2006 Ford Turtle Top Van Terra Build Thread (TillOurWheelsFallOff)

Durangotang

Member
Hello everyone, just wanted to start off with a brief intro about myself and what I (we) have going on for this project. My name is Tyler Till, my girlfriend is Amanda, and we are building out a 2006 Turtle Top Van Terra as the thread title states. We started the tear down roughly the 1st of July. Been pretty busy and trying to update our website first (Website). But have found some time to start getting the info here as well.

The Vehicle
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Starting the tear down process
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Nice over cab storage area
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Surface rust on the stair entry
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Tearing up some of the OSB flooring. We found out after removing the interior walls that none of the windows had sealant or gaskets in the frames to seal them from weather from the exterior. There were two areas, directly behind the stairs, and the rear driver side corner that had rotted due to water getting through.
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Assessing the damage...
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Miss Manda getting down and dirty with the tear out.
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brp

Observer
I'm almost done with my 2005 Van Terra, we'll have to share knowledge. I'm further along than you, so I might be able to save you some $/time/sanity. I don't have a build thread yet. PM me if you want and good luck.
 

Durangotang

Member
@Sixinarow Nice! So far the only real downside I can see for what we are doing with the rig will be the stairs on the pass side of the vehicle. Id like there to be a little more clearance under them. But with that said, we haven't lifted or added bigger tires yet either. Otherwise I am very happy with the interior space as we will be living in it full time.
 

brp

Observer
I'm probably going to raise my stairs at some point, it's just not a huge priority now.

There is a sort of flange, diamond plate, hanging down. I may just cut that off for now and gain an inch or so.
 

brp

Observer
Yeah, there wouldn't be too much to it. I'm a sheet metal worker, so I could make whatever stair/box dimensions I need. If/when I ever get around to it, I could make you a duplicate.
 

Durangotang

Member
Cutting out the rotted sections of subfloor. Replaced with Marine grade plywood.
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Gave the Marine plywood a coat of paint to help protect the bottom side from road gunk.
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After knocking/scraping off the surface rust on the stairs we gave it a coat of Rustoleum Rust Prevention Primer.
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And then a couple coats of paint.
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Status of the interior...
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Filled in a few gaps around wheel wells with expansion foam. Decided to give Loctite a try over Great Stuff, Loctite claimed to have a denser foam and was about $7-8/can as apposed to $4-5/can for Great Stuff.
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After the foam hardened it did appear to be very dense/strong
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NLPRacing

Observer
I've always liked the Turtle Top buses, good luck on your build. Does the factory frame go all the way to the rear bumper?
 

Durangotang

Member
I've always liked the Turtle Top buses, good luck on your build. Does the factory frame go all the way to the rear bumper?

I don't think it is the factory frame that goes all the way back to the rear bumper. I could be wrong on that though, haven't looked it over real close. Nose to Tail its 21.5 ft.
 

Durangotang

Member
Update: Got most of the windows sealed off. The openings were pretty large and cabinets will be covering a lot of that area so we covered them. I purchased filon sheathing from an RV repair shop and cut sheets to size to cover the winnows. Then they were riveted down with a 6in spacing. Then sealed on the outside edge with 3M 5200 and then on the inside around the existing window frames with 5200 as well. There is some wrinkle in the sheets, not perfectly smooth, But the sealant looks like it will do the job well around the edges. The first three photos are of the same process but on the rear driver side corner where the wall had peeled off.

Siding peeled off of the metal framing.
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This was one of the 2 areas water was leaking into the vehicle.
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All patched up and solid again. Roughly a quarter inch bead around these seams with 5200.
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The flooring that was cut out from water damage and replaced with marine grade plywood. This would be the inside view of the above photos.
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The passenger side sheathing all sealed up and ready to go.
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The rear window cover. The bed height will probably be about half way up this panel on the inside.
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And lastly, the driver side window panel. This one was just over 8ft long. Covered 3 windows. I left the front window on this side in/open because that is where the bench seat behind the driver seat is.
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225

Village Idiot
After letting it sit for a week and fully curing I was pushing on the panels bait and they seem like they are on there nice and tight!

I had to re-attach my high top. I used 5200. After it cured, I was going to use screws also, but now I'm not. It's on there pretty good.
 

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