2013 Chevy Express 3500 Cutaway Expo Build

[MStudt]

After a couple years without much to do except fix a constantly broken Land Rover, I decided it was time for a new project. I've been looking for a certain van for well over a year now, and every time I find one it never works out. Either they want way to much money for it, it doesn't have the doors that I want, or there's some underlying issue that I don't want to deal with. Then I came across a van located a couple hours from me, and made the purchase. This is a 2013 Chevy Express 3500 cutaway van with a Spartan truck body on it. It has 113,xxx miles on it, double rear doors, and a fiber panel box rather than metal. This is also a 10' box that's a swr with the 6.0 Vortex engine.

This should be a slow build since we have a lot to do. I usually jump into builds without a lot a planning, and really wish I'd taken a step back to fully understand how I want the finished to product to look. On this build I'm going to remove the bulk head to allow for us to access the box from the cab, and that's the first thing to happen. We also plan on adding a couple windows to the driver side, a window & door on the passenger side, and possibly a small window to each of the back doors. The roof is going to have 2 MaxxFan Deluxe fans with a couple solar panels for the minimal electrical that we'll have. The interior will have a raise platform bed with storage underneath, small cooking/kitchen area, and possibly a toilet that can be relocated to outside when we're stationary. Still trying to decide on carrying a water tank, 12 volt pump, and lighting. This will also be converted to 4x4 at some point, but that'll most likely be the last thing we do.

Now we'll see how accurate the above statement is when I'm done building it.

 

[MStudt]

Saved for future use.

 

[MStudt]

A little forward progress was made today. I was able to remove the bulk head from the van, and got everything cleaned up a little. I have replacement encapsulated t-nuts coming from Supreme Truck Bodies to replace the huck bolts that I had to drill out in order to remove the bulk head. Those will be in on Wednesday, and that'll close up all the holes left behind. They'll also make perfect anchor points for the build out.

I'm hoping to have parts starting to show up next week, and then the fun will begin. I'm going to be installing 12"W x 22"H windows in each of the back doors. I also have a couple 10"H x 33"W bunk windows to install around head height on the driver side at the foot end of the sleeping area and also the kitchen area. Up front near the passenger seat will be a 24"W x 68"H radius entry door with screen door. In the first picture below you can see some of the existing ceiling fan, and it leaks in a few spots when it rains. I'm going to remove that, and install a clear skylight in it's place to help give a little more light inside.

 

[MStudt]

I was able to get a few things finished on the van today. I trimmed the panel above the cab, and that'll allow for additional storage once the van is ready. Next up was installing the sky light where the old fan was, and installing the 2 MaxxFan's that were purchased. Once the flanges were installed Dicor Lap Sealant was used to cover the screw heads, and to coat the flange to prevent any water from leaking inside. It's very common that this sealant looks like crap, and there's no getting around that. But, it's not something that I plan on looking at very much.

 

[MStudt]

Today was the day that I've been dreading for a long time. I have a long history of messing up cut, and most if the time it doesn't matter. However, today was the today that I could make a mistake. So, I measured everything about 10 times before cutting, and had my wife verify everything.

After that I started cutting, and everything worked out how it should have. This is a 68" x 24" radius RV door, with temered glass, and a screen door.

 

[MStudt]

Things have been progressing nicely on the van, but I haven't had much time to post about it. At this point I have the door installed, and the windows on the rear doors installed. I have the two holes cut for the side windows, but can't install those until the inside is insulated and panels are up. That being said, I have all the furring strips up inside, and will work on insulation & wall panels this weekend.

 

[MStudt]

The furring strips that we used are 18mm, and that made finding a good insulating material difficult. After looking around we decided to give Havelock Wool insulation a try. After installing a couple small pieces I can see why people like work with this material. It can be handled by hand, and won't get you itchy. Their insulation for vans is 2" thick, and this can be peeled down to two 1" pieces. With our furring strips only being 18mm (.70") we'll have to peel all the insulation down to 1", and that'll allow for a little compression. For installing the wool, I used some sprayed adhesive to hold it in place until the panel is installed.

 

[MStudt]

Both side walls are now insulated, and have paneling installed on them. I also trimmed the storage area above the cab, and mounted the switches for our fans.

I can't express enough with how happy I on about the Havelock Wool insulation. This stuff is very easy to work with, and leaves you itch free.

 

[MStudt]

A couple weeks ago I spent some time measuring & designing a simple roof rack to hold the solar panels that we're going to install, and possibly a kayak or paddleboard. My design will have three attachment points, 2 on the side, and 1 on the top. Each mount bolts to 1" x 3" extruded aluminum, and we'll have 3 of these cross bars on the roof. I still need to temporarily place these on the roof so I can get some measurements for the solar panel support brackets. I need to design some brackets that'll allow us to mount the solar panel flush with the top of the cross bar or slightly under. Just in case we need to haul an extra kayak we'll be able to without causing damage to the panels.

 

[MStudt]

Cross bars are installed, and allow for 48" of clearance between the rails. Based on my measurements I needed 47" for clearance on the panels, and that includes the hardware for mounting the brackets. I also whipped up a solar panel mount that'll allow the panel to slide a little to make it easier to get them centered in between the cross bars.

 

[MStudt]

When we first picked up the van I had an idea of how the bed was going to be, and that idea hasn't changed. A little over a month ago I design a raised bed with based off of the minimal amount of dimensions that I had. Last week I was able to find tune that drawing since I now had furring strips in place.

The side walls for the bed are 36" high, and have a total width of 57". This is a couple inches wider than a full size, and the platform will also have about 2" in bed length to spare when it's finished.

 

[MStudt]

Today I had the solar panel mounts cut, bent, and powder coated. I had about 20 minutes of free time, and was able to get one panel mounted. I like the way the panels fit, and how they can slide to allow for easier bolting. But, the bottom bolt did suck when it came to tightening them up. I think on the next panel I might use carriage bolts to help ease things along.

 

[MStudt]

Small progress, but still some progress. I was able to get to the entry housing installed, panel wires run, and the last solar panel mounted. I was also able to caulk the side door, but I doubt anyone wants to see that.

 

[RoyB]

Beautifuil work! I can see you have good attention to detail!.....Will you tire-size it? ... 4WD conversion?

 

[MStudt]

Beautifuil work! I can see you have good attention to detail!.....Will you tire-size it? ... 4WD conversion?

This will have a 4x4 conversation done at the beginning of 2021. The plan is to run 35's, but haven't thought too much about width or wheel size just yet.

Mike

 

[MStudt]

I still have a couple things to tie up on the exterior of the van before I can completely close up the inside. That would include mounting the propane tank, and building/mounting the ladder. Tonight I finished up one of those, and that's mounting the propane tank. I had a couple brackets laser cut, and used some 1/4" aluminum spacer between the bracket and the mount. There's also an additional bracket on the inside of the van with weld nuts on it to allow me to sandwich the body between the two brackets. I used stainless BHCS with stainless sealed bonding washers, and a little 3M adhesive to help seal everything up. Oh, I had them powder coated white as well.

 

[MStudt]

Well, the smoke has finally cleared, and I've started working on the van again. The ladder is finished, installed, and sealed up. I also ran the propane hose into the van, connected the lines to the regulator, and sealed it up. Since the electrical/solar project will be coming up very soon I decided to add my shore power connection before the inside moved any further. I just used a NOCO plug, and placed it behind the ladder. The windows have also been sealed, and so far we have no leaks.

 

[MStudt]

Yesterday I was able to get the remaining pieces for the bed platform laminated, routered, and brought home. This included a divider wall to section off the front living area from the rear storage area. The divider is 19mm ply with black laminate on both faces. I also had some 7 ga steel bent and powder-coated matte black to help secure the divider panel in place. The beams for the bed are also 19mm raw ply that are doubled up for additional strength. Lastly, the cross slats are 19mm raw ply that are 2-1/2" wide, and two of them being 3". The reason for those sizes is simple, I had them leftover from the walls and needed to use some material that I've been collecting.

 

[dj_mccomas]

This build is looking awesome man. Great progress so far!

 

[RoarinRow]

Awesome work so far!