AT IT AGAIN: Paul and Mike Convert a Mid/Tall T1N Sprinter Cargo

[mhiscox]

Great build!!! Sorry I'm late but I'm new to this forum. I've got to say that this is one of the nicer builds I've seen. Love your overhead cabinets. Did you use Riv nuts to mount them to ceiling ribs? They look like self tappers through the brackets in the photos.

They're self-tapping screws. It was a bit of an experiment to see whether Rivnuts would have been required, but apparently not, as the cabinets are still holding on just fine.

With that said, though, I need to mention two caveats. The first is that none of the cabinets is called on to hold any substantial weight. They carry food, clothes, toiletries and other pretty light stuff. The second is that this is principally a pavement and graded road vehicle, so it doesn't get bounced around much. So it's pretty much the same situation as with the bedding storage shelf . . we're doing fine with sheet metal screws but it's easy to see where a Sprinter with higher requirements should be constructed to a higher standard.

Thanks for the compliment about the build. It continues to be probably my favorite build for the money that I've done, being extremely livable and very comfy to drive around. (And I get 23 mpgs.)

 

[Wanted]

No...Steaming works OK with some non-plywoods...I still would have had to make a curved form even if I used bending plywood...this way is vastly faster...

Hey Paul, or anyone else that can answer this. I am very interested in using a similar approach to build out my cabinets with the 1/4 pipe to curve the plywood, however my problem is it's for a 4x4 sprinter which can get serious force exerted against it while off-road (turning this into my RTW vehicle). Is this ply thick enough, and is this pipe with fibreglass strong enough to support that sort of exertion without the bottom falling out of it or getting ripped off the wall? Would really love to know what I can do to maintain a similar build process but strengthen the hell out of it.

Thanks!

 

[southpier]

look at post #772 here: http://forum.expeditionportal.com/t...lar-trailer-topper-building-components/page26

you might get someone to sell you 8'0" lengths of the wall to roof molding. then you'd have a flange to make a mechanical joint. or just ladle on layer over layer of fiberglass and cloth.