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Kstills · 05-31-2022, 10:33 AM

I'm in the process of buying a B190 and I will be having to make repairs to the ceiling and sofa wall. The ceiling looks to have come unstapled from the luan, I did not see evidence of water damage. I can replace that in sections, and as long as there isn't any water damage it shouldn't be a big deal to do.

The sofa wall does have water damage and the entire panel will have to be replaced. The panel runs back behind the refrigerator cabinet, so the repair will involve either pulling that cabinet off the wall or using a multitool to cut out the panel.

My question is how did AS fix those cabinets to the walls? Are the screwed, nailed, glued or a combination? I don't want to demo the unit as the cabinets are in very good condition, but I would also like to get as much of that panel off the wall as possible. If the cabinets unscrew (best case scenario), I'll pull that entire side along with that dopey shower/tub arrangement and put up FRP panesl.

Kstills · 06-27-2022, 06:25 AM

So I've found the answers I was looking for. That side panel is held on by the trim ring around the window and the white pad that runs under the cabinets. Taking them off, as well as the sofa, allowed me to pull that rotted panel out of the van.

Kstills · 06-27-2022, 07:01 AM

One thing I'm finding out about the van, and it's really not a surprise, is that they aren't very well insulated. While recognizing that it will never be a true four season rig, there are areas that Airstream simply didn't insulate at all that should have been.

Note down by the drivers seat they left the panel completely bare, and didn't bother to insulate the B pillar at all. In fact, once I pulled the batts off the wall, it was clear they didn't bother to fill any of the cavities between some of the metal and the outside wall of the van (wheel well, you can just make out the cavity under the window that was empty.

I have wool insulation on order from Havelock, and they have a good video on best practice for insulating vans, so once that comes in I'll have this whole area insulated. Once the insulation is up, I'm planning on replacing the luan panel with some FRP from Lowes or Home Depot. However, if anyone knows where to get panels with some better color choices than either of those places I would appreciate the heads up.

Ndcctrucks · 06-27-2022, 12:41 PM

Nice work!

Keep posting; and one or two exterior pics would be great

Best,
-Ken

Kstills · 06-27-2022, 12:53 PM

Here's an outside shot. It's a 1996 with just about every option offered. 460CI, 15k GVWR, hitch, microwave, etc. 54k on the drivetrain, cabinets are in great shape, although the door glides do need replacing. All the external hardware on the cabinets is in very good shape.

Ndcctrucks · 06-28-2022, 06:47 AM

Pretty cool!

Nice design

Kstills · 06-28-2022, 07:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ndcctrucks

Pretty cool!

Nice design

Yeah, it's a truck camper/Bvan, imho.

Kstills · 07-14-2022, 05:28 AM

It's been a while, partly because it took so long to get the wool and partly because I've been replacing the suspension on one daily driver and the fuel system on the other, but I have started the process of adding insulation to the wall behind the sofa.

First pic is the wool bats I bought from Havelock. They pull apart easily along the long axis, which you need to do in order to stuff them in all the holes in the van walls. Second pic is the B pillar with insulation, third pic is the area under the window and fourth is the small bump out head high running the length of the van.

I would pull tuffs of wool off the batt and then stuff them in the holes, using a 12 gauge wire to help move them into the cavities. The small areas your looking at there, took two full batts of insulation to fill up, and I'm not quite done yet.

I notice the pics are rotated 90 degrees off center, but if you click on them the expanded view is oriented the right way.

Kstills · 07-14-2022, 01:29 PM

I've changed my mind on using FRP in the living areas, mainly because of the limited selection that I can pick up. I figure if I seal and paint a luan panel real well that I'll get decent enough moisture resistance, plus I'll be able to get the color I want without the texture.

Kstills · 07-15-2022, 09:36 AM

I'm adding this pic again to make a point about noise abatement. I haven't had the rig back out on the road yet, but my assumption is that by adding the insulation into the areas that I am it will significantly improve the noise level in the rig by reducing metal to metal contact while the rig is in motion.

If you blow up that pic, you'll see the two pieces of metal between the B pillar and the outside of the van. This picture is an example of way the entire van is put together, and those metal strips have some ability to move while the van is in motion. I am assuming enough motion will cause metal to metal contact which translates into more noise entering the cabin.

By stuffing those cracks with wool, not only will heat/cool be improved, but less metal contact will take place. I don't suspect the wiring creates a lot of noise, but having the wool in the wire chases should also eliminate noise from that movement also.

ITSNO60 · 07-15-2022, 09:45 AM

I found using strips of noise deadening products (similar to Dynamat but cheaper) helped a lot inside thin trim pieces like pillar covers that tend to telescope noises.
When you say 15,000lbs GVWR do you actually mean GCVWR which would include trailer weight?

Kstills · 07-15-2022, 10:13 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ITSNO60

I found using strips of noise deadening products (similar to Dynamat but cheaper) helped a lot inside thin trim pieces like pillar covers that tend to telescope noises.
When you say 15,000lbs GVWR do you actually mean GCVWR which would include trailer weight?

That one.

Airstream (or Ford) had some strips of material under some of those metal pieces but I had to take them out in order to get the insulation of in those areas. I figure the wool will do the same job.

Kstills · 07-21-2022, 06:30 AM

So I've decided to replace the fridge in the B190, it's original to the rig, it's propane and it's original to the rig. So as long as I'm working on that side of the rig anyway, it seems a good time to take it out.
Again, no idea why the software is rotating the images, but click on them and they will orient properly.

The first pic is the location of the fridge in the rig. 3/4 back on the drivers side, with two upper cabinets above the unit. The way the van walls are made, there really isn't an option for a taller unit in that space, so the only size that will fit is about a 4cuft.

The second pic is the inside of the upper cabinet AFTER the false wall was taken out of the back. You can see the vent going up to the roof for the propane (heat) and some of the back. In that pic I've already demoed the shelf between the upper and lower cabinet because of what happened in the third pic.

The third pic is kinda hard to make out, but it's the opening where the vent goes through the roof. That had obviously leaked some, and the area behind the false wall was trashed. The PO must have sealed the leak pretty well, because we've had some good rains since I've owned the van and the insulation around the vent is completely dry.

Pics 4, 5 and 6 are all closeups of the side of the van behind where the two cabinets are. I've posted them to show once again the lack of insulation in areas of this rig.

Next up is to disconnect the fridge and pull it out, then get rid of the vent. Having the vent out will give me a lot of extra storage (I'll be putting a DC unit in at a later date) which I'll have to plan on how to best use.

Once again, very easy to work on so far, very pleased with how easy things are to get to in order to make these modifications.

Kstills · 07-22-2022, 05:16 AM

Like a lot of folks, the glue holding the headliner up in the van is failing. I've gone back and forth about replacements, wife likes the idea of laminate for the ceiling, I hate the idea of the weight it will add to the rig.

So I came across this video which should solve the problem of what to put up on the ceiling:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G_1Sph_ybc8

Sailrite is an excellent resource for RV repairs related to upholstery and now headliners. Very detailed videos on how to use their products.

Kstills · 07-25-2022, 04:48 AM

Not content to leave well enough alone (or finish one job before taking on another) I decided to pull the old fridge out of my B190.

First pic is the DC connection on the back of the fridge bottom. Push connectors for the wires (sweet), wiggle them out, unscrew the propane (turn off propane, drain line etc) and unplug the fridge and you're good to go. NJ outdoor adventures has a vid on the full process of replacing the fridge, so there's no need for me to post that again. Suffice to say a few screws in the front of the fridge, some motivation at the back to break the goop they put on the bottom of the flange, and out it came.

Second pic is why all this is being done, it's the interior roof up near the vent. You can see all the luan is shot, the headliner is gross and it all needs to be replaced. Taking all that off was easy, I cut the headliner out with a razor knife, used a multi tool with a wood saw blade on the luan and that plastic crap in the back, and out it all came. Careful sawing up there, you're right up against the fiberglass cap.

Third pic is the empty fridge cabinet with what I assume is a heat shield still attached. That's screwed into the sides of the cabinet, and they put a bunch of butyl or some caulking on it for some reason. They could have just pulled the panel, applied caulk to the flange and then screwed it on, but whatever. Not even sure why that was caulked.

Fourth pic is the cabinet with the heat shield gone. The water lines on the left are to the shower, they'll be re routed when I pull the side panel on the left.

Fifth pic is the heat shield.

So, as long as I'm ripping stuff out, I'm going to pull the entire cabinet. The two panels are ~76" by ~24" 3/4 plywood. Pretty nice of you, Airstream!

Kstills · 07-25-2022, 04:53 AM

And this is why I said it's pretty nice of Airstream. One full 4x8 piece of plywood (sanded hardwood) will be enough for both panels. And if you look at the way the wall panel is attached to the van body, they simply slid it behind the side fridge panel without attaching it to anything. I'm going to put the wall panel on the way it should have been put on, by routing out a channel in fridge panel and sliding the wall panel into that. I'll be able to control the depth better that way, and assure myself that my insulation is as deep as I can get it. Also means I don't have to worry about the exact dimension of the fridge panel up against the van wall.

Kstills · 07-25-2022, 10:26 AM

So for you electricians out there, a little advice.

Airstream is pulling the electric off the front of the generator box (not sure if that's the inverter or not) and then running it up the sofa wall to shoulder height to get it to the back of the van. Is there any reason why that can't be run along the floor, and then run up to the fixtures where needed? Once you have everything out, the electric is kind of a mess, I think I'd prefer to have it a bit more organized then how they did the installation.

Kstills · 08-02-2022, 07:46 AM

My efforts from the past weekend. Gutted the bathroom and started to disassemble the right side where the HW heater and furnace reside.

As the plan is to install a recirculating shower with a dedicated HW source, I won't be needing the 6gallon hw heater in the back of the van. I'll heat HW on the stove if I need it and run cold to the sink.

Removing the HW heater will give me more room for the shower pan. That has to be more or less in the middle of the bathroom floor because of the design of the E350. I can bury the pump and filters for the RS against the passenger side wall in the back, and put my Laveo toilet on the drivers side. The only unfortunate aspect of the build is that I'll be forced to use a shower curtain as I haven't been able to figure out how to hard side the shower in the space that I have.

In the pic of the drivers side of the rig you can see some rot in the 3/4" plywood subfloor (ffs, Airstream, paint the freaking wood) which I'll have to cut out. Other than that, the bathroom is in good shape, no rust on the van body.

Oh, I'll be pulling the black tank out and replacing it with the dedicated water supply for the shower. After ~6 showers or so, the loop will discharge to the grey tank. I figure a ~20gallon FW tank feeding the shower should allow me to boondock for up to 4 weeks with a shower every other day (2 people). The FW tank in the van will service all the cooking and cleaning needs, drinking water will be carried in in jugs.

Kstills · 08-03-2022, 10:11 AM

Thoughts on this as a shower option?

https://www.amazon.com/Collapsible-T...332467736&th=1

I watched a video of a guy who used Flex seal to create a shower tray using just 1/4" luan as the base. I'm thinking of doing the entire floor area with that and then using this to define the actual shower area. That would allow me a much larger shower with minimal work on my part.

InterBlog · 08-03-2022, 11:42 AM

This is a really interesting thread - thanks.

Did I miss it, or did you not say what fridge you were going to put back to replace the one you pulled out? Or are you going to put the same one back?

Husband and I went through TWO of the old-style propane fridges and our third is a marine fridge made by Vitrifrigo. We had a devil of a time adjusting the existing cabinetry to accommodate it, which you can read about here.