Ceilings

 

Day 9: The ceiling work begins.  Ceiling supports are screwed in where possible and glued in elsewhere.  This glue is like welding wood to metal.  So you better be very happy the placement cause it ain’t letting go.  2 x 4 wedged against the floor hold a part in place until the glue setups a mere 24 hours later.

The glue looks like peanut butter, smells like toothpaste and feels like cheese wiz but its not. Trust me on this one.

This is a pretty accurate depiction of the actual shape of the van.  There is not a single straight line or right angle within a mile of this thing… luckily all of my shop tools only make straight lines and right angles.

Accurate drawings of the interior spaces requires calculus with vector analysis.  Overcoming this awkward environment I developed a build-in-place process.  Parts are built in the shop, brought in the van, test fitted and then additional parts are added following the same process.  Its slow, frustrating work but at least I get all my steps.

The thin cuts along the supports make the wood bend to the will of the van.  Funny I kept thinking It would straighten out eventually.  Spoiler alert, nope.  

Shiplap boards stained and ready to install!  Tongue and grove boards are usually installed such that the fasteners are hidden in the tongue to groove connection.  However, we know that access to wires and roof access points will be required later so we choose wood screws that kind of compliment the wood finish.

First shiplap board installed!  Since this thing is round across her beam and stem to stern, we felt it safer to start in the middle and work our way out.  Otherwise, we might end up with some weird angle at the opposite side.  Plus this one board was pretty much unobstructed which made it one of the easiest to install.  Might as well start of easy and work your way to difficult as you gain experience.  

Ceiling boards begin to progress across the beam.  The plan is to slide the Reflectix insulation, that bubble wrap/aluminum foil stuff,  on top of the shiplap boards to prevent the wool insulation from falling out between the cracks and then stuff Wool over top.  Nobody wants a shedding ceiling

Day 11: Cutting out holes for the LED lights.  We decided to reuse the lights that came with the van.  The van interior lights are little blocks that snap into recesses in the metal ceiling ribs.  Here we are cutting holes in the ceiling boards the same size as the original rib holes.  If all goes well they should fit like a glove.

Once the first article was approved, we moved into full production mode.  Thanks to the X-Carve CNC router we were able to accurately cut out all 6 holes in no time.

Test fitting proves the lights are working as planned.  Ceiling boards progress around the vent fan.

Center section is complete with all lights installed.  To break the maniacal logic hold the van wields over the lights I disconnected the lights from the van’s wiring and routed them to my controller.  The Ford Transit forum is loaded with heart breaking stories of interior lights with a mind of their own.  No one seems to be able to predict when the turn on or off.  

Good view of the 2x4 braces that hold parts until place until the glue sets.  Once we finished gluing the 2x4 got converted into structures in the build.  At only $3 each it is always handy to have a few extra hanging around.

Ceiling is complete for the most part.  Trim around the edges will have to wait until the rest of the build catches up with it.

More to come!