15 Minute Stealth Curtains and other Upgrades

Hello and welcome to the blog today!  I've been working on the van for an hour or two here or there, completing a lengthy project plan.  One of the minor jobs was to put a safe plug on the outlet strip for the TV.  Some time back I'd cut the cord (to feed it through a gap), spliced it back together, and wrapped it with tape.  While it worked, this was not as safe as I would prefer.

The BLACK wire goes to the GOLD screw.  Go Hawkeyes!

I could always remember that the left side of a 110 volt outlet was neutral - the white wire - but wiring outlets and plugs drove me bonkers, fearing that I'd reverse the wires when connecting them from behind.  There's a super easy to remember which wire goes to which screw...

In this region many of us love the University of Iowa Hawkeyes, the team whose colors are black and gold.  As I said on Facebook, "If you remember that black and gold go together, life will be happier."  Hook the black wire to the gold screw and you're in business. (the white wire goes to the silver screw).

On to another little endeavor for Monday...

Here is a little stand I made for the crockpot and tiny decorative lamp.  It cost about $15 and used edge-glued birch wood and a couple of premium stick-on floor tiles.  The stand will go back in the corner near the power connections.  The kitties' hooded litter box will be located below when they are camping.  What keeps the crockpot from falling during transport?  I've always used hooks and a small bungee...and never had a problem.

Guess which side has the blackout cover?  (The green curtains are for cosmetic
appearance only.)

One last little tweak...  New stealth curtains.  I had these up in 15 minutes.  To make them, use the 63" Mainstays (Walmart brand) blackout panel which costs about $10.  Cut it half into two 31.5" pieces.  Then attach a piece of the fabric to each metal window frame using a handful of the small, strong, silver "rare earth" type magnets.  (They're very cheap at Harbor Freight.)  Once in place, trim the fabric to fit.  Voila!  I have a couple extra magnets that have hooks so I can pull them back, lift the curtain, and peek out if need be.  I used this approach for almost 5 years in the old van conversion often with people within a speaking distance and completely oblivious!

Wow, this is fun stuff.  But the fun will slow down for a bit...  We're looking at 7 inches of snow over the next few days but progress will still be made here and there.  Thanks for visiting!

Safe and happy travels always!

Brad, Jesse James, and Jennifer
Jones County, Iowa

Bed and Armchair Added

Hello and welcome to the blog!  I got the mattress in the van today.  It was a snug fit but everything worked out perfectly.  There were tools and hardware scattered all over creation but with the new underbed storage, it's now neatly tucked away.

There are a number of activities left to do in the coming days including some touch up painting, wiring, etc.  Normally it wouldn't make much sense to put the bedding down and then paint overhead... This is actually the old comforter and there will be a dropcloth as well.  The new comforter is similar but larger in size to allow for the fabric to drape on both sides of the bed.

Notice the microwave below the bed?

Here is a crude shot of what the front is starting to look like.  This chair is about 32-33 inches wide (by guess) and that's kitty Jennifer's stuffed "Princess" Valentine's Day toy (she's crazy about stuffed animals of any size)....  I need the readers' advice on something.  I'm thinking about covering the chair with a beige sheet to make it more neutral.  This picture is accurate as far as the colors.  Do they clash as-is?  To be honest, I cannot match clothes at all unless wearing khakis.  Thanks for any comments that way.

In the coming week there will be some more electrical work, touch-up painting, perhaps a shelf built forward of the chair, etc.  I will also be cutting a chunk of carpeting that will partially cover the floor and can be removed in a few minutes if need be.

Stay tuned for more pictures next week!  For now the van is going to a neighboring town for a Friday night fish fry...  Thanks for stopping by!

Happy and safe travels always!

Brad, Jennifer, and Jesse James
Jones County, Iowa

New Bed Frame in the Van!

One bed... Two halves "re-united"... Not as planned but works great!

Hello and welcome to the blog today!  Things are progressing well with the van although I made a blunder - but one from which it was possible to come up with a terrific solution... and the fix was cheap!

Once the old bed frame (front to back style) was removed and shortened, I couldn't get the darned thing back in the van sidewise!  I had to cut the bed in half, put the halves in, and rejoin the pieces - sort of like attaching two boxes.  It works great and is very strong.  It was a blast working on the bed but one of the things that made it so fun was a great customer service experience.

Four 15" pieces of 4x4 were needed for legs.  Home Depot had a scrap 4x4 in their junk box.  A customer had purchased it, had four small pieces sliced off (for raising a couch), and then discarded the rest of the wood.  One of the Home Depot guys gave me the board - at no charge!  I asked if it was possible to cut off four 15 inch pieces and pay for the cuts.  Nope - once again that was free, too!  Thank you Home Depot Dan!  I had some 2x3s laying around home so two 15" pieces became supports for the middle, further strengtening the bed.  Accounting for the microwave, this new bed will have around 16 cubic feet of usable storage space underneath.

The white cord will be re-routed.  It runs an LED rope light near the ceiling.

The bed frame was painted on Monday night and has become a work table while laboring on the front of the sleeping space.  Today I reconnected the shore power and Samlex inverter (bottom).  The inverter is located so it's fairly easy to reach the switch (but an annoying place for the cords to go!) and is close to the house batteries.  Immediately above it is the shore power strip for the heater and battery charger.  I'm going to shorten an existing outdoor extension cord and add a new plug to run shore power under the bed for the microwave oven.  Why not do fancy wiring?  I want the van to be easy to "undo" if it becomes necessary some day.

There is a lot of minor painting to do as well as tidying up.  The mattress and new bedding will go in the van over the weekend.  Over time, little shelves / cabinets will be constructed.  For now at least, it is possible to drive the thing and sleep in it...  Trout stocking season will be here in four weeks and the spring season before that!

Thanks for visiting... More pictures will be coming soon.

Happy and safe travels always!

Brad

Progress Update - Interior Painting

Hello and welcome to the blog today!  It's been a busy week in terms of working on the van.  I did get it cleaned out and scrubbed very well.  The wheelwells, which were uninsulated in the past, had been a source of cold during the winter months... The result was headaches and stiff muscles.

Using some silver Reflectix insulation and a lot of duct tape, it was an easy fix.  I overcompensated in spots with the Reflectix, figuring that "more is better" and ending up with something a little less than pretty.  Nonetheless, the insulation is helping and nobody will see it.

One of the support managers at work chose the Glidden paint color for the van.  It was a deep green ("Rainforest Fern") which is kind of woodsy by daylight yet much brighter when lit by LEDs.  It normally appears much more like you see toward the back.  I wanted something dark to make the van more cozy and facilitate better sleep.  (When it was the beige color like near the doors, the interior was too bright all the time)  An LED rope light was purchased at Menards to help illuminate the van a little better while inside.

Crockpot Clam Chowder - a 1 quart recipe I've been working
on while painting the van.. Jen-Jen's curious, of course!

So how does one paint outdoors when it's cold?  Well, the last couple of days reached highs in the 50s (above normal) but that does not matter.  I've had the space heater on with the auto temp control set to the lower 60s. The paint is drying perfecly.

The bedframe is in the house right now, waiting to be modified.  I took the legs off and will be putting new ones on that are 15 inches long.  This will get the bed as high as possible without being too high and will maximize the under-bed storage.  That extra space is golden!  The bed will be mounted later this week after I do some electrical upgrades (nothing too fancy) to protect the 12 volt wires.

There is a new, inexpensive comforter set on the way from Walmart.com.  It's a "lodge" style design.  I can't show it here without snitching a picture from my employer's web site... The old one was in rough shape and the new, larger blanket will come in handy.

That's all for now.  After work tonight and all of tomorrow, the painting (which is the worst part) must continue.  I hope to have the bed in later this week... as well as one very special picture for the wall.

Take care and thanks a bunch for stopping by.  Stay tuned as things continue to come together.

Safe and happy travels always!

Brad, Jesse James, and Jennifer.

Out With the Old

Hello camping friends.  Thanks a bunch for making the transition here.  I'm in the process of coding a delayed redirect from the old blog to this site.

Today I gutted the van that's served so well for five years.  This task had been dreaded.  It was not pretty and I am not posting any pics to show what the van looked like during the cleanout phase.  Let's just say it was pretty disgusting.

Once the bed was removed (the lighter color area to the left), I found more linoleum than first thought.  After re-conversion there will be an L shaped portion of carpeting in front of the armchair and bed; the old linoleum covering will still be exposed in the entry way.  It will be a perfect combination for comfort and keeping things clean when entering/ exiting.  Thanks a bunch to a blog friend for her comment about the need to keep the linoleum! 

The measurements are encouraging.  The armchair will fit perfectly between the wheel well and the mini-hump of the fuel filler (toward the front left).  There will be a little nightstand / end table between the bed and chair (starting mid-wheel well).

The next step is to scrub, scrub, scrub the linoleum and finish the cleaning.  Over the weekend I will construct the transverse bedframe and put it in place... but not fasten it too securely for now.  This will also help me better plan how to use the storage space in the back under the bedframe.

The work on the electrical wiring will happen between work shifts.  Like so many other features, it will also be simplifed.

Once this Iowa weather warms up, everything will come back out and the interior will be re-painted as necessary.

That's about it for now.  Thanks again for visiting and stay tuned as the work progresses.  The next update will likely be on Saturday afternoon.

Happy and safe travels always!

Bradford, Jesse James, and Jen-Jen

Shortening the Coil Spring Mattress

Hello and welcome to the blog.  For those friends who made it over from the old blog, please bear with me as this information appears in both places.

I'm in the process of updating the van.  Though I loved having a lengthwise bed, a new layout was desired - one where the bed is transverse (side to side across the rear of the van).  The problem was what to do for a mattress!

I really like the Simmons Beauty Rest mattress that has been used for the last few seasons of camping.  It's a twin size, thick, cushy cloud that makes sleeping a dream.  Due to the unusual construction (independent coils housed in fabric pockets), it was simple to reduce in length.  If your mattress uses coils that are connected, I would not advise this approach.

The first step was to cut a little exploratory gash to see what was inside.  Then using butcher knives, I cut a good sized chunk off the mattress - probably around 15-16 inches.

The next step was to remove unneeded coils and pockets and trim down the end piece, hollowing out the foam as needed.

Using a circular upholstery sewing needle and some upholstery thread, I sewed the the mattress back together by hand.  It took a couple of hours to complete.  The sewing process strengthened the bed.  You would never know it had been shortened (unless looking at the Frakenstein-like scar).

Here is the mattress in the house with co-pilots Jesse James (left) and Jennifer sleeping on it.  This is also the comforter that is used in the van.

At the moment I am a taking a break from working in 25 degree weather.  Yesterday the old bed frame was removed from the van and brought it into the house to modify for being reused in the new configuration.  The next step is to thoroughly clean out the van.  By next week there will be a new bedframe installed and some cool pictures.

Thanks for visiting today!

Safe and happy travels!

Brad