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.
Another project. Replace really dirty original driver side seat belt with brand new one.
This one's pretty straightforward. Get a T-50 Torx bit and 5/8" socket. Unbolt the old one and replace with the new one.
Here's another one of those "put off till later jobs". When I installed the battery vent in the side of the van the hole I drilled ended up being just a little too large. It's probably off by no more than 1/16" but it just bugged me. Till now that is.
You can see the gap in this photo, along with where someone/something scratched the side of the van.
From McMaster-Carr I ordered ten chromed washers. Didn't need ten but that was the lowest number I could order. The inside diameter of the washer is smaller than the outside diameter of the threaded shaft on the vent.
I take the insulated wall panels on and off enough times that I'm thinking of just calling them "access panels" instead. Remove the access panel over the battery vent and unscrew the vent.
I don't have a drill bit the exact same size as the vent shaft so to enlarge the hole in the chrome washer I'm using a end mill bit on my milling machine. The end mill is smaller then the diameter of the hole I want to make. The table on the mill moves front to back and left to right.
By carefully moving the table while the bit spins I'm able to make a hole just the right size.
Perfect fit.
Mount back on the van. Much better.
Mark one project off the list and add another to it. Paint the van.
By the way, if anyone needs a 9/16" SAE chromed washer let me know. I've got a quantity up to nine for sale.
This one's pretty straightforward. Get a T-50 Torx bit and 5/8" socket. Unbolt the old one and replace with the new one.
Here's another one of those "put off till later jobs". When I installed the battery vent in the side of the van the hole I drilled ended up being just a little too large. It's probably off by no more than 1/16" but it just bugged me. Till now that is.
You can see the gap in this photo, along with where someone/something scratched the side of the van.
From McMaster-Carr I ordered ten chromed washers. Didn't need ten but that was the lowest number I could order. The inside diameter of the washer is smaller than the outside diameter of the threaded shaft on the vent.
I take the insulated wall panels on and off enough times that I'm thinking of just calling them "access panels" instead. Remove the access panel over the battery vent and unscrew the vent.
I don't have a drill bit the exact same size as the vent shaft so to enlarge the hole in the chrome washer I'm using a end mill bit on my milling machine. The end mill is smaller then the diameter of the hole I want to make. The table on the mill moves front to back and left to right.
By carefully moving the table while the bit spins I'm able to make a hole just the right size.
Perfect fit.
Mount back on the van. Much better.
Mark one project off the list and add another to it. Paint the van.
By the way, if anyone needs a 9/16" SAE chromed washer let me know. I've got a quantity up to nine for sale.
One of the projects I have to do before bolting down the kitchen cabinet is a modification to the sofa-bed. When I designed and built the sofa-bed two years ago I hadn't yet taken up welding. Now that I've got some rudimentary welding skills if I was to create another sofa-bed it would be very different. I've been mightily tempted to to take another crack at it but finishing the van takes priority.
Of course nothing to stop me from making a slight improvement. Here is the lifting actuator for the backrest portion of the sofa. I wasn't happy with the design at the time but had beat my head against it for too long and wanted to move on.
The problem is that the actuator didn't lift the back all the way into the final position. It had to be pushed against the lifting blocks via the other actuator to complete it's upward movement. To allow that to work I need to have a sliding mount point at the back where the lifting actuator attaches.
This did work but it left the sofa backrest loose enough to bang against the lifting blocks on a bumpy road. Time to fix it. Start with some measurements.
Take the bed off the sofa-bed and put on a couple sawhorses. Remove the old lifting arrangement.
Use some left over bits to make a new mounting point.
The measurements show that backrest of the sofa-bed is to go from flat (zero degrees) to 68 degrees as the actuator moves from fully closed to fully extended. Dust off my geometry and come up with a design that fits the equation. Make a test version out of wood.
Check that it will work.
It's successful so start to transfer that design to metal.
Finished product.
Make a pivoting attachment point for the actuator end.
A much cleaner looking design I think..
Test it out.
This design is more economical with space so gives me a little more storage room under the sofa-bed.
Add a limit switch.
Install the bed back onto the sofa-bed and check the operation of the new lifting design. While doing this I noticed something. These lifting blocks on the back of the sofa-bed. They help guide the backrest into position and support it when in the sofa configuration. They were the best I could do at the time but can now be improved.
Replace with angle iron.
After switching over to the angle iron backrest supports I'm able to move the sofa-bed closer to the wall. How much closer? In this picture you can see a right angle taped on the floor. This is the old position of the sofa-bed front right corner. I've now gained an 1-1/4" along the full length of the sofa-bed.
While 1-1/4" might not seem like a lot, in the context of the inside of a class B camper van, it's Huge!
Of course nothing to stop me from making a slight improvement. Here is the lifting actuator for the backrest portion of the sofa. I wasn't happy with the design at the time but had beat my head against it for too long and wanted to move on.
The problem is that the actuator didn't lift the back all the way into the final position. It had to be pushed against the lifting blocks via the other actuator to complete it's upward movement. To allow that to work I need to have a sliding mount point at the back where the lifting actuator attaches.
This did work but it left the sofa backrest loose enough to bang against the lifting blocks on a bumpy road. Time to fix it. Start with some measurements.
Take the bed off the sofa-bed and put on a couple sawhorses. Remove the old lifting arrangement.
Use some left over bits to make a new mounting point.
The measurements show that backrest of the sofa-bed is to go from flat (zero degrees) to 68 degrees as the actuator moves from fully closed to fully extended. Dust off my geometry and come up with a design that fits the equation. Make a test version out of wood.
Check that it will work.
It's successful so start to transfer that design to metal.
Finished product.
Make a pivoting attachment point for the actuator end.
A much cleaner looking design I think..
Test it out.
This design is more economical with space so gives me a little more storage room under the sofa-bed.
Add a limit switch.
Install the bed back onto the sofa-bed and check the operation of the new lifting design. While doing this I noticed something. These lifting blocks on the back of the sofa-bed. They help guide the backrest into position and support it when in the sofa configuration. They were the best I could do at the time but can now be improved.
Replace with angle iron.
After switching over to the angle iron backrest supports I'm able to move the sofa-bed closer to the wall. How much closer? In this picture you can see a right angle taped on the floor. This is the old position of the sofa-bed front right corner. I've now gained an 1-1/4" along the full length of the sofa-bed.
While 1-1/4" might not seem like a lot, in the context of the inside of a class B camper van, it's Huge!
Kitchen Cabinet, Post #27
With the electric dump valve ready to go I next need to find a way to power it. So I've got the doghouse off and laying on my back looking around under the dash ...
...when I see this unused connector. Wonder if there is something I can use?
Get out my copy of the Ford Econoline "Electrical Vacuum And Troubleshooting Manual". The manual is for the year before my 1999 van but a feature of the Econolines is how little changed from year to year.
Look among the pages that show the different connectors. Here are some of the connectors in the dash.
The picture isn't very detailed but it does narrow it down to these three possibilities. Connectors C232, C215 and C214.
Look up the connector numbers. After some work I figured out it was connector C215. Illuminated Entry Module.
Find the page listing for that connector.
For this connector I see pin number 7 is "Power (Hot in Run)" and pin 8 is "Power (Hot at All Times)". So this means I have now found a circuit to power the electric dump valve from.
My idea is to use the dump valve while the van is running so I'll tap into the "Power (Hot in Run)" circuit. If I was to tap into the "Power (Hot at All Times)" circuit I could possible operate the dump valve by accident while the van wasn't running. Not what I had in mind.
Next check the schematic for this electrical circuit. I want to make sure nothing else is using it.
Looking back at the connector picture it lists the circuit number as "296". This photo is a closeup of circuit #296. It shows the circuit running from a shaded box at the top through connector C201 then to connector C215 then into another shaded box.
The top shaded box represents the fuse panel below the instrument panel. Notice the number "24" and the designation "5A" in the box. This means the circuit passes through fuse number "24" and the fuse should have the value of 5 Amps. The shaded box at the end of circuit 296 represents the Illuminated Entry Module but my van doesn't have one so for me the circuit just ends. Also notice how no circuits branch off anywhere between the two shaded boxes. That means nothing else is sharing the circuit so I can use it.
Now this is the first time I've used the manual like this so I want to double check I've got it right. The connector illustration shows the wire color as "(W/P)". The first letter is the solid wire color and the second letter is the stripe color. In this case that's solid White with a Purple stripe.
Double check that the wire supplying pin position #7 is white with purple stripe. It is.
Use a voltmeter to check that there is 12 volts on that pin with the ignition switch in run and zero otherwise. It is.
Final test. Locate fuse #24 and remove it then check the circuit. Here is the illustration for the instrument panel fuse box. Fuse #24 is third from the bottom on the left.
In this picture you can see a 5 amp fuse in the position marked as "24".
I removed the fuse and checked the circuit again. It was dead this time. OK, I'm convinced I got it right.
Cut the wire from the back of the connector and splice on another length of wire.
Mark the wire so I'll know what it is.
Connect this circuit and a ground wire to opposite poles of a Double Pole Double Throw (DPDT) three position (ON-OFF-ON) toggle switch.
Run two wires from the switch, under the door jam, along the edge between the cockpit and raised floor and under the side cargo step.
Add male and female disconnects to these wires and the ones from the dump valve.
Hook them together. Replace the 5 amp fuse I pulled from position #24 in the fuse panel with a 10 amp fuse. Test the valve from the toggle switch.
Open the valve, Close the valve. Open the Valve. Close the valve.
Considering all the thought, time and effort it's taken to get to this point I can guarantee that this will never get old!
When it's time to install the dump valve under the van I can run the control wires through this already provided access hole near the Webasto heater on the cargo step.
Install the greywater dump switch in the dash.
That ends my work on the kitchen cabinet for the time being. Once the cabinet is installed in place it will restrict access to the van so I'm holding off on the final install till I finish a lot of little jobs been putting off till now. Will start writing about them in subsequent posts.
Now if you'll excuse me, there's something that needs doing.
Open the valve. Close the valve. Open the valve ........
With the electric dump valve ready to go I next need to find a way to power it. So I've got the doghouse off and laying on my back looking around under the dash ...
...when I see this unused connector. Wonder if there is something I can use?
Get out my copy of the Ford Econoline "Electrical Vacuum And Troubleshooting Manual". The manual is for the year before my 1999 van but a feature of the Econolines is how little changed from year to year.
Look among the pages that show the different connectors. Here are some of the connectors in the dash.
The picture isn't very detailed but it does narrow it down to these three possibilities. Connectors C232, C215 and C214.
Look up the connector numbers. After some work I figured out it was connector C215. Illuminated Entry Module.
Find the page listing for that connector.
For this connector I see pin number 7 is "Power (Hot in Run)" and pin 8 is "Power (Hot at All Times)". So this means I have now found a circuit to power the electric dump valve from.
My idea is to use the dump valve while the van is running so I'll tap into the "Power (Hot in Run)" circuit. If I was to tap into the "Power (Hot at All Times)" circuit I could possible operate the dump valve by accident while the van wasn't running. Not what I had in mind.
Next check the schematic for this electrical circuit. I want to make sure nothing else is using it.
Looking back at the connector picture it lists the circuit number as "296". This photo is a closeup of circuit #296. It shows the circuit running from a shaded box at the top through connector C201 then to connector C215 then into another shaded box.
The top shaded box represents the fuse panel below the instrument panel. Notice the number "24" and the designation "5A" in the box. This means the circuit passes through fuse number "24" and the fuse should have the value of 5 Amps. The shaded box at the end of circuit 296 represents the Illuminated Entry Module but my van doesn't have one so for me the circuit just ends. Also notice how no circuits branch off anywhere between the two shaded boxes. That means nothing else is sharing the circuit so I can use it.
Now this is the first time I've used the manual like this so I want to double check I've got it right. The connector illustration shows the wire color as "(W/P)". The first letter is the solid wire color and the second letter is the stripe color. In this case that's solid White with a Purple stripe.
Double check that the wire supplying pin position #7 is white with purple stripe. It is.
Use a voltmeter to check that there is 12 volts on that pin with the ignition switch in run and zero otherwise. It is.
Final test. Locate fuse #24 and remove it then check the circuit. Here is the illustration for the instrument panel fuse box. Fuse #24 is third from the bottom on the left.
In this picture you can see a 5 amp fuse in the position marked as "24".
I removed the fuse and checked the circuit again. It was dead this time. OK, I'm convinced I got it right.
Cut the wire from the back of the connector and splice on another length of wire.
Mark the wire so I'll know what it is.
Connect this circuit and a ground wire to opposite poles of a Double Pole Double Throw (DPDT) three position (ON-OFF-ON) toggle switch.
Run two wires from the switch, under the door jam, along the edge between the cockpit and raised floor and under the side cargo step.
Add male and female disconnects to these wires and the ones from the dump valve.
Hook them together. Replace the 5 amp fuse I pulled from position #24 in the fuse panel with a 10 amp fuse. Test the valve from the toggle switch.
Open the valve, Close the valve. Open the Valve. Close the valve.
Considering all the thought, time and effort it's taken to get to this point I can guarantee that this will never get old!
When it's time to install the dump valve under the van I can run the control wires through this already provided access hole near the Webasto heater on the cargo step.
Install the greywater dump switch in the dash.
That ends my work on the kitchen cabinet for the time being. Once the cabinet is installed in place it will restrict access to the van so I'm holding off on the final install till I finish a lot of little jobs been putting off till now. Will start writing about them in subsequent posts.
Now if you'll excuse me, there's something that needs doing.
Open the valve. Close the valve. Open the valve ........
Kitchen Cabinet, Post #26
With the protective box done it's time to finish up the electronics for the dump valve. First thing is to do something about the motor speed. Since it's interfacing with a plastic valve handle I want to slow it down. I'm afraid it might snap off the handle at full speed. I'd read about something called Pulse Width Modulation (PWM) which allows you to control the speed of a DC motor by turning the power on and off very rapidly. The amount of time the motor is turned on versus turn off is the duty cycle. The lower the duty cycle, the slower the motor.
Printed the instructions off the internet and breadboarded the circuit using a 555 timer chip to drive it.
Got it working but the circuit was of a general nature so had to do some configuring for this specific application. While doing this I started thinking. Since the motor is only making a quarter turn at a time the PWM circuit was probably overkill. Maybe I could slow it down with some resistors instead. They are dead simple to use.
Unhook all the fancy electronics and hook the motor straight up to 12 volts of battery power and start testing some resistors.
Long story short. A 1 ohm resistor reduced the speed but also the torque so much it wouldn't turn the valve. Two .1 resistors in series worked best.
Now how to control the stopping of the motor when the valve has reached it's full turn. The cradle can only turn 90 degrees before it bangs up against the frame stopping it's movement. To preserve the motor and it's gearing I want it to stop it before it hits the frame. With that aim in mind I had welded on two nuts to the outside edges of the cradle. One on each side.
Screw a bolt into the nut then add a limit switch to the side of the frame. As the cradle is closing (or opening) the valve, depending on the side, the head of the bolt approaches the button on the limit switch.
At the point where the valve is completely closed (or opened) but just before the cradle makes contact with the frame the bolt head pushes on the button breaking the motor circuit.
Using the bolt as the contact point allows me to adjust it back and forth by rotating it. For as crude looking as it is there is some real fine control. When I have it just right use a lock washer and nut to hold the bolt in position.
The previous pictures where of the closing limit switch. This is the opening limit switch.
The switches themselves came from the sofa-bed construction. Both of these switches where damaged when the little metal lever either got badly bent or the plastic tabs it pivoted on were broken. I held onto them and they work just fine in this application.
I had to grind off the remains of the two plastic tabs on the top of the switches.
How to wire it up? Stare at it for a while then get a pen and paper and sketch up a circuit. Use a diode on each limit switch to by-pass that switch if the cradle is rotating away from it.
Wire it up and give it a try. I'm proud to say that it worked right the first time. Not often so lucky.
Youtube video of the motorized valve in operation.
In the video I'm under the table powering the motor from two 6 volt batteries sitting on the floor. It's not hooked up to a switch so I'm just swapping the two motor leads from plus to minus and back again to get the valve to open and close. Don't know why the video is such poor quality. Must of hit the wrong setting on the camera.
Install the motorized valve into the freshly painted box.
You can see the side holes where the box will bolt to the tank brace. The base plate gets screwed into place only after the box is bolted to the brace.
Take both end plates off and apply generous amounts of Silicone II to all seams then screw back together. Smear silicone wherever I think it might help keep out moisture.
One job left. I forgot to see how many amps the motor pulled as it was turning the valve. I'll need to know this so I can use the correctly valued fuse for the motor circuit. Problem is that it happens so fast I had trouble getting a good reading. Had to call for some help.
As I worked the clamps on the batteries Bob would keep a close eye on the voltmeter then call back the reading after each run.
Her highest reading was 6.47 amps.
continued -
With the protective box done it's time to finish up the electronics for the dump valve. First thing is to do something about the motor speed. Since it's interfacing with a plastic valve handle I want to slow it down. I'm afraid it might snap off the handle at full speed. I'd read about something called Pulse Width Modulation (PWM) which allows you to control the speed of a DC motor by turning the power on and off very rapidly. The amount of time the motor is turned on versus turn off is the duty cycle. The lower the duty cycle, the slower the motor.
Printed the instructions off the internet and breadboarded the circuit using a 555 timer chip to drive it.
Got it working but the circuit was of a general nature so had to do some configuring for this specific application. While doing this I started thinking. Since the motor is only making a quarter turn at a time the PWM circuit was probably overkill. Maybe I could slow it down with some resistors instead. They are dead simple to use.
Unhook all the fancy electronics and hook the motor straight up to 12 volts of battery power and start testing some resistors.
Long story short. A 1 ohm resistor reduced the speed but also the torque so much it wouldn't turn the valve. Two .1 resistors in series worked best.
Now how to control the stopping of the motor when the valve has reached it's full turn. The cradle can only turn 90 degrees before it bangs up against the frame stopping it's movement. To preserve the motor and it's gearing I want it to stop it before it hits the frame. With that aim in mind I had welded on two nuts to the outside edges of the cradle. One on each side.
Screw a bolt into the nut then add a limit switch to the side of the frame. As the cradle is closing (or opening) the valve, depending on the side, the head of the bolt approaches the button on the limit switch.
At the point where the valve is completely closed (or opened) but just before the cradle makes contact with the frame the bolt head pushes on the button breaking the motor circuit.
Using the bolt as the contact point allows me to adjust it back and forth by rotating it. For as crude looking as it is there is some real fine control. When I have it just right use a lock washer and nut to hold the bolt in position.
The previous pictures where of the closing limit switch. This is the opening limit switch.
The switches themselves came from the sofa-bed construction. Both of these switches where damaged when the little metal lever either got badly bent or the plastic tabs it pivoted on were broken. I held onto them and they work just fine in this application.
I had to grind off the remains of the two plastic tabs on the top of the switches.
How to wire it up? Stare at it for a while then get a pen and paper and sketch up a circuit. Use a diode on each limit switch to by-pass that switch if the cradle is rotating away from it.
Wire it up and give it a try. I'm proud to say that it worked right the first time. Not often so lucky.
Youtube video of the motorized valve in operation.
In the video I'm under the table powering the motor from two 6 volt batteries sitting on the floor. It's not hooked up to a switch so I'm just swapping the two motor leads from plus to minus and back again to get the valve to open and close. Don't know why the video is such poor quality. Must of hit the wrong setting on the camera.
Install the motorized valve into the freshly painted box.
You can see the side holes where the box will bolt to the tank brace. The base plate gets screwed into place only after the box is bolted to the brace.
Take both end plates off and apply generous amounts of Silicone II to all seams then screw back together. Smear silicone wherever I think it might help keep out moisture.
One job left. I forgot to see how many amps the motor pulled as it was turning the valve. I'll need to know this so I can use the correctly valued fuse for the motor circuit. Problem is that it happens so fast I had trouble getting a good reading. Had to call for some help.
As I worked the clamps on the batteries Bob would keep a close eye on the voltmeter then call back the reading after each run.
Her highest reading was 6.47 amps.
continued -
Kitchen Cabinet, Post #25
With the protective box for the dump valve completed I need to figure out a way to mount it under the van. Decide to take the tank support and weld on a "outrigger" to support the dump valve box.
Also primed and painted the greywater tank.
To join the tank and the valve I took a 1-1/2" flexible connector and shortened it.
Here's the tank with the modified brace.
The valve and it's box in position. I've not yet drilled the holes in the side of box where it will bolt to the brace outrigger.
This is looking straight up
Will need to add a piece of 1-1/2" PVC to the valve's inlet threaded adapter that will slide into the flexible coupling.
Remove the box and take some measurements.
Measure and cut two lengths of PVC pipe and cement to each end of the valve. The inlet is on the left. I had originally planned to mount that 90 degree elbow on the outlet side of the valve. Instead I'm going to leave it off. The tank should drain that much quicker without it.
While I had the cement out add a 90 degree elbow to the overflow pipe.
Drill a couple of drain holes in the bottom of the box. I'll try and make it as waterproof as I can but doubt it will be 100 percent.
Think I'm done taking the tank on and off the van. Paint the tank brace and bolt it in place. Bolt the tank to the brace.
Screw the Webasto pump shield into place.
Like the previous shield it's open at the back. In the top right of the photo is the bottom of the side cargo step. The van is constructed with large rubber bumpers that go between the frame and the van body. This allows some movement between the frame and the body so I left an inch of clearance between the top of the tank and the bottom of the step.
The machine screw I added to the front of the tank is there to hold a clip which keeps the Webasto fuel line in place.
So I'm laying on my back under the van for the umpteenth time doing this work when I look towards the front and see this.
I swear that darn cat is mocking me.
continued -
With the protective box for the dump valve completed I need to figure out a way to mount it under the van. Decide to take the tank support and weld on a "outrigger" to support the dump valve box.
Also primed and painted the greywater tank.
To join the tank and the valve I took a 1-1/2" flexible connector and shortened it.
Here's the tank with the modified brace.
The valve and it's box in position. I've not yet drilled the holes in the side of box where it will bolt to the brace outrigger.
This is looking straight up
Will need to add a piece of 1-1/2" PVC to the valve's inlet threaded adapter that will slide into the flexible coupling.
Remove the box and take some measurements.
Measure and cut two lengths of PVC pipe and cement to each end of the valve. The inlet is on the left. I had originally planned to mount that 90 degree elbow on the outlet side of the valve. Instead I'm going to leave it off. The tank should drain that much quicker without it.
While I had the cement out add a 90 degree elbow to the overflow pipe.
Drill a couple of drain holes in the bottom of the box. I'll try and make it as waterproof as I can but doubt it will be 100 percent.
Think I'm done taking the tank on and off the van. Paint the tank brace and bolt it in place. Bolt the tank to the brace.
Screw the Webasto pump shield into place.
Like the previous shield it's open at the back. In the top right of the photo is the bottom of the side cargo step. The van is constructed with large rubber bumpers that go between the frame and the van body. This allows some movement between the frame and the body so I left an inch of clearance between the top of the tank and the bottom of the step.
The machine screw I added to the front of the tank is there to hold a clip which keeps the Webasto fuel line in place.
So I'm laying on my back under the van for the umpteenth time doing this work when I look towards the front and see this.
I swear that darn cat is mocking me.
continued -
I'm taking a quick break from posting about the kitchen cabinet to give an update on a previous project. Two and a half years ago when I installed the EZ Cool insulation on the cockpit floor I wrote about maybe pulling up the flooring in the future and check how it held up. Well I just did and it's in near perfect shape.
The only flat space on the floor was where I bolt down the front seat. Otherwise it's springy wherever I checked.
At the time it was twice as expensive as Reflectix and I didn't think it was worth it but I've been proved wrong. I'm really impressed with how the EZ Cool has worked out. I'm sure having the blue diamond floor covering was an advantage. It's rigid enough to have helped spread the load.
The only flat space on the floor was where I bolt down the front seat. Otherwise it's springy wherever I checked.
At the time it was twice as expensive as Reflectix and I didn't think it was worth it but I've been proved wrong. I'm really impressed with how the EZ Cool has worked out. I'm sure having the blue diamond floor covering was an advantage. It's rigid enough to have helped spread the load.
Your wish is my command.
Kitchen Cabinet, Post #24
Now to get the dump valve to line up and connect to the greywater tank.
Since the valve will be under the van I'll have to make a box to protect it. I thought about making it from wood like the tank but need more practice welding thinner metals so this is a good opportunity. Going to need some metal. Say "Hello" to the first computer I assembled from parts. It used a Cyrix processor which dates it to around 1993.
I've hung onto it because I thought this case might come in handy someday.
It's a bit bigger than needed. Before I start trimming the box to fit the valve better make the valve it's final size.
Before I had only hand tightened the threaded adapters at each end of the valve. This time used teflon tape and a vise.
Start cutting down the case.
The case is around 20 gauge steel which is too thick for me to put a nice crisp corner on the bends but I can hammer it into submission.
Make a lid (really the base) from another part of the computer case.
This gives me my basic box shape.
Test fit it under the van and take some measurements then cut on the box.
Weld case pieces onto the box.
Test fit under the van. Had to make the "step" cuts in the box to clear the bottom part of the "C" pillar.
It ain't pretty, but it's all mine.
Will mount the valve from the top of the box.
Drill two holes in the top of the valve frame then matching holes in the box.
Make box end pieces and drill holes for the pipes.
Use sheet metal screws to attach.
Since I can't do sharp bends weld edge pieces onto the removable base plate instead.
This gives the bottom base a nice tight fit.
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Kitchen Cabinet, Post #24
Now to get the dump valve to line up and connect to the greywater tank.
Since the valve will be under the van I'll have to make a box to protect it. I thought about making it from wood like the tank but need more practice welding thinner metals so this is a good opportunity. Going to need some metal. Say "Hello" to the first computer I assembled from parts. It used a Cyrix processor which dates it to around 1993.
I've hung onto it because I thought this case might come in handy someday.
It's a bit bigger than needed. Before I start trimming the box to fit the valve better make the valve it's final size.
Before I had only hand tightened the threaded adapters at each end of the valve. This time used teflon tape and a vise.
Start cutting down the case.
The case is around 20 gauge steel which is too thick for me to put a nice crisp corner on the bends but I can hammer it into submission.
Make a lid (really the base) from another part of the computer case.
This gives me my basic box shape.
Test fit it under the van and take some measurements then cut on the box.
Weld case pieces onto the box.
Test fit under the van. Had to make the "step" cuts in the box to clear the bottom part of the "C" pillar.
It ain't pretty, but it's all mine.
Will mount the valve from the top of the box.
Drill two holes in the top of the valve frame then matching holes in the box.
Make box end pieces and drill holes for the pipes.
Use sheet metal screws to attach.
Since I can't do sharp bends weld edge pieces onto the removable base plate instead.
This gives the bottom base a nice tight fit.
continued -
