1992 G3500 Quigley camper / hauler

[kewilso3]

Hello fellow outdoorsey internet people!

I am starting this thread to share my simple camper / motorcycle hauler build as it progresses. The goal is to end up with a minimalist rig that I can camp out of and still use to haul stuff without ruining the inside. Progress has been slow so far.

Starting point for me was a 1992 G3500HD with a Quigley 4x4 conversion. High top, swing doors, 20,000 mile cargo van. The van was owned by the state and was used for water line inspection. Interior was walled off right behind the side doors, office area with monitoring/recording equipment up front, camera rig in the back. Camera was like a little tank that would crawl through drain pipes dragging several hundred feet of cable behind it. LOTS of equipment was in this thing; I removed about 2500lbs of it. Anyway, none of that really matters except that it left a ton of holes in the floor, which I have been patching (welding solid) in preparation for rust proofing paint.

I installed a fan-tastic roof vent in place of the large, heavy AC unit that was on top. I dont plan on staying near shore power or installing enough batteries to run such a thing, and a bit of stealth is important to me. I also have two small solar powered vent fans that I will install in place of the two strobe lights on top.

Insulation and sound deadening plan right now is 1/8" ensolite on all walls and doors, then pink foam, then most likely plywood over that.

Floor will be Frost king adhesive foam, then the pink stuff, then plywood, with rubber utility flooring. Tie down tracks for versatility and hauling.

Minimal cabinetry on both sides.

As I got it:

After installing 265/75 r16 BFG All Terrain KO2's, and losing the alternator pulley:

It has already been great as a bike hauler (Buell XB9 and BMW F650 Dakar inside):

Hauled 10 railroad ties home one day as well:

I've been working on some graphic schemes to make it less creepy one day (I work at a facility that can cut vinyl cheap for me):

Also started ideation on the interior layout. I spent a good bit of time creating a spot-on template for the profile of the interior sides of the van, before trying it at several places along the sides and realizing the van sides are not consistent all the way down. This is a bummer as I hoped to cut everything out with a cnc router. Guess I'll have to go old school on some of it:

The name is still up for debate as well. I love this thing

 

[Lunchbox2]

Nice find! I'm building something similar out of a shorty van, and starting with something like this would've made my life a LOT easier.... lol

 

[Desert Dan]

Good find.

Keeping the cargo hauling capability is great.

 

[thuelmcnagen]

Love the graphic ideas and it's getting the wheels turning for my van!

 

[huntsonora]

Love that van!

 

[kewilso3]

Thanks everyone. At many point I've thought about buying a finished project instead of doing all this work, but I hope it will be worth it in the end. This weekend I finished up cleaning the floor inside and was able to prime it.

Some of the welding on a wheel well before grinding smooth. I must have patched nearly 200 screw holes.

Rustoleum primer I used. This stuff covered well and dried solid enough to walk on in 24 hours. It seems to be pretty tough, and hopefully it's doing its thing on the small bit of surface rust underneath. I did spend hours cleaning, scrubbing, grinding all rust spots and welds before painting.

The result. I will go back over this with white where I think it will be visible after the floor install:

Also got warm enough to apply some ensolite to the walls and rear doors. This stuff is nice to work with and does an excellent job of damping noise on the sheet metal, given it is only 1/8" thick. The peel and stick adhesive is aggressive and stretches enough to conform to the contours I've encountered so far.

I installed my two solar vents in the roof, one front and one rear, in place of the old strobe lights. The instructions said to drill a 4.5" hole, but after doing this I realized the housing is actually about 4.625" in diameter, so I had to wallow out the opening with a sanding drum on my drill. Fun stuff. They're in now and working, don't move much air but hopefully it's enough to keep it fresh inside.

Much better look without those huge yellow lights:

Any votes for or against keeping the big running boards?

 

[flightcancled]

I'd definitely love an update some point once you've had some time with those vent.

Personally I would toss the boards. Aside from the added clearance and looks, my boards rubbed the paint clean off while trapping grime, and was hiding rust and damage I now have to fix.

Is that a double-din radio!? I'm so jealous!

 

[philos]

Excellent, I like builds like this one.

 

[kewilso3]

Still too cold to paint or use any adhesives, so I took the side steps off to see how it looked. I like the look, time will tell if I miss them. I'll keep them in the garage until I decide for good. This morning there was condensation on the outside of the van body opposite of the ensolite, but not where I have not applied ensolite yet whatever that means.

 

[flightcancled]

It already looks like a completely different rig.

 

[Bbasso]

Lots of potential, keep the pictures flowing.

 

[gtbensley]

Thats very clean looking!!

 

[spencyg]

Love. It.

Awesome find.

SG

 

[kewilso3]

Yesterday I finally got around to making a cup holder / console organizer. I've spilled at least 3 drinks by trying to balance them there and then taking a turn too quickly, so I figured it was about time. The holder is made from 1/4" DiBond, which is meant to be used for outdoor signage. It's a polyethylene core sandwiched between two layers of aluminum, durable stuff that's nice to work with and that I will be using more in the build. Held in place with a single aluminum standoff, cut to hold two cups, pens, phone, book, map... as simple and versatile as possible seems to be my theme for this.

 

[Jb1rd]

I took the side steps off my B190 and never looked back, ditched the wheel covers too, figured one would just pop off anyway :sombrero: