The LodgeVan...a work in progress

[rdcolorado]

Back in Feb I picked up this van in Denver for about $14K.

I guess I thought I needed another drain on my wallet or maybe just another project to add to my never ending list of projects in flight!
2002 V10 4x4 van. 4 captains chairs and a bench in back. low miles...70k or so.

Put together a list of things I "needed"

Kenwood Radio, Amp, Subwoofer...got to have sound for traveling!
Extra battery, Blue Sea ACR.
Rear camera
Convertible Bench/Bed
UJoint 6" conversion

And now I am finally posting up some of this work....more pics of everything coming after this....

 

[rdcolorado]

The battery locale and install....



The battery cable ...




Got those cables from custombatterycables.com. Not cheap either but since it was a long run I made sure to get a decent cable.

 

[rdcolorado]

But before that...

I had to take out all that rear mat and wet insulation and grind and sand and paint to get that rear area ready for some new covering.
That was a royal PITA!



I don't have a pic but I replaced all the vinyl rear mat with VanRug. Bought one used and only used about half of it, up to the second row of seats.

 

[rdcolorado]

Bench/Bed using westy hinges

I picked up some used bed hinges from a VW westy like this.....





And then I took out the bench and all the seats to start building a convertible bench Bed.
Used 3/4 birch plywood for all the bed parts. It took quite a while to get everything lined up and working.
After a few "redo's", I have an ample supply of plywood on hand for anything else I might need to do!

 

[rdcolorado]

More on the Bench/Bed

Had to source some foam for the cushions for the bed...the wife insisted on something comfortable!

This is what I ended up with: HDHQ4F 4" HD36-HQ Foam - Full Sheet 82x76 1 $164.99 $164.99 from the foamfactory online.
I went ahead and got a full sheet ... have some left over but not a whole lot. Much cheaper than buying it locally.
Cut that into pieces and did the test fit...

 

[Desert Dan]

Looks good. How did you anchor the bench to the van?

Ford makes battery mounts to mount the battery along the frame rails.

 

[rdcolorado]

Looks good. How did you anchor the bench to the van?

So far I have the bed frame bolted to the old set belt mounts on the wheel wells. I plan on making a metal frame out of 1X square tube so that I can mount the seat belts to that and then bolt that to the floor.

Ford makes battery mounts to mount the battery along the frame rails.

Yep, I opted for the clean install and easy access in case I have to get to that battery.

 

[rdcolorado]

More on the foam and upholstery

After test fitting and cramming the foam into the covers that the wife made, I decided it needed a little more soft cushioning.
So we covered the foam cushions in batting. Wrapped that around the cushions and that made it alot easier to get the cushions in the coverings.



The final product....and I also covered all that birch plywood in some indoor/outdoor carpet from Home depot. Many cans of spray adhesive to get all that glued on!

 

[rdcolorado]

So then I figured we needed to come up with a build name. Out comes the inspiration, hanging around, the wife brings out a rug and some wine, and then we come up with "lodgevan"! Kind of going with the rocky mountain lodge motif....

View attachment 308399
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That cube is the cats meow!! Collapsible, storage inside, foot rest, table, or use the top as a serving platter. Supposed to support 300 lbs and I'm not getting any lighter... Bed Bath and Beyond for $20 I think.

 

[rdcolorado]

now on to the serious work...U-Joint 6" inch front end....

Out with the old 4x4 setup...

In with the new....

Drilling, Drilling, more drilling, then more drilling. Then more drilling. I was sick of drilling!!

Got that new crossover installed...gonna have to do some retro paint on that. Also discovered that the crossover arm hit the top near the ball joint, so had to do a little grinding so we could cycle fully side to side.


One more side to cut out for the rear spring hangers, a little welding, and then put that axle back on!!!!

 

[rdcolorado]

not sure why those aren't displaying...

 

[rdcolorado]

The lodge look....

 

[CrabbyMcNab]

Love the decoration.

 

[wanderer-rrorc]

Love it!!!

 

[rdcolorado]

Love the decoration.

Nothing like a little Wyoming Whiskey to get the creativity going....