I had a good run of days building the van, but I got ahead of my planning and purchasing. So, I took a couple of days off of the build to create detailed plans for the upper bunk and the galley. I also ordered the materials that I needed for these two components. Then it was a waiting game for materials to come in, so I could continue working. Fortunately, on the fourth day of not working on the van, I received a call from the lumber yard that they had received a delivery of Baltic Birch plywood. I was very excited, as I had been waiting four weeks for them to get more. I’m sure they were sick of me calling them every week about it. I went over there as soon as I could and purchased five 4′ x 8′ sheets of 1/2″ plywood. With the bed and the electronics cabinets in the van, here is how I had to tie it down. I bolted some anchor points to the lower unistrut on the passenger side and used my ratchet straps to hold it down. Worked great.
I started today with a simple task of installing the lower wall panel behind the electronics cabinet. I wanted to do that first, because I would soon be bolting that cabinet in the back and wanted the board in there first. Here is a before and after picture.
Then I cut out the wall panel that goes above this bottom one so that it would fit around the electronics cabinet. I didn’t install it, yet. But I will once the electronics cabinet is bolted down on both ends.
I then decided to change the way I was mounting the master on/off switch and the result was another hole in the back of the electronics cabinet. But, I think this will be a better way to go for the master switch.
The plywood I picked up was holding up the work I was doing to finish the electrical cabinet, because the two batteries that I had to install are bolted to a sheet of plywood to secure them inside the cabinet. So, the first item I cut out of the new plywood was a board to mount the batteries to. I cut out the board and then set one of the batteries onto the board in the location that it will be bolted to. I used a Q-tip with black paint on it to mark where each of the bolt holes were on the feet of the battery. I used those marks to drill the holes for the bolts.
Before I could bolt the board to the battery, I had to create a wire to connect the battery to the electronics cabinet. Once I got that installed, I bolted the board to the battery. Then, I realized that I forgot to put the cover back on the negative terminal of the battery. So, I had to take the board back off to re-install the battery cover and then re-bolt the board back onto the bottom of the battery. It was a waste of time and frustrating, but it was my own fault.
Then I hoisted the battery into the van (it weighs about 90 pounds) and wrestled it into place in the electronics cabinet. I then bolted the plywood board to the electronics cabinet and finished bolting the electronics cabinet to the unistrut in the wall. It’s very solid!
Tomorrow I’ll work on putting the second battery on top of this first one and making the final electrical connections.
Nice update and great pictures. I look forward to seeing it shortly as we are on our way home. Currently in Casper, WY (Aug 29).