Since the kitchen is almost done I decided it's time to get started stripping the old junk out of the van. The weather is above 40º lately (thank god for global warming), so it's time to move forward.
To keep the kitchen deck at 42 inches from the ground I can't put any decking or insulation under the drawer box. The first step is to remove the old 1/2 inch plywood decking from the van in preparation of plugging holes and painting. Once this is all done I can mount the drawer box and start insulating the remainder.
Here is the old decking. The last dude did a pretty nice job with scribing it in. It's old and "tired' though.
When I removed the chunk of wood to the right I found a wiring nest.
Now, I knew this was going to be in here. The last guy sold the rig cheap because he knew about the extensive aftermarket wiring. He also knew that none of it worked. It is neatly done though. Someone spent a lot of time wiring that up very carefully. Turns out that a lot of it was hot when the rig is running. It's all gotta come out. Today.
This is what I found at the other end of the bundle. The drivers' side kick panel is a friggin mess!
While pulling the wiring out of the ceiling I found what went wrong. Mice had chewed through the wire bundles in several places. Wonder if I'll get Hanta virus?
A couple of hours later I had removed all of the wiring behind the seats, the passenger seat (permanently...this is where I will enter and exit the rig at camp), the front headliner, the rotten carpet up front, the stereo and wiring, all extra wiring from the front doors, and the rear decking.
Also decided to rip the carpet from the walls. It came off very easily due to 20 year old spray on contact cement.
The great news is that the last dude repaired all the rust and painted the floor last time around. All I will need to do is clean it up, weld up all the screw holes, paint them...then begin with the fun stuff.
Tonight I'm going to dinner with my bro-in-law (the welder) and will pick his brain about a couple of things. For instance, he will have to weld the holes in the floor, and I really want to remove the twin sunroofs up front and weld them over before we paint the roof. Hopefully he will be game for that.
Also, if I want to fix the sliding door I'll need to do it now (before insulating) because the defective rail that the door slides in is spot welded to the rig. We will need to cut it out, replace or repair the slide (probably repair, because the Ford part is made out of unobtainium), and weld it back in. It is totally going to suck and I might just leave it the way it is.
Also thinking about spray-foaming the whole thing for insulation from the start. Oh, and I have a new 7.9 gallon propane tank coming for the Propex.