Digz's 65 panel

Joe can you get me some better pictures of the pin and hinge set up

Its a combination of 1-1/4 " for the seats and 1" square tubing for the bases. set up for 5/16's bolts or quik pins. drill press and a die grinder.

Something to keep in mind is I have to take my headrests off to get good clearance to do a complete flip up. Real high backs might not work so well? I bolted what I could and welded down the rest. Might want to go with a 1-1/4x 2 " tubing if you need a longer hinge setup. Its way better than those strap hinges I was using. The 1" bottom reciever part is a what ever fits where. Also these flat based seat rails make it easy to work with. You get that far , just yell Im not that far away.

Digz,I just rolled thru your pictures in the gallery again and I have to say what a great job you have done on your van! Bill

Joe thanks for taking the time for the picture, hope you don't mine if I steal that idea.

Bill you don't know the half of it, Joe truly saved this van. I almost bought this van before Joe, but didn't because it was too far gone for me.

G-Man I have seen the pics and you are right .Not only did he save it he made it amazing! Bill

Bill , those mounting pads on the passenger wheel well are off your parts van. I couldnt quite get the seat over far enough to use the bolt holes but they gave me a nice flat surface to weld to. I've got another pair from Dan for the next van already !

Got the heat mat in finally.



With shipping it figured out to 1.75/sq ft I got 24 sq ft and had some left over. It has about a 1/4- 3/8" fiberglass backing on it
Used 3M heavy duty spray contact adhesive to put it on. pretty easy , kinda messy , you can tell I dont lay carpet for a livin tho.
www.recarllc.com 1-336-674-3328

Looks like it laid in good Joe.I take it you bought the 4x6' roll.Let us know how well it retains heat (bad time of year though) and hold w/adhesive.

Been working on the back interior some,,, still looks like crap but it'll change.

steel studs

tools





Cieling framing and a spare tire insert are next on the list.

Started on the spare tire thing.

Made a quiky circle cutter jig for the plasma and hacked it out.

Have to do some trimming and shimming but this is the idea to give me a smooth edge to cut the back panels to.

Pretty cool Joe.

Joe your going at the spare tire a little different than most for your interior. Very Cool idea

lil more.

Have to do a little clearancing in a couple spots to make sure I dont get some wierd metal to metal rubbing.

Have to make up my mind on some lighting before I start burying things also.

What is the name of this metal used in the roof & sides?? also where to buy it at? Thanx

Nice work Joe. I like all that support!!!

Twinpilot001 wrote:What is the name of this metal used in the roof & sides?? also where to buy it at? Thanx

It is just metal studding they use in houses. You can get it in different widths , I used the stuff thats only 2-1/2" wide and its about 1-1/4" thick. it is real light , you can easily carry 4 12 footers in 1 hand. I used only 8 12 footers in what I have done and ended up with very little scrap and 1 piece about 40" long. I am trying not to fasten anything to the van itself for the most part, that is the reason for the doubled up look in the corners. I'm going to try fastening the panels with something other than screws. ( I got an idea ) See how it works out So far all I have used for tools is a large pair of straight metal shears, a small body hammer, a pair of lineman pliers to make some bends a T square and a felt marker. Self tapping screws #10's seem to work well with it. I might even pop rivet some of it if the screws seem to need help. So far I havent scratched my paint moving it in and out nor cut myself severly ,,,LOL. Think I have 50$ into the framing so far. The cab area I am a little curious about how thats going to pan out, the pieces have to be trimmed way down but still are pretty stiff, I dont really have them anchored up front just made tails that slip over the upper valance, Im debating on using spots of expanding foam to make them solid and stay in place. Right now I need to order some LED lights and get some wires run. Waiting on some material samples and need to get to Lowes or someplace and pick out something to use for panels/backing. Ideas are flying through my head at this point.

The LEDS came and I did test lite on the kitchen counter, man are those little suckers brite ! Pulled some wires and added some stuff to my "Gonna do and Wanna do " list. I did get the spare tire thing figured out to my liking I believe.

The edging is door edge guard. quite flexible and grips well

I have used these in several places I needed an extra threaded hole, think they are for furniture but work slick.

T-nuts you can weld them in place.

Going to have to venture to a city to get stuff for panels ,, the local yards dont stock squat.

you can get the metal studs at Lowes and Home Depot. I have used it many times. Very light and easy to work with.

Great idea on the threaded hole thing, I hadn't thought of that. When i bolted my rear bucket seats down I just through-bolted them, I need to go back and spot weld some of this thingers in the current holes and take the nuts/washers off the underside. The idea being I don't have to crawl under the van (and have my wife on the inside holding the bolts) to remove the seats. I also like that you could screw a pan head bolt in and just cover over it if you needed to.

Where did you get those things?

T nuts are common hardware store item. this is a great application for them, a threaded bung would also work

http://www.qscomponents.com/WeldInThreadedBungs.html

Like austin said , ,the local hardware store. Think the common sizes are 1/4, 5/16 and 3/8". They are getting used to me "re-purposing " things.

Hey Digz,that spare tire cover/mount looks great bud.

I need a smooth hubcap to paint up and finish it off. Something else to find ,,lol... Got one ?

Time to start another one !!