Clark Camper - 2000 E450 Ambo

clarkh

Observer
Finally time to start putting stuff back so we can go camping...

Cabinets:

Decided on building frameless cabinets out of 3/4 cabinet grade plywood. I had a rough idea of the layout I wanted and got started. There will be no doors, just drawers and cubbies. Passenger side built and ready for laminate:

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Starting drivers side:

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Drivers side, making sure the sink will work with the cabinet location, you can see the outside compartment protrudes into the cabinet. This sink is pretty deep, great for storing stuff while driving. The ambo box is almost 8' wide, so I have plenty of width to build this sink cabinet 24" deep. We are tall so I bumped the height up a few inches for a little more storage, finished counter height is almost 39".

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This cabinet houses the inverter, solar controller and electrical panel up top, with a porta potty that slides into doorway below:

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Now time to pull most of the cabinets out for laminate and drawers. Going back in:

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Drawers are 1/2 inch marine grade ply. The big drawer under the sink tilts out and holds the trash can.

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I stained the insides of the cabinets and painted the drawer boxes. Now I can start making and laminating the drawer fronts. I used southco latches (work great) and 100# drawer slides (adequate but not great).

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Working on drivers side:

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With countertop on:

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Fridge and Microwave go in the big cabinet by the door facing forward. We do most of our cooking outside, so this location for the fridge lets us grab things without fully entering the camper. Keeps tracked in dirt to a minimum.

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eporter

Adventurer
Nice looking cabinets! How do you get in that top pass. side drawer? Do you think 3/4" is overkill for the boxes? I've been looking at using 1/2" for some weight savings but maybe it's worth more weight for strength?
 

clarkh

Observer
Nice looking cabinets! How do you get in that top pass. side drawer? Do you think 3/4" is overkill for the boxes? I've been looking at using 1/2" for some weight savings but maybe it's worth more weight for strength?
I knew someone would notice that top drawer! The pop top (not pictured yet) adds 10-12 inches of height even when down, so no problem getting in that drawer. I mulled over the 1/2 vs 3/4 question. I decided to not stress the weight because this thing is huge. If I was in a smaller van and was really watching weight I can see 1/2 working fine.


looking good. I like the fridge location. Is that a 3 way unit?

Thanks, it works really well for us. It's a 12/120v unit by Vitrifrigo, pricey but awesome.
 

Jambulance80

New member
On to insulation. I used a combination of spray foam (I used Tiger Foam, 600 board ft kit) and Thinsulate. On the camper side of the compartments I had to fir out with 1x1 AL to screw my finished surfaces to and give myself a guide to cut the excess spray foam. I didn't try to get every litttle bit of foam, I was fine with "about" an inch at the bump ins and 1.5 inches on the walls.

Here you can see the 1x1 used as fir strips:

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You can also see the CR Laurance window I installed here. It's fine but I wish I went with an awning window of some sorts so it can be left open in bad weather.

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For the studs on the walls I drilled and used closed cell foam in a can. I went slow so the foam had access to air for curing. I still had a few spots that ooozed foam when I attached my cabinets.

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I had sprayed foam from a kit like this before in by Sprinter. Much much easier in the ambo. I think one of the keys is to follow the directions closely. You must shake the bottles of foam and have them and the surface to be sprayed at a certain temperature. I set the bottles in front of a electric space heater inside the camper for over an hour shaking every 15 min or so. Tape off what you don't want foam on and spray away. Cover every inch of your body or you'll be pulling hair out.

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All trimmed up... I used Thinsulate at the front and back where there are lots of wires. The top will get a combo of more spray foam and some Thinsulate when the pop top goes in.

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The roof of the cab got a pretty standard Noico and Thinsulate treatment:

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I also stuffed Thinsulate in the A pillar and every other area I had access to.


For all that 1x1 aluminum- did you weld all that in or screw or rivet?
 

clarkh

Observer
For all that 1x1 aluminum- did you weld all that in or screw or rivet?

I just glued them. In places they had to be held in place with small pieces of angle, and either tape until glue set or a self tapper that was removed later depending what was on the other side. I used this Marine Adhesive by Loctite, I can get it at my local home depot. It worked great for this purpose. It has a few benefits over 5200 or Sika 252 - cheaper, easier than Sika to purchase but is not as strong a bond as the others. Plenty strong for this application however.
 

Ty_Deschaine

New member
The dog house is a big area for noise with the 7.3. I painted on a few layers of Noxudol then a layer of MVL followed by DEI Floor & Tunnel Shield I don't have a good photo of the after, it is HEAVY but wow did it knock down the noise.

I still need to do the front doors with Noico and Thinsulate. Probably replace the seals around them as well.

More to come...

Photos of your dog house would be awesome! I've been working on knocking down noise on my 7.3L with very little success.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
 

clarkh

Observer
I just so happen to have the dog house off right now!.... My memory failed me a bit in my description. I removed the existing fiberglass insulation. Then painted on Noxudol (Dynamat or similar would work also), then put a layer of MVL. You have to be creative with cutting and shaping it, the MVL is not flexible. Then (this is the step I forgot) i put the stock insulation, then a layer of the Floor and Tunnel Shield mainly for heat protection. I also have the up-pipes wrapped and a turbo blanket. It's not a work of art but cut down on noise really well.

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You can sort of see the layers here:

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I know i have a pic of each stage as I was doing this, but can't find them right now. I'll post them up if I find them.
 

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