New to Delica and new to van remodel

candyblue

candyblue

Member
Hi everyone,

I just got my Delica weeks ago. I love it. It is time to make it my own. But I am very new to
van remodel. Can anyone give me some tips on some basic? Sorry for stupid questions below:

1. if I want to add things on the wall, can the interior trim holds something light? If so, what screw should I use, wood screw will do?

2. if I want to add a table, can I drill holes to the bottom of the van frame?

3. some people has done an incredible job and hang cabinet to the wall, I am guessing it need to be drilled hole on the metal frame, right?

Thanks in advance on any tips and guide.
 
Hello and welcome!

There are basically three vertical surfaces in the rear interior: carpeted fiberboard (glorified cardboard) down below, thin hard (and IME extremely brittle and flimsy) plastic in the middle, and thicker harder plastic above. My opinion on the advisability of screwing directly into each of those is, respectively: unadvisable, ridiculous, and slightly unadvisable. Remember that a vehicle and all its contents experiences several g's of acceleration during bumps; this means that any fasteners have to be rated for several times the static weight of whatever they're holding. Consider any kind of in-vehicle construction to be like a house construction, rated to withstand a hurricane and an earthquake, at the same time, for a long time.

Screw lighter objects into the sheetmetal behind the trim using sheetmetal screws (the self-drilling kind are ok), typically #8 or #10. Wood screws will work in a pinch but have a coarser thread and aren't as strong. For heavier objects, my typical practice is to drill a hole in the sheetmetal, and either fabricate a captive nut that stays in place, or stick a bolt in from behind, and thread a nut onto it from the front, forming a stud. Needless to say, you'll need a hole in the trim to match.

There is no separate frame on these. The floor seems to me plenty strong enough to drill holes into.
 
moroza said:
Hello and welcome!

There are basically three vertical surfaces in the rear interior: carpeted fiberboard (glorified cardboard) down below, thin hard (and IME extremely brittle and flimsy) plastic in the middle, and thicker harder plastic above. My opinion on the advisability of screwing directly into each of those is, respectively: unadvisable, ridiculous, and slightly unadvisable. Remember that a vehicle and all its contents experiences several g's of acceleration during bumps; this means that any fasteners have to be rated for several times the static weight of whatever they're holding. Consider any kind of in-vehicle construction to be like a house construction, rated to withstand a hurricane and an earthquake, at the same time, for a long time.

Screw lighter objects into the sheetmetal behind the trim using sheetmetal screws (the self-drilling kind are ok), typically #8 or #10. Wood screws will work in a pinch but have a coarser thread and aren't as strong. For heavier objects, my typical practice is to drill a hole in the sheetmetal, and either fabricate a captive nut that stays in place, or stick a bolt in from behind, and thread a nut onto it from the front, forming a stud. Needless to say, you'll need a hole in the trim to match.

There is no separate frame on these. The floor seems to me plenty strong enough to drill holes into.
Click to expand...
Thanks Moroza. That is very good tips. I will definitely follow your advice.
 
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