Project BigB... a 1977 Dodge Van 6x4!

NOT sealing off any doors!

I thought about having the bathroom in the back, or even the Kitchen, but came full circle back to my original plan.

Its on... like Donkey Kong!!
So today I had some time for once...
Went over and tore the bed and its frame out, cleaned up a little too.
Look at it now...
Bowling Alley here we come!
From the rear..




From the Driver and pass seat...




Just keep finding stuff... a second Catalitic Heater, for example...
Also found this little gem nestled under the side of the boxed out bedframe..

Updates, but no pics today...

I ripped out the refridgerator, and whole galley unit...:wings:
Set to the steel framework for the fridge and galley and my Sawzall made short work of that!
Didnt have the truck to throw the trash into, so left it stacked in the interior for now.
It was kinda fun, going at it with the generator purring away, and the rooftop A/C humming, keeping me cool...

When my Vans-a-rocking, don't come a knocking... unless you want a demo man with a sawzall in hand answering!

Here we are making progress..
Dumped the demolition trash, and put the water tank and old refridgerator outside for some photos.
Ripped up the carpet almost to the front but it is trapped under the Chairlift edging, and I didnt have a utility knife with me to slice it out.



You can now see how much the generator really intrudes into the interior, however, the cooling fan is on top, so I need to find out from Generac what the minimum clearance is.
Only when I got home again did I wonder if the fan pulls or pushes!



Big hole where the raised refridgerator was... the headroom is limited here, but I cant see any better palce to put the bathroom.

Look at all that space!

LOL, Yes, its even more shocking in person!

Holy Krickey Batman! That things longer than my Land Yacht! BUT VERY COOL INDEED!

Thanks!
My progress stopped again this week... first I ended up babysitting a friends puppy, and that ate into my planned time for the interior, and now my lease on my house expired, and the Owner has decided to sell..
Should be good in the end, as I am moving in with my girlfriend and will be even closer to BigB!

Did get some things figured out tho...
The Genset is mounted in a space wasting way... The generator cradle is mounted ON TOP of a 1" steel frame, and the 1 1/2" Genset base frame is sitting on top of that.... So 2 1/2" of wasted vertical space that I can gain by rejigging the mounting.
Looking at the tow hitch, and the way its welded to the chassis legs... I think I am gonna kill two birds with one stone... I am gonna make bars that are the lower mountings for the genset AND also brace and strengthen the Tow hitch, and provide protection for the genset if I spank the rear.
I think I can get almost a 5" drop total out of the bottom side, and maybe 2" by dropping the gen enclosure lid. I will maybe need to add a raised strip for the cooling fan to breathe.
More coming... just slower than I want to move.

Side view of the Genset mounting..

Ok, now all the distractions are easing so I can move forward...
Inline with my Stainless Steel and light colored wood theme, I picked up a used but nice SS propane stove..

Wow, four burners!

Nice looking stove!

I put a stainless panel on the door of my fridge. I removed it from a client's house because she said she could not get it clean. I see what she means, but I have found wiping it with Olive Oil in the direction of the striations leaves it with a beautiful sheen. I'm sure regular vegetable oil would work just as well, but I have only tried Olive Oil.

Get that thing smogged already! I just rebuilt my front suspension, and after an alignment, new tires, and fixing my coolant leak I'll be ready for an outing. That might take me a couple months, but I'm just giving you a time frame.:sombrero:

I will say this about propane stoves in vans. I have just a two burner cook top, and unless it is 30 degrees outside, it will drive you right out with the rate at which it heats up the interior. I have a exhaust range hood as well, and that doesn't even begin to help. My ideal situation would be to mount the stove somehow on one of the side entry doors (or back doors), and have the option of cooking inside or outside depending on the weather. I can't imagine how much heat that oven will dump into your interior...

I love the potential of a gutted interior

I have a SS faced fridge at home, and have some spray that is specially for SS and it seems to work well.
I snapped up the stove for $70, so the fact it had 4 burners AND oven for that was awesome... Fresh Baked Bread out in the wilderness anyone? :coffeedrink:

Didn't even think about the heat issue Spencyg!
I guess I would have to open both sets of doubles to create a cross breeze or plan to bake when the evening is cold!
Btw, Spencyg, I love your Rig!
Thats what I was looking for when I found BigB! Awesome!

The Smog will be a later issue, but I am hoping to speak to a Smog referee soon to get some solid answers on what I need!

I have tried the SS spray cleaner on my fridge door but the olive oil works better. The striations are pretty deep, feels like 400 grit sandpaper in one direction, glass in the other.

I used to use a dual burner camp stove inside before I had strong exhaust fans on the ceiling. I then found the single burner that sits on the small propane bottle to be much more convenient to my interior, and adapted all my meals to be one burnerable. I still will break out the dual burner, but only when I have company.

I position the single burner stove next to my third captain's chair, and under the counter rotating 4.75 inch computer fans. If the flame is high, the fans cannot quite keep up, but I can boil pasta inside without fogging the windows.

Enjoy the Build up, and hope you befriend a smog shop.

I am planning to put a Fantastic Fan in the roof at the rear... maybe I should add a fan in the roof side above the galley or figure out a way for the main one to perform both duties with some ducting and a removable shroud...