Time to junk the plywood floor

One of the final traces of the van's former life is the hard-wearing plywood floor. The plans are, like all the other panels, to sound-proof, insulate and cover the floor using a thinner grade of ply and then a top layer of black rubber tiles.

Here's half the floor gone:


You should've seen the amount of rubbish underneath:


Sawdust, sand, gravel, broken glass, electrical connectors, six inch nails, more sawdust, assorted screws and some more gravel. Nearly two hours of brushing and vacuuming have brought the floor back to original.

Updates of the flooring procedure will follow in future posts. That's it, I'm done for the weekend: half of the van put back together, the other half just taken apart!

Even more sound proofing...

If you've ever slept in a van-based campervan you'll understand how the sound of gentle rainfall pitter-pattering on the roof of the van can lull you into a beautiful night's sleep...

You'll also know that anything more than the lightest of showers is more akin to someone throwing handfuls of gravel directly at you. Unsurprisingly this doesn't make for a great evening's slumber.

Keen to 'deaden' some of this external sound I'm adding some weight to the roof panel using the same method as the side panels; self-adhesive flashing tape. It's a proven method as shown in the image below, Volkswagen stick this stuff in at the factory, albeit they're rather economical with the amount used!


So with the roof lining off I've started to add more:


And, as usual, I've run out! I'll give you an update of the end-result later this week.

On a final note, here's my 'tool-of-the-day':


The interior panel clips that Volkswagen use in assembly are great, for one-time assembly only. The where never designed to come out again. That's where this little tool comes into it's own. It allows you to slowly prize away at clips and 'blind' interior fixings offering just enough leverage to get things moving. Many hours of cursing and breaking clips has been saved by this tool.

Finished panels go in

I'm writing this at the end of a long but enjoyable weekend of working on the van. The start of the weekend felt a bit like 'there's not light at the end of the tunnel', waking early on Saturday morning with 'to-do list insomnia' I got stuck in pretty much straight away.

The day started by finishing the insulation of the two sliding doors and replacing the panels. As a bit of a treat to myself I also re-fitted the two rear side panels (these will be coming out again to carpet the rear wheel arches and to sort the roof and carpet around the rear door).

Insulation part two

Time to get some Celotex into the rear cavities.


First up (as mentioned in a previous post) is some panel-weighting.


This is fitted to take out some of the resonance (road noise) made by a vibrating panel. There's big chunks of it on the wheel arch down inside the cavity.

Next up, the Celotex goes in...


Due to the small apertures this has to go in in relatively small pieces. There's not much scope here for a good-looking job, just an effective one!

Next in, thermo-wrap


Cut to size and slide it in. There will also be thermo wrap taped to the back of the panel that covers back over.

The final stage is a sheet of polythene to cover the apertures, sealed with waterproof tape.

And that's it...

The standard grey Volkswagen panel clips back on as before. For a whole afternoon's work it doesn't really look like I've done anything, does it?

Interior Panel Covering

With the ongoing insulation project, the interior plywood panels are out of the van and in the garage - a perfect opportunity to get on with the task of covering them with automotive lining carpet.

Unlike ordinary carpet, this lining carpet is woven on an elasticated mesh which allows a certain amount of stretching and contraction around the various complex shapes found in vehicle interiors. The carpet also has very little 'backing' and so takes to glueing quite easily. Which is good because I hate using glue!

If I could give out only one tip for this procedure it would be 'take your time'. It's not a job to be rushed, however much you can't wait to see the end result.

So, off we go...


First a bit of prep. A quick sanding of the edges will save any splinter-based fun later. A light sanding across the whole panel will also help the glueing process. Don't forget to check your lefts and rights - the last thing you want to do is carpet the wrong side of a panel!

On to the sticky stuff...


Not much to say really, just follow the directions on the tub. Don't forget a bit of ventilation - there's nothing like a glue-buzz to leave you sticking things at crazy angles!

Like buttering toast...


...on a grand scale. Again, take your time, this glue works best after 30 minutes or so, so there's no need to rush.

Carpet on and flip.


Cut your carpet pretty generous, there's no point being stingy. Lay the carpet onto the glued panel and smooth out. Then flip the panel over and start trimming up the edges. This is also the point to make any nips and tucks to get the carpet to follow any curved contours of the panel edge.
Then it's a quick once around the panel edges with the glue in preparation for folding the carpet over the edges.

It's a wrap...


Clean hands time. Carefully fold the carpet around the edges and corners of the panel and you're done. A few weights can come in handy at this point whilst the glue goes off.

Here's a quick before and after of the big panel over the rear wheel arch.





I'll post a finished panel picture next week just before refit.

Time-wise; two sliding door panels and two large rear panels have taken the best part of a day to do - although much of this is waiting for glue to go off, washing hands of glue, drinking coffee and coming-down from glue-highs!

Quick Sunday jobs - part two

To finish off the de-amber-ing mentioned a previous post, I've fitted these crystal-clear side repeaters. They're available from just about every stockist of after-market Volkswagen parts.

Just a small change, but quite a big difference.

Quick Sunday jobs

Another tried-and-tested product that we had on the old T3 were these Clim-air wind deflectors. Great for ventilation when sleeping in the van, these allow you to keep the window open a touch without the risk of being rained in. They're great in the Summer too for keeping the van cool whilst parked up.

They're simple to fit and make a big difference. I really like the 'low-profile' look to the Clim-air versions, I've seen some from different manufacturers that have to be bonded to the vehicle's metalwork around the window edge. Not so pretty! I would definitely recommend them if you find camping in Summer leaves your van a bit stuffy and camping in Winter a bit damp.

The recipe for a good night's sleep

I don't know about you but if I'm too cold I can't get a good night's sleep. Insulating a van correctly should solve this problem and works by eliminating the build of of condensation as we exhale during the night.

So here's the method I'll be following for the T5. It's a tried-and-tested method that seemed to work pretty well in the old T3, but with a few upgrades this time around.

Layer 1
Hi-tack, self adhesive flashing strip.
This is applied directly to the van's internal panels. Mainly to the larger expanses to cut down any resonating and hopefully deadening some of the road noise found in an empty van.

Layer 2
25mm Celotex board
Cut to shape, the Celotex board becomes a barrier between cold external air and the warmer internal air to cut down condensation. In the old van I used the 'wool' type loft insulation which, over time, hangs on to moisture. Celotex actively repels moisture, is fully fire retardant, and is easier to work with than the 'wool' type insulation materials.

Layer 3
Thermal insulation foil
This is essentially a foil-lined bubble-wrap material that acts as another layer of air between interior and exterior. Again, it's fully fire retardant. This 'layering-up' process is just like clothing in Winter, more layers rather than one thick layer seems to work best.

Layer 4
Polythene sheet
As a final moisture barrier between interior and exterior, the previous layers are then 'sealed' in place using polythene sheets and waterproof tape.

Layer 5
Ply-lining
The original plyboard lining is then replaced to finish the sandwich.

Layer 6
Automotive lining carpet
As a final aesthetic, the plyboard, along with any final exposed metal areas, will be covered with automotive lining carpet.

As it's a Sunday after a night out, I've only had time to remove the ply-lining today. Here's the before shot:


Heavy-duty 6mm plyboard. Great if you're throwing tools in the back.

Here's a pic with the ply removed:


Next steps in insulation will be next weekend, watch this space.