The great white fun hog (another white GM awd build)

[boardrider247]

I made up my mind to just stop shopping for tires and buy some:coffeedrink:
265/70/17 Cooper ATP


Meaty Fun Hog by boardrider247, on Flickr

Also started to build my wheel well storage boxes today. Drivers side is constructed should be able to build the passenger side tomorrow. Then I have to wait for the deck hatches to arrive from china to finalize the install and decide how to finish the outside of the boxes.

Pics of that process tomorrow

 

[mortonm]

Tire size looks much better

 

[boardrider247]

I waaayyyyyy over did it this Monday riding my bike in the cold air. Seriously hurt my lungs and just today am I starting to feel 100% again. So not much more has been done on the interior.

Here are a few pics of the wheel well storage I built.



Untitled by boardrider247, on Flickr


Untitled by boardrider247, on Flickr


Untitled by boardrider247, on Flickr


It is currently "lightly" assembled. With just a few screws.
The angle brackets that hold it in place are bolted through the floor with 1/2" bolts and some of the rivnuts which the PO had installed for steel cabinets.


Untitled by boardrider247, on Flickr



Untitled by boardrider247, on Flickr


When I have my deck hatches in hand those will get cut in and then the whole works will be dis assembled and re assembled using construction adhesive and many more screws.

I chose to build this using "uv protected" birch plywood. This was only about 4$ more per sheet then regular birch ply. I'm hoping the coating on it provides some extra measure of protection from water.

I'm still undecided on how to finish these boxes once they are completely assembled. I have plenty of hulliner material. I would like something more durable though for at least the lower portions. One thought I had was using bedliner on the floor then continuing it up the sides of the boxes. Another was gluing up the plastex product I attempted to use for the walls.

Anyone used bedliner on wood before?
I'm all ears for any other suggestions here:elkgrin:

 

[boardrider247]

Sheeeaaaattttt.......

I just logged onto my ebay account I realized I had 3 messages from the seller of the deck hatches I purchased.
Apparently they fouled up the listing and I needed to tell them what size I wanted.
I don't think they have shipped yet as I hadn't responded to them.
That will set me back some on the storage boxes....

 

[boardrider247]

A little more progress the last couple days.

I built the passenger side storage box (mostly).

Untitled by boardrider247, on Flickr


Untitled by boardrider247, on Flickr



Untitled by boardrider247, on Flickr

I say mostly because I fouled up the top piece and am going to need to re make it
Oops

Untitled by boardrider247, on Flickr

Also installed some airline track as a "trim" between the wall and ceiling. This is going to be very useful :sombrero:


Untitled by boardrider247, on Flickr


Untitled by boardrider247, on Flickr

I'm currently trying to decide how much effort I need to put into finishing the storage boxes.
I will be taking them back apart to glue and nail or screw them back together. At that point I'm considering fiberglassing the corners or the whole unit. Though I'm not sure the extra steps to fiberglass are necessary.
Then I will most likely cover them and the floor with bedliner.

 

[89s rule]

Are the storage boxes accessible? Or are they for hiding wiring, etc?

I like the airline track idea, anywhere to get it affordably? I saw someone else had some single mounts that you could put the mount into, but only place I could find them with a quick search was eBay and they were ~$12 each.

 

[boardrider247]

Are the storage boxes accessible? Or are they for hiding wiring, etc?

I like the airline track idea, anywhere to get it affordably? I saw someone else had some single mounts that you could put the mount into, but only place I could find them with a quick search was eBay and they were ~$12 each.

They will be for both. I have access doors coming they just haven't arrived yet. When they do I'll cut them in and decide how I'm going to finish the boxes off.

I bought the airline track from us cargo control. It worked out to be about $100 for 20' of track and four of the ring hangers.
The hangers themselves are only about 4$ so I'll be ordering some more now that I'm sure I like the way the track installed.

 

[Accrete]

Your AWD build is looking gread boardrider!

I was happy to see you decided on the soft-wall hull liner fabric. Three years after installing the same in our rig and it is holding up well. I think my wife has vacuumed the walls each fall just cuz she's a girl i hadn't noticed any type of dirt build up at any point.

Your rear door install of the fan is great. If there is ever a Van2 that is one of the things i'd planned on including rather than mucking up the roof...and also leaving lots of room for any solar panel install.

Best wishes and happy trails. Next trip to Oregon, maybe we can meet up somewhere and spend a campfire chat or two. I could see us meeting at Quarstville area along the river (near Salem off i5) where there's plenty of room off road for the dogs to play!

Thom

 

[boardrider247]

Best wishes and happy trails. Next trip to Oregon, maybe we can meet up somewhere and spend a campfire chat or two. I could see us meeting at Quarstville area along the river (near Salem off i5) where there's plenty of room off road for the dogs to play!

Thom

Thanks Thom!
You were right when you said the hulliner was amazing stuff. It is so easy to work with it's just fantastic.

I think we are headed out your way for the month of August. I'll send you a message if we do. I'd love to get together.
Your build was very motivating for me to buy a AWD GM van in the first place.

Cheers
Danny

 

[boardrider247]

Untitled by boardrider247, on Flickr

:friday:

 

[boardrider247]

Got some time in today working on my storage boxes.

Marked out a hole for the hatches

Untitled by boardrider247, on Flickr

Drilled the corners

Untitled by boardrider247, on Flickr

Cut a rough opening

Untitled by boardrider247, on Flickr

This allowed access to the back side of the carriage bolts so I could remove the boxes from the van.

I cut the opening for the hatches a little more accurately.

Untitled by boardrider247, on Flickr


Untitled by boardrider247, on Flickr

Next I laid out the plastex and cut oversized pieces to glue up on the boxes.

Untitled by boardrider247, on Flickr

No pictures but I used a water based weldwood contact cement to glue up the plastex to the boxes.
Then I trimmed back the excess plastex with a utility knife.
Pro tip. If you have two utility knives on the workbench and put a new blade in one of them, make sure you grab the knife with the new blade before getting pissed off about how hard the plastex is cutting

That got me here

Untitled by boardrider247, on Flickr


Untitled by boardrider247, on Flickr

And this is the mostly finished product with corner guard ready to go back in the van.

Untitled by boardrider247, on Flickr

I still have the curbside box to Finish.
Then I think my next van project will be tackle the electrical and house battery systems.

 

[boardrider247]

Boxes finished and installed


Untitled by boardrider247, on Flickr


Untitled by boardrider247, on Flickr


Untitled by boardrider247, on Flickr

 

[Abitibi]

Love the look! Wouldn't it be easier for access to have the lids drop down instead of lifting up? Seems like it wouldn't take much to give it a try... Regardless I really like how it turned out, well done!

Cheers
Mr. D


Sent from my iPorn using Tapachat HD

 

[boardrider247]

Love the look! Wouldn't it be easier for access to have the lids drop down instead of lifting up? Seems like it wouldn't take much to give it a try... Regardless I really like how it turned out, well done!

Cheers
Mr. D


Sent from my iPorn using Tapachat HD

This hatches do open a full 180degrees, so it doesn't make a whole lot of difference for access. Maybe now that they are in the van I'll switch one of them around to see how I like it

Mostly though these are going to be used to house things that aren't every day items.
-house battery
-tools
-recovery gear
-first aid kit
Stuff that I want in the van all the time but (hopefully) won't need to use.

 

[contender]

Hey boardrider - Your build is giving me lots of ideas. I want to use the cargo tracks myself, but am unsure how to secure them to the van. How did you do it? Thanks.