New E-350 Project: VANdiana Jones!

[mobydick]

Just have a quick question. I got the sinister coolant filter under the hood where it goes in the trucks. I had to customize it alittle. I got a new bolt and washer to hold it in place and I drilled a hole in the bracket sinsister gives you. I drilled it on the very bottom tab. and ground it so it would fit. I have an 05 6.ol. I have located the heater hoses. there is two of them. One goes around almost over the turbo and then taps into the bottom hose of the coolant dgas. The other looks like it goes down and into the engine. I just want to make sure I tap into the right one. Which one are you supposed to tap into. Or does it not matter. One must be the in and the other the out from the heater. Any thoughts. I really want to get that thing filtering because my system is really dirty.

Be careful with the heater hose. There are two versions, the new style has a ally reducer in it to limit flow to the inside heater core, you can't cut that one easily, as you need to move the reducer before snipping the pipe, or cut round it. The older style has no ally reducer.

[bknudtsen]

Well, it has been a few weeks since I have been able to report any progress on Vandiana Jones. I have been working non-stop in an attempt to earn overtime to pay down my credit card. I have come to the realization that the 4x4 conversion will not happen until after tax time next year. In the meantime, I have been working on the interior of the van. I did some research regarding sound deadening materials and settled on Fatmat sound dampener due to its low cost and availability in bulk. I am not trying to create a recording studio in my van, so am skipping the closed cell foam and mass loaded vinyl.

Here is what I have been living with for the last few weeks. You might remember that I took the OE vinyl mat out because it was wet.



I gave the inside a good cleaning with denatured alcohol and started laying out the Fatmat.



Here it is all rolled out into the contours. I used a heat gun since it was cool outside.



And the front all finished.



The sheet metal sounds better. It still resonates, but does not have a metal clang anymore. I ordered a BedRug VanRug for it, and reinstalled the OE vinyl up front. I used some scraps for the sides and covered the wheel wells as well. All in all, I used 100 sq ft of Fatmat. I will be ordering another 100 sq ft to do the doors and ceiling.

[skot433]

Fat mat huh....

I've been looking for an affordable sound proofing material....

Thanks for the tip...

[bknudtsen]

Did some work on the interior panels today. I decided to use spray adhesive to attach Reflectix to the inside of the plastic interior panels. My hope was that it would deaden them a little bit, while providing some insulation. The plastic panels alone were very noisy and resonated much like sheetmetal does.

Waiting for the glue to tack up...



First panel done. I used some foil tape I had laying around to secure the seams.



All in all, this was relatively non-exciting and easy. But, it did quiet the panels down more than I thought it would. Somewhere in there is a D60 quietly waiting for new parts.

[bknudtsen]

VanRug showed up. Barely noticed the box on the porch.



Here are some detail shots for those interested.







Loosely fitted.



I'll post some more shots of the final install after I get the rest of the panels installed. First impressions are good. It fits pretty well with some trimming around the seatbelts and the rear A/C. It's a little ploofy without any seats mounted, but that will change soon. It also did a good job dampening the exhaust and road noise.

[24HOURSOFNEVADA]

You did a great job putting down the sound deadener and the carpet looks good.

[bknudtsen]

You did a great job putting down the sound deadener and the carpet looks good.

Thank you Sir! I would rather be installing suspension and a front axle, but these smaller projects keep the ball rolling.

[bknudtsen]

Finally had some nice weather and time to complete second half of the FatMat install. This time I was working on the ceiling. What a pain in the neck! Literally! Anyway, the headliner came off fairly easily. A note for anyone else with rear A/C, the vents in the headliner can stay installed, as can the dome lights. The wiring harness runs up the B-pillar in the driver's side, so just pop all the fasteners, and unplug the harness, and the whole headliner comes out. You have to remove the front headliner first. Mine had the wiring for the dome light hot glued to the cardboard backing. I neglected to photograph the headliners outside of the vehicle.

Here is the van all ready for FatMat.



And installed.



I ended up adding more layers to some of the spans to further dampen the sheetmetal. It made a huge difference in the resonate tone of the roof. Before when it rained, it sounded like I was listening to steel drums in Jamaica. The sun came out the second day of the install, and the interior of the van was hot. The FatMat's aluminum skin was warm to the touch. When I reinstalled the headliner, it was a huge reduction in radiant heat. The headliner is pretty dense foam, which really does the bulk of the insulation. I think that the aluminum layer may act as a heat sink which draws heat away from the steel roof. The steel portion of the roof was definitely hotter, so I think the aluminum speeds up the process of dissipating the heat that bleeds through. It's a theory anyway...

Any one know what this plug is for? It is located behind the driver's side B-pillar along with the 12v accessory outlet and the unused speaker plug. The wiring is a much heavier gauge than the stuff around it.



Upper right.



All back together... for now... It's much quieter. I applied FatMat to the four barn doors as well. That made a huge difference. Will do the front doors soon. Need to work on the doghouse now since that is where most of the noise is coming from.

[bknudtsen]

One of the main reasons for the attempt at reducing the interior noise is so I can hear my son when he is sitting behind me. Years of shooting full-auto rifles, tossing flashbangs, and riding with a barking dog have done a number on my hearing, and I could not have a conversation with him when driving the van. Most of my decisions on the design of the interior layout revolve around this issue. What's a family roadtrip vehicle worth if you can't communicate along the way? I was starting to think that I might have to hardwire comms. My solution is two-fold. One part was to install the sound dampening material without going way over budget. The second part is to move the rear passenger seating further forward then I had originally planned.

I am currently looking at F-150 front seats with the integrated seatbelts. They match the OEM color, have flat mounting points, and can be had with a folding center console/third seat with cupholders. One of the other criteria is that the van have seating for 5. I will have to fab a mounting bracket that uses the factory mounts, but also gives a little more leg space than the current second row seating position. I was thinking that the seats would line up with the rear side barn door, but be offset to the driver's side to allow access to the rear of the van.

Any ideas are appreciated.

[hobietony]

Any way you can measure the thickness of the fatmat? Maybe some calipers? just curious...