Damn the Van

rum_bay01

New member
Ok so I figured it was time to do a write up of my van build.... "Damn the Van". My wife played a major role in naming the van, mostly venting her true feelings of the van build. Now for the history of the van; I spent countless hours researching and planning and purchased the van. The PO received the van from his father who owned a roofing company in West Palm Beach and used the van to transport his workers to job sites. The PO used it for swimming pool repair, so this van has a history of working and now it is time for it to relax! The van is a 2001 E350 EB, 5.4 and 83k on the od. The guy was in a major need to sell, so after making him feel bad for misrepresenting the van over the phone and thru text pics, I got him down from $3500.00 to $850.00! The interior was covered with tar and smelled horrible, body damage that wasn't disclosed. Mechanically she is solid and drives awesome.

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So upon entering the driveway, tear down begins. The PO had covered the interior with carpet fresh to cover the smell. I can take care of that, just rip it out!

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rum_bay01

New member
So now it is time to strip down the interior...
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sweep it out...
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give it a washing....
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analyze the rust....
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it is all surface rust.... now to wire wheel brush it.
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myfoxmystere

New member
I can see this van looking fresh when the restoration gets completed. Great call in getting the guy to drop his asking price down. Not telling the potential buyer about the tar is quite the tactic of a used car salesman.
 

rum_bay01

New member
I had every intention of stripping the van down to bare bones, but I just informed him that it was going to cost a fortune to replace all of the plastic and seats which made the van not worth it.


So now we move to the exterior. The PO had backed the van down the side of a bricked mailbox from the passenger door all the way to the tail light. Body work easy for me to do and by replacing the barn doors make it easier.
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replaced the doors from a donor van at my local pull apart.
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changed the lock cylinders, removed the decals and replaced the fixed windows with pop outs...
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rum_bay01

New member
You screwed the plywood directly to the floor of the van?

yes each sheet was screwed to the floor after each screw received a healthy coating of liquid nails. Taking in consideration of flexing and wood shrinkage and expansion, each corner was secured by countersinking machine screws with fender washers underneath the van. Each sheet was secured with a series of dowel pins in the edges and glued together forming one continuous sheet from front to rear. I then tested the flooring by putting the van into some serious flexing positions, everything held perfectly.
 

rum_bay01

New member
The original doghouse was in terrible shape.
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I used the original doghouse but found another box to attach to my existing doghouse, clean and repainted old doghouse and painted new box.
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southpier

Expedition Leader
Q: what paint? the doghouse is vinyl, correct? does it get hot on the cab side?

perfect color; thanks
 

rum_bay01

New member
Q: what paint? the doghouse is vinyl, correct? does it get hot on the cab side?

perfect color; thanks

Thank you. I like the grey interior color so I am keeping the grey color theme. The doghouse is plastic. I used a plastic based paint for boats. It doesn't get hot at all, I reinsulated the engine sidewith an insulation used on manifolds and exhaust, 3000 degree rating.
 

rum_bay01

New member
A little gutter repair. The gutter had some rust and was in bad shape. After removing the rust there was a 12" section that had to be completely removed. So let's work a little bondo magic.
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repaired and primered.
scored some new seats out of a 2012 E350, new seats have adjustable arm rests old ones didn't besides the PO left his dog in the van overnight and it decided to eat the seats.
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bknudtsen

Expedition Leader
Huge improvements so far, and for the entry price, you will be way ahead in no time flat! Welcome!
 

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