HillBillyRV Build Thread - 87 Ford E350 Quadravan Pathfinder Conversion

[jacobconroy]

Today I removed the tent, roof rack, and rear rack from the Jeep. It's almost a plain old Jeep again. Only thing left is the onboard air (which will wind up in the van later).

In three days the Jeep went from this:


To this:


Pretty boring now, but I'll bet she will go 75 MPH again. Looking forward to that.

Now I have a big pile of parts that are ready for the van. If the weather is nice tomorrow I might reinstall the NOCO and National Luna Power Pack in the van so that maintaining the batteries will be easier throughout the winter.

 

[mobydick 11]

Today I removed the tent, roof rack, and rear rack from the Jeep. It's almost a plain old Jeep again. Only thing left is the onboard air (which will wind up in the van later).

In three days the Jeep went from this:
View attachment 557304

To this:
View attachment 557305

Pretty boring now, but I'll bet she will go 75 MPH again. Looking forward to that.

Now I have a big pile of parts that are ready for the van. If the weather is nice tomorrow I might reinstall the NOCO and National Luna Power Pack in the van so that maintaining the batteries will be easier throughout the winter.

That is amazing Jacob ,two years to build it out and 3 days to tear it down . But the jeep looks real good with the rubi wheels and a real nice stance with all the weight removed . I see you think about 13 MPG ,thats not too bad ,I must have gotten a bad one . think I was under 10 . If it is not good you could look at the Holly EFI set up , pretty much bolt on and gives way better millage on older carb motors . have fun

 

[jacobconroy]

That is amazing Jacob ,two years to build it out and 3 days to tear it down . But the jeep looks real good with the rubi wheels and a real nice stance with all the weight removed . I see you think about 13 MPG ,thats not too bad ,I must have gotten a bad one . think I was under 10 . If it is not good you could look at the Holly EFI set up , pretty much bolt on and gives way better millage on older carb motors . have fun

Interesting. Do you have a link to these EFI setups? My rig has an auto choke (filament-type) and it runs like a jet engine for 15 minutes when started cold and it burns up a lot of fuel. Would the EFI deal do away with the old-fashioned choke? If so it might be worth the upgrade just for that.

I'm not much of a mechanic.

 

[mobydick 11]

Interesting. Do you have a link to these EFI setups? My rig has an auto choke (filament-type) and it runs like a jet engine for 15 minutes when started cold and it burns up a lot of fuel. Would the EFI deal do away with the old-fashioned choke? If so it might be worth the upgrade just for that.

I'm not much of a mechanic.

The best I can tell you is go to the Summit racing equipment web sit .they sell half a dozen different brands .they are a big suppler of racing and performance stuff .Good pricing and quick delivery . They probable sell built out motors for your truck . From what I have seen the EFI does not give more H/P then a well tuned motor ,but better starting ,smoother running and lots better gas mileage . A lot of guys with older performance cars are putting them on .And yes no choke it is like the older style throttle body fuel injection ,but with modern self learning computer management .

 

[jacobconroy]

Yesterday my sheets good arrived. This is what all cabinets will be made of.


Everything will be built around the kitchen, so I must build the kitchen first. I have a 4-unit Snow Peak Iron Grill Table and a 3-unit IGT. Since I ordered a set of 60 inch lock in/out drawer slides I entertained the idea of cutting both IGT tables and joining them together for a 6-unit IGT. Something like this:


But, I have changed my mind. I'm now going to use a single 4-unit IGT and then build a big storage box on the inside of the slide for pots, pans, etc..

I plan to insert (from left to right) the Snow Peak grill, a Snow Peak Baja Burner, two 1/2 IGT steel boxes (for utensils and such) and then a single-unit IGT cutting board that will sit over a single-init deep mesh box. This is the idea, but I was playing around with the idea of using my Partner Steel 9X12 stoves.




I might do this later if I don't like the SP Baja burner. Not sure yet. In any case, the beauty of the IGT is that I can quickly and easily rearrange the appliances within down the road. Hopefully I won't have to rebuild anything. I might build some storage into the other "trunk cabinets" for additional IGT inserts too. Would make for a lot of options at camp.

So, the drawer slides and Baja burner should arrive next week, then fab will begin.

 

[jacobconroy]

Today the drawer slides arrived. Holy crap these things are heavy duty! I have no doubt that they will support this drawer and all the goodies.

The amount hanging out to the left will be the size of the storage compartment. I think I'll put a sliding top on it to maximize table space and also be able to access the drawer with stuff on top.


These puppies have big balls! Gotta be close to 1/4 inch bearings.


I pulled one slide out to test the locks. The lock is automatic when extension is reached. Cool.


I'm pleased to see that the lock levers will not stick out more than the black plastic on the IGT.


When the new Snow Peak gear shows up next week, the build begins.

 

[jacobconroy]

To hell with it. I'm building a 6-unit IGT table.

After a lot of measuring it was time to commit. Cut the 3-unit IGT first. We are committed now.


Anyone need any IGT leftovers? I have two.


Here is an end shot of the profile. I'll mill a reinforcement out of nice straight, hard oak that I have laying around to fit in the biggest part.


The brush marks on the aluminum are going to differ, but I don't care abou that. This is the joint without any reinforcement (just sitting on the table).


And here we are. A visual of a 6-unit IGT table.


I milled the oak to the nearest thousandth I could and put a 1/8 radius on the edges. Turned out to be pretty tight.


Here is the last shot of the wood. Just about to slide the table together for the last time.


I carefully marked all the screw holes, pre-drilled, and started countersinking.


Screwing everything took a while. Wish I had a countersink with a depth stop, but I don't.


And here is one of the joints when fully assembled. I can live with that.

 

[jacobconroy]

Got some new Snow Peak gear in the mail and gave it a test fit.

 

[mobydick 11]

Very nice craftsmanship Jacob . What is the thickness of the sheet goods /plywood you are using ?

 

[jgaz]

Nice work splicing the two rails together. The oak reinforcement should make the assembly really strong.
”Wood” The original composite material.

BTW: That piece of oak must have been really, really, straight when you started machining it!

 

[jacobconroy]

Very nice craftsmanship Jacob . What is the thickness of the sheet goods /plywood you are using ?

Thanks. I'll be using 15 mm pre-finished Baltic birch plywood.

 

[jacobconroy]

Nice work splicing the two rails together. The oak reinforcement should make the assembly really strong.
”Wood” The original composite material.

BTW: That piece of oak must have been really, really, straight when you started machining it!

Lol. I had a pile of oak that's been sitting in there for 10 years or more. I went through the entire pile to find the straightest two.

The IGT is much, much stronger than I expected it to be. I'm pretty sure that when the drawer slides are attached (and reinforce it) it will become bulletproof.

Edit: I used a rail-saw to "straight-line" the wood...so it is more or less perfectly straight regardless of grain.

 

[Riptide]

What saw blade did you use to cut that frame? It came out great. I was skeptical, I admit.

You're going to mount the slides to the top of the IGT frame? If you use the SP double burner, you'll have to, since the knobs of the double burner are just below the IGT frame, and would be blocked by the slides if mounted under the frame...

 

[jacobconroy]

What saw blade did you use to cut that frame? It came out great. I was skeptical, I admit.

You're going to mount the slides to the top of the IGT frame? If you use the SP double burner, you'll have to, since the knobs of the double burner are just below the IGT frame, and would be blocked by the slides if mounted under the frame...

Aluminum cuts great if you use a good, sharp (new) carbide blade. The trick is to lower the speed of the blade, cut slowly, and don't put much pressure on the saw. Let the blade do the work. My Festool saws have speed controls. Well, most of them do anyway. In this case, my chop saw does.

The drawer slides will mount to the side of the IGT using the channel in the long edges for a nut. Haven't tried it yet, but I think I'm going to collect the hardware today and give it a try. I'm pretty sure that I'll be able to reach the burner controls underneath. Keep in mind that my van is around 42 inches off the ground and the IGT will sit about 8 inches above that. Won't be too much bending and reaching going on. Should make it pretty easy to change gas canisters too.

 

[jacobconroy]

I decided that the Baja burner is sorta silly in liquid mode. That flame is all the way on or all the way off. Some tinkering found that it seems to work fine in gas mode (canister right-side-up) but of course, SP has crap in the way under the stove so that you cannot hang the canister in gas mode while in the IGT table.

So, today I fixed that. No more warranty.
Here is the stove before I started playing Dr. with it.


Obviously, the entire stove is upside down in the pictures. If you try to latch the canister to the stove when right-side-up, it won't go far enough up (I failed to get a picture of that). The canister hits several different points.

I disconnected the arm and moved the canister away from the burner to determine where it needs to be to clear everything. I also permanently removed the brackets that are used to hang the canister when upside-down.


I then removed the bracket that will clip to the brass canister "connector" and drilled two new holes in it.


Then I used two 5/8 inch tubes to bolt this bracket to the heat shield under the stove.


Clearance abound. Way it should have been from the start.

In place:


Kinda nice that it doesn't hang beneath the other SP gear. I am concerned about the "generator" that is next to the burner. I imagine that this generator is meant to heat the liquid iso before combustion and since I'm going to be burning in gase mode instead of liquid mode I'm a little worried about that generator. Will it cause the gas to explode and burn back into the canister?

Tomorrow I'll take it outside and let it burn with cast iron on it for 30 or 40 minutes. If it's going to explode...hopefully it will do it during testing.