Grumman the Backcountry Box Van____1997 Ford E450 7.3l Power Stroke diesel

[Petrolburner]

Bittersweet watching my Motovan drive away.

Untitled by Petrolburner, on Flickr

I did a ton of work to that van over the last few years. I also took 3 trips to Baja, a trip to Moab, a trip to SoCal, couple trips to the coast, a couple trips to the Alvord, countless local rides and naps at work.

 

[Teamoatmealpie]

Petrol - did i see you or Rothsmonster on Friday in Redmond- we rolled up on the G-motovan. I was thinking hey I've seen that van before. In fact the last time when the conclusion of your Alvord trip and the start of ours in October.

We were heading home early from Alvord trip with my sons, perfect late season riding, warm southwest wind about 65 during the day and not much dust. My youngest took a digger and broke his hand, hence the early departure.

The new platform looks interesting with a lot of options with the extra space.

 

[Petrolburner]

That was me! The was the last trip in that van too, picking up silica sand for sandblasting the subframe of the Grumman. I just finished the sand blasting today, what a mess.

 

[Petrolburner]

With all the wood removed I took Grumman to the car wash and pressure washed the rear axle, subframe etc.

Untitled by Petrolburner, on Flickr

I was hoping this would blast off more of the gunk and rust, but it didn't.


Next, I used a cutoff wheel in my 4.5" angle grinder and a grinding wheel in my other angle grinder. I cut off the remaining bolt stubs and ground them smooth. I also used a flap disc and grinder wheel to smooth out the tops of all the subframe beams. I was planning on doing all the rest of the subframe with wire wheels and flap discs and other spinning abrasives. I just happened to text a picture of the project to my friend nearby and invited him to bring a wire wheel and join the party. He called me right away, called me crazy, and invited me to bring it to his place and sand blast it. This was a life saver.



It was also totally miserable.




Untitled by Petrolburner, on Flickr

Untitled by Petrolburner, on Flickr

Untitled by Petrolburner, on Flickr

I worked on it for a little bit each day for 3 days. Blew through 450 pounds of sand. I just finished it up today. I drove back to my place, put my goggles and respirator back on, and started blowing it all off with my leaf blower. I was standing on the subframe and immediately started getting shocked through my boots every few seconds. I'm not sure what was making this happen. Static electricity from the blowing sand combined with the gas powered leaf blower ignition? Anyway, I through down a piece of plywood and stood on that to finish the dusting.

Untitled by Petrolburner, on Flickr


The hardest part about this whole endeavor was picking a place to stop. I just wanted to blast off the whole frame, all the cross members, rear axle, rear bumper, all the outside of the box and pretty much everything else inside and out.

 

[java]

So fresh and so clean clean!

What are you planning to paint/coat with?

Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk

 

[Petrolburner]

So fresh and so clean clean!

What are you planning to paint/coat with?

Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk

I have a gallon of POR-15 headed my way, plus a gallon of solvent so I can spray it and clean up the gun. What size nozzle do I need for POR-15? I hear it's pretty thick stuff. I'll do some of it with a brush probably, and most of it with a gun. I don't own a paint gun but it looks like they're pretty cheap. Especially compared to what I bought today, a Millermatic 211 MIG welder with a Miller Spoolmate 150 spoolgun and a bunch of wire and consumables. I might be doing some reinforcing of the aluminum ribs inside the box. I will also probably use the spoolgun and aluminum to build the observation deck on the roof.


My friend with a TIG welder is going to take a crack at fixing this.

Untitled by Petrolburner, on Flickr

Untitled by Petrolburner, on Flickr

Untitled by Petrolburner, on Flickr

 

[java]

Nice! I have a 211 I use at work, it's a really nice machine. Spool gun is on my want list....

Never sprayed POR15, only brushed. It lays down nice with a brush IMO. Harbor freight spray guns are cheap and work well actually. It's really thick though. Oh and use a pie of seran wrap underground lid once it's open. Metal lid on metal can will be impossible to open, the plastic in there makes it come off and keeps the air out.

Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk

 

[Petrolburner]

Nice! I have a 211 I use at work, it's a really nice machine. Spool gun is on my want list....

Never sprayed POR15, only brushed. It lays down nice with a brush IMO. Harbor freight spray guns are cheap and work well actually. It's really thick though. Oh and use a pie of seran wrap underground lid once it's open. Metal lid on metal can will be impossible to open, the plastic in there makes it come off and keeps the air out.

Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk

That's a good reminder about the plastic wrap. Yeah, that can will glue itself shut.

I went with the Spoolmate 150 instead of the 100 for a couple reasons. The 100 is built with more plastic and got a lot of reviews saying it was a total PITA to load. The 150 is a better built gun and it has a 20 foot hose instead of 12. I can see a lot of my welding getting done in the driveway. Also, you need a lot of amps with aluminum because it's such a heat sink, so that 100 amp gun would probably get awfully hot in a hurry. Sucks I have to buy 2 tanks, one for pure Argon and one 25/75 for MIG.

 

[java]

Yep 150 is the way to go. Two tanks really is a drop in the bucket in the long run.

Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk

 

[Petrolburner]

I need some advice.


I put up a wanted ad on craigslist for one of those aluminum loading ramps from a U-Haul. My box is not the same but there's enough space to put a ramp between the frame rails and above the fuel tank. Any ideas on how to make slides or a roller system to stow and deploy the ramp? I want to probably make a lip on the back edged of the deck that it could hook over and let me slide the ramp to the left and right as much as necessary to line up the ramp with the wheel chocks. Also to line up the ramp with the bike when unloading. The U-Haul is designed lock right in the center, it can't be removed.

I had one offer to come get the ramp and all the mounting hardware for $400. I have to drive several hours across the Cascades and remove it myself. Wet side of the valley, guarantee it will be raining.

I just got an offer from a guy with a ramp for $200.

I'm probably better off making my own custom slides with the $200 difference. I did just buy a welder afterall.

 

[java]

If you want to move it side to side get the cheap one. Uhaul ramp is center only.... Skate bearings are ungodly cheap for rollers. Weld some studs on add bearings for the ramp. That gets it in and out anyway.

Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk

 

[Teamoatmealpie]

Just an FYI Grainger has a ton of industrial wheels of different sizes and load capacities for carts and moving dollies. I was looking at some for a project and was happy to see they had many options. Might be an option for some rollers to slide the ramp.

Let us know how the POR15 goes, I am looking at the same for my axles, too much sodium chloride from living at Mt.Hood.

 

[Mat Mobile]

I would just paint the POR-15 with the brush. Especially if you're just doing the floor. It goes on pretty well with a paint brush and always dries really well. And I'm sure you already know but, you don't want that stuff going everywhere.

 

[RC413]

Brush the POR-15. Better coating and less waste.

Finding a stopping point is tough, what you have done looks great though!!

For the damaged wall, why not replace the panel, or the lower half? You have access to it now and the rib will be way easier to straighten when the panel is out of the way. They are only rivets...

Thanks Ross

 

[Petrolburner]

For the damaged wall, why not replace the panel, or the lower half? You have access to it now and the rib will be way easier to straighten when the panel is out of the way. They are only rivets...

Thanks Ross

Huge rivets, huge panels. I'd have to replace half the wall. My buddy with the TIG welder says it will probably just crack down the road if we weld it. I might be better off just putting a nicer patch on.