2006 E350 Van Terra Build

[cherokee1989]

Mainly using this to keep record as I get this thing built. Feel free to chime in with your thoughts and critisizim, positive or negative! This is a lengthy initial post as I've been building it for a few months and need to play catch up. So, here we go!


Well I finally found a rig I feel could do it all. Picked up a 2006 Ford E350 Turtle Top Van Terra down in Pueblo, CO a few months ago. Have grand plans of creating it into the Fab Lab "Battle Bus" twin brother, of course that's a ways down the road. Anyways, I've mainly been focusing on getting the inside gutted and insulated so I can get it registered and insured as an RV as soon as possible. Before I get too far into why I chose this over an econoline here's some pics!







Specs:

• 2006 Ford E350 Cutaway
• Turtle Top Vanterra Conversion
• 135000 miles
• 6.8L V10
• 5 Speed Trans
• Dana 70 DRW axle with 4.10 gears
• Hideous red seats
• Old 12V VCR TV
• 2WD (for now )

Issues:

• Looks like PO hit curb on the large passenger door area. Fiberglass is a bit chewed up but not bad.
• Main side door motor isn't working. So in order to keep it from flapping open the PO jerry rigged a hook latch to keep it closed. Not too worried as I'll be removing the whole thing anyways and mounting an actual RV door in its place
• Some body work on the front passenger fender. Possibly involved in fender bender or something.
• ENTIRE suspension, front and rear, is shot! The thing rides like it's on bricks. That's where Chris at Ujoint will come in though!

Overall it's in decent shape for a 12 year old shuttle bus used for transporting kids (found lots of dried gum and corn nuts ). The PO was super nice and for only $5500 I couldn't complain too much. I tried to contain my excitement during the whole transaction, but of course resistance was futile. I could barely find equivalent year and mileage V10 E350s for that much, and now I didn't have to worry about adding a camper top!

Well enough rambling, here's some more pics of what I've done so far. As I mentioned before, I'm getting the interior converted for registration and insurance purposes. So far I've gutted the whole thing:



You can see in those pics that I've added some insulation in already. So far the 1" insulation board has been working perfectly for the metal frame. I've been using that fiberglass insulation for the ceiling as it's super awkward angling.

I've ran into a few issues and things that have needed fixing along the way:

• The windows were poorly sealed from the factory and after 10+ years of leaking, water damage had developed in areas of the floor and a few rust spots. So I removed each window, resealed with butyl tape, then recaulked around the entire exterior of the windows. Should be water tight now.
• Now I needed to cut out the sections of floor damaged by the water. Simple enough, just cut and replace with new plywood, treat it and seal it. Hopefully that'll do the trick.
• Then there's an ungodly amount of wires everywhere from all the dome lights, speakers, auxiliary switches, blah, blah, blah. It's all going and getting a clean start

I'm still just winging it on how I want the interior played out. So far I've built the bed frame in the back and will leave a double seat behind the driver and single seat behind the passenger, what goes in between all that is still up in the air. I have the queen bed frame oriented east west to utilize space better. Then I'm installing the insulation and ceiling first. Figured it would be easiest to build from the top down. Here's how it's looking so far:

This is how the insulation is looking for the ceiling.


Added a layer of reflectix and duct tape, then attached furring strips to the metal frame for attaching the finished ceiling.


...continue to next post vvvvv

 

[cherokee1989]

...continuing from Post #1

Here's the rest of the pics of final ceiling insulation.




I've been a bit under the weather since Christmas so progress has been slow going. Tomorrow I should be able to finish installing the wood for the ceiling. Then get going on the insulation for the side walls and insulating for the many windows.

To kill some time tonight, I'll go into a little back story on current and past rigs and campers and why I chose this as MY ultimate overland base camp.

For years I've been a jeep guy:

First car was a 1998 TJ. Apparently it was being built by one of the radio DJs in town for his boss (for those of you in Denver, CO it was Sharky on 103.5 The Fox). Throughout high school and a few years of college explored the Colorado mountains as much as I could. Then came the day I regret most, selling it.


Then came and went a few XJs, one a 1989 and another a 2001. Had fun with those but nothing compared to the TJ of yesteryear





Then my previous boss gave me a screaming deal on a 2002 4Runner. I was hooked! Going from jeep to Toyota was night and day! So reliable and great ride, went everywhere the XJs would go and then some.


For camping I've always slept in my vehicles with some homemade platform but got tired of that and picked up THE BEST OFF ROAD POP UP EVAH! A 2006 Fleetwood Neon lifted on 33s. Toted that around from Moab to Alaska and back.




And that last pick brings me to my current rig, my dream rig, the rig of all rigs!!! My 2006 LJ. This is the vehicle I'll be towing behind the Van Terra. Ever since I had my TJ in high school, an LJ was THE jeep to have. Well I finally picked one up 2 years ago bone stock and have been dumping money into it ever since haha.




And now it's time to get going on this Van Terra. My current plans for it are as follows:

• Get the interior built out
• I've already ordered the 4WD conversion from Chris at Ujoint, but that delivery date is still a few months out due to the holidays and custom leaf spring build times.
• So until then I will be using it as my winter ski rig and home. I work remotely so the plan goal is to hit all the resorts on the IKON ski pass in the western US and Canada!
• Then get the 4WD installed, hook up the LJ, and make the maiden trip to Moab.
• After that it's travel, travel, travel...

I decided on getting the Van Terra since it basically had everything I wanted in a camper van. The high roof, V10 engine, ability to tow my Wrangler, and a beast once converted to 4WD. I got sucked into the Van life this year and lived out of a truck camper in Alaska during this summer and didn't look back. I just love living in a tiny space, with minimal stuff, and could take everything anywhere I wanted! I'll mainly use this as a base camp to get out in the boonys. I have no need to t ake it rock crawling, but I'm sure I'll get ambitious at times. Plus that's what the Jeep is for, to explore the skinny back roads and play in the rocks.

All right, time to hit it. Hopefully I'll see these posts over the next few days as motivation to get this beast complete. Tomorrow it's ceiling time!

 

[diamondheaded]

Nice rig! I just bought one too. Since I have zero build skills I'll be watching your obvious talents.

Here's mine. It'll be a weekend surf mobile.

 

[brp]

I've got a Quigley Van Terra...and my first car was a 97 TJ! I still need to make a build thread, don't know why I never got around to it. Anyway, I totally gutted mine, so I know a lot about the vehicles.

I also butyl taped and sealed around the windows using Geoflex RV. Anyway let me if you have questions, I'm sure I've got answers.

One tip off the top of my head space around the windows, from the seat channel to the roof/wall rail, can be filled by a 4' wide piece of plywood perfectly. Another tip is to seal where the lid/roof is attached to the walls, on the outside. That was the source of my two leaks. Seal around the entire perimeter. The Geoflex RV comes in clear, which is nice for sealing around that connection.

Mine is a 2005, 5.4, Quigley, SRW, and about 1 foot shorter than yours. Awesome vehicle and good luck with the project.

 

[cherokee1989]

Nice rig! I just bought one too. Since I have zero build skills I'll be watching your obvious talents.

Here's mine. It'll be a weekend surf mobile.

Nice! these are great platforms for beach life! Glad to see more of these out there.

 

[cherokee1989]

I've got a Quigley Van Terra...and my first car was a 97 TJ! I still need to make a build thread, don't know why I never got around to it. Anyway, I totally gutted mine, so I know a lot about the vehicles.

I also butyl taped and sealed around the windows using Geoflex RV. Anyway let me if you have questions, I'm sure I've got answers.

One tip off the top of my head space around the windows, from the seat channel to the roof/wall rail, can be filled by a 4' wide piece of plywood perfectly. Another tip is to seal where the lid/roof is attached to the walls, on the outside. That was the source of my two leaks. Seal around the entire perimeter. The Geoflex RV comes in clear, which is nice for sealing around that connection.

Mine is a 2005, 5.4, Quigley, SRW, and about 1 foot shorter than yours. Awesome vehicle and good luck with the project.

That's pretty cool! Glad to see another one of these with 4x4. I'll be sure to pick your brain when something comes up. There's a dealer out here in Sedalia, CO that has a few 4x4 Van Terras, not sure if they're Quigley or Turtle Top factory 4x4, but they look pretty neat.

Totally agree on the water leakage on the top. Forgot to mention that mine did the same thing. The rear sides were separating at the top corners, I put some adhesive behind it and resealed the whole top all the way around. I'll probably just put a self taping screw into the corner too and connect it to the frame at some point, but for now it works.

 

[diamondheaded]

Nice! these are great platforms for beach life! Glad to see more of these out there.

cherokee1989 and brp (another sweet rig!):

What kind of tint do you guys have? It seems like a mirror-tint? Looks awesome. I'm gonna get either
limo or the same as yours. Mine isn't very stealthy since you can see into the van.

 

[brp]

I am not sure what tint I have, it just came like that. The tint does get a lot of compliments though. My van was originally sort of a luxury bus/limo, so I am guessing the tint is common in vehicles like that.

My van gets hot in the sun. I would suggest you consider a tint that is good at rejecting heat.

 

[diamondheaded]

I am not sure what tint I have, it just came like that. The tint does get a lot of compliments though. My van was originally sort of a luxury bus/limo, so I am guessing the tint is common in vehicles like that.

My van gets hot in the sun. I would suggest you consider a tint that is good at rejecting heat.

I got a Van Terra-specific question for you guys. I'm gonna paint mine with Rustoleum and wondering if I use the marine version since it's fiberglass?

 

[brp]

I had my whole van sprayed with Armacoating, basically Line-X, I know they sanded the whole thing. What Rustoleum product are you considering exactly?

 

[diamondheaded]

Not sure yet. They have a Marine coating or Combicolor. I'm wondering since the body is fiberglass and the hood is metal if it even matters. Did you have to sand your before painting? I'm lazy and would prefer just to roller it on.

Your color is very cool. Did you have to mix it? Cost?

 

[brp]

The hood on my van is actually fiberglass. I don't know if that is stock or not but that did surprise me when I removed the bug deflector.

My color is Cavalry Blue, I saw it on Toyota FJ's. When I went to pick-up the van after the paint job I was thinking, "that is really f'in blue." But it has grown on me, there is just a lot more surface area to show the color than an FJ has. My family calls it, "The Big Blue Bus," and my friends call it, "The Blue Eagle," the color is the defining feature I guess. It was $3,500 to have the van coated. I got the van for a good price so I was willing to splurge on the coating. They were able to find the PPG color code for Cavalry Blue and buy the generic tint and just mix it into the regular coating system. My van's paint was terrible when I bought it, I was either going to leave it and let it roll, or do something like truck bed liner that I would never worry about scratching. Macco wanted $2,500 for their admittedly crappy paint job, I thought $1k was worth it for something l like.

They took out the windows, sanded and prepped, all that. I did some light fiberglass work and trimmed a few spots on the passenger side that were damaged, probably from someone turning to tight and hitting a mailbox or fire hydrant.

At least for me, when you first undertake a project like this, you want everything perfect. I quickly relented and realized I'd rather spend a day out using the bus than working on it. So, the truck bed coating was nice in a way, because it concealed a lot. My fiberglass work was not perfect, but spray some thick, textured coating on it...I'm the only one who will ever know....and now everyone here I guess!

Whatever coating/paint you go with, you'll want to at least clean the surface, usually with MEK or a MEK alternative. Its basically a nasty chemical that cleans everything. I think you can roll on Raptor Liner, people generally seem to like it and they offer a ton of colors. Another guy spray painted his whole van with Rustoleum truck bed liner, they have a sand/tan color. I can't remember where I saw that write-up, but the dude was pleased. That seems like an easy, cheap, fast, and repairable route...Just ideas.

 

[diamondheaded]

That's a really beautiful paint job and I love that blue. Well worth the $3500. I love how your tint pops out, reflecting the surrounding environs. If it wasn't for the "blue" your tint is almost like camo. I don't have the bankroll that you guys do, so I'm goin with the $50 DIY paint job.

Do you have any interior shots? Also, OP cherokee1989, sorry to have hijacked your thread, but I think it's cool that I've found you guys. I've googled everywhere and haven't come up with any other Van Terra conversions! Surprising, since it's almost the perfect platform for van/bus expeditions. Plus, it just looks cool IMO>. Any update pics on both your builds would be greatly appreciated. Thanks for your ideas, brp.

 

[brp]

I'll take a video of the bus next time I go check on it, its in winter storage a few miles from my house.

 

[diamondheaded]

I'll take a video of the bus next time I go check on it, its in winter storage a few miles from my house.

Awesome! Mind sharing your solar or house battery setup? I'm getting ready to set mine up. Is there any place under the hood or frame?