2018 Sprinter 4x4

[VanGoOutdoors]

Finishing up the whole situation

Mounts for the box bolted on so i can position it and weld it in
Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr
Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr
Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr
Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr

Was going to add some gussets and stuff for the box, but even with the generator in there, there isnt any movement when closed, so perfectly happy with it.
Pulling the whole thing sunday for powder monday!

I think the LAST huge milestone before paint and putting it all back together

All the wood work is done. hinges and lifting/opening struts installed on all the upper cabinets to hold open, and vertical doors to keep them from closing on their own like on the last van. Super frustrating to try and get something out of the cabinet on a hill and the door keep hitting you. Also to prevent over opening and stressing the wood/hinges
I was going to blast it all apart today, but it has been super hot, and i have to do the lawn. So tomorrow after work, i should be able to start taking everything out.

all that is left is to paint the cabinets
Paint the ceiling
Put it all back together
Install table on mount (bamboo)
Finish final hookup of plubming once kitchen is backin
Cover the black wall panel in blue
Wire Espar Control panel onto that wall
Make some trim pieces for sides of cabinets and such

With the new days off, trying to get this thing done and get out there! Lots of florida to explore!
Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr
Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr

 

[VanGoOutdoors]

Been a little MIA because of work, a trade show, and just general life.
The entire interior is removed, powdercoated, and at the workshop waiting for me to put it all back together
Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr
Had to strip everything down to bare metal and go from there
Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr
Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr
After loosing the locking handle, because I was complacent, and left it on the back of the truck, then someone drove off a bit and i forgot. Is what it is. 4xinnovations got me a new one out for a good price and got that coated, and the swingout and everything installed today
Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr
Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr
Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr
Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr
even with my full weight pushing on the box, i cant get it to be anywhere near the door, confident in the spacing
Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr

Last but not least, I did not want to keep an 1 1/8th wrench around so i made some T handle nuts! All stainless, then polished
Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr
Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr
Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr
Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr

Plan tomorrow is to take out the side window, remake a new interior bezel, cover the wall and put it all back together to get the whole interior back in this weekend

I have to go monday to do an electrical system for a customer in savannah. So would like to be able to stay in the van the few days i am there

 

[VanGoOutdoors]

Deadlines!

Have to leave sunday to go do an electrical system for a customer in Savannah (about 4 hours north)
Van is (as of this morning) completely apart because im lazy

So the race is on. Today was a big day of tidying up wiring ,painting the cabinet faces and some ceiling panels (where the cabinets go) and getting it all back together

Day started off with running out of fuel right next to work....go figure
Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr

Put some in and good to go, whatever

This little guy has put in work. Painted all the cabinets and drawers as well as the ceiling with no brush marks and a perfect finish using 50.00 a gallon cabinet paint. Worth it
Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr
Set up a nice outdoor painting situation, and make it happen
Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr
The main reason for pulling everything out other than powdercoating was to redo the window bezel behind the wall, cover that wall, wire the espar heater controller, and tidy up the wiring above the ceiling for the lights and awning that were temp tapped into the fan wiring, and now have their own fuse.
Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr

The spots are where i cleaned dirt, and dried fine, in case someone asks.

tomorrow, will be back at it and hopefully have the whole interior in by lunch, then come home and finish the plumbing and stuff. as long as i have my drawers and cabinet faces in, I will be happy

 

[VanGoOutdoors]

Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr
Got the subassemblies all put together and jazz to put in. Decided to do 1lb bottles this time around in a quick fist mount instead of 5lb tanks. Just easier.
Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr

Drawers need some adjusting to be perfect, but they have to come out anyways to have the faces sanded anda few more coats. the cabinet faces are good to go, but the drawers haven't had enough prep and paint. same with half the ceiling.
Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr
Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr
but that being said. the kitchen, cabinets and uppers are in for good!
Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr
bamboo top on the lagun mount. best table mount ever!


so it is off to savannah we go tomorrow for a couple days of wiring and urban camping in the van, and then back to work on another customers cabinet set! And a few racks as well

well, all is good!
Great camp spot by the river almost under a bridge
Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr
Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr
Savannah is a pretty cool place.
Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr

Did the wiring on a 170 extended long ass van.
over 400 ft of wire
Ctek Smartpass
3 blue sea fuse boxes
10 12v outlets
10 usb outlets
8 110 outlets
2000watt inverter
Victron solar control
Victron battery monitor
and some other stuff
Took roughly 25 hours over two and a half days.
Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr
Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr
Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr
Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr
Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr
Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr
Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr
Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr
Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr

This weekend, hopefully, I will pull out the rest of the ceiling, paint it, put it back in and work on some trim pieces to clean everything up on my van to get it ready for expo and some test runs!


Also had an offer to trade a 2018 raptor 4dr, and 40k for the sprinter. Interesting option.

 

[VanGoOutdoors]

well, emergency requires action.
Panama city needs us, so we shall rise to the call of action!
Packing up to go help the cajun navy and crowdsource rescue organization and start to the east of town and work in doing welfare checks, and clearing debris for people trapped. they have a killer ticket and organizational structure, so pretty confident we can move quickly.

Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr

all the gear laid out and checked in case i have ot move stuff

Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr
Bedslide putting in work

Well, place is super duper trashed. Like as bad as africa trashed.
Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr
Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr
Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr
Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr

Helped clear out pathway blocking debris for a few people, driveways, trees blocking streets. Pretty sure both of our winch lines are toast, Mine has some pretty slick spots in it now. But worth it i think.
Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr
Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr
IMG_9554 by Grant Wilson, on Flickr

Saw a revel, insurance adjuster guy
IMG_9552 by Grant Wilson, on Flickr

Saw this stupid thing
IMG_9550 by Grant Wilson, on Flickr

And got to hang out with my good friend Rob who was a good sport and came with me (yes thats my old outback). Never work alone!
Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr

and since someone asked in PM, figured id just share
44 tickets (wellness checks/supply dropoffs)
20 cases of water
30 baby wipe packets
2 cases of toilet paper
4 bottles of chainsaw fuel
3 Trees cleared from roads
3 Tires plugged
2 driveways cleared of debris
1 yard cleared

 

[VanGoOutdoors]

new racks are out!
Sprinter Rack by Grant Wilson, on Flickr

 

[klahanie]

Wowza, nice work !

and great job with the community assistance.

 

[VanGoOutdoors]

Another rack dropping on a van friday. Did some pre configuration and install of the two 100 watt panels
Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr
Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr
Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr
Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr
Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr
Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr


Subsequently, also have to work on migrating my parts over to the new rack i did of the final production. Next week will do that before expo.

 

[VanGoOutdoors]

Halrighty.

Everything is all back together. I wanted to do one last coat of white on the drawers since they werent perfect, but you know what...I'm ok with this for now.
Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr
Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr
Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr

Over the weekend, I went back up west to Panama City since it was the last open weekend i had. Cleared a bunch of trees and a ton of supply deliveries, handed out 200 plates of food, and delivered a load of insulin. All and all, productive
Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr
Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr
Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr
Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr
Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr
Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr
Cut this big ass tree down with a lil Stihl MS180C. did a fantastic job. Really need to step up to the next size motor tho
Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr
Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr
Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr
Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr

 

[VanGoOutdoors]

This tree was on an elderly couples' well pump/pressure tank. We shored it up, trimmed it down, then used the winch to pull it over away from the tank, then cut the trunk to let it stay in place. Effective use of recovery gear!
Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr
Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr
Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr
relief-7 by Grant Wilson, on Flickr
relief-8 by Grant Wilson, on Flickr
relief by Grant Wilson, on Flickr

And to finish out the weekend....beach time! (ok just gratuitous glamour shots)
beach by Grant Wilson, on Flickr
beach-12 by Grant Wilson, on Flickr
beach-10 by Grant Wilson, on Flickr
beach-5 by Grant Wilson, on Flickr

 

[VanGoOutdoors]

Lotsa fun!
With overland expo east coming up. I have been doing a TON of last minute things.
Yesterday and today:
Installed the final version rack, panels, rear lightbar, and wired it all up (still waiting on frontlightbar mount to be powdered. should be done monday)
Made bracket for hitch plug
Trimmed the rear and sides of the van interior covering gaps
Installed b pillar trims
Cleaned all the ceiling and cabinets
Installed rear add a leaf kit and from sumo springs
Fabricated a stainless grab handle
Fabricated a mount for the rear door for the Kinsman shower
Installed said shower


tomorrow I have to install the Espar D2 heater, so Im not cold at expo. Lord knows its not overlanding if you are cold.

Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr
Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr
Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr
Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr
Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr
Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr
Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr
Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr
Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr
Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr
Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr
Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr
Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr
Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr
Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr
Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr

 

[VanGoOutdoors]

Progress on the home shop is making way! I have most of the garage cleaned out from junk, got the welder and cart put together
Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr
Changed out my plug i had put in when i bought the house, to the correct one for the welder!
Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr
(installed one is right)
Then the tool cart came in, this will house my drill press and sanding station. Everything has to be on wheels in such a small space so i can actually use the space.
Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr
And I also got about 3/4 of the way done with my welding table!
2x2x2/16 base
3/8 plate top
4x6 size
Casters will be installed today, and the top dropped on as well. Then its home to the shop.
Today and tomorrow I hope to have most everything done, and start actually setting the garage up and maybe make something.
I got argon for the tig, an extension cord that will be here friday that will allow me to use the welder in the driveway if i had to as well. Slowly but surely I am working my way to independence from the main shop at work when they have larger projects that take up the work space

 

[billharr]

VanGoOutdoors. Just want to say I am going to steal your drill press on a tool cart idea. I will put my bench grinder on the back side. This will add some floor space to my garage.


Bill