Fibre Glass and High temperature adhesive REEKS!!

The first insulation job I gave myself was to insulate the cab roof. I bought some double sided foil bubble wrap stuff from homebase (was amazed this was the cheapest!). I also got some high temp spray adhesive, as I didn't want any glue melting when its hot! Also picked up some aluminium tape to cover the joins and create a vapour barrier.

So me and Kim went out today as the weather was decent and managed to get the cab roof insulated.
We cut the pieces as we went and (dressed like I was cooking meth) I sprayed the glue to the van and insulation and stuck it on. It properly stinks! But it seemed to stick fast which was good. Kim stood about 30 metres away whilst I was spraying it, don't really blame her to be honest!

Here's the cab fully insulated:

Having never done anything like this, I'm pretty pleased with the outcome. Lets hope it keeps the moisture out and the warmth in!

Feeling brave, we moved onto the back wheel arch. After several minutes measuring, we managed to fit it all in one piece. Kim is an absolute expert at getting the aluminium tape to separate from it's backing, even though I have much longer guitar nails haha. I just can't bloody do it.

Oh I forgot the fibre glass!!!

So yesterday, I tackled fibre glass for the first time. Wow does that stuff stink. I pretty much had a full face mask on and it still reeked. Anyway, there was a large hole in the van floor where something was obviously previously installed. This had to be covered up in some way and the best way (after asking around) was to use fibre glass patches. Having never done it before, I was slightly nervous but it really is very easy. It sets hard very fast too, so you have to work quick. I managed to get the large hole done and also a few smaller holes around the back done too.

I'm just not sure where to keep the unused stuff now though. It absolutely reeks. It's lid is tight on, in a box, in a couple of bags and it still stinks!

I'll be doing the other wheel arch asap. However, he is booked in for a full service and cambelt change on Tuesday. So fingers crossed this goes well!!!

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Floor Preparation - Finished!

Haven't updated for a while but I have been fairly busy, when the bloody weather has allowed!

The floor is now prepared and ready to start battening.
I wire brushed (with a wire brush drill attachment) all the surface rust and around all the screw holes left by the old floor. To be honest there was hardly any but I was perhaps over cautious.
Once I had all the bare metal exposed, I then used a Hammerite metal paint which also treats rust (should I of missed any). I painted one coat over the exposed metal and then painted a second coat a few days later.

I was cautious where the wheel arches joined the floor as this can be a place for rust, so decided to strip it back and paint it anyway.

I then went round all of the screw holes and filled them with SikaFlex EBT sealant, in order to keep any water getting in and causing rust.

 Onto the insulation!!

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Bloody Weather

So, with the crap weather and Christmas etc, progress has stalled somewhat!!
It's really annoying because I don't really have anywhere to store the things I've removed other than inside the van itself. Therefore, if the weather is rubbish outside, they have to remain in the van whilst I work on it! Which makes life frustrating as there's not much space!

Any, I finally got out into the van today even though it was tipping it down all day.
Managed to get a few measurements done for various things and also managed to remove the headliner above the cab.
I'm want to put a shelf above the cab which is accessed from the rear. The headliner was a bit of a pain to get out but managed it after a few grumbles:

Ripped some more wires out, that were hidden underneath and cleaned the roof a little.

The shelf will fit where the top of the bulkhead used to be. the problem is the lip slants downwards, so I'm going to have to figure out the best way of supporting it:

I will probably use one of the pieces of ply I ripped up from the floor for this shelf, as it's still in relatively good condition. It's almost the right size too, which is a bonus. I have though about using the lip in the above picture to slot the shelf down into. I reckon it would be pretty solid like that but I have to take the headliner into account, as I want to put this back in.

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