Hi, I have a unique challenge I hope you can help with. I just purchased a 2001 E350 Club Wagon to convert into a camper van. General Truck Body in Houston had already converted it back when into a mobile office for an oilfield services company. The overhead cabinets are a remarkably solid construction of welded aluminum plate and square tubing.
On the minus side, General Truck removed the rear doors to install a "trunk" that is 24 inches high and 33 inches deep. The trunk is also welded aluminum plate.
The simplest conversion would be to place a permanent cushion over the trunk area, and install a sofa in front of it that would extend it to a queen-sized bed at window height. For this to work, the sofa frame would have to jack knife and elevate. Has anyone seen such a beast? Or could you point me to the guru of all RV sofas?
I am looking at the pleated Bali-style blinds for privacy. Anyone had any experience installing them in automotive window frames?
With mostly fixed windows all the way around, I'll also have ventilation problems. Has anyone seen a Club wagon conversion substituting solid panels or screened sliders for the fixed windows? Anyone tackled ventilation generally in a window van?
Happily, the van has front and rear air conditioners, the largest alternator Ford makes and a 2600-watt inverter/charger. Nothing is too good for our loyal energy industry, right?
ToddinPA, I like it. The back trunk is a big plus. For me it would take up too much room inside though, so I would cut the aluminum back to about 12 to 15 inches deep. Just seal and rivet (or re-weld) the aluminum back in place to keep the rear trunk “air tight” from the van’s inside Now the sofa can fit in front of it and you can use the top as a shelf, speakers in the trunk face, D-rings for securing cargo, etc.
A couple of Fantasic fans in the roof (inlet/outlet) and you should be good to go.
As a more costy alternative to the Fantastic Fan, check into MaxxFan (www.maxxair.com/products/MaxxFan.aspx should get you there). The advantage is that they can stay open & running in the rain, parked or driving, when a FF has to be closed, or have a very high-profile cover over it. They're great for keeping the heat down when it's stored, too.
For window screens, google 'Screenz' and 'Bug Barrier'. Looks like you've got some 'awning-style' (bottom opening) windows, which I'd consider keeping... they're good for ventilation in the rain. Bug Barrier may make screens for them.
Yep, the trunk is overkill, and needs to be shortened in the fore-and-aft dimension. But that's a very interesting modification that they made to the back doors.
Is the rear A/C stock Ford?
Best of luck with it all!
Jim, "They say I have ADD, but they just don't understand. Oh, look! A chicken!"
'06 Tiger CX 'C Minus' on a Silverado 2500HD 4x4, 8.1 & Allison ('Loafer's Glory'); '07 Forester 2.5 ( the 'HANDBSKT'); '95 Toyota SR5 V-6 4x4 pickup, ARB locker, Bilsteins, Warn hubs & M8000, etc;
'94 968, M030 swaybars ('DOPPLER')
Several aftermarket mfrs should make exact-size replacement windows for your Econoline. Typically they'd be a "T-slider" or "awning" type.
The Fantastic Fan people are fabulous to work with for tech support or unconditional guarantees. Some people like MaxxAir for better rain use albeit with a higher profile.
Aluminum cuts pretty readily so you could always nuke the trunk if you had your heart set on a certain layout. But I'd give it a hard ponder to try to incorporate it.
Your hobbies and camping requirements may determine this. Lots of people could use a "safe", particularly those of us that carry laptops, cameras and park at trailheads or in urban settings. The large trunk size may not matter since you may have lots of "systems" to find a place for.
I think the right height for seating is around 17" or 18" and that the trunk is too high to serve that purpose during the day.
OTOH, 24" could be a good start height to add a rear kitchen to. Propane cooktops are usually just a few inches thick. I use a microwave, dc fridge and magnetic induction burner for my "inside" kitchen with a 2000w inverter. (Ideally, you'd like a 400 ah battery bank to go with your inverter---are you set already or do you need a larger bank?)
Does a "gaucho" style sofabed behind the driver's seat make any sense for you? These are also commercially available or you could make a typical plywood one. I used 15"x 75" aluminum folding atv ramps for my homebrew.
If it were me, I'd make an effort to install batteries and any holding tanks underneath and try to preserve the trunk for storage. That's because "tailgating" appeals to us and we keep a 10x10 quickshelter and propane bbq and campstove with us for as much outdoor cooking as weather permits.
Have you thought about making a fold-out bed on top of the storage area? The back of the sofa would fold down and the bed would flop out over it. I'm putting a fold-out bed over a storage area and it flops out on top of bench seats that are installed on each side of the van.
A VW Westfalia style sofa bed which folds out with the storage area in back? And to adjust height, how about raising the floor area in front of the trunk and mounting a sofa ontop of the raised floor (with raised floor extending a little forward for your feet)? You'd have additional underfloor storage. That new underfloor storage could be used for water tanks, batteries, etc. (And you could even cut an additional hole through the trunk into this space for long items.) If you're not walking in that area anyways, the raised floor wouldn't be a big deal and you'd still have head clearance.
Check the Sportsmobile.com site, the GoWesty.com site for VWs, etc.
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