We got SO MUCH done today. And it didn’t rain a drop, which is amazing because the forecast didn’t look good coming into today. Happy September, by the way!
Removing wall coverings
The first thing we did was take out all of the screws that were holding on the grey corrugated plastic wall coverings in the back of the van. There were also metal rails that were held in with long bolts, we also removed those. I gave the rails to my dad, who wanted them for a trailer he is getting.
We will be keeping the wall coverings and potentially re-using them to cover the insulation before we put up the cladding. Alternatively, we will simply use furring strips to attach the cladding and we will sell the wall coverings since they were a feature in an upgraded version of the Sprinter and they’re probably worth something.
Tip: Label the panels when you take them out so you can replace them in the right spots easily.
It was cool seeing the van as bare-bones as gets. We were very pleased to see what great condition the walls were in. They were completely undamaged and only a little dusty/dirty. We did spend a good bit of time sweeping and wiping up and using the shop vac too once it came to removing the flooring. Speaking of which…
Fighting with the floor
We spent time taking out all of the D-Rings from the floor and then trying to lift it up. Trouble came when we realized that the metal bulkhead behind the driver’s and passenger’s seats was sitting on top of the floor. Additionally, the floor was in two sections, with the back section under the front section, which was stuck under the bulkhead.
We lifted the back section of the floor up and discovered that it was already insulated. So while we had it lifted up, we vacuumed it out, sealed the holes with RTV sealant, and sprayed any rust with spray paint.
The wood flooring will make a good base for the insulation and subfloor. We plan to extend the bolts to put the D rings back in on top of the insulation and subfloor in the garage area.
Treating rust & filling holes
We were lucky and there wasn’t very much rust hiding behind the wall coverings. Treating rust is simple, first you wipe the area down with a cloth (to get the copious amounts of dust off), fill holes with RTV sealant, and then spray with spray paint.
Austin also crawled underneath the van and sealed any visible holes with RTV sealant. The diesel exhaust fluid (DEF) tank seems to be leaking a little.
Tape out floor plan
At first, I imagined this just being tape rectangles on the floor to show where the bed, kitchen, and couch would be. But Austin had an even better idea – why not do real-life 3D modeling? We actually put up the height of the bed, the countertops, and the hanging overhead cabinets by suspending tape between the walls or from the ceiling to floor.
After seeing the floor plan in real life, we were generally happy with it. We only made a few changes. We re-sized the couch to make it wider and realized that we need smaller upper cabinets. That’s because the top of the van curves in, and so the 15-inch cabinets actually stuck out much further and were more “in your face” than usual upper cabinets.
We agree that we love our floor plan. We have so much storage, and still a great amount of floor space. We will finalize the 3D model tomorrow.
Sealing windshield
Austin sealed the windshield with RTV sealant too, since we saw it dripping (on the inside!!) yesterday when we sat in the cab during a rainstorm. We got a ton of use out of the RTV sealant today!
Ripping Out Mystery Box
Remember when we were trying to figure out what that weird electronic system was? It was a fleet tracker with GPS on it. And the thing on the dashboard was an antenna for the GPS. We ripped it out because there was a sim card blank taped to the back of the box and it’s just creepy to think that someone would be able to know where our van is at all times.
IG reels
Y’all I’m getting so into IG reels that I put out 2 today!!! TWO! I also signed up for TikTok because that’s basically what reels is right? If you’re on TikTok please follow us @lifepothesis.
Summary:
9/1/2020
Build Day #7
Hours Worked: 16
- Austin – 8
- Becky – 8
- Total Project Hours: 81.5
Money Spent: $14
- Silicone sealant (Advance Auto Parts) – $8
- Plastidip (Walmart) – $6
- Total Project Spending: $16,706
Tasks Complete: 5
- Remove wall coverings
- Treat rust & fill holes
- Tape out floor plan
- Seal windshield
- Rip out mystery box (fleet tracker)
Questions Googled: 4
- What insulation is under Sprinter stock floor
- Window dimensions for Sprinter vans
- Stuff about the fleet management device
- Lift kits & tires
WANT TO REMEMBER THIS? SAVE THESE TIPS TO YOUR FAVORITE PINTEREST BOARD
One thought on “Bare Bones & Literal 3D Modeling [Day 7]”