Marceline's Build Thread

[eightup]

Hey Everyone,

This is Marceline, my 1988 Dodge Explorer, picked her up out in Virginia back around May and have been traveling around since.



So far no crazy modifications, just things to make life easier and give me room for my toys.

First up was to make room for the motorcycle on the rear by moving the spare tire to the front. I centered the spare tire in the center of the grill, kinda, and mounted it to the bumper where those two little push bars were. For the top support I welded a bar on that pokes out through the grill and bolts on there. So far no ill effects with air flow and cooling.

[eightup]

Right now I am in the process of pulling out some of the old interior to redesign it. Hopefully I can create a more efficient floor plan for myself and better utilize the space there is.

Floor plan design


The diagonal brown stripes represent where laminate wood flooring will go. Carpet is difficult to keep clean in a wilderness setting so I hope with the wood I can just sweep it and be done.

So far I have pulled out all the carpet where the wood floors need to go. Today should be rust cleanup, cutting wood and insulation to fit, and then putting it all together.

Before:



Currently:



Some rust to be fixed:


For the floor insulation, I am going with a 3in1 Sound deadening, thermal, and something else hardwood floor insulation. That will be the first and third layer. Second layer is a half inch piece of OSB that will create the form of my floor. Third layer is the insulation again. Last layer would be the laminate floors. Not sure how well it will insulate but it can't be worse than 1/4" plywood and 27 year old carpet pads.

[eightup]

Once the wood floors are complete then the carpet will get replaced starting from the front. Along with ripping out the rest of the interior and rebuilding it as I go.

Future mods:

Roof rack
Solar Panels
Battery Bank
TV Install
Rear suspension improvement
Front suspension improvement
Onboard computer
and a host of other things as I read more on here.

[olddodgevan]

Great project...another old Dodge comes to life!!

[Bruceper]

Love it. And I look forward to seeing how you do the laminate as I want to do the same thing.

[Queen]

Fun thread to read! We just got 1999 Roadtrek Dodge 3500, hope to get some ideas from your build.

[booster]

How heavy of a motorcycle are you looking at?

[eightup]

Originally Posted by booster

How heavy of a motorcycle are you looking at?

It's a Suzuki DRZ400. So it weighs about 330lbs. Rated tongue load is 300lbs i think but it could use some better springs for the rear since it sags loaded. Ive already put about 5000 miles on the motorcycle carrier I built the first time. Just think it could be redesigned for improvements.

[eightup]

Originally Posted by Bruceper

Love it. And I look forward to seeing how you do the laminate as I want to do the same thing.

I was hoping to not be the only one wanting laminate floors. It should be a pretty straight forward install once I get the subfloor in. The laminate I have is a floating floor, so I shouldn't need to attach it anywhere. If it ends up shifting or being noisy then I will glue it down but no plans for that right now.

Did a bit of rust cleanup on the floor drop-down and step. Just wire-wheeled and repainted so I know it isn't perfect but it should get me a bit farther down the road until I am ready to media blast and re-coat everything.

Once the paint dried, in went the first layer of insulation. I was hoping it was double foil sided but I was wrong. So we shall see how well this works. It is all one piece with about an inch of overlap to be folded over and merged into the upper floor.



Next was the subfloor. It could possibly be made as one piece but for ease of installation and since none of my scrap wood was long enough, it is made out of two pieces similar in size to the original subfloor.

7/16" Zipsystem wall/floor sheathing. I would have liked something a little thicker but free lumber beats buying a sheet or two. The subfloor I am attaching using 1" self tapping screws. Not as many as the original floor used, just enough to keep it solid and hopefully prevent it from bowing any in the future.



Up next will be building the rest of the subfloor, second layer of insulation and finally the laminate floors.

[booster]

Originally Posted by eightup

It's a Suzuki DRZ400. So it weighs about 330lbs. Rated tongue load is 300lbs i think but it could use some better springs for the rear since it sags loaded. Ive already put about 5000 miles on the motorcycle carrier I built the first time. Just think it could be redesigned for improvements.

300 tongue? Is it a 3/4 or 1 ton?

[eightup]

Originally Posted by booster

300 tongue? Is it a 3/4 or 1 ton?

I want to say it is a 1 ton, but I haven't really ran any numbers to confirm this. The 300# number was pulled from the van's owners manual so the RV conversion company could have rated it low or it is rated low due to the length of the van sticking past the rear tires.

[eric1514]

Originally Posted by eightup

It's a Suzuki DRZ400. So it weighs about 330lbs. Rated tongue load is 300lbs i think but it could use some better springs for the rear since it sags loaded. Ive already put about 5000 miles on the motorcycle carrier I built the first time. Just think it could be redesigned for improvements.

300lb tongue weight so you hang 330lbs+ on it. Makes sense.

[eightup]

Originally Posted by eric1514

300lb tongue weight so you hang 330lbs+ on it. Makes sense.

The bike was going on there either way. Later on I will build a better carrier since this one was a bit of a rush job.

Rest of the subfloor is screwed down. Think I will leave that little space on the bottom left open and put in a small bungee net to store stuff.



Tomorrow the actual floors should go in.

[Bruceper]

It's a B350, so it's a one ton chassis.

[eightup]

After 5 years I have returned with some progress and a complete lack of memory about starting this original build thread

I did half way finish putting the the new flooring. Which worked pretty good, never had any problems with it and was much easier to keep clean when coming in with dirty shoes or boots.

But now it is on to larger projects. Like a complete tear out and rebuild. I am talking all the way.

Started off by removing the cabinets and bed in the rear, exposing the water tank, plumbing, and inverter.





Then out came the closet, bathroom, and walls. Really opens up the interior.





Removed the old 3 way fridge. Kitchen cabinet is a lot more hassle to get out due to difficulty of reaching all the bolts.

[eightup]

Should have the rest of the interior out by this weekend. Then it will be some cleaning and touching up holes from the million screws used to hold this van together.

Some plans for the build include: All new interior, sound deadening material, better insulation, upgrading to an actual mattress, shower install, new wiring and plumbing, adding some solar power, drivetrain upgrades, and the million other tiny things that go with a complete rebuild.

Anyone have any suggestions on the best way to remove left over insulation from the old adhesive?

[eightup]

Removed the rest of the kitchen cabinets today along with the heater. Just have the carpets and the headliner left to remove.




Noticed a lot of rust on the inside along the seam between the van and fiberglass roof. Going to have to see how bad it is and I am already not looking forward to it.