Ram Promaster Forum banner

Love Van 2.0

7.1K views 12 replies 6 participants last post by  larry barello  
#1 · (Edited)
Back in the early 80's I purchased a beat up 68 Dodge Sportsman window van, sans seats, bald tires, to move from the Bay Area to Seattle. After the move, I framed a simple platform in the back which became a bed and put all my supplies in storage boxes underneath. A few 6 gal plastic water jugs and a Coleman gas stove completed the kit. The van was dubbed the "love van" due to a psychedelic rainbow sticker on one window that spelled "LOVE". My new wife and I used that for six years until we had need for additional seats.

Fast forward three and a half decades and memories of those days compelled me to start on the 2.0 version. Call it a Covid-19 lock-down project. I had been seduced by those very attractive #vallife blogs and videos so I aimed pretty high (having money and tools helps...)

I'll cut to the chase:
My "introduction" post has a comprehensive list of features: introduction

Here is a link to a media folder with pictures of the build


I have attached a diary of my build. It is very incomplete and more of an overview rather than a detailed step-by-step.

I have pretty much run out of things to do with the conversion except sit and ponder how I would do it differently. I guess that must be a common affliction. :rolleyes:
 

Attachments

#8 · (Edited)
I finally start tackling one of those 10% projects (there are four bare metal panels I need to trim out). The hard one was this window. There is nothing, really, to attach the panel to, plus some precision layout is needed. I am not a precision kind of guy, my engineering solutions tend to be "Duct tape if it moves and needs to stay still, WD40 if it stays still and need to move".

Well as illustrated by post What did you do to your Promaster today? I managed to make a trim piece for this window.
Image

There are no planar surfaces to mount to, so I had to hack in some lath (N.B. the above photo is old and doesn't show the cabinet using the upper rib surface). Then I created a planar surface with some 1/2" scrap on the upper, 1/8" scrap on the bottom and 8 little tabs that I glued onto the sides.

Image

That is the surface I am trying to create.
Image

I've used this glue in several places (it is almost empty!) and so far, 18 months, 19f to 100f and hundreds of miles of rough dirt roads not a single joint has failed. Fingers crossed these will hold as well.
Image

Surface prepped and pilot holes drilled. Upper and lower firring strips were glued to the panel and I used 1" sheet metal screws to attach to the ribs. Wood screws for the sides.

Image

I always planned to have power by the swivel seat and realized that there was plenty of room under the window, so I drilled some holes, ran a wire to the distribution panel. Lower firring strip visible in this photo.

Image

Finished product. My galley extension, dinette (when positioned between the seats) and work desk is on display. The toilet cover is missing waiting for the paint to dry.
 

Attachments

#13 ·
One of my winter projects was scanning in some 2-3k slides from my previous, previous, previous life (1980's) and I found a picture of the "Love Van"
Image

1987, Death Valley
Image

1987 Pike Creek trailhead at the Alvord Desert, OR.