Wall Panels - Oct'21

  To have a fighting chance to keep the interior warm in the thick of winter (goal is -4°F / -20°C) with only ~400W of electric heating, all the metal surfaces have to be covered to avoid thermal losses via thermal bridging.

 

  So begins one of the longest, most intricate, woodworking job on this project: covering every single nook and cranny in the cargo area. Knowing that almost every wall detail in a Ford Transit is either round-ish, off square or slanted, people with ADD will understand the challenge...😓

 

  The 1st phase consisted in framing the recessed cavities, starting with the one behind the driver seat:

 

  It would have been a million times easier to just flush panel the whole thing, like many van conversions do. But recessed volumes provide great opportunities for storage, elbow room and fixtures. All invaluable things in a small living space !

  1/4" baltic birch plywood was mainly used, bolted to M6 rivet nuts inserted throughout the wall surfaces. Each bolt hole on the panels is raised with a 3/16" spacer to reduce thermal conduction from the panel surface to the metal walls.

 

  All right, that was a helpful warm up before tackling the window cavity in the back:

 

  For a snug fit around the frame of the T-vent glass window (CRL FW294L) the curves of its frame had to be perfectly scribed. This was accomplished with a thick weatherstrip applied around the window's frame, coated with a bit of paint to transfer the shape to the plywood:

 

  Framing was next:

 

  Finally it was time to move on to the 2nd phase: paneling the walls. The top and bottom panels were patiently scribed and bolted on:

 

  Special attention was paid to keeping the perimeter of the AC box's holes air tight, thanks to weatherstrips, to avoid blowing humid AC air into the wall cavities:

 

  By the way, before closing off the area in the front, I marked the location of several features of the wall surface, inserted a bunch of spare M6 rivet nuts, and took high rez pics. This might come handy later to provide solid anchor options for furniture or future remodeling, without having to destructively remove the paneling after its edges get glued to the recessed wood frame:

 

  It took about 3 months to accomplish this little... 😓 Hopefully, doing the rest will be faster, thanks to this 1st experience. If not, I might go bonkers real fast and end up just gluing up liner fabric on the walls & ceiling instead 😂

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