AmboVan Restarted

hobietony

Explorer
Tony, you better be using SS screws or weld it. Those coated steel screws are going to be a problem with corrosion.

Im sure I will end up welding along the bracket, although if those fasteners start to rust I have bigger problems with water intrusion. This will keep me going with getting the hole cut, I'll want to scheduling any heavy interior welding until my wife can be with me as a fire watch, with a charged hose. Makes sense to do this after the hole is cut, everything is in place, but before the top drops on - I think I can push for this weekend.
 

bknudtsen

Expedition Leader
Im sure I will end up welding along the bracket, although if those fasteners start to rust I have bigger problems with water intrusion. This will keep me going with getting the hole cut, I'll want to scheduling any heavy interior welding until my wife can be with me as a fire watch, with a charged hose. Makes sense to do this after the hole is cut, everything is in place, but before the top drops on - I think I can push for this weekend.

I think they are talking about the galvanic reaction between aluminum and the steel fasteners rather than rust. Over time, the dissimilar metals will start to corrode at their point of contact. Otherwise, I am excited to see the progress!
 

r_w

Adventurer
If this is the one you got, be very gentle with it, I stripped the gears in the head in no time.
http://www.harborfreight.com/3-8-eighth-inch-angle-drill-attachment-with-keyless-chuck-92188.html

+1. not up to much, but you may be OK in alum if you are easy. Do ONE screw in each bracket first so you can go back and weld even if it only makes it halfway through.

Another option is to mark for all the holes and then pull everything down and install the brackets on the new piece first. Then put it back.
 

hobietony

Explorer
How did I get here?

I went back to the original build thread, where I was coasting on Chris' new shop project, and reconnected the photo links. Interesting to remind myself what I did for the first year I had it, and the decisions I made at the time. (Did I REALLY need to strip the entire interior?). Anyway, if the interwebz is interested, here is the prequel to AmboVan Restarted.

http://www.expeditionportal.com/forum/threads/52034-New-shop-Next-project!!

73012_1666839949401_1189359345_31825023_608885_n.jpg
 
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McZippie

Walmart Adventure Camper
I think it looks great just the way it is right now! IMHO a stripe will get you right back at the ambulance look.

^^^ Exactly ^^^ my thoughts. That's one nice look'in Rig.
IMHO If still want to break up the white some, play around with SMALL expo theme, words and simple graphic designs, in gray or charcoal.... but it looks GREAT all white!
 

McZippie

Walmart Adventure Camper
Again fabulous Rig. Looking forward to top install and interior.

FWIW here's some pics of our Limo Bus interior. A lot of thought was put into the simple layout to maximize creature comforts, at the expense of larger cabinets, kitchen and bath.
It's set up so both wife and I have our own jack-knife sofa beds. These are top of the line units, no sagging, best foam and leather available, very comfortable.
It's been our experience with previous small RVs, they had to many cabinets, booth sofa/bed etc, never had a comfortable place to sit and relax or even sleep.
In our present Rig when we pull over to relax, nap or hang out, just flop on our own sofa. At night I open my sofa bed while wife sleeps with her's up. They can be folded out together to make a strong, almost king size bed. All in all we are very pleased with them. I'm sure you'll design an excellent interior for your Rig however it's laid out.

Other items to consider that work well for us.
120 volt electric 5 gallon under sink water heater, turn on max for a good 8 gallons of very hot water. Insulated tank, water stays hot all day.
12 volt electric waste water dump valve.
Espar diesel furnace
Semi-truck sleeper cab split-unit air conditioner.
Fantastic roof fan, set to vent out and have two small 4" inlets at bed height to create a very effective cooling breeze.
 
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CLynn85

Explorer
McZippie, you really need to do a build thread on your rig, every time I see more details on it I love it more! The dual sofa-beds is genius.
 

CLynn85

Explorer
I went back to the original build thread, where I was coasting on Chris' new shop project, and reconnected the photo links. Interesting to remind myself what I did for the first year I had it, and the decisions I made at the time. (Did I REALLY need to strip the entire interior?).

Since our rigs started out very similar, I've done a lot of reading in your thread. Nothing about mine will be as extreme as yours, but the interior decision was definitely the hardest part. I know I could come up with a crazy awesome innovative rv-ish interior if I ripped everything out, but the existing storage was too good to destroy right off the bat so we made the decision to work around it. It's no where near optimized though and I'm constantly thinking about "phase 2" when it all gets ripped out and I start over.
 

CLynn85

Explorer
^^^ Exactly ^^^ my thoughts. That's one nice look'in Rig.
IMHO If still want to break up the white some, play around with SMALL expo theme, words and simple graphic designs, in gray or charcoal.... but it looks GREAT all white!

My thoughts exactly, Maaco quoted me a great price to just do mine over in solid white, so I've been leaning that way as well. I would probably go solid white with some custom vinyl or find some not-too-offensive rv-style graphics just to break it up. I also like the way SARConcepts had his airbrushed, but I would just go vinyl probably since my neighbor has a sign shop.
 

VanIsle_Greg

I think I need a bigger truck!
There is a fantastic build on here somewhere where they painted the rig exterior in a light bronze colour and then along the bottom they airbrushed grass in varying shades of the same colour only darker. It was like Savanna grass...looked amazing. Likely a $$ option, but you might be able to get a partial wrap made like that?

Or leave it white?
 

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