2014 Express AWD cargo van PNW 4 season camper

[iridewheelies]

If you want to take a look at the interior in it’s half finished state, you can get a tour in this video from by friend Blake’s YouTube fishing channel.


He did a special episode on gathering Chanterelle Mushrooms where I was the guest subject matter expert.




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[iridewheelies]

The interior build started in 2018. It’s taken me a very long time because I was so busy with school.

I took inspiration from the MG Metalworks 2015 SEMA van build

Optima Batteries SEMA 2015 Build

Look at what arrived at my shop today... This van has done some traveling in its short life. It was most of the way across the country at Ujoint just a few weeks ago, then SMB west now in Oregon before going to SoCal then on to Vegas for SEMA. I spent a couple hours gutting the interior and...

expeditionportal.com

I loved the layout with rear drawers and an RB50 style interior.

Putting together a model with SketchUp gave me a pretty good idea of how it would fit in my van.

I started work in the physical world by mocking up the structure with 2x2 sticks from the local Big Box Hardware store.

If you’re building with 8020 style extrusions in the 15 series this is the way to go. The 2x2 is exactly the same size. I build the whole structure in wood, fine tune it to make it perfect, then either cut my extrusions to size or order them pre-cut.

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[boardrider247]

If you want to take a look at the interior in it’s half finished state, you can get a tour in this video from by friend Blake’s YouTube fishing channel.


He did a special episode on gathering Chanterelle Mushrooms where I was the guest subject matter expert.




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I was very excited when last summer I found a patch of Chanterelles growing just 200' from my house!

 

[TeleSteve]

Really liking your second take on the interior, I am eager to see it finished.
Out of curiosity how has your Webasto been treating you? I continued to have carbon build up at higher elevations with mine. I tried removing the muffler from the exhaust and it has been working for a three winters now without cleaning it.

 

[iridewheelies]

Out of curiosity how has your Webasto been treating you?

Thanks for asking, it’s actually been really reliable the last few years however, I haven’t been spending as much time at higher elevation because I had to concentrate on my schoolwork.

I used it overnight maybe 3 or 4 times at over 4000’ with no issues but never for 3 or 4 days in a row like I did when I had all my sooting problems.

I’ll be making a few changes to the intake/exhaust this spring. I have to move my exhaust a little bit to make way for my grey water tank, plus I’d really like to put a stainless steel outlet on my van like this:

I also have an intake silencer to install. I’ve had to clear snow and ice clogging the intake several times. Usually it involves crawling under the van to clear it out, not my favorite. I’m going to see if moving the intake tube and installing the intake silencer will stop the snow and ice from packing in the tube, and also make the heater a little bit quieter.

I see the lower cost, off brand, diesel heaters are really popular now. The low cost is very attractive, I get it. I had a diesel heater in my Vanagon and I absolutely hated having to keep a second fuel source. Having a heater that runs off my gas tank is worth the extra cost. I just turn the knob and heat comes out. I get a laugh every time I see a #vanlife video where someone bolts a diesel tank on the outside of their vehicle, or sometimes they put it inside! No way.


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[iridewheelies]

I’m doing several projects concurrently right now, I’ll do my best to keep updating. Only one project per update to keep it organized.

First project - grey water tank. (Gray?, Grey?)

I like figuring stuff out on my own but if you see a good solution someone else took the time to figure out, why not use it?

I’m far from the first person to use 8020 style extrusions. When I started using it back in 2018 my inspiration came from Geek’s sprinter - https://sprinter-source.com/forums/index.php?threads/17258/

And the original 8020 van from Orton - https://www.ortontransit.info/using-80-20-1

All of my 8020 design work was done before I started watching Ken’s clean build at https://ourkaravan.com He did an amazing job and I share his site with anyone interested in building a sprinter.

Back to the grey water tank - I’m totally copying Ken’s idea using 8” PVC pipe. https://ourkaravan.com/pvc-water-tank/

A 40” section of 8” pipe will fit perfectly on the drivers side. I’m running 1 1/2” PVC from the sink drain, though the floor, into the tank and as a drain.

tank goes here:

I was lucky to get a free section of SDR35 sewer drain pipe. Unfortunately, the OD of SDR35 is smaller than schedule 40 and I didn’t know that until I got the rest of my parts. The gap is too big to make the end caps work so I ended up ordering a 10’ long section of 8” schedule 40 pipe that was definitely not free. After this is over I’m interested in selling the remaining pipe to someone local.

I ordered end caps from the not-so-local hardware store where I buy my orange buckets for picking mushrooms. https://www.homedepot.com/p/Charlot...ERCH=REC-_-pipsem-_-203218415-_-203849865-_-N

I also ordered two 1 1/2” fittings: Spears 438 Series PVC Pipe Fitting, Bushing, Schedule 40, White, 2" Spigot x 1-1/2" NPT Female from Amazon. I’m having trouble pasting amazon links but you can easily google those words.

And a Valterra Dump Valve - 1.5 Inch. https://www.valterra.com/product/1-5-gate-valves-with-plastic-paddles-14/

After it’s installed and working I’m going to put a motorized auto-drain on the outlet so I can easily drop my grey water.

I’m not putting a household sink drain trap under the sink. I’m using a HEPVO 1-1/2" Trap https://hepvo.com


There is still one thing I haven’t figured out.

What’s the best way to put the drain pipe through the van floor? I could just drill a big hole and seal it up with silicone but I bet there’s a better way to do it.

 

[iridewheelies]

The second project I’m working on right now is installing this Isotemp Slim 15L water heater.

Isotherm and Isotemp products

Cruise Refrigerators, Drawer fridges and freezers, built in, travel boxes, cooling boxes, cooling units, wine cellars, wine cooler, ice makers, air heaters, water heaters, safes, Isotherm technology, Smart Energy Control, Indelligent temperature control

www.indelwebastomarine.com

It fits perfectly in the space under my fridge platform. It’s a perfect spot, close to my sink and in an area where there’s a good spot to run the coolant lines though the floor. There is also a drain I’ll need to route through the floor.

I was originally going to make a shower system with flat plate heat exchangers and thermostatic mixing valves but the more I thought about how we use hot water when camping the more this made the most sense. Right now heating water is my biggest consumer of electricity. This water heater can use electricity but I doubt I’ll ever do that, heating with the engine coolant is much easier and can be done while driving, then the hot water is stored in the tank until I need it.

TeleSteve, any advice on how to get the coolant hoses run back there? I like how you did yours for the flat plate heat exchanger in your van. I think I’ll use the vacuum actuated valve like you did so I can control when coolant flows through the water tank.

I wish I had the rear heater lines from a passenger van, they run directly under where my water heater sits.

This is my first draft of how this system will look:

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[TeleSteve]

I ran silicone heater hose down the passenger frame rail and transitioned to copper tubing before going through the floor to my heat exchanger. I put the vacuum bypass valve on the passenger side of the engine just below where the heater hoses run up into the heater core. Looks like you will want to cross over to the driver side, not sure where the best place to do that is, maybe over the engine. Maybe look how the factory rear heater lines get there.

 

[iridewheelies]

Started working on the plumbing this weekend. It’s been fun learning all about the different thread types and sizes. This is all new to me. When it’s done I’m going to post a full list of all the parts so others can save some time, and so I have a place to reference later.

I wanted a quick release shower/sprayer outlet on the back of the van. It had to be accessible without opening the rear doors so I put it in the bumper step area. I almost never leave my van doors open when I’m camping. It’s either cold and I want to keep the heat in, raining/snowing/windy and I want to keep it dry, or it’s warm and dry but there’s mosquitos and horseflies - I hate getting mosquitos in the van!

I ordered a stainless steel universal outlet from Aquor https://aquorwatersystems.com/shop/universal-outlet/

I added the rubber plug instead of using the built in sliding cover to keep the mud out.

With a quick 1/4 turn connection and a proven leak proof design, I believe it’s worth the money.

Drilling a hole in the rear bumper, I noticed there’s a 1/4” gap between the plastic cover and the metal bumper. I decided to make a spacer from a cheap $7 cutting board.

Cut a circle with a hole saw

Used another hole saw to cut the middle hole, then drilled 1/4” screw holes.

Access to put it between the plastic and metal was difficult so I cut a slice and put it through the hole

Installed the outlet with stainless #8/32 screws into threaded holes I tapped in the bumper. Looks great.

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[iridewheelies]

Since I’m plumbing the inside with PEX I thought I’d use it for the rear shower too. In retrospect, it would have been much easier to use vinyl hose. I’m hoping the PEX is going to hold up to freezing temperatures. I’ll do my best to remember to drain the water but I’m sure I’ll forget sometimes. Oh well, I’ll change it if I need to.

I planned to route it up the rear driver side corner of the van.

I drilled a hole up from the bottom and fed a section of PEX through it and into the van. It was just plastic and foam so easy drilling.

Drilled a hole in the side of the box

Then used some of the fancy push-to-connect fittings instead of the crimp connectors because I think they’re easier to take apart if I need to make changes later.

It’s solid and doesn’t move at all.


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[java]

I have frozen my pex many times. It's good stuff. But the fittings may burst.... So far I'm ok

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[iridewheelies]

I finished running the rear shower line inside the van.

Cut a notch in the panel for the PEX line. I’ll cover it with a fabric lined trim piece to hide it when the plumbing is done.

I didn’t get a pic but I stuffed the cavity where the PEX runs down to the outside with 3M thinsulate. I also stuffed the trim panel.

Now I need to figure out how the water heater, water tank, pump, accumulator, valves and filters will fit with out looking like a disorganized mess.


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[iridewheelies]

Just returned from a short road trip to Moab. I finished (mostly) the water system before I left. Having hot water in the van and a hot outdoor shower was fantastic. I’ll post more details about the water system soon but first, look at this campsite we found! Definitely on my top 5 of all time list.