Vancy

Vancy Working on a Ram Promaster 3500 to redo as our home away from home.

After our last trip we figured it was time for utilities since we were using flashlights and the actual van batteries wh...
08/10/2022

After our last trip we figured it was time for utilities since we were using flashlights and the actual van batteries while camping.
We have a mixture of 12 volt DC and 120 volt AC. The 12 volt DC comes from a complete 12 volt battery power source, basically an electrical generator. It has all the voltage inverters and converters already included. It will also produce 120 volts for short periods of time, i.e. coffee pot or kitchen gadgets. The electrical generator can be charged from plugging into standard shore connection or solar charging. Currently working on the whole solar rig now. The 12 volt system will basically be under construction until Vancy is finished.
120 volt comes straight from shore power, a standard RV setup. Nothing to complicated. There are several standard 120 volt plugs when plugged into shore power and the AC runs off 120 volt.
Water has probably been the biggest head scratcher and the biggest mistake going so far. We went with a large water tank from a company out of Seattle. Big Mistake! Claims it fits over the wheel well which it didn't. The company sent one of those emails asking how I liked their product so I gave them feedback. Well apparently they didn't like the feedback, so they called and argued with me. FML.
Other than that we now have power, water, air condition and a fan. Getting close.

Trip number two to go see the nephews in Arkansas. Although we only stayed one night in a small little mosquito infested...
07/31/2022

Trip number two to go see the nephews in Arkansas. Although we only stayed one night in a small little mosquito infested state park in Arkansas, we found that all the work that had been done to Vancy so far was a success.

Now it is time for the ceiling and to install the lights. We went with tongue and groove cedar boards. A bit pricey but ...
07/24/2022

Now it is time for the ceiling and to install the lights. We went with tongue and groove cedar boards. A bit pricey but it smells fantastic every time we get in the van.
Installation of furring strips was crucial for something to attach the ceiling to. Furring strips were attached by a pretty neat attachment called a riv-nut. Never heard of it but it is basically what it sounds like, half rivet, half screw.
The lights were basic 12 volt lights that we ordered from amazon obviously. They are plenty bright and draw very little electricity.

Insulation and wiring.This was not the most interesting of jobs nor the sexiest. No one ever says, ooooooh nice wire job...
07/12/2022

Insulation and wiring.
This was not the most interesting of jobs nor the sexiest. No one ever says, ooooooh nice wire job. I will admit that it is tough trying to figure out everything you need and install it ahead of time. No matter how much thought I put into this I still had to run another wire or two after walls were up.
The wire harness is an older photo and now has about three times as many wires going to it.
I used some roll insulation I found on another blog and to be honest, I wouldn't use it again because it is not the best insulator. I did stuff the cracks with basic house insulation, the blow in kind. It gets everywhere but it is stuffable. Kind of like a build a bear except with a van.

Next in line was the subfloor. The original flooring to Vancy was actually a pain in the butt, or foot I should say. Wal...
07/08/2022

Next in line was the subfloor. The original flooring to Vancy was actually a pain in the butt, or foot I should say.
Walking around inside for the rest of the buildout was going to be tough so I figured I would have to get this portion out of the way.
I started out with 1x strips laid down throughout the van in the recesses of the uneven floor. They fit perfectly. After that it was a measure underneath the van and transfer that up top to to see where I could screw some of these 1x's down. I used self tapping screws for that.
After that it was filling in the gaps with insulation and then 1/2" plywood on top.
In one of the pictures is allot of cardboard. I cut up our moving boxes to create a template to transfer to the plywood so I could get as close as possible to the actual floor layout.

Now it is time for some soundproofing. Not for the three kids still in diapers camping next to us. I am talking road noi...
07/07/2022

Now it is time for some soundproofing. Not for the three kids still in diapers camping next to us. I am talking road noise. There is allot of information out there on soundproofing your vehicle. These strips were actually sheets of soundproofing we cut into strips and laid out to cover approximately 1/3 of all surfaces. Surfaces properly cleaned and prepped of course.
Like most things for the van we ordered them from amazon. As often as we could we would purchase items from a manufacturer however that can be difficult so amazon it is.

The next project undertaken was the air conditioning and the fan. This was probably one of the hardest tasks to undertak...
07/04/2022

The next project undertaken was the air conditioning and the fan. This was probably one of the hardest tasks to undertake, simply because there is nothing worse then cutting not one but two 14x14 holes in a perfectly good, brand new van.
There is actually more framework involved that I didn't get photos of but it needed to be sound structure wise because the AC weighs about 60 lbs. The rear fan weighs less than 10 lbs but it didn't make it any less nerve-racking.
Gotta stay cool and dry.

The bed was the first thing we went for first with Vancy. Figured at any point we could pack up and take off for a weeke...
07/02/2022

The bed was the first thing we went for first with Vancy. Figured at any point we could pack up and take off for a weekend or a week so the bed was super important.
What I did was bolt 2x6's running lengthwise with the van for attachment points. After that I ran 2x6 cross beams and screwed them into the previous 2x6's.
From there we stumbled across some bed slats on craigslist that went to a queen size bed from ikea. With a few screws to hold the slats in place we have ourselves a bed.
I have read that some people go with convertible beds to save space and have room for storage. We opted not to do this for two main reasons. 1. Our larger ticket items such as kayaks or bikes could be stored outside on racks. 2. We did not want to spend 15-20 minutes every morning putting everything away and the same amount of time in the evening, pulling everything out.

Vancy's first outing to the redwoods national forest in Northern California. Although we had not even started on renovat...
06/26/2022

Vancy's first outing to the redwoods national forest in Northern California. Although we had not even started on renovations yet we just had to hit the open road. It was an amazing trip and we realized that thin metal panels hold in absolutely no heat.

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Robertsdale, AL
36567

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