Ford Transit Cab Chassis with Composite Camper

Victorian

Approved Vendor : Total Composites
Just Curious, how do you attach / build out interior furniture, I heard it was adhesive but I was skeptical.
All cabinetry, walls and other structure is only fastened with our koemmerling 225 polyurethane adhesive. Keys is to maintain a 2-3mm adhesive thickness to get the max bonding strength. I use stainless steel washers.
 

biggoolies

Adventurer
Better than phillips for sure...
I choose to use square headed screws over everything else. They are the best in my opinion. They are more common in Canada. The actual name for the screw is a “Robertson head”. I bought a great screw driver in Lowe’s in the US and found it frustrating that it had no Robertson bits in it so I had to buy them separately.
 
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biggoolies

Adventurer
Just a little interesting information on the Robertson head. Back to the thread. ?
What is a Robertson Screw or Robertson Head Screw?
Most of us call Robertson screws “square drive” or “socket head” screws. They were invented by Canadian traveling salesman Peter Robertson around 1906. Up until that time, almost all screws were “straight drive” or “slot head” screws. Robertson’s screws were superior to slot head screws since the square recess automatically centered the screwdriver, provided more surface area for the driver to press against and reduced the chance of slippage.

According to legend, Henry Ford discovered using Robertson head screws could shave almost 2 hours off the assembly time of a vehicle. But since Robertson refused to sell exclusive rights to the robertson head screw to Ford, he turned to use a screw developed by a guy named—you guessed it—Phillips.
Although the Robertson screw is most popular in Canada, it is used extensively in boat building because it tends not to slip and damage material, it can be used with one hand, and it is much easier to remove/replace after weathering.
 
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Alloy

Well-known member
Better than phillips for sure...
Don't know why Phillips is still used. I've read that before torque drivers they were used to prevent overtightening.

These are what I almost use exclisivly now.

 
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Alloy

Well-known member
Moving along in small steps as I’m waiting for more bits and pieces to arrive. Today I installed the last storage hatch, door and hatch holder.

I swapped my hatch holder over to these....low profile and one hand operation.

 

2wheelktm

New member
Interesting build. The History Guy on YouTube has a really interesting talk on philips versus Robertson and how Ford controlled that outcome. It's a Canadian thing...

Couple of qustions:
1. Where are you running wiring and is it possible to run conduit in the walls (I.E. Vertical chases from subfloor to service light switches and wall plugs. How are ceiling light wired?
2. Are the wall panels vacuum bagged?

FYI the boating industry have lots of good details on how to deal with panel penetrations and making sure you don't introduce water into the core at fastener locations (more significant issue when you build balsa core composite panels but lots of issues with with foam core as well so attention to detail is required). Usually involves reaming ou a bit of the core and filling with epoxy prior to installing the fastener.

I am also interested in how the floor is connected to the frame and how those localized stress concentrations are dealt with.

Cheers from Kelowna.

Sent from my SM-N960W using Tapatalk
 

Victorian

Approved Vendor : Total Composites
Interesting build. The History Guy on YouTube has a really interesting talk on philips versus Robertson and how Ford controlled that outcome. It's a Canadian thing...

Couple of qustions:
1. Where are you running wiring and is it possible to run conduit in the walls (I.E. Vertical chases from subfloor to service light switches and wall plugs. How are ceiling light wired?
2. Are the wall panels vacuum bagged?

FYI the boating industry have lots of good details on how to deal with panel penetrations and making sure you don't introduce water into the core at fastener locations (more significant issue when you build balsa core composite panels but lots of issues with with foam core as well so attention to detail is required). Usually involves reaming ou a bit of the core and filling with epoxy prior to installing the fastener.

I am also interested in how the floor is connected to the frame and how those localized stress concentrations are dealt with.

Cheers from Kelowna.

Sent from my SM-N960W using Tapatalk

We embed wire chases in the roof at several critical spots. Customer can also custom place them when they order... Any other wires and water lines can be bitten behind/inside cabinetry. That way you always have access and keep them from freezing. No wood in our panels other than Marine Ply in the floor panel. That one is a very important structural member and strong enough to be able to drive a fork lift on it. Here is a picture of floor sample.
 

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Victorian

Approved Vendor : Total Composites
FYI....I had cork tiles and the tiles swelled around the edges when water got on the floor at the entrance.

I love how it looks.

im slightly worried about that too. I made sure that the seams and edges are very good sealed with the 2k industrial sealer. On top of that, did I apply caulking where the panels touch the walls. We have a 4year old... spills will happen ?
 

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