Tools and parts

Having a full shop of tools and room to work would of course be great. But if you don't have this here is a list of must have tools for a build.

Tools:

• Rivnut setter - used throughout the van build
• Astro Pneumatic 1442 from Amazon
• FASTENPRO 3-In-1 Riveter Kit from Harbor Freight
• Scissors - used to cut everything, insulation, fabric, foam, flooring
• Drill - A drill is needed at various times, but mostly for rivnuts
• 2" hole saw for lights
• 1/4" Forstner bit, for cutting plywood with little tear-out
• Screwdriver set 
• Jig Saw
• fine metal blades to cut super strut etc.
• fine wood blade to cut plywood and templates
• Circular saw - pre-cutting panels to size
• Wiring
• Wire Cutter and Stripper, for 8-20 AWG Solid and 10-22 AWG Stranded Electrical Wire Klein Tools 11063W
• Titan 11477 Ratcheting Wire Terminal Crimper
• Wire snips

• Shop Knife - wire stripping, cutting fabric, etc.

• Saw horses - bringing the work up to standing height makes a huge difference
• A low RPM cold cut saw
• Evolution Power Tools RAGE2 Multi Purpose Cutting Chop Saw, 14-Inch
• Aluminum specific blade
• DEWALT DWA7889 100 Teeth Aluminum Cutting 1-Inch Arbor, 14-Inch

Extras:

• Tarps
• Blue tape
• Floor cover
• Fabric glue
• Electric heater
• Extension cords

Panels and pillars

Pillars

We wrapped the pillars and upper horizontal pieces with fabric. It covers up much of the open space and holes.

Parts: 

• Oat tweed
• https://www.perfectfit.com/15994/157084/Upholstery-Fabrics/Marathon-Tweed-Fabric-54.html
• 3M 90 spray contact cement

Panels

More baltic birch 1/4" plywood and 10-24 rivnuts

The panels in the back are CDX plywood with fabric over.

• Fabric upholstery from https://www.sailrite.com/
• Carpet is Home Depot Traffic Master Sky Grey
• Contact cement 3M 90
• L-Track from Amazon, to both secure the panels and versatile storage

Kitchen drawers and doors

Drawers

We ordered drawers from barkerdrawer.com, since the cost of the unassembled drawers (5/8" baltic birch) was less than the material cost. I'll assemble, polyurethane them and install the drawer slides. We are going with side mount drawer slides.

It took about an hour to assemble 5 drawers. And they are square! 

We used a 5/8" baltic birch cut into cabinet fronts and those will go on the drawers and the sink door.

Parts:

• We used smaller bolts to mount the slides, hinges and catches
• 80/20 8-32 slide in nuts with 8-32 3/8" flat and machine head bolts
• https://8020.net/3275.html
• the same as weld nuts at the local hardware store
• Knape and Vogt Slow Close Drawer Slides 18" with 19" drawers.
• Blum 110 straight hinge, with 1/2" face-frame mounting plates
• Rev-a-shelf tip out tray for the sink false front 
• Southco M1-64 black 2" push-close latches

Kitchen frame and fridge

We decided to go with an extruded aluminum cabinet because it sounded fun to work with and I don't have access to a large table saw so making a square plywood cabinet would have been impossible for me.

80/20
Ourkaravan has a good video on using Series 15. I decided to go with 1 inch Series 10. The carriage bolt method did NOT work since there was not enough space between the nylon lock nuts for 2 to fit. I made the mistake of ordering the "lite" series 10 inside brackets and found that these need the 3/8 inch bolts.

https://ourkaravan.com/8020-extruded-aluminum-van-cabinets/

Parts (amazon or directly from 80/20)

• 6 - 4 sided Series 10 96"
• 4 - 3 sided Series 10 96"
• 50 brackets
• 80/20 Inc, 4108, 10 Series 2 Hole LITE Inside Corner Bracket
• 100 bolt assemblies recommended for the LITE brackets
• 3386, 10 Series, 1/4-20 x .375"
• 20 roll in bolts
• 6 slotted inside brackets for the drawer slides
• 6 2 hole bars, allowing space for the drawers
• https://8020.net/4107.html
• 4 T-Brackets for stability
• 4 Slotted corner brackets to mount to the wall
• 25-4250, 25 Series 3 Hole Slotted Inside Corner Bracket

Tools

• A low RPM cold cut saw
• Evolution Power Tools RAGE2 Multi Purpose Cutting Chop Saw, 14-Inch
• Aluminum specific blade
• DEWALT DWA7889 100 Teeth Aluminum Cutting 1-Inch Arbor, 14-Inch

Note about 80/20, while it is very versatile and you can build with it without special tools, the connectors are expensive and it requires some planning to get everything ordered. Use the catalog to get the proper part numbers and recommended parts for the series you are using.

http://catalogs.8020.net/80-20-Inc-Catalog-23/66/

Fridge

We went with an Isotherm Cruise Elegance 85, an 85 liter or 3 cubic feet with a small freezer.

• https://www.defender.com/product.jsp?id=3860746

Roof Rack and Solar

After our trip we decided we needed cabinets since the plastic bins, bags and boxes were chaotic after a few days. A kitchen was first but before that solar to power the fridge. To be fair, solar is not necessary since the Yeti 12v car charging cable was enough, provided you run the engine at least 30 minutes a day. We decided to add solar for boondocking and just parking the van in the driveway for longer periods.

Rack

The promaster has T mounts on the roof to mount a rack so no holes were needed. We got 6 of the roof adapters and used 14 gauge Superstrut lengthwise and 2 5ft pieces across. The superstrut is anodized, very rust proof. We decided to get it powdercoated black anyway so it would look better. 

Time: 4 hours

Parts

• 6 Roof adapters promaster
•  https://vantech.us/product/promaster-stainless-steel-adaptor
• 3 10 ft 14 gauge superstrut channel strut (home depot)
• 4 3/8 nylon cone nuts for the cross pieces

Solar 

Goal Zero customer support was super helpful with details. They suggested 2 boulder 100 watt panels, rather than the 200 watt suitcase panels, and the combiner cable with the APP (anderson) extension cable. The anderson cable is coax so splicing it would be complicated.

FarOutRide has a great solar calculator. With a fridge we estimated we needed at least 45 amp hours and 240 watts of solar. The solar calculation has a lot of factors, like mounting angle, time of year, latitude and how clean they are (or covered with snow!!) So, living in the north we decided to go with 2 160 watt renogy panels for easier mounting and a little more power just in case it snowed.

https://faroutride.com/van-electrical-calculator/

• 2 Renogy 160 watt panels
• 2 sets of renogy panel mounts
• Renogy branch connectors (for parallel connection to maintain 12v)
• A Link solar double entry gland 2mm (amazon)
• A pair of renogy 10ft extension cables
• An MC4 to APP (anderson) conversion cable
• in hindsight I could have easily put anderson connectors on the renogy cables
• Titebond polyurethane glue (local hardware) for the cable entry
• Roof sealant (silicone)
• 16 1/4 nylon cone nuts for the solar panels
• 16 1/4 bolts, washers and lock washers

Note: I would do this step first with the fan install to simplify running the cables etc.

• Goal Zero MPPT solar charging optimization module for the Yeti 1400
• Increases efficiency by 40%
• https://www.goalzero.com/shop/yeti-accessories/yeti-lithium-mppt-solar-charging-optimization-module/

Floor insulation and Vinyl

Trying to keep the floor as thin as possible for headroom, we used closed cell foam and vinyl flooring with the 1/2" plywood from Van Works. The sheets were shiplapped together.

Time: 8 hours

FarOutRide has a great diagram of layers. https://faroutride.com/floor-installation/


Parts:

• XLPE closed cell foam, 2 lb.
• https://www.foambymail.com/
• 2 4x6 sheets of 3/8" between the ribs
• 3 4x6 sheets of 1/4" glued to the back of the floor
• 3M 77 glue for the foam
• Lonseal vinyl is really great stuff, we got Madera Caramel
• https://lonseal.com/products/?f=SpecialtyVehicles
• Lonseal epoxy
• GE Silicone 2 - window and door

Note: We purchased the floor and epoxy online from Ameriteak

https://ameriteakstore.com/collections/lonseal-vinyl-flooring-options-that-can-be-installed-in-specialty-vehicles

Finally we put a bead of silicone around the egde of the floor to prevent water from getting under it.

First Trip

With the van about 25% done we loaded it up and hit the road. While on the road we wired up some reading lights each has a built in usb charger. These were great and made the van really comfortable.

• Reading lights, 12v RV