After a couple of days off from the van build, I worked a full day today. I started by securing all the wood panels for the shelves above the electrical cabinet. That meant that I had to disassemble most of it to put in the hardware that I needed to fasten the panels to the extrusions. I also had to create a couple of new notches in the wood panels for the hardware. With two hours of work and minimal frustration, I was able to get everything back together and secure. Here is what it looks like.
Then I moved on to the wall that will go next to the beds and create a tall, but skinny storage area for items. I started at the bottom with creating a panel with a screen to allow more airflow to the heater that is under the lower bunk here. Not sure that I really needed more airflow, but it was easy to do now and it won’t hurt. Here is the board that I fabricated.
Then I cut the aluminum extrusions that will make up the frame of the wall. There weren’t too many to make, as the wall bolts to the furring strips on the wall side. Therefore, there was only three aluminum extrusions to cut. Then I cut the large wooden wall panel out of 1/2″ Baltic Birch plywood. I first cut it as a rectangle, but then used a jigsaw to cut it down to the sloped shape of the wall of the van. Elizabeth helped me to move the assembly into the van where I bolted it to the lower bunk frame at the bottom and to the upper unistrut channel at the top. I also screwed it into the furring strips in the wall. It’s very solid.
Eventually, I will install some hooks or L-track to hang items in this narrow storage space. But, that will wait until I have a better idea of what will go in there.
This wall also helps me to separate the sleeping/living area from the storage/bathroom area. The walls and a curtain hanging from the ceiling will give someone privacy if they need to use the toilet or even just to change clothes in the back of the van.
I’m taking a week off from the van build to take a trip, so no updates for a while. I have a lot of items on order and really am looking forward to coming back with lots of work available for me to do.