[Ziggy Stardog]

Saw an interesting YouTube video of a New Zealand couple's stealth van. Despite the fact that they don't know the difference between a Sprinter and a ProMaster (lol), they had some interesting ideas. A little too sold on stealth for my tastes, but interesting.

No windows at all, but a marine hatch as a skylight. Motivation was it was more stealth than a RV vent because it was lower profile. Looking at the sizes you can get them a bit smaller than standard RV vents, so I'm guessing if it doesn't work out you can fall back to a larger opening. I'd looked at the Dometic Seitz skylights as on the Hymers but seemed plasticy and non standard. Thoughts?

They also outfitted their van with a lot of IKEA stuff, so while I was waiting for Orlando traffic to thin, I popped in Ikea to look around. Gave me a different perspective on the place.

Anyway here's the video:

 

[nebulight]

I watched the same video last night. That's still a sprinter, it's just a dodge version.

As for a marine hatch.... I wouldn't as there is no builtin screen like a seitz or standard maxxfan or fantastic fan. While the Seitz may feel cheap, they are very well made and insulated.

If it were me, I'd still opt for a vent fan in order to keep air moving. And I think the maxxair fans are a bit taller with the rain guard, but the standard and the fantastic fans are still pretty low profile. However aftering seeing the hymer in person with the seitz skylight, it felt really nice to be able to open that up on a nice day. Though that takes up valuable roof space that could be used for solar

And just a comment on their build, those ikea cabinets look nice (I have them in my kitchen), but I don't see anyway of keeping them locked while driving (at least not in their video).

 

[Ziggy Stardog]

I watched the same video last night. That's still a sprinter, it's just a dodge version.

I stand corrected, I wasn't 100% sure. Didn't know there was a Dodge branded version and the didn't show much of it I had thought that you couldn't fit a bed sideways in a Sprinter, but the did say they cut the mattress down.

I too like the cabinets, but I think they may be pretty heavy as well as hard to secure. Was looking at some of their toy storage racks. Might be a simple alternative to building drawers and getting creative with plastic welding maybe you could build irregular shapes.

 

[GaryBIS]

Hi,

Really interesting video -- Thanks!

Paneling and ceiling in the HD tongue and groove look really nice.

Lots of nice ideas -- like the $2 stainless steel salad bowl sink

Really nice looking simple conversion that's cheap to build.

Gary

 

[Ziggy Stardog]

The tongue in groove stuff is popular in tiny homes. Looks nice, freely available and cheap. I'm considering it in my upcoming build. It's usually installed with brad nailing and liquid nails on the roof.

Wasn't sure if what he railed into when he installed, as he implied that he had a dead air barrier between the sprayed foam and the tongue and groove. He was soliciting emails at the end, I may ask him.

 

[Josh Cissell]

The tongue in groove stuff is popular in tiny homes. Looks nice, freely available and cheap. I'm considering it in my upcoming build. It's usually installed with brad nailing and liquid nails on the roof.

Wasn't sure if what he railed into when he installed, as he implied that he had a dead air barrier between the sprayed foam and the tongue and groove. He was soliciting emails at the end, I may ask him.

I used that on my ceiling and I just screwed into the ribs with sheet metal screws with finish washers. They used a lot more screws than I did. I may add a few more just to pull it up tight across the center where I have almost no screws. I did put a little Loctite pl behind some of the boards.

Sent from my SM-P900 using Tapatalk

 

[tahoematt]

I am really interested in the marine hatch. What do you mean when you say "no builtin screen"? You can get screen attachments for these and blackout shades.

 

[MsNomer]

I was distracted by the thought of a lentil shower. Less amusing is the thought of a flying fridge.

 

[proeddie]

PA,

The Maxxair 4500 vent fan I bought has a lower profile than the Fantastic fan. The 7500 is higher and bigger because of the rain shroud that they promote, but their low-key 4500 model is a pretty low profile... about 3 1/2" if I recall.... it fits under my carport with an 1 1/2" to spare! All the same features as the 7500.

I seriously considered narrow marine hatches in the area above the windows on the rear doors. Once I found the 4500, I dropped the idea.

gary,

I think they took my $2 stainless steel salad bowl sink idea! I used a hole punch to add a drain and it works great! For a short trip, I put a second matching bowl on top of the sink bowl, use it. and just dump the grey water from the top bowl instead of having to clean out the grey water holding tank.

 

[wade 13x]

Need one of those school bus vents / exit doors for the roof. pop it up to vent while driving and it opens