Pre – build pictures. My Baby Here’s the pictures of my 1994 G20 Van converted by Glaval – Unconverted by ME
 
The access port on the left is where I stick the extension cord through when plugged into shore power.
The 100ft extension cord is resting between the outside and inner walls. The black extension cord (with yellow plugs, pic 3) is plugged into the female end of the extension cord.

Here’s the rust around my windows. Leonard helped me take the window out and I use the grinder to take away all the loose rust. After this I brushed Rust Converter on the frame, and sprayed primer where I was going to paint. (I’ll get to the paint soonish.) The next day we put the window back in. Taking the window out and putting it back in is a two person job.


I taped reflectix to the outside walls, but by the time I got to the back quarter panels I was ending up with a lot of odd sized/shaped pieces of reflectix – so I just taped them together like a crazy quilt. I didn’t bother to cut them to the perfect shape or size figuring any overlap is more insulation value.


 Here’s what the wall looked like after I removed the inner walls.  Lots of wires.  I left all this stuff and it is still behind the walls once I put them back up.  What you don't see won't hurt you.

I was able to remove the carpet and padding by myself



There were a bazillion itsy bitsy rust spots like those shown here. I sanded them, painted on rust converter then sprayed them with primer. Overkill? Maybe – but at least I know the floor won’t rust through from the inside out!

Ok, y’all may laugh – and that’s OK. After mom passed a few years back I ended up with tons of styro places and bowls. Since I try not to use styro (I’d rather wash a plate than throw one away) I came up with a way to use them in the van.  I crumpled them so they wouldn’t work their way back to being stacked together, plus I knew that if I got a lot of squeaking that I could remove the panels and throw them away. But, after several months and much travel they’re working out great. What you don’t see is the layer of reflectix taped to the door from the inside. So, the door has reflectix and either carpet padding and/or styro bowl/plate for insulation.


Here’s I have finished taping reflectix to the outside walls and over the wheel wells and the ¾” foil back styro insulation on the floor. Plus the ¾” subfloor plywood is down. Before putting the styro and subflooring down, I put the walls back up
.









Here’s where I laid down some nice vinyl flooring from Lowes. I hated the carpet and love this easy to clean floor now.
 

You’ll see the bed frame below. Under the mattress, Leonard made cubbys for me to put my clothes/food/tools. The mattress rests on a piece of ¼” plywood.

I used to have the house battery in a plastic box vented outside. Now I have it in its own wooden space that Leonard built. He made it large enough to fit 2 batteries. The 800 watt inverter is screwed to the front of the bed frame, right behind the driver’s seat. Its easy for me to reach and I can disconnect one of the leads so that the battery doesn’t go down due to Phantom Draw  I do not have the battery box vented.

At the end of the bed frame is a box where I can put my big stuff, like my 20lb propane tank and extra 5 gallon water bottle. Robert Clark made me a cover for it (not shown), so now I can use it as a chair. Its just the right height and in the right place for me to sit and cook on the coleman.

Here’s the counter that Leonard made for me. He built a box type thing for my bar sink and hand pump. I have a tube from the hand pump down into the bottle below. To the right of my sink is my Coleman cooktop, and below are tubs of food items and cooking utensils. I plan on enclosing the open shelves so everything isn’t visible.  

 

The van is far from being “finished” but I’ll get around to it some day.  I think I now have 90% of the things I want for long term boondocking. There’s plenty of work left to do – and plenty of time to do it in. I hope to see you down the road and to share a campfire and a meal with you some day. Send questions or comments to BarkingWaters@gmail.com. Donna Wiggins