Month: March 2021

I got some really nice primed pine shiplap from home depot over a year ago before I put the van project away. I had left it stored in the truck until now. I’m glad I got the material when I did because I saw that my local Home Depot has now switched to an inferior MDF shiplap that I don’t like as much as the finger jointed pine I got before.

I measured and laid out my wiring so that the LED lights on the ceiling would be centered within the width of a board. I used a 4-1/8″ hole saw to make the cut outs for the LED lights. There was a little tab where the lap of the previous board invaded the cut out from the hole saw, I later finished cutting these out with the jig saw.

I used construction adhesive and 1.25″ brad nails to fasten the 1/2″ thick ship lap to the wooden ribs. The insulation is mylar backed EPS foam board from Home Depot. The brand of foam is called “R-Tech”, it’s not the highest rated foam insulation but I think it’s pretty good for the money. I put 2″ on the walls and 2.5″ on the ceiling, the R value is R7.7 for the walls and R9.63 on the ceiling. Every little gap in the foam was filled in tight with expanding foam. I believe this tiny space is now very well insulated. The straight walls and ceiling of a step van make it very easy to insulate and finish with flat materials as compared to the curved surfaces inside other types of vans.

“Success seems to be connected with action. Successful men keep moving. They make mistakes, but they don’t quit.” – Conrad Hilton

I apologize for taking so long to post for those who may have been following this build. I stepped away from the project for a year and sorta got wrapped up in all the insanity of things going on in the world. I have however been making progress recently on the van and want to update the site as I just passed the URL to a friend and felt embarrassed that it hadn’t been updated in so long…..

SKYLIGHT!!! An old hippy friend of mine impressed on me the importance of having a skylight above your bed in order to see the stars at night. So that is one of the first things I did when I got going again on the truck. Cutting through the aluminum skin was easy with a metal blade in the jig saw.

I measured out a good spot right over the head of the bed and made an inner frame with 2″x3″s to support the opening. I installed a simple clear bubble skylight I ordered online, but now I sorta wished I had installed a hinged type skylight or modified this one so that it could be opened all the way. I was thinking that having a skylight that opens would be a good way to get up on the roof without a ladder. Half of my body was already through the opening while standing on the bed loft. It was easy to crawl out until I sealed and screwed the skylight down. I think I will end up changing it. I’d like to be able to get up on the roof easily to mess around with the solar panels or antennas and stuff while on the road. If I didn’t have to carry a ladder, that would be great. It could also be an emergency exit if needed.

“It does not matter how slowly you go as long as you do not stop.”
― Confucius