VanDweller's stepvan conversion part 4

PART 4

REAR DOOR AREA

PICS ARE BEING ADDED WITH EVERY UPDATE
(And as I have time I'm filling in the words...)

	Truly the point of no return in vehicle conversion is when you start putting walls where cargo doors were.
	Big ol' slabs of aluminum! I go back and forth between "Someone somewhere has a P-series van in need of good doors and I muuuust heeeelp theeeemmmm" and "Hmmm, I bet there's $30 in scrap aluminum here!" I know I'll pull the bigass hinges (that's a technical term) off for use in other projects, and more than likely I'll pull out the flat window glass & rubber mounting rings.
	Sheathing for the back wall is textured fiberglass board (fairly heavy, kinda expensive, available at "Home D" type stores) bonded to 3/8 plywood. I used specific Liquid Nails fiberglass panel stuff and bonded 2 full sheets. The rear opening was framed like a wall, divided into upper & lower sections at bed framing height.
	Here's the main upper section, I decided to joint horizontally at the dividing framework because it would leave me with a factory edge at the top and two factory edges at the joint for very tight fits. The bottom is a bit more forgiving & less crucial of a cut.
	Inside you can see the vertical stud. This is all that was needed - the wall is solid as a rock.

	It's good to have friends named Steve. This is Steve #2, true jack of all trades (as opposed to me, a jagoff all trades), and he's helping the project move along. I'm in love with the idea of doing it all myself but sometimes it's just better to work with someone else. Carpentry isn't a strong point and there were a few cuts that needed to be better than "Hippie construction" ~ very tight & precise. I can do it on guitars, but there are better at this stuff and Steve's one.
	With the lower panel up and everything caulked, we marked the opening needed for the surplus motorhome cargo bay door I decided to use (I bought a few different ones off eBay) and cut.
	The opening is big enough for the spare, containers of supplies, tool boxes etc. and it locks.
	We siliconed around the edge, set it in, screwed it on, and siliconed a bead around the outside.
	Inside I mounted a 2x4 up against the bottom lip for support so when loading & unloading heavy items like the spare, the 2by gets dragged against instead of the door frame lip which isn't all that strong. I put a tiny hook under one of the wall screws for a small bungee to hold the door open.
	Slicker than a gnat's ass in a rainstorm.

Part 5: Systems