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Promaster 136" hightop build

97K views 176 replies 34 participants last post by  Alex Gaynor 
#1 ·
I finally found the right van and flew out to Colorado to pick it up on Tuesday. I still haven't made it back to Mississippi. I got to fish with a friend in Boulder, dropped in to see my cousin's newborn in Fayetteville, AR and now I'm going to backpack 19 miles on the Ouachita trail for the next two days. My final stop will be to see a friend's newborn in Little Rock before I make it home to Oxford on Sunday.

I've ordered Dynamat, 3M insulation and a maxxair fan. The van has two back windows and a window on the slider. I called my local glass shop and ordered a fixed CRL window for the front panel on the driver's side.

Looking forward to getting this project rolling.


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#3 ·
Josh what is the thinking about the fixed window not an awning? That Fan will want a place to get air from to exhaust out the top (or in). We notice our van sitting in the sun here on 95º days is much cooler if the awnings are open and the vent open even if the fan is not running.
 
#6 · (Edited)
Started on the sound dampening tonight. Have to remove the panels on the inside of the cargo area doors tomorrow to finish up. Then I have to decide where to use the last few sheets. I installed it using a rubber mallet instead of the tool you but from dynamat. The thing that I found to work best was to use the matte (finish) side of the paper off the back of a piece of dynamat and rub each piece down onto the van walls.

Maxx air fan arrived today, dicor should be in tomorrow. 3m insulation from Hein by the end of the week.

I plan to put an AC up top. We live in Mississippi so without the AC we're pretty much limited to later in the fall, winter and early spring. Thinking I'll put the fan in the back over the bed, 2 100watt solar panels in the middle and the AC up front. Anyone foresee a problem with this?


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#7 ·
Cover those wheel wells- that is where lots of noise comes from!
On a 136 the fan/Soar/AC back to front should just fit.
 
#8 ·
Finished putting in the dynamat tonight. Removed the panels and put in doors, on wheel wells, and ceiling.

Plan is to start working on the floor covering tomorrow. I think I'll go with luan, 1/2” polyiso, 5/8 hardwood plywood. I'm not sure what I'll finish the floor with yet. I've used vinyl planks in rental houses that glue down so I'm thinking that may be the ticket.


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#9 ·
I’d skip the Luan below the Polyiso as it serves no function AFAIK. The air gaps under the Polyiso is a good thing for insulating value and the 25 lbs./sq inch support of the Polyiso is sufficient.

But then I dislike cheap sheet goods like luan, CDX, OSB, MDF, particle board etc. They are heavy or weak or warped or all the above. All fail if moisture gets to them and some even without it. Try hardwood plywood or baltic birch or a good multi laminated marine ply and the extra spent will be rewarded by years of builder bliss! Rant over!
 
#11 · (Edited)
I did that as well. polyiso with primed and painted ply on top. I used porch and deck paint and it has held up really well on the plywood. I'm still undecided if I'll cover the plywood with anything, so far the plan is just some rugs or outdoor carpet as needed.
 
#14 ·
Lots of goodies came I'm yesterday. Thinsulate, fan roof adapter, and window. I covered the wheel wells with thinsulate, made a paper template for the floor from builders paper, then cut the polyiso and installed. It was a tight fight so I'll have to go back and make sure there is a 1/4" Gap all the way around. I'm guessing if I don't I'll have squeeks while driving. Then I'll take that polyiso and use it as a template for the plywood.

I also picked up a water based polyurethane from the paint store. Going to put two coats on the plywood.



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#20 ·
Finished cutting the floor out today and had a couple of friends come over to help install the window. Took about 3 hrs but we double and triple checked everything then cut the window a little small so had to keep going back and fine tuning. As many of you know, it wasn't near as bad as you would think. I followed the same procedure as cutndry. It was super easy to remove the brace on the panel. I just drilled out the spot welds and it came right off.
Here is a link to the procedures I used to install the window. Only difference is I just used the template on the side of the van to guard the paint.
http://www.promasterforum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=56922&page=2

I plan to remove the floor tomorrow, seal it with two coats of water based poly, then use bolts in the anchor bolt holes to bolt it to the floor. Will probably put a few self tapping tek screws in as well. If I get that done I'll probably cut the hole for the vent fan in the back.

A friend of mine has a pop up camper that is no good because he ripped up the canvas. Instead of spending a fortune to fix it he said I can have the AC and anything else in it that I want. I think he is going to make a four-wheeler trailer out of it. That will save me a ton.

We had a little fun before we cut the panel out. How many times in your life do you get to sign your name on the side of a vehicle then cut it out? I'm in the maroon shirt and my wife behind me. Then the hired help.



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#22 ·
Cut the hole for my maxxair fan today.
I put the fan over the back of the van.
I used the outside adapter from Hein. It's nice to have. The outside edge of the adapter is 13" from the back of the van. I only cut the hole and installed the adapter. Haven't installed the fan just yet. Just covered it with plastic for tonight.

As Hein's instructions said I used 3m window weld to seal the adapter to the roof. Expensive stuff. One thing I'm not sure I've seen anyone else mention was putting tape 1/4" around the outside of the adapter and making a fillet with the window weld as Hein's instructions said. I didn't have enough squish out of the sides so I added a bead around the edge. Smoothed it out with my finger then took the tape off 15 minutes later. It makes for a nice smooth seal around the adapter.



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#25 ·
Worked in the van today finishing up the floor and vent fan installs. I built a wood bracket out of 1x2's to go under the vent fan. I'm not seasoned at wood working so it took me a while. I used my table saw. A band saw would have saved lots of time. One thing I noticed is my table saw isn't going to be super accurate. You can see in the pictures how I cut the pieces to make the frame. I can say without a doubt that if I installed another fan I would buy both the outside and inside adapters.

I put 2 coats of polyurethane on the floor top and bottom. The last coat on the bottom went on just before I left the house at 6:30 this morning. So the pieces were ready to be installed this afternoon. This ended up taking tons longer than I thought. I'm using the holes for the tie-downs and I thought I would be able to drill up from the bottom to create my holes. Well that is only the case on 2 of the 6 holes. I finally got them done. I counter-sunk the bolts and washers because I'll be laying vinyl planks that look like wood over the floor. If I did this again I think I might go with 3/4" plywood. The 1/2" is a little thin for counter-sinking. My plan was to counter sink about 8 more bolts but since there isn't much romm, I think I'll just get the self tapping tek screws.


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#27 ·
FYI: The self-tapping wood to metal tek screws mentioned in another post to put the floor down didn't work for me. They are too easily pulled out. I ended up countersinking bolts with locknuts on the underside of the van. On the underside I only have a washer. I did not put any extra plates for reinforcement. Since I already have 6 bolts into the reinforced tie-down holes, I'm guessing that the additional 9 - 10 bolts are just a little reassurance and mainly for leveling the floor on the inside.
 
#28 ·
All looking great! Hein didn't have his instruction up on ebay nor included in the fan adapter. I kind of winged it. Used gutter/flashing adhesive/sealant under the adapter...I had the inside fan adapter and used 3m adhesive to stick it to the ceiling. I didn't let anything dry much before putting big gobs of the sealant/adhesive on the underside of the plastic piece that fits in the hole in the roof. Then we screwed the plastic piece down into the two adapters. The adhesive squeezed out, so I thought that was a good sign. I used the rest of the tube to cover the screws and put a good bead around the adapter piece.

No leaks so far, but I really am tempted to goop some dicor on it all when I get back up there to do my solar panels and rooftop A/C (still undecided if I have room).

I like the floor like that. I wish I had gone with the water based polyurethane instead of the oil. Oil based takes soooooo long to dry. Have you thought about adding more rivnuts for your floor, similar to the tiedown holes?
 
#29 ·
I use both water based and oil based poly. For my money....the oil based is better looking and more durable. With good drying weather it takes 24 hrs between coats....and usually 2 coats are enough. On your floor I don't think you will have any regrets.
 
#33 ·
I also used both water and oil based but just didn't tell above because it wasn't intentional. The tops of the floor are waterbased and the bottom are oil. My paint store gave me two quarts that were supposed to be waterbased but one quart was oil based so I used it. With the oil based I put 1 coat on, went to bed and put another on at about 6:30 the next morning. My experience is it is dry in about 7 hrs.

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#36 ·
My entire project except for the basement area is finished with Minwax oil modified water based polyurethane. The stuff has all the features of oil based but I can get 3 good coats on in less than a day...dries in less than an hour, brushes clean with water.

I like woodworking but hate finishing... this stuff is the best I have ever used! Try it...you'll like it!
 
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