Custom Doghouse

Has anybody ever built a custom doghouse for one of these vans that they were happy with?
I built a pretty elaborate one for my 66 GMC in 1980 out of 1 inch square tubing that was big and fairly aerodynamic inside, but it wasn't waterproof enough to keep the windows from totally fogging in the rain....Interior would get steamed like a sauna!

PM Digz or he might chime in he has the best "Custom" doghouse I have seen yet..!!!.. ..

This is Dog House Phase 1 including the tunnel.

I cut it again at the marked lines to allow my seats to fit.

I haven't had a problem with leaking into the van. Just used that stick on closed cell foam tape at the sealing points. I should have made the top lid wider and open up and back instead of sideways. Sounds like you have been down the road before so have a better idea what ya need. I used some small square tubing, some flat for the seal edge at the bottom and made a lot of the corner framing out of 16ga, folded sheet metal strips. The tunnel is built a bit heavier than the cover structure wise with some small angle iron also.

It's far from perfect but has worked out okay.

That is very nicely done..... I also had done a raised tunnel like that for the airflow and someplace to put the shifter...... I like that you don't have a separate top lid (risk of leaks!) Does the bottom lip just set down flat on the floor?
I am actually toying with the idea of moving the engine back 18 inches (and down 2"), allowing me to cut the front of the existing box lower so I can have some wider seats and sit square in front of the steering wheel. I'd also gain a lot of room for various rads, heat exchangers, etc and fans up front... I'm also thinking that I'd want a lip hanging down into the perimeter of the hole to both index the cover placement and to bridge the gap to keep the hot air moving down and out instead of trying to find its way through the gap.....Another thing I might do different this time is to put the hinges on top of the box so that the rear section swings upward for better access and display of the engine.....The hinges were on the floor behind the box on the 66 and tilting it gave very little access or visibility of anything, so I generally had to remove it to do anything under there...

I have some of that going on with another project. I will post some stuff up when I get back to a PC.

Mounts are 14 inches back from stock position. cover hinges  and exposes the entire engine. Got some other things going on up front with suspension that I haven't made a definite plan on yet. I used 2 second gen dog houses and lids. The actual DH I made extension panels where needed. Some is still in rough stage yet and can be tweaked if I want.