LarryJRogers
Austin, TX
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great work, both on the van and your pictures.
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WVvan
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Thanks guys,
I'm motivated more by cheapness than patience. 
Dave
Open the pod bay doors Hal.
Once I exit Hal, this is what I do.
WWW.WVBIKE.ORG
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WVvan
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After all the snow storms we've had lately I don't think Hal will be going anywhere until the Spring thaw.
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edited 02/12/10 09:16am by WVvan *
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WVvan
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A posting about Contact Cement.
This info refers to the DAP brand of Weldwood Contact Cement.
I went to buy another quart of contact cement at the local Ace Hardware store and they only had the "Original" formula not the "Nonflammable" formula which I had been using.
Nonflammable on the left in the following three pictures.
The first quart of contact cement I had been using came from someone who no longer needed it so I hadn't paid any real attention before to the formulations. It just worked. Once I got to looking at the new quart it's obvious from just the lids that there's some important differences.
Color, consistency and amount of fumes is also different.
The Nonflammable formula is as thin as water while the original is thicker. Original formula puts off a lot more vapors.
On both cans it reads that they work on foam so I went ahead and used the new original formula can.
I'm gluing fabric to the foam backed fiberboard (will have a separate post on this).
You can see what happened below.
The original formula is causing the foam to dissolve.
Have you seen how Alien blood goes through the floor of the spaceship Nostromo? Something like that.
The previous picture is from last night while still wet.
This is what it looks like today after drying.
So Lesson Learned is to keep the Original formula away from extruded foam. Only use the Nonflammable formula when gluing to foam. Went to Lowe's this morning for a new can of the Nonflammable formula.
I will be using the can of Original formula when it comes time to laminate van furniture so it won't go to waste.
Supplies:
Ace Hardware: Weldwood Original Formula Contact Cement - Qt - 12.99
Lowes: Weldwood Nonflammable Formula Contact Cement - Qt - 13.98
In case you're wondering how I used up the first quart so fast I have some advice. Don't rest your can of contact cement on the piece you're working on. If you shift the piece the can might spill. Or worse yet, take a dive onto the floor. Yep, I knocked the whole can onto the floor where it landed, upside down of course. 
On the bright side it was half empty. On the non-bright side it was half full. Take your pick
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WVvan
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First today's Ford van weather report:
Yep, still cold.
Because of the weather I'm not able to do as much on the van as I'd like so instead I've been looking ahead. The first piece of furniture I'm planning on making will be the sofa-bed. There are several design considerations with such limited space so I'll need some dimension information.
Here are some diagrams I've drawn up. The measurements are not extremely accurate. They are for general planning purposes not actual cutting of materials. None are to scale.
The floor measurements are of the wood layer I've installed, not the metal base layer.
The sofa-bed will sit behind the drivers seat so I'll need to know how close I can get to it.
Another consideration is height. Part of the Penthouse Top installation was the addition of a Metal Edge that runs along the top edge of the van wall. This edge sits lower than the original ceiling. Need info on it's height and placement. In this photo you can see the Metal Edge along with what I call the Box which is a structural component of the Penthouse top. All these measurements are with the top down. The Bucket is also of note.
Window behind drivers seat.
The sofa-bed will sit in front of this window so it's height is important.
Cross section look at the wall.
The heights to the ceiling farther away from the wall. 16 1/2" measurements is at the floor.
Now for a self portrait.
I want the sofa seat to be as high as possible, for storage underneath, without hitting my head on the Metal Edge. I did "test sits" with different sized boxes and such and found that the Tidy Cat Bucket I'd been using as a work stool seems to be just about right.
So I'll plan on the sofa seat having the same height of around 14 1/2 inches from the floor. I'm 6' and that's what feels right for me. You should do your own "test sits" to see what you find to be comfortable.
* This post was
edited 02/16/10 05:57pm by WVvan *
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WVvan
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At the moment my sofa-bed plan looks like this.
This is just a general idea. Once I start to actually construct it the design will change. For instance I'll have to make modifications so it will fit over the wheel well. But you've got to start somewhere.
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WVvan
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Covering wall panels.
By now I have insulated and test fitted some panels. Time for the next step.
When I was at Sportsmobile in Indiana for the Penthouse Top installation they sold me a roll of fabric that was the same as they used on the inside trim work. The receipt has it at $10 a yard and it's called Encompass blue velour.
Installation is easy enough. Cut the fabric so you have enough to wrap around the edges.
This material has something similar to a "grain" where the velour is in lines. I took great care to position the cloth on the panel so these lines would be vertical when the panels were installed in the van. After I got it just like I wanted it I used a socket set to weigh down one side so the material wouldn't shift.
Then carefully roll back the half that's not weighted.
Apply contact cement to the half of the board that's exposed. The fiberboard will soak up part of the first coat you put down so usually I had to do two coats but be careful and don't overdo it or the contact cement will soak through the front of the cloth. Before I got to this step I used a scrap piece of fiberboard and cloth and tested it so I'd have a good idea of what was the right amount of cement to put down. I suggest you do the same.
Carefully roll the fabric back over the now contact cement coated fiberboard. Use your hands to smooth it out. I then moved the socket set to the glued side.
Roll back the fabric on the unglued side. Glue this second half like the first half.
Roll the cloth back over the second glued half and carefully smooth everything out. Cover with some scrap plywood and let sit overnight.
continued -
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WVvan
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Covering wall panels continued.
Next day. Flip the panel over. Be sure to remove the plastic covering off the foam where you will be gluing.
Paint contact cement along the edge of the panel then on the back. Use plenty of masking tape to pull the fabric tight against the edge of the panel.
Worked my way around the panel. Since this is the back of the panel I didn't worry about using too much glue. If it showed through the fabric no problem. This edge is curved so to get the fabric to fit I had to make several cuts. Be sure to dry fit the material before you put down the contact cement.
That's it. I let the panel dry overnight before mounting. Since all the masking tape was holding the fabric in place I didn't use anything else to hold the fabric down while it dried. I removed most of the masking tape after drying. Some was glued down so I just left it.
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WVvan
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Panel Installation
I've got a couple panels covered with cloth so it's time to install in the van. First check the weather.
Yep, still cold.
Take the first panel and screw it into place.
In the photo the fabric might look stained. It's not. This fabric has what I think is called "nap" so depending on which direction you smooth it with you hands it will have a slightly different look.
There is a metal ridge that runs horizontally along the van wall. I'm attaching the panel to that ridge with #8 1-1/2" sheet metal screws. At first I tried to use the same holes I used when I first test fit the panel before covering but it wasn't worth the trouble. With all the insulation on the wall of the van you either can't find the hole or if you do it's too hard to line up again with the fabric covering the old entry point on the panel.
Use a drill to create new small pilot hole through the panel and ridge and screw into that. I'm not using a powered driver to attach the screws. Just do it by hand. Any kind of a powered tool could drive the screw head right through the fiberboard too easily. That's also why I'm not using self-tapping sheet metal screws. Don't want to take a chance of going through the fiberboard.
Since I'm using #8 screws the pilot hole in the metal ridge isn't vary large. With the fabric/fiberboard/extruded_foam covering layer I sometimes had a problem finding the pilot hole I had just drilled. Had to drill through just the metal ridge again but not to worry. A few extra small holes can't be seen and won't cause any structural problems.
I present the Pillar Panel previewed in a previously post. Ready for installation.
Presto!
If you remember all the edging pieces I installed on the Pillar Panel this is the final results. Not bad.
Here's one mistake I didn't make, for a change.
I had cut, insulated and test fit the next panel in line and it was ready to go. The thing is it fit perfect BEFORE I fabric covered and installed the first panel. I was going to go ahead and cover this panel when I thought I should wait. Good thing I did. It was a close fit before but with the fabric and added fiberglass insulation in the back it's TOO tight. In the picture you can see an overhang along the lower left side.
Table saw works real good at slimming it down just a hair. Wouldn't have been so easy if it was fabric covered.
So Lesson Learned is complete and install one panel at a time to be sure of a good fit.
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Patster
Ontario Canada
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WVvan, nice work. You sure have it insulated well. As for your problem of finding the hole you just drilled I have in the past used chalk on the fabric before drilling to aid in hole location. By the way i am amazed at how much snow you have down there! Until this week we have had hardly any snow this winter and next to nothing since the start of the new year.
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