Yes!  And they sound beautiful.  They can be had pretty reasonably cheap too.

I had a 6 cyl econoline that I used to tote my atv's and motorcycles in.  That thing had more piston slap than you could imagine,  but it went absolutely everywhere and never let me down.

ETA:  I have never owned any of the V-6 versions though.

nice, tagged to follow. I'm thinking about something like this for when my kids get a little bigger. I feel like with all the road trips for sports and shit it's going to be easier to have something all self contained like this.

Buddy of mine has an '08ish 2500 van with 750k miles. No joke.  Current 6.0 engine has over 400k on it.

They are heavy drinkers.

Tagged.

I kinda want to do this.

After your first round of sound deadener/insulation...how did you attach your wood stringers to the bulkhead?

The 1x3 stringers were attached to the vertical ribs and the front and rear pinch seams with self tapping screws.  They are completely separate from the bulkhead,  No attachment there.  Once the bulkhead itself is insulated the cedar covering it will likely be tied into the existing completed walls.

I have been driving the van for the better part of a week and have not had any complaints with the fuel mileage.  It's not a sipper,  but ittl be ok.

Shagging Waggin

You going to have it ready for OSH this year?

Leaves thread....

I hope to.

Are they cheaper in Montana?   Cause I looked all over.  SD, ND, MN,  and even eastern MT.  What I found wasn't where I wanted to be in those targets.

As I said in the OP,  This van isn't even quite what I wanted.  It just fell into the "Ittl do" and "Good price" category.

Paint scheme suggestion:

I know where there is a GMC Quigley for sale. Unfortunately it’s 2 years old and probably will want too much for it. 6.0 6L90.

I got a steal on an 05 Quigley 4x4 E 350 last spring.  I had been bugging the guy for 3 years, and he relented...…

I have decided to keep the inside mostly open, for camping hauling etc.  I have a fold out bed that works as storage when closed, and provides seating.  I have 270 watts of solar on the roof, a rear roof rack, and a nice ARB awning.

I like what you are doing.  I am sure you have found Expedition Portal, The SMB forum and have seen all of the Van Life youtubes.  great way to see tips and tricks.  I am not going to build mine out yet, or maybe not at all.  One thing I have gathered from all of those sources is that folks who build out generally have multiple version, as none are ever quite right.

There is a guy on the SMB forum who does swivel seat bases.  Best upgrade to mine, so far.  If you decide to ditch the bulk head divider, swivels can be a huge  benefit.  My driver swivel is a little tricky with my 4x transfer stick, but it can be done.  The passenger side takes about 30 seconds.

Having back country camped for the last 25 years in a Jeep, I have certainly died and gone to heaven, and its probably part of why I like mine more open.  grab a cold one from my ARB fridge, hop in my Sunset seat (the passenger swivel), and stretch out my legs next to my 125 pound dog.  Van life is good.....

edit: forgot to add, yes not one person who I have shown it to has not kidded about candy or rape or shaggin'

I haven't checked any forums...  No.  Thanks for the suggestion.

I have camped in... Yes. in my mustang before for air shows that are far from home.

So this will be way better than my fathers 5.5 foot truck bed under a tonneau. Or the mustang.

My Asian buddy drew this for me!  Hahaha

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Pfffffttttt...

He's going with a full body wrap of pieces of candy with the words "FREE CANDY" in 24-inch tall dayglow lettering.

If I ever decide I want a van, that's the one I want

Hard to find for a decent price, unfortunately.

 I have done just that in a hatch car.  Mine are not hatch cars.  

Boooo.

Ran out of T&G.

Need to go get more.

Local hotel has this for tailgating at husker games

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Started on the ceiling.

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I went to school with a guy that had an old plumbing van like that, but without the nice interior. We all called it the "Stabbin' Cabin."

Neat project OP.

Cool. I have a 1979 Dodge box van (it's actually called a Kary Van..lol) that I've been wanting to do something like this to for 15 years.

When are you walking it off with 6, 18”s and 24,000 watts?

I automatically assumed that you would be adding a turbo or 2 to it.

Lol!

I guess I kinda have that reputation huh?

I was going to go with rape but yea

Sorry if I missed it earlier in the thread, but are you keeping the cage? I think I'd get rid of it. Makes it feel just a little too creepy to me.

Tag

Ha.  Came to post "Rape Van" but got beat bad.  You live in Philly?



And oh yeah soundtrack music.

Last year I was getting gas when this lady looked in the window of mine, saw the bed, and said "Nice shaggin' wagon."

It will stay. It will be lined/covered with cedar slats.

The door will stay operational.

Yes you do.

I guess there is worse things to have a reputation for.  

Anyways..  Ceiling is done.

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Needs GMC badges and a paint job

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I like it . My company truck is a 6.0 with  4l80. It averages 12.3 mpg mainly stop and go.

dang, you are rockin' and rollin' on the walls and ceiling.

Mine had the same metal bulkhead, with all of the high end metal shelving in the rear.  The amount of rattle was unbearable.  Hopefully your bulkhead is not to rattly.  Note sure whether you have spent much time in vans like this, but the overall feeling of roominess  from pulling the bulkhead is night and day.  I picked up a high end cargo net that I put in place the keep gear to the far back.  My big mutt gets all the area from about the bulkhead to the front of the fender wells, when we travel.

OK, forums and such.  The SMB is the Sportsmobile official forum.  All day everyday, van stuff.  great for ideas, how too's and even repairs.  It's mostly SMB specific, but there is a lot of crossover.  Expedition portal is a general road/offroad adventure site, covering all make and shape off offroad stuff.  They have a sportsmobile subsection that is pretty much a wasteland due to there being an actual sportsmobile forum of its own.  There is a van section on Expedition Portal that covers everything van related, that is not SMB specific.  And the 12 Volt subforum is fantastic for all things 12 volt, including solar.

As to youtube and Van Life proper, you will find a ton of videos to watch.  You have to watch past all of the vegan hippie type stuff (unless that is your gig), and if you watch enough you will see lots of little tips and tricks.  These folks are living full time, so much does not apply, but pretty much any van scenario that you can think of has been attempted and ironed out.  If you watch a lot of these, you will soon understand why it is impossible to find good used vans, at reasonable prices.  We are living in Peak Van, right now.

I took mine elk hunting for the first time last fall.  I got snowed out for the last night and day, and bugged out at about 1:00 in the morning, in a blizzard. It was sweet being able to toss everything in the back, and roll out quickly.  I made it to a small town grocery store, and crawled into my sleeping bag to let the sun come up, for the rest of the trek home. Having my bed already to go was so nice.  In my Jeep, it would have taken me two hours to pack, as every single item had to go exactly in "its" spot.  And I have done the sleeping bag wiggle in the front of a Jeep.  Not fun, and not comfortable in any way.

Welcome to the Peak...., and watch out for the hippy chicks that dig your new pine

Nice build out so far, can’t wait to see more. This is something I would love to do myself slmeday

I can't look at that sort of van flooring without thinking about how virtually every rental cargo van in existence smells like leaky garbage bags.

I've watched a ton of conversion videos on the YouTubes... I'd have considered it someday, but most conversions are just a little too basic. Given I need to piss 2-5 times per night, I'd HAVE to have a head in it. I'd really want a shower as well, but would try to find other places to shower and only use it if I absolutely needed to.

Frankly, I'll probably save up and put a big down payment on a formal van. The Winnebago Travato 69GL is my current target. They're not cheap... but maybe in 3-4 years when I'm ready to buy, I can find a used one and save some moolah.

Diffusers for the led strips are finished and put up for the indirect lighting.

The one on the left stops short of the bulkhead because there will be a floor to ceiling cabinet there eventually.  The top 8 inches or so of the cabinet will be the electrical and the controls for the lighting, solar and inverters.

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This is awesome. Looked at a couple Quigleys and bought my excursion instead. For camping and the like it sucks and I wish I had gone the other way.