1979 Dodge MB400 cube van conversion
 

Hi,

Long time Dodge Sportsmobile 4x4 owner wanting more space and permanent headroom.

Found this one, my 7th Dodge van, on eBay for $2500 in California. 2800 miles from home in Ontario.

7500 original miles. Grandson of original purchaser. Flew out. Drove it home. No issues except a chugging miss on hills. Not fuel pump, coil, or ballast resistor. I'll find it. Reluctor air gap in distributor is next. GVWR is 10,500 lbs. Empty is listed at 5500 lbs. Lots of cargo/interior capacity.

Burns 2 quarts of 10w30 on the way back. Motor fine by me. 8.3 mpg. Needs an air dam for sure. Maybe overdrive too.

440 cu in. 4.10 Dana 70 rear. 14' long box almost 8' wide with 7' headroom.

Prefer solo, remote camping, but also enjoy camping at festivals and races.

Wife is 6' and I'm 6'-4". Combined gross weight of 460 lbs so Sportsmobile upstairs at 42" ide ain't gonna cut it. Cheap foam mattress- no more.

Folding Murphy bed. Queen size. Real mattress.

Already own-

propane frame rail tank
propane chest freezer
propane bar size fridge
RV toilet and tank
RV sink, taps, pump, and tanks
RV 2 burner propane stove
new CO-propane detector
adjustable alternator voltage regulator
12V battery isolator

Bought from AZ RV Salvage in PHX in January-

replacement taillights

5 white frame tinted windows with screens from an old toy hauler 5th wheel trailer- 1 is emergency egress hinge style unit

full size RV entrance door with screen door from burnt unit- crawled around in it and found the door key!

From other salvage yards-

2 drivers seats from extended cab Dodge pickup. Integral seat belts as cube van has only lap belts and no structure for shoulder belt attachment. Wife wants shoulder belts. Nuff said. 2 drivers seats because I can't buy new seat foam buns for passenger side seats.

Replacement outside rear view mirror.

Jammed it all in a minivan and drove home.

Stored it at the Ranch for the winter and spring never came.

Finally gets here and I pull the doors off.

The box door frame is rotten in places. The rear floor is as well. I cut material out and find very narrow tunnels into the wood frame and sawdust. Lots of melted styrofoam too.Attachment 2976Attachment 2977Attachment 2978[ATTACH]

More photos...Attachment 2980Attachment 2981[ATTACH]

I cannot find the "edit" button on here to remove those two sideways photos.

Any hints?

Edit button shows up under this latest post, but has disappeared from anywhere near the first two. I'm baffled.

I can edit this one through Tapatalk with 28 minutes since I wrote it. I bet that option dies after 30 minutes. Ludicrous.

Yes, I've noticed that the edit option goes away after a bit. Just popped in your thread to see your latest developments.........

Glad you are doing this right with the windows and that's how it supposed to be done, good find by the way as it's hard to find windows in a set around here like that. Let me guess A727 trans in that van?
Did the same with my 5th wheel I am building that is currently on hold till I go retrieve it from another state. Don't mind the mobile home trailer frame underneath it in the picture, that's cause I had to move it in emergency cause of some a$$hole ....

greatr work guys!

Any more updates pntyrmvr?

I'll post some photos tomorrow.

I've got the floors, walls, and rear doors repaired from the carpenter ant damage.

I've also rehung the rear doors so they can't sag once the windows are mounted in them.

Clearance light lenses made from almost unobtanium have arrived. Truck booked for certification on Monday so I'll spend the weekend finishing up a few loose ends.

Happy Friday all.

[emoji598][emoji481][emoji106]

Right on! Looking forward to the phote's!

I’m still waiting on these photos too, maybe this give it a bump...

Box and door repairs
 

Hi,

I've had to resize each photo here. I hope you gearheads are worth it...

Someone must have spilled gas in the box of this thing or used some kind of chem to try and kill the carpenter ants. The box is a fiberglass, wood, foam, and plywood sandwich with a layer of aluminum sheet on the steel frames rails in the floor assembly. The foam has melted in a bunch of spots in the rear floor and walls around the doors. Nowhere near the exhaust.

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I cut straight edges into the plywood with and oscillating saw to get at the melted foam and cut out the rotten wood.

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I had a local tin basher bend up some heavy gauge galvanized sheet steel to replace the paper thin aluminum in the areas I worked on. Lots of caulking in the corners and on top of the frame rails. Three pieces to make the installation easy.

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The next layer is dimensional lumber over 1/8" plywood to spread the wall loads onto the frame rails and kick outs. I used pressure treated wood to help longevity.

Back corner typical repair. I'll jack this up and place it on top of the finished plywood floor.

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Lots of PL construction adhesive. And clamps. And pin nails for assembly.

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Thanks for the update looking great though worried about the pin nails and the vibration of the truck pulling them out. Hope the construction adhesive holds well.
At least you got a slab to work on, doing it in a dirt/rock driveway sucks...

Blue 2lb sheet foam between the dimensional lumber.

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1/2" plywood over floor and wall patches.

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Funnily enough no styrofoam, like in the floors and walls, in the ceiling. Added 1 1/2" of it. 1/8" plywood was shot so in goes 1x12 white pine boards.

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Welded up strap extensions to angle steel in the door opening in attempt to avoid sagging doors when the windows are added.

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Three ceiling light locations roughed in.

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Long view of cleaned out box. Floor is weathered a bit, but will be hidden with vinyl sheet.

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Galvanized sheet bent edge protection. Couldn't resist the large roofing nails for that old boot look.

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Pins were strictly for hold parts together while the construction adhesive set up. I've used it to glue frozen lumber together. It will hold!

I forgot to mention I installed bolts through the floor into the frame rails. Hard to see in the photos.

Plans
 

I have done much space planning on this box starting with doodling on photos.

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This set of doodles is to try and effectively place the wrecking yard windows and door from AZ.

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Side elevations and a floor plan.

A queen size bed folds up at the back onto the road side wall. From there a table swings down with the bench running along the back doors to be an eating area. Bed swings up on its long side. Bench center section is removable to allow van to be used as a van.

Forward on the curb side is the screened entrance door. Forward of that is a propane freezer set at counter height with a propane fridge wall mounted above it.

Road side forward of the bed is a counter with lockable steel filing cabinets below.

Back side of cab/front box wall is cut out to allow driving seats to move back. Presently passenger seat has to be removed to get engine dog house out. Too tight for tall people.

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Daaaaang! You been busy! Looking fabulous!

looking great love the pictures!

You should look to using Google Sketchup very nice program the free trial version works enough for builds like ours.

I've suddenly had a lot a free time on my hands.

Apparently someone drank too much Corona and now the world has a hangover.

Warm weather means I can comfortably work outside. Who buys a 40 year old van that won't fit in his garage?

I started at the back with the bed, table, and bench combination.

The wood is 5/4 white pine. I buy it kiln dried in 12" widths.

The bench across the back has a 51" removable center section so that we can use the "Cubicle" as a truck if needed.Attachment 3248

The bench also serves as seating for the fold down table that stows beneath the fold down queen bed.Attachment 3249Attachment 3250

I priced out a 60" base cabinet for the cooking area.

Not happening! Besides the particle board construction wouldn't hold up to road vibes for long.

I picked up a $60, used buffet and hutch. Solid wood. The lower buffet section has central drawers, not doors so we can stow cookware easily. I'll build some kind of pin to link the drawers together and hold them closed during travel.

The end sections will house fresh water jugs and a grey water receiver.

I pulled a two burner cooktop and a sink from a 1982 Sportsmobile.

Cleaned them up. Wire wheel and spray paint for the cooktop. Photo shows a test fit. I'll put a faucet and a laminate countertop with an integral back splash once the world returns to normal. The left end upper drawer is now pinned in place. The right end one is cut down to half height. The center upper drawer lost 3 inches in width. The whole cabinet is set on block legs to prop it up to an acceptable counter height. The legs allow storage beneath for our dining shelter.

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Some N50 magnets will hold them closed.

I like that magnet idea.

Up front I finished removing the remaining wall between the cab and the box.

Now we can get seats installed that recline and slide far enough back for good legroom.Attachment 3254Attachment 3255

Rot repairs resumed. The front driver's side corner of the box this time. Bad design from day one.

The passenger side will likely need the same routine.

Luckily I still have enough material left over from earlier rot fixes that I don't have to go out for more bits and pieces.

Plus side is I'm getting better at not slicing through critical areas with the oscillating saw. And better at rot detection. I cut just past the last rusty fastener and that's where the rot usually ends.Attachment 3256Attachment 3257Attachment 3258

Might as well weld in the mount for the propane tank now while it's easy to get at.

That's as tucked up as it'll go while still being accessible for filling.

Hangs as low as the bottom of the muffler. We'll see.

The other optional position was forward of the rear bumper between the frame rails. That would impact the departure angle too much so it goes back of the cab under the front of the box.

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Trying to get materials to finish the rot repairs is getting tough.

Local lumber yard fully closed. Home Depot only taking online orders for pickup. None of their fasteners can be ordered online.

I have an order in for pickup tomorrow, but have no confirmation that it will actually happen.

Bought more beer today. Not much else left to do.

Local lumber yard back open. Home Depot still has not sent email saying pickup is ready. So local yard got the gig.

Picked up material late afternoon. In the mean time put in another window.

It's an egress window. You flip the red latches and the window hinges at the top to allow escape from any zombies who have made it inside the van.

Or your wife's cooking.Attachment 3261Attachment 3262Attachment 3263

Got down to rot repair at the front of the box on the driver's side.


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Floor repair done same as rear areas.

Galvanized sheet metal on top of frame outriggers and rails, 1/8" plywood, 2x framing as needed, 1 1/2" foam between framing, and 1/2" plywood on top.

Lots of quality caulking below and plenty of construction adhesive within.

I used pressure treat lumber wherever I could. You never know when the rot or carpenter ants return.

Yeah never know when outside invaders want to come knocking though you are knocking on adding extra weight more than usual to the rig so I would be careful. Nothing can stop wood from rotting when you don't know you have a leak and that usually what causes all the destruction.

Too right. The upside for PT is nothing compared to years of rot and pest freedom.

So the passenger or curbside corner floor and lower wall are rotten as is the 2x2 that supports the box floor at the cab transition. Attachment 3268Attachment 3269Attachment 3270Attachment 3271Attachment 3272

More tomorrow as I work at less than 50°F.

Less than 50°F hehe, been tweaking on mine and its been getting down to 0°F just haven't posted any pictures lately of wiring. You must be in a warm climate area that's not usually below 60°F.

Just take your time a Buddy heater helps and it will come together. Surprised you didn't erase the slate and started it over with all new rebuild.

Southern Ontario is not my idea of tropical right now! I'm warm enough as long as I don't have a section of floor out. The wind here is crazy.

I'm too cheap to start from scratch and I'm enjoying the challenge of repairing the box without completely gutting it.

Yesterday I finally pulled the last rotten bits out of the box. The connection at the cab was FUBAR from the day this truck was built 41 years ago.

Night photo shows how thin the skin is.

Last photo is at cab/box joint where I'll replace the rotten 2x2 that runs across the front of the floor under the plywood.Attachment 3273Attachment 3274Attachment 3275Attachment 3276Attachment 3277

I finally cut the last rotten wood out of Cubicle yesterday.

Today I put in all new steel pan and wood. Lots of caulking and construction adhesive.

Done.

Now on to a million other items. First to get this thing cleared out of all the old, rotten bits.

Oh, Home Depot finally emailed my order for $200 of bits and pieces is ready. 7 days after I made it. Promise was 3 days max. Attachment 3278Attachment 3279Attachment 3280Attachment 3281Attachment 3282

Next step the propane tank was mounted. Lowest point higher than the muffler.



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