Foundations

So where to begin? I was lucky when I bought the van it was already ply-lined with a thick ply floor, but I needed to get behind all that so that I could insulated and sound proof it too.

Taking the ply side panels off was easy, just self tapped into the vans body, but taking up the floor... The preson who fitted the floor sikaflexed it down, and used loads of it too. I was in 2 minds about taking it up when I discovered this. It was a nice floor but if I left it I would have no soundproofing of insulation on one of the larget panels in the van.

After much deliberation I set to it with pry and crow bars and eventually got it all up. In about a dozen pieces unfortunately so I couldn't reuse it.

On the plus side the floor was spotless when I finally got the sikaflex off and vacuumed all of the saw dust from it. reassuring to know.

But onward with the conversion and down went some flashband on the floor and side panels. This helps deaden panel vibration making the rear of the van a bit nicer to be in. And it really works! I tried a basic thump test on a panel I'd deadened and a panel I hadn't. the deadened panel had a dull thud whereas the untreated panel was tinny. Result.

Next up some insulation. The sides got a mixture of Kingspan panels (50mm on the bottom, 25mm on the top) and the floor got something less hi-tech - camping mats. Apparently these do the trick and being thin they don't encroach into the living area too much. They were much vaunted online so I gave them a go.

With this done I refitted the original side ply and ordered some 9mm ply to re-do the floor.