It's been three weeks since I last wrote about the van build. The hiatus was partly due to the van being in the care of Valley Autohaus for frame welding repair and some semi-major body work for 10 days or so, and the resulting delay on my work on the van build. It was also partly due to the social upheaval resulting from George Floyd's murder by a Minneapolis cop, and the peaceful protests and violent rioting, arson and looting that accompanied the peaceful protesting. I felt it would be unseemly to be writing about this personal project at a time of such pain and outrage.
The events since George Floyd's murder on May 25th give me hope that, in spite of powerful reactionary forces in our country, progress is possible toward an honest society-wide discussion about how we as a people can address the legacy of 400 years of racism in a country literally built on stolen land and slavery. Blacks, Indians, and people of color have of course always been painfully aware of this legacy, and the need to fight its consequences. It's way past time for us white folks to engage in this work as well.
I rode my bike up to Minneapolis on Thursday, June 4thin an attempt to better grasp the enormity of what was going on less than 40 miles from home. The George Floyd Memorial at 38thand
Chicago and the memorial service I could view from a distance several miles away at North Central University on the edge of downtown Minneapolis were moving and sobering. The torched buildings and graffiti from the arson and looting that happened nearby in south Minneapolis stood as stark testimony to the pain and rage of marginalized communities. I realize full well how fortunate and privileged I am as a white guy living in a peaceful small town. I realize how different the lived reality of black Americans and Indians and people of color is. Time will tell how much progress we the people can make toward creating a more just and equitable society.
Meanwhile, life goes on in other ways. There are bike rides and walks to be enjoyed, and garden
work to bring peace and the first fruits of our seasonal labor (spinach, kale, and radishes are coming in abundantly, with much other produce to follow soon). In spite of the pandemic and racial unrest, life is good.
The van has been back in our driveway since last Friday. Valley Autohaus did a good job repairing the damaged frame cross-member and cancerous rust at the base of the side door and one of the rear doors. I also had them repair some rust above the windshield and on the side columns along the windshield after I began working on it myself and
realized that a) I would likely die in a fall as I tried to finish the work above the windshield without scaffolding or other means of safe support and b) the windshield would have to be removed to adequately repair the rust and keep it from returning soon. We spent more than I expected, but I'm very happy with the results, and we're still under budget for the project.
With Valley Autohaus’ work out of the way, it was time to start the build in earnest. I began this by insulating the floor and installing the plywood subfloor. While the walls and ceiling will be insulated with 2”-plus of
two-part polyurethane spray foam, which I’ve ordered from Menards (due in Monday June 15
th), the floor doesn’t lend itself to use of spray foam for a couple of reasons. The first is that a flat base is needed for the subfloor, and spray foam, which expands as it cures, does not lend itself to
providing a flat surface. The second is that the Sprinter floor has many narrow (1 ½’ to 2”), shallow channels, and it isn’t possible to add much insulation in the channels anyway. Building the floor up with 2 x 2s to create space for more insulation isn’t an option either because I’m 6’ 2” tall, and there’s only 6’ 4” of clearance from the existing floor to the existing ceiling. After installing plywood subfloor and flooring, and a thin ceiling treatment, there will be precious little clearance for my head, and I don’t want to have to crouch and slouch around in the van. Because of this, I elected to cut narrow strips of ¼” extruded polystyrene
foam sheathing (“Foamular”) to fit into the shallow channels (two layers in some places, with narrow channels inside wider channels), then cover the entire floor with ¼” Foamular before laying down 5/8” plywood subfloor.
It was an exercise in careful measurement and cutting, both of the foam and the plywood, working around the wheel wells and other bumps in and out, but it was not particularly difficult work. The end product is a flat subfloor, and I’m now ready to move on to more challenging steps.
I did take one more step forward yesterday. I was able to cut to length and reinstall the “E-track” racks that were bolted into the sidewalls by a previous owner as the means of anchoring support cross-members for our eventual queen-sized bed platform. I also used salvaged 2 x 4s as the cross-members that the plywood bed platform will go on.
Earlier in the week, I installed a ladder on the rear door of the van. This will allow easy access to the roof for installation of an exhaust fan and the solar panels that will power our mobile tiny house’s LED lighting, countertop induction burners, tiny refrigerator, and tiny electric water heater. (Tiny and efficient is the thing!) The refrigerator and solar system are already delivered but yet to be installed. Things are getting real!
