20 Min -.85 Oz - $5.72
The battery box lid has been assembled and water tested.
Now add vent hose fitting.
Here are an assortment of parts for the venting system. Most of these I'll be using later. For the lid I'm using one of the 5/8" x 5/8" hose barbs.
Only need half of the fitting. Used a hacksaw to cut it.The fitting had a ring around the center to separate the two hoses that normally would have been attached. Cut it so all of that ring is on one half. I'll use that half and call the ring the base.
Need to find the diameter at the base.
Closer to 11/16" than 5/8"
Will use a 3/4" spade drill bit. Figure out the hole location. Ultra fine Sharpe works really well for marking on the acrylic. Cleans off with alcohol.
Choose the location just below where the two Top acrylic panels meet. This is the highest point so hydrogen gas will collect here.
Supported the lid from underneath with a piece of 2x4 to reduce the chance of cracking it as I drilled.
Maybe not dead center, but close enough.
Do a test fit of the hose barb. The barb is pushed through the hole from inside the lid. The barb base is up against the lid on the inside. Looks OK.
Here is what I'll be using to attach the hose barb to the lid. I've read that the if you use a slower setting epoxy the joints will be less brittle. That's why I'm using a 20 minute epoxy versus the 5 minute kind. Instructions recommend roughing up the acrylic with 220 grit sandpaper first, which I did.
Mix up the epoxy and apply liberally.
The connection between the acrylic lid and the hose barb has to be air tight. I used clamps with a piece of scrap wood to hold the base of the barb tight against the side of the acrylic lid. I put a piece of plastic shopping bag between the epoxy and the wood so the wood wouldn't also get stuck. I figured I could always just pick off pieces of the bag after it set up.
Let it sit more than 20 minutes. Then when I went to take off the clamps I found that the shopping bag hadn't stuck at all. It just fell right off. So either shopping bags don't stick to this epoxy or it had skinned over before I put the bag against it.
Looks OK. Let it sit overnight before I stressed it. No problems.
continued -
