[twicken2]

Has anyone framed in and/or put a door on the storage shelf above the cab? Most of the builds I have seen leave it as is with the black styrofoam exposed on the bottom corners. I'm trying to decide whether or not to finish it to match the rest of the build, but it looks like a painful amount of custom woodwork. I would be interested to hear any ideas for that area!

 

[RDinNHandAZ]

We store the bedding when we collapse the bed into a couch. It also holds the large windshield sunscreen. I have covered the black styrofoam with carpet that matches the floor. Looks good.

 

[watercamper]

Speaking of the black styrofoam, my research says that behind it are some holes and wiring for the airbags. Ok. Can they be safely removed?

 

[proeddie]

FYI,

Here's what it looks like behind the black styrofoam blocks

Mine are removed right now (the foam, not the airbags!) but will be trimmed and reinstalled at some point. Others have done that.

ed

 

[MsNomer]

Eddie, I'm very interested to know how you removed them without destroying them. I would remove them and play with some options if I knew that I could get them back on in good shape.

 

[Zoomyn]

IIRC: There are a couple of the push-plug tree style fasteners locking it in snug, they'll give just enough to wiggle it free.

 

[proeddie]

Ms,

I forgot! I probably took them out over a year ago. I was trying to decide how to make a board to cover the space contoured to the headliner curve on each end.

My best recollection is that I wiggled and pulled on them... and they came out! On the top of the headliner there's a tray that we all put lots of stuff in. That black plastic tray has a styrofoam strip on each side which I removed first, then I took the fillers out. I don't think the top strips had to be removed first.

I do recall taking out the grey push-in "Christmas tree" fasteners that hold the back edge of the headliner in place. That allowed the headliner to flex so the styrofoam then came out. There may have been one push-in fastener that held the block from pulling out, at the top of the block. It may have been pushed into the rectangular hole that you can see in the metal cross-piece.

I figured I'd bandsaw the styrofoam flat and put the blocks back in after I had a trim board in place.... not there yet! With the blocks removed, it is easier to trace the profile of the curves, but you do have to be careful because the grey headliner tends to show some minor fold marks instead of flexing as you pull the blocks out.Hope that helps a bit....

Ed

 

[supdies]

Hi Tyler,

I did finish that area and it was one of the trickiest parts to make. Here's what I did (pictures attached). Kind of hard to describe!

1) Made an L-shape wood bracket with 3/4" birch for the bottom and 1/2" for the vertical. The 'L' fits onto the the shelf lip such that the bottom is flush with the front cab headliner and the vertical goes flush up to the top of the plastic shelf edge. The vertical also extends all the way to the wall edges and curve to follow the headliner curve/shape
2) Used rigid 1/2" closed cell foam to run along the bottom and then 'curve' along the edge
3) Wrapped the foam first and glued/stapled that on. Wrapped with Marathon tweed fabric (like Outside Vans & Van Specialty interiors)
4) Then wrapped the vertical side
5) Connected the entire structure from the bottom up using 1/4-20 tapered bolt screws with hex heads, into rivnuts that I put into the van metal that runs along the bottom edge of the cab shelf.

Good luck!
Rob

 

[MoldAvoider]

For those of you who have done it, I would love to know how to get the black plastic storage tray out of that storage compartment. I need to clean underneath it. I've undone the nuts in the front but can't see what else might be attaching it. My best guess is the black Styrofoam and I managed to *almost* wiggle one of them out.

Also, I am very interested in either replacing the carpeting up there or covering it with something less porous. Hints?

Thanks.

 

[proeddie]

The black styrofoam strips on each side do come out, then the black tray slides out

 

[watercamper]

On my 2017, I had to also remove the large styrofoam pc on the drivers side - the one held in with the plastic push nuts.

 

[MoldAvoider]

I *finally* got that dang black plastic tray out. It was harder than it sounds. Removed the nuts on the cargo side, removed the black Styrofoam blocks wedging it in, then discovered a tan clip (like a child safety lock for a drawer) in the far back. I finally figured out it is to help hold up the part above the dash that has the visor, lights, etc. So I had to loosen the bolts on the sides of that thing so that I could pull the clip down Then I needed someone to help me move the tray away from the clip.
And for someone as not-strong as I am, the tray still didn't "slide" out. It took a very strong tug on each side. (But, hey, I didn't fall off the step stool, and I was proud of myself for that. )
Now it is out and I'm so happy to have made progress on this bit.