Hapy Cab Gets Quiet

In my last post about noise containment, I posted about getting the main living area floor noise controlled with Heat Wave Jute and MLV. Before that, I posted about the application of the constrained layered dampener (CLD) on the ceiling and easily-accessed exposed steel (See Noise Control Update). There has been a lot of foundational work and many posts leading up to this next step. I removed the drop ceiling. I ran the rough electrical for the luxury items like accessory plugs, dome lights, etc (See Ceiling Wiring Rough In). I found and resolved holes from the old Westfalia pop-top. I removed the old shelf, designed and installed a new one (See New Cab Shelf). So finally, today, I will focus on getting the cab area practically noise controlled.

 

Cab Floor Prep

cab floor, nose quieted

Many years ago, I applied something CLD-like to the floor of the cab after addressing the rust with naval jelly and rust encapsulator (see Rust Never Sleeps). That post was so long ago, it pre-dated my now-common efforts to identify the products I am using, but I am fairly sure it was B-Quiet. Regardless, the stuff available in 2007 may not be as effective as the stuff available now. I suspect the old B-Quiet has since been reformulated to have more Butyl and less asphalt. So, I started working on removing that old stuff. It did not want to let go, and in some cases it left a sticky mess behind. I found that I was most effective at removing it when I cut 2" squares into the foil topper and removed a square at a time. For the spots where tacky goop remained, simple scraping worked a little, running the grinder was ineffective, and multiple passes of Goof-Off was moderately effective. After multiple rounds with Goof-Off, scraping was much more effective, and I was able to get most of the asphalt-y sticky off the floor. Still, the effort to remove that old stuff took most of a weekend.

With the old stuff gone I discovered that I needed to address rust in the floor again. Long ago, I abandoned Naval Jelly to get rid of rust, believing that it just is not as effective as the converters currently on the market. Perhaps, it was user error, but I followed the instructions. Anyway, this floor had been worked on with the Naval Jelly before I changed and it showed. I like Eastwood stuff, after trying and abandoning others. It is a simple spray-on product that I then spread around with a gloved hand to make sure it gets everywhere. It dries with a thin shell that could be painted on top of, but Eastwood recommends their encapsulator (of course) on top. I thought about adding another layer of paint, but decided it was unnecessary and left the floor "top coated" with the black Rust Encapsulator.

Cab Floor Noise Contain

Once the cab floor was rust treated, I applied some fresh CLD. Even the Noico was an improvement on what was there before. Before I started, the floor still had a fairly noticeable "ting" when smacked with the roller. Perhaps part of the reason the B-Quiet was not as effective was because it was trying to adhere to rust, not to steel and converted rust. Similar to the cab ceiling, I did the larger panels with the ResoNix, and did a few smaller areas with some leftover Noico. I had not previously applied anything to the walk-through, but that got CLD this time.

I used the rubber mat as a template for the next 2 layers: Heat Wave Jute and the Mass Loaded Vinyl (MLV). I under-sized the front edge so the kick panel/card that runs along that leading edge can seat against the floor later. Then, I did the walk-though floor with Heat Wave and MLV, following its basic rectangle shape.

 

Cab Doors Contained

door Mega Zorbe'd

The amount of prep work needed in the doors was not as extreme as the floor, but there were some needed steps. There was some surface rust down along the bottom and in the spots where the different metal bits intersect. After the rust was addressed and some Rustoleum was applied, it was ready to go. The steel also had some of that B-Quiet, but it seemed much more effective in the door than it was on the floor. I only removed the pieces that came off easily. Oddly, the passenger door stuff came off with little effort and the driver side stuff would not budge. So, the driver door was pretty much left alone (just CLD'd one section) and the passenger door got a full replacement treatment. Thinking about how much material I have on-hand, and how small an area I needed to solve, I used the Noico. While I test-tapped each door, I noticed both doors had a rattle that I traced to loose fasteners on the window mechanisms and door latches. A couple of passes of tighten-loosen-tighten eliminated those rattles.

 

Unlike the floor, I used Mega Zorbe in the doors. This stuff is so easy to work with. It is self-adhesive, so you figure out exactly what size you need, cut it, test fit it and when you're ready, you peel the paper off the back and stick it on. Of course, clean the surface really well first. The self-sticky is super-sticky, so I suggest the first time you play with it you apply it in areas which won't be seen until you get the hang of it. I got the 1/2" thick Zorbe, and it easily fit against the outer door skin without impacting the action of the window. If I have material left at the end of this project, I may apply some to the side of the door card that fits into the door cavity for more sound absorption. 

 

Nose Noise Contain

original Styrofoam

Most of the metal on the inside of the nose is inaccessible or at least very hard to get to. The pedals make getting to that lower section difficult, but not as difficult as the area behind the dash, especially on the driver side. Accordingly, I did not get very complete coverage of the inside of the nose with CLD. Before I could start, the bus originally delivered with some foam stuff glued to the lower section (below the mid-point). This stuff looks like old Styrofoam cooler material, and made a mess similar to a broken cooler with those little white dots everywhere. It was very thin, so I doubt it did much. Once removed, shop-vac'd and surface-cleaned, I used ResoNix, hoping to maximize the vibration deadening from covering such a small percentage of the total surface. I removed the windshield washer bottle and successfully fit a full one-foot-square sheet of ResoNix on the nose in that area. I cut a second square, fitting material up behind the glove box and onto the big metal airbox on the passenger side. On the driver side, access was even more limited. I was unable to fit a full uncut square directly in front of the pedals, but I was able to get a pair of rectangles applied there. I consumed the rest of that sheet plus another, getting coverage above the running light (beside the headlight) as well as onto the airbox. It is hard to know how much those sections will help, but I used the higher quality ResoNix, so maybe it will matter. Because of the foil topper, I figured putting CLD anywhere near the fuse-box would be a bad idea, so the whole upper left side is CLD-free.

I had originally intended to use the Jute inside the nose, but I changed my mind after wrestling CLD in there. First, the Jute needs adhesive to stick. Second, it is stiffer than the Mega-Zorbe. Third, the foil on the Jute is electrically conductive, so, like the CLD, we do not want it near the fuse box or electric controls. So, while we would have probably appreciated the temperature management of the Jute, there is no way I could have constructed a thermal wall in there. This is all about absorbing sound, and inside the nose can't be seen nor felt. So, I used and will continue to harvest for use, trimmings from other applications of the Mega-Zorbe and patch-work my way to sound control on the driver side. On the passenger side, I was able to place a single sheet of Mega Zorbe in pieces. The driver side was very difficult to get to, and handling the super-sticky self-adhere was not working out too well. I was able to get some larger cuts (maybe 4 inches by 8 inches) along the lower section, but that was about it. As I generate trimmings around the rest of the bus, I will return to the nose to add more.

Cab Ceiling

Mega Zorb'd ceiling

After all the efforts in previous postings, from the rough-in electrical to the mounting of the luggage tub and the shelf, I was finally ready to do the cab ceiling. Recall that the drop ceiling has been removed, the old shelf came down, and the original 1972 Westfalia supporting superstructure was removed. I used a combination of ResoNix and Noico for vibration control, thinking that an extra pound was worth minimizing the noise closest to my head. Similar to the doors, I used the Mega Zorbe on the ceiling. I covered the ceiling from lip to lip, front edge to the cross support. Simply sitting in the seat with that single layer of 1/2" foam was incredibly quiet just sitting in the driveway with the engine off. It is quieter inside the bus than outside. If I utter words, they are simply gobbled up by the noise control material in a more pronounced way than a gentle wind takes your words outside. I had originally planned for a second layer, and still may before applying a true headliner, but it will not be because I need more sound taken out of the air. It will depend more by how to contour the ceiling and remaining steel so the transitions are smooth. I will sit with it as-is for a little while, as I do other areas, to see how I feel about it. I may get some basic automotive foam if I need to add something. I don't have the headliner material yet anyway. Seriously, this bus is getting crazy quiet.

Under the Seats

view of the under-seats

Moving on to the seats, I used the Heat Wave and MLV combination again. Consider the little compartments along the inner edge of the seats. These compartments accepted 6-inch wide, 26-inch long Heat Wave on the floor. Against the wheel wells, another 26-inch long 5-inch tall stretch of Jute was set. Then, I got to thinking about the MLV. Consider, the access is very limited and the side of the wheel well is vertical. Simply brushing or spraying on contact adhesive was not viable. I cut 2 sheets of MLV for each compartment, with a combined overall average length of 25 inches each (d-side shorter, p-side longer), but 12 inches wide. Dealing with a half-length, I rolled it up and stuffed it through the access hole, unrolling the 12-inch width in place. So, the bottom edge is against the inner edge where it meets the floor, and the MLV runs up along the side of the wheel well with the top edge roughly against the ceiling. I set the second sheet in similarly, and with an overlap, the compartments are covered.... mostly. The driver-side compartment has the brake reservoir and tubing, so I was not able to get as deep. Hence, the shorter length of MLV. Still, I knew this was not going to be 100% sealed/covered. This is about as good as I could have expected without putting MLV around the outside of the entire seat pedestal, but that would have intruded into the limited walk-through space, for what I think would be little improvement. I accept that the MLV may not stay in place long-term. Since there will be a card on the walk-through side, I can access it and check up on it periodically. Being honest, I probably won't. If I have left over MLV, maybe I will figure out a way to put it inside the walk-thru card. We'll see.

Other than the little compartment, the under-seat space was controlled rather simply. I put one piece of both Heat Wave and MLV under each seat, running from the outer edge of the little compartment (under the seats) to the door's edge. To fit, I cut a channel around the outer seat runner. I thought about lifting the seats, but decided that having an additional 1/2" of squishy lift was not desirable; having some noise travel through the rails was an acceptable tradeoff. After the seat compartment efforts, we are no longer looking at 95% containment anyway. Between the inner seat rail and the inner edge, I set another section of Heat Wave, covering up the remaining bits of steel. This final section was not rectangular since the seat pedestal is not exactly square, but it rests above the little compartment, so MLV was unnecessary. The Heat Wave, however, will allow the carpet to lay flat.

Wrap It Up

Once installed, I taped all of the MLV bits together. Why? Audiophiles suggest that the MLV works best when it hasn't any breaks in it. I know there are breaks under the seat rails and inside the little compartment, so the tape may not be as effective. Still, the metaphor I have read is that the seams are like slightly cracked windows in your house, letting in the noise of your neighbor mowing their lawn. If the window is completely closed the noise is much more contained. So, having lots of open seams is like lots of cracked windows, versus a couple around the seat rails. Since I have not been taking noise measurements along the way, I cannot say whether the patchwork MLV will help meaningfully more than just the CLD and Heat Wave. The sound experts swear by this stuff though.

At this point, I have the floor completely noise contained, from rear hatch to the front nose. We have CLD to contain the vibration, Heat Wave to absorb some of the sound that makes it through and MLV to block most of whatever remains. Since most of the noise comes from the engine, drivetrain and wheels, the work to date should have addressed most of the problem. I am continuing down the noise elimination path, though. I will be applying Mega Zorbe onto the rear ceiling, adding some deadener between the 2 rear ceilings, and solving for the slider and mid-bus driver-side wall. I feel that I have turned an important corner, however.

That's it for today. Thanks, as always, for following along-

Noise Control Continues

With Summer tour dates heating up, and our favorite festivals appearing to be taking the Summer off, I was lacking an out-of-town overnight show to really kick this effort into high gear. Well... Phil Lesh and Friends have announced Pacific NorthWest tour dates, hitting 2 of my all-time favorite outdoor venues: the Cuthbert in Eugene, OR and the Marymoor in Redmond, WA. Phil played these 2 venues back-to-back with Further in 2013 (See Tale of 2 Trips), so I conclude that these are his favorite NW outdoor venues too. Anyway, June 11 and 12, Phil will be at the Cuthbert and Marymoor respectively, and so will we. With that, we have some serious motivation to have Hapy buttoned up by the end of May. In that spirit, I finally got after the big sections of the floor, so today's post is all about that. 

Tear Down

starting the Jute

I accept that maybe I have been finding ways to delay the full-blown interior tear down. I messed with electrical (See Ceiling Wiring Rough In), built a replacement shelf (See New Cab Shelf), even messed around with the stereo (I will post on that once it reaches completion). At some point, I was going to have to remove the lot couch and the rock-n-roll bed so I could get after the floor underneath them. The lot couch removes easily enough, but the sliders also needed to come out so I could get the complete floor. Back when I first installed these runners, I mounted the runners with 17mm bolts. I added nuts underneath. I initially just loosened the runners and forced the Jute underneath. I later decided to completely remove the runners so I could get a seamless heavy vinyl sheet down.

My implementation of the rock-n-roll bed is held to the floor by a pair of Phillips screws holding a pair of arms to the rear deck, a 17mm bolt underneath, a pair of small nuts on a metal bracket mounted on the passenger side rear wheel well and a single 13mm bolt through to the fridge cabinet. The electrical bits, however, add to the complexity. I have my luxury fuse box under there, so I had to tear down what was left of that. Plus, the original Westfalia electrical includes the cables routing city power into the rectifier (110 to 12V converter) that's buried inside a wood box and running to the outlet on the front face of the bed. The box is held down with 2 Phillips screws and the outlet box is held by 4 Phillips screws. With the electrical separated from the bed, and the bed detached from the floor, I removed the cushions to manage the unit better. Each of the 2 cushions are held to the bed with 4 long Phillips bolts on each end (so, that's 16 bolts).

cabin Jute mostly complete

I would have completely removed the fridge cabinet, but the mounting of the furnace was so difficult, I did not want to revisit that. Just being disconnected from the rock-n-roll bed loosened it enough for me to fit materials an inch or so underneath it.

Constrained Layered Dampener (CLD)

I have probably posted enough on this material. Still, I applied on the now exposed floor areas. Parts of the floor had already gotten a light treatment in the little valleys, so on top of that I applied larger squares of CLD as well. I still have about a third of the box of ResoNix, with a plan to use some inside the sliding door. I have used some of the Noico around as well. For example, the walk-through partitions behind the front seats each got a large splat of Noico. I do not know if I will be keeping those partitions long term, so I did not want to spend the expensive CLD on those panels. Still, the Noico definitely helped reduce the clatter heard when I tap on the partitions with the roller. Of course, the whole floor and the rock-n-roll bed needed a thorough cleaning, starting with a shop-vac and ending with cleansers. 

Heat Wave Jute

MLV over engine

I was so excited to finally get to the Jute. I has felt like forever since I ordered this stuff and started working on noise containment. I started with a rectangle on top of the engine access hatch, with an extra couple of inches all the way around. I pulled the computer cover, and Jute'd the rest of the rear deck, and then moved forward. I fit a segment under the rear edge of the fridge cabinet, and doubled up over the front side of the rear driver wheel well. I pierced the Jute for the seat belts and a grounding screw, and set another piece of Jute up to the lot-couch rear slider and continued my way forward, covering the entire floor with rectangles. My method was to define as large a section as I could easily manage and then measure that out on the material. I marked the line with a sharpie and then traced the line with a box-cutter to start the cut. I made a second pass with a pair of scissors. I tried first with just the scissors, but the thickness of the material and 2 foil-faces were too much even for my best pair. As I set shapes down, the bus got progressively quieter. Without a radio, and just ambient neighborhood noise, there was not a dramatic change, it just felt more and more quiet. Very neat. One last observation about the Heat Wave: the foil top and bottom are electrically conductive. So, I would discourage use anywhere near open circuitry or be sure to insulate. For example, I took a section of excess MLV produced below and have it resting between the foil and the spare tire well where the engine computer and fuse box live. No sparky.

Lot Couch Rails

I had loosened the rails enough to force-fit some of the Heat Wave jute underneath, but decided that getting the MLV under the rails would be worthwhile. This meant removing the rails entirely. I had forgotten that when I first installed these rails, I ran bolts from above and nutted from below. Three of the 4 nuts were hidden by the radiator, so getting in there to free them was an all-morning exercise. Still, the nuts came free, the bolts pulled out and the rails were set aside. I took this opportunity to clean under the rails as well as install 4 riv-nuts into the old holes, so I would not have to go under the bus and reach around the radiator to deal with the rails again. That riv-nut kit is definitely paying dividends.

Mass Loaded Vinyl (MLV)

MLV continues

MLV is heavy; my goodness, it is heavy (1 pound per square foot). I found that the sound inside the bus actually brightened a little bit as I set it on top of the Jute, though. The Jute, in contrast, was simply amazing in how much quieter the bus seemed as I added it to the floor.  While I can't measure the impact of the MLV independently of the rest of what I am doing, I do wonder if the additional weight will translate into a corresponding reduction in noise. The SecondSkin web site has a noise transfer reduction table for the MLV that defines the reduction as anywhere from 14dB to 37dB, depending on frequency, with higher frequency blocked more than lower. We'll see. The actual absorption by the Heat Wave was noticeable. The table on the SecondSkin page for Heat Wave (in coefficient rather than dB) demonstrates very little in terms of dB drop below 500Hz: below 500Hz < 3dB, 1k: 7db, 2k: 14dB, 4k:19dB. So, the very high end will be controlled well and the low end not so much. I arrived at these numbers courtesy of the formulas on this blog post, converting the coefficients published by SecondSkin.

Anyway, the MLV delivers in a roll 54" wide. The bus is around 60-1/2" wide so rather than solve for a strip along one side, I laid a section 54" long front-to-back, covering the engine compartment and on down the rear wall behind the rock-n-roll bed. After cutting contours for the narrowing of the rear of the bus, I pierced the MLV for the seat belts and installed them. This took a considerable amount of time, mostly because of the challenges of getting the seat belt mounts in place. I continued with the next sheet of MLV, covering the mid-floor past the lot-couch rail mounting points (see picture above, right).

Re-Assembly

bed and rails in

I chose at this point to re-install the rock-n-roll bed. Unlike the seat belt mounts, locating and piercing for the bed mounts was much easier for some reason. With the bed in place, I pieced holes for the lot-couch rails and installed them. To make a more firm mount to the floor, I added a nut between the rail and the floor for the bolt to pass through. These nuts act like a 3/8" riser through the Jute material. I confirmed the width of the rails (12") and then torqued the bolts. Then, I put the lot couch back in. The couch slid in more easily than it used to. I think the rails were slightly below the lip of the sliding door before, creating some friction/resistance. With the little risers, the couch slides right in. The interior is pretty much the way I started the weekend. Yes, from the start to end of this post, it was 2 full-for-me (6+ hours) days of work, and some uncovered sections remain.

On a random mid-week afternoon, I added an additional strip inside the rock-n-roll bed where the 2 larger sections meet as well as a small piece inside the fridge cabinet. Last, the area just in front of the fridge cabinet shown in the picture above was addressed. So, from the seat partition rear-wards is pretty much done. That leaves the cab still to do. All of the seams need to be taped as well, but that should be much easier once the rest of the Heat Wave and MLV have been laid out.

In case you were wondering, that reflective material in the wall behind the fridge is foil-backed "RV insulation" that I had put in there years ago. It actually does reduce the temperature inside the bus a little bit, or it did when I first installed it. Since it does not fill the cavity, I will probably just leave it and put the Mega Zorbe or Jute right on top if it. There is the old Q-Quiet vibration absorber on those panels as well, and I will just leave that be. I am running out of material, and this project has taken quite a bit of time already.

That's it for today. Thanks, as always, for following along-

New Cab Shelf

Back in 2016, I removed the old falling-apart sun visors that we couldn't use because they were so decrepit. In their place, I built a shelf, reusing the holes that supported the sun visors. Today's post is a revisit of that work. If you want to get grounded in the original, see Sunshade to Shelf. This version might better suit your need if you have a drop ceiling, and you are not attached to your sun-visors. 

Before I get into today's post... Boo and I hit a brand new venue in SE Portland on Sunday, 10-April (The Get Down, officially opened 8-April-2022) for Pink Talking Fish. You may recall my reference to them in the 4Peaks 2019 - Music Report where I said they were the buzz of the festival. We also caught them in February of 2020 at Mississippi Studios right before the CoViD-19 lockdown started. They have since evolved with more complicated songs, but still throwing down the funky. Translation: we danced hard. Everyone around us did too. The venue is pretty fantastic. The staff was solid, the ticket and drink prices low, and the sound mix was great. For an opening weekend, they really had it together. Boo and I highly recommend. Back to the shelf...

Why?

the original shelf installed

The original cab shelf has been such a great addition. When we were on the road or camping, that shelf was where our phones, our wallets, and pretty much anything super important goes. We would hang a privacy curtain from the edge, so it doubled as a curtain rod, sort of. In fact, if I had not gone down the path of reducing the noise in the bus, I probably would have left it alone forever.

But I did look into improving the noise in the bus. Part of that look-see including removing the wooden drop ceiling (See Noise Control Update). Once it was down, I could see that there was headroom lost to the original Westfalia interior design. With the larger Sprinter seats installed (See Hapy Seating - Part 2), that headroom was welcome. With the drop ceiling out, I figured I could move the bottom of the shelf up to where the drop ceiling was, and have sun visors again. This was a best of both worlds: I could see out the full windshield or I could flip down visors like every one else... but I would still have a shelf up top for important stuff we would like within arms' reach.

Planning

original shelf pre-install

I started with the assumption that I could take the old shelf, and shorten it a little on each side and it would work as-is. This also assumed that the cut out in the center front (front is front) that I originally made to accommodate the rear view mirror could be reshaped to fit around the metalwork that remained from the original Westy pop-top directly above the rear view mirror. This metal work supported the little tang that the old pop top would latch onto when it was lowered. Last, the old pop top scissor-lift mechanism had supporting metalwork on either side above the doors which I would need to consider.

While test-fitting after carefully trimming the old shelf to address the "tang supporting metalwork", that metalwork simply fell off. It was held in place with a single pop-rivet, installed in September of 1971, so I guess that tells us the shelf-life of a pop-rivet. Anyway, with that out of the way, I considered the need to retain the other support bits for the long-removed scissor supports. I concluded they were not needed. Similar to that front "tang-support", the side pieces popped right off. Neat. Unfortunately, all three of these support metalwork pieces left holes in the roof where the original Westy-top scissor supports used to bolt through. So, this shelf thing grew, but, to be fair, if I hadn't been looking at these support things, I wouldn't have known that the ceiling was not as sealed as it looked. In retrospect, perhaps I could have anticipated that when I removed the original top 10 years ago. The discovery of these holes led to the removal and subsequent refresh of the luggage tub (see Refresh the Luggage Tub), which I posted about last week.

 

model and shelf start

Regardless of what happened with the support metalwork and corresponding holes, the shelf, if located directly above the sun visors, may need a more complicated line. Consider that the top front of the bus is curved both front to back and from the center down to the sides. So, if I simply jammed a shelf into the space between the top and the sides, it would be shaped like an upside down spoon. Instead, this shelf will need to be lower in the center, near the mount-point for the rear-view mirror. So, it turned out that the metal tang never really was a thing to concern myself with. LOL's. The shelf ends, however, can rest on the inner lip where the top meets the sides. This will cause the shelf to cross from above to below back to above the lip that runs across the top from one side to the other.

With these constraints in mind, I started with a basic tape measure to define the line along the front. I thought I could define a point between the mirror and the side that is consistent for both passenger and driver sides. Then, I could construct a shelf that was cut to fit above the lip on the ends and secure from below in-between. The distance from lip to lip is over 47 inches and the overall drop from the center to the side is 2-1/2 inches. At this point, I abandoned the original shelf as a material.

Modeling Again

test-fitting shelf

After many measurements, I thought I was ready. I grabbed some cardboard, measured out the mid-point, end points and lip-intersection points. Similar to the original shelf, I wanted this new one to be deep enough to fit a phone, but not so deep that things could disappear. I started with a shelf drawing that was plenty deep, planning to trim down the excess once I had cut the lip intersections. The distance between the lip and the top immediately above is, like, 2 inches, but knowing that there will be noise absorbing foam and a headliner going in there, the shelf will not go all the way in. Quite the contrary, it will hang below the lip between the intersection points.

 

shelf headroom: center

I started with a cardboard model that is 48 inches wide, 3 inches deep on the ends and 5 inches deep in the center, making the rear edge (front-is-front) straight and the front edge angled (from 3 to 5 inches from edge to center respectively). The leading (rear-facing) edge of this rough model pretty much aligned with the contour of the shelf I removed and fit better than I expected. I notched front center of the model about 1-1/4 inches across, and an inch deep to fit around the center rear view mirror. This allowed the shelf to sit back, and the front lip-to-shelf intersection point could be identified on either side. I marked and cut into the model and re-tested. Again, it fit better than expected. I noted that most of the shelf would be under the front lip, with only a few inches on either end above it. This would have created a gap across the front edge, but I re-shaped that edge of the model with blue tape to extend deeper. This will eliminate the opportunity for things to slide off that edge of the shelf, and create a way to attach the shelf with small fasteners to the lip, strengthening the overall install. The overall width of the shelf could be no less than 48 inches. This left less than 1/2" on either side to rest on the lip at the edges.

Install Timing Considerations

dome light

Once I had the model defined, I had to think about the timing of this install a little bit. My plan at this point was to apply the noise absorption (Mega Zorbe) and headliner after I have the shelf in. The shelf will make it harder to get a headliner installed, but the fasteners for the shelf can be covered with headliner material. If I did the headliner stuff first, the fasteners would be visible, reducing the aesthetic. I also considered that if the shelf is in when the headliner goes in, I could integrate the headliner from the roof into the front edge (front is front) of the shelf. So, I pushed forward, with a loose plan of completing the shelf to the point of being ready to install, get the Mega Zorbe on to the ceiling and then mount the shelf.

12V Accessories

My last thoughts as I modeled this new shelf were about the placement of the 12V accessory plug and whether I could incorporate a downward-pointing light fixture. The question about the accessory plug was fairly simple: center it and put it above the shelf so we don't have cords hanging. Next! The light became complicated simply because I want a very small not-too-bright light with an integrated switch. There are many lights on the interweb, but they are mostly clumsy-large and/or very bright.

 

mirror view clearance

I chose this Europa RV dome light for a few reasons. First, it has integrated switches, rather than depend upon a door opening or a remote add-on switch to turn on and off. Next, there are independent swivel map lights so Boo can read, look at paper stuff or whatever while we drive. Last, this runs basic bulbs, not the super-white-almost-blue LED's that have become so common. Yuck. All three bulbs are a "168 wedge" style of bulb, so I could swap out to LED's for lower amp draw later... but they would have to be in the yellow end of the color spectrum for my taste. According to the manufacturer, this light only draws .7amps against 12.8V, so I'm not sure there's a great deal of improvement room with an LED swap other than longevity of the bulb. This light fixture will sit directly behind the rear view mirror, but because the central light is only 1-1/2 inches thick (swivels hang down another 1/4 inch), it will not block visibility through the mirror. I say that confidently based on the picture on the right here, showing a mirror image of the tape indicating at least 3 inches before it is entering my view through the mirror and on to the rear window. The fixture mounts with 2 screws through the housing found when you remove the dome light bezel. I tried suspending the light to the underside of the cardboard model to get a feel for how it would light the space. I will place it at the rearmost spot under the shelf to help the swivel lights reach our laps. I think, in an ideal setting, the dome light would attach to the ceiling allowing the swivel lights to illuminate our laps more from behind than in front of us. But, I like the idea of an uninterrupted headliner, so it is going on the underside of the shelf.

Materials

gap at the center

When I built that first shelf, I had free 3/8" plywood on hand from the original bus flooring. It was old, and partially rotten from 40 years of Pacific NorthWest moisture, but it was free. It served the purpose well, but I would rather use a material that is not rotted wood for its replacement. I considered steel. For strength, it is superior to wood at a thinner gauge, or course. That is, I can use 18 gauge steel and it would be as solid as the outside of the bus. It would, however, be another surface that could vibrate or reflect sound. MDF is solid, but it also reflects sound, and could chip off or swell from moisture. Ultimately, I went back to wood, well, "oriented strand board" or OSB. For about $9US, one can find a 4-foot long, 2-foot wide piece. According to reviews, this material is great for shelving because of how stiff it is, but I planned for a thin piece of wood trim for the leading (rear) edge anyway. I figure the trim will protect the edge of the OSB from chipping, and it will help hold the shelf firm in case reviews are wrong. Either way, it will help keep things from falling off the shelf into our laps, feet, whatever. I expect I will cover both the top and bottom with material; probably trunk carpet and headliner respectively, so the material choice will not be obvious once completed. In full transparency, after I made the material decision, I found a 4' by 2' piece leaning against a tree with a "free" sign on it while walking the dog. I swear, I had made the decision first. This was just dumb luck that someone a few streets over had extra material from building shelves in his/her/their garage. So, both shelf concepts have been built with free wood. Hahaha.

Shelf Build

gap at the end

I noted that the angle of the lip from ceiling towards the floor is closer to 45* than 90* to level, so the entire rear edge which is below the lip would benefit from an angled cut. Recall that the shelf will be above the lip only on the outermost few inches on either side. Whether the ends are angled or not makes no difference. 

Satisfied, I transferred the cardboard model onto the OSB, simply tracing the outline, and cut it with a jig saw. Yeah, I usually avoid power tools; call me old-skool. I have found that, with a hand tool, mistakes are much smaller, but in this case, getting the angle I just described cut correctly would have been too difficult by hand. Once that front line was cut, though, I wasn't finished. I test fit, noted where the shelf needed to have the curve adjusted and shaved some off. At this point, it became clear that a model for this was really just enough to get the shelf started. No cardboard magic on my part (YMMV) could have gotten this spot-on. It was during these cycles that I abandoned the notch for the rear-view mirror. The test-fits indicated that the shelf would not sit deep enough to require a notch.

over windscreen wall in

Satisfied with the fit, I discovered that the shelf still needed a back. I had thought that the shelf would sit high enough, or that it was thick enough, to not need something against the lip above the windscreen. The 2 pictures above show the space that needed to be filled in. To get a rough idea of the curve, I grabbed the old drop-ceiling out of the junk pile and cut the top couple of inches off the front-most edge. That got me close enough to mark up a simple arc out of some of my old door card material. The angled cut I made into the OSB worked to my advantage, creating a gentle tile to the arc that roughly mirrored the curve of the ceiling. It is not perfect, of course, but with the Mega Zorbe and a headliner, perhaps the finished product will have a reasonable aesthetic. I added 48inches of wood trim across the rear of the shelf (front is front). Then, I sanded edges of the rear wall, the point where it intersected with the shelf, the front edge and all the corners smooth. Ultimately, the shelf will wrapped in some material so the sanding may not have been 100% necessary. That wrapping, however, will wait.

 

Shelf Install Prep

test fit with 12V accessories

Finally, I was ready to finish and start test-installing this shelf. First, I added the 12V accessory plug and the dome light. I bored a hole through for the wiring for the dome light, sent the wires through and mounted the light. I moved the 12V accessory plug to the center of the shelf, rather than put it back in the same spot, adjacent to the passenger door A-pillar. I figured, having it more in the middle would make it much easier for me to use while driving alone, and it's location hides the wiring from the new dome light. 

 

I added a common grounding point directly above the rear-view mirror for the 2 12V accessories. I bored a hole through the door card material large enough for male wire connectors to pass through. To the 12V accessories, I added female wire connectors to the wire ends, expecting to put male connectors on the the colored wires I set up earlier. I verified I had plenty of the wire, but did not plug everything in. I just needed things ready-enough at this point.

 

Last, I wanted to prepare for the shelf physical mounting. During the test fittings up to this point, it was clear that the shelf was going to be much more stable than the earlier version. So, this shelf would not require mounting points other than at the ends and it was not going to wiggle-wobble as we drove around. I borrowed from the early Westfalia metal flashing I mentioned above by cutting a pair of 2-inch squares out of some scrap HVAC sheeting to fabricate little mounts for the ends of the shelf. The bits needed a little bending, a little filing, and a few holes bored through. I mounted the bits to the shelf with tiny screws, and then confirmed the fit to the bus. I marked and bored the holes into Hapy for install, but did not actually attach it. I will bring the shelf back out once the Mega Zorbe is installed. While it is out, I will attach trunk carpet, and maybe a thin layer of foam, to its top, so it is a more complete piece. I haven't decided if the rest of it will get a trunk carpet or headliner treatment. 

This is as far as I have gotten, and will get, until the Mega Zorbe is in and I have made a decision about a headliner. So, that's it for today. Thanks, as always, for following along-

Ceiling Wiring Rough In

With the interior of Hapy (1972 VW camperbus) pulled apart for noise control, it was a perfect opportunity to improve some of my earlier wiring decisions. Today's post covers the changes for the wiring that runs in the ceiling. There will be more posts on other parts of the electrical system later.

AWG

I think the first thing to consider when it comes to wiring, is what gauge wire to use. Most of my runs will be less than 5 meters, and very few, if any, of them will require even 10 amps. With this in mind, we consult the chart, and see that 14 gauge AWG (American Wiring Gauge) wiring would meet the need. I rounded up to 12ga and I bought a bundle. This bundle was 12 separate colored wires, each 25 feet long. Most of the wires will be feeding lamps, which draw, like, 1 amp. So, even if one run actually runs the full 25 feet, I am not terribly concerned about the wire health. In fact, I could add more lighting sources or an additional appliance (USB charger, eg) without really jeopardizing the wire health. Similar to car wiring, I set a color so I would know from looking at each end what it was for. The prior wiring had some joint bits in the middle so it might have started one color (most of the wires were red because I had a lot of it), but may have changed in the middle somewhere. That is an impossible state to trace, and I would have deserved a "DPO" label had I left things that way. With the new color scheme, I can be sure I have the right wire in hand. When combined with a fuse chart, following, fixing and effectively owning the wiring will be much easier.

 

I call out "AWG" because there are many vendors on the interwebs who will say their wire is "12 gauge", but not all gauges are alike. Their 12 gauge might be the AWG equivalent of 14 or even 16 AWG. One other consideration: copper coated aluminum wire is not the same thing as solely copper wire. Use aluminum, and/or a too-thin gauge and your vehicle will have a serious fire hazard. I encourage buying the right gauge or thicker and only use pure copper. It costs more, but the peace of mind is worth it.

What Where

I have added electrical stuff all over the place over the years in a thoroughly hap-hazard way. I considered each of them, plus I want to add some things. I have been wanting to improve the lighting for quite a while. We had the original dome light between the seat-backs, but it really doesn't provide enough light into the cab to be useful. So, it really doesn't get used. The light in the pop-top is great, and we use it fairly often when we are set up to camp. We also have the 1979 Westy 2-way light, but when I installed it, I put it where the old 1972 interior light was because it covered the hole in the wood headliner. This placed it off-center of the window which is really only an issue aesthetically. Similar to the pop-top light, it gets regular use when camping. There is no light further back into the sleeping area, and there is no light near the sliding door. With the re-wire, I intend to address all of these things.

To replace/improve the cab lighting, I will install a new dome light closer to the front of the cab. To create some lighting in the sleeping area, I will install a switchable light fixture on the rear ceiling. This light will also double as a light-source for the engine bay. Last, the 1979 Westy 2-way light will move a little further forward for aesthetics. In it's old location, it cast a shadow in front of the fridge cabinet. In the new location, the floor in front of that cabinet will be well-lit, without losing lighting into the fridge cabinet.

Last, the original dome light is getting moved to the ceiling near the front of the sliding door. So, when you open the slider, there is a low-intensity light we can flip on. This will help us getting in/out of the bus when it's super dark out. This switch has 2 positions (I'm calling them switch 1 and 2) originally designed so you could switch it from door operated to off to manually operated and back. In my implementation, switch 1 will turn on the original dome light as well as the dome lights I have mounted in the cab and in the sleeping area. No, the switch was not originally designed to do this, so I am modifying it. I'll post on that later. Switch 2 will only turn on the light by the slider. I thought there would be times when lighting up the entire bus from one switch might be useful.

The circuits, or should I say 12V consumers, I am considering from front to rear. I'm using letters so I don't pre-dispose myself on fuse numbering:

wire hole from above

a -* (grey) cab 12V accessory plug

b -* (purple) new cab dome light

c -  stereo <- will probably leave as-is or run under the floor

d -  amplifier for stereo - not wired yet, would probably follow stereo wire

e -* (white) original dome light switch 1

f -* (pink) original dome light switch 2<- will share pop-top light wire

g -* (pink) pop-top light

h -* (blue) 2-stage westy light

i -  furnace

j -  12V accessory plug by slider door

k -* (green) sleeping area dome light

l -* (orange) sleeping area USB charger ports - to be figured out

*: ceiling wired (wire color)

 

In the past, I had 3 wires running through the ceiling, but it was a total hack. I sent the wire bundle inside the Baltic Birch drop ceiling to the rear driver corner where it basically just dropped down along the inner wall, behind the rear-most window to the floor. From there, it ran forward to the fuse box under the rock-n-roll bed. This worked, but it looked pretty bad and the wires ran probably 5 meters longer than a direct path would take. And, I would catch the wires when loading/unloading gear. With the drop ceiling removed, I could see where the original VW/Westfalia wiring had been run along the top edge where the side wall meets the ceiling and it led me to my improved solution.

Implementing

original dome-light mount

The rear side of the B-pillar (directly behind the front doors) is hollow. In the top edge where stock wiring runs, there is a factory hole from the edge into the B-pillar. This is probably intended to route a sunroof drain or something. I used it to route the wires from the ceiling down along the front edge of the middle window and into the dead space under the window usually hidden by a door/body card. From there, the wire bundle runs rearward and around the old fridge cabinet to the fuse-box under the rock-n-roll bed. This path is considerably shorter, which reduces the opportunity for a wire to short as well as reduces the drop in amperage between the battery and the appliance simply because a shorter wire experiences less loss. I ran the wires one at a time, from below upward. I threaded the first wire by chasing bailing wire down from above first. To that wire, I duct-taped my first wire. Once it passed through the hole, I duct-taped the next wire to the first, and sent it up and through. I repeated versions of this until all 7 wires had passed through. I am not sure there is still room for another wire, if I need to send another, like, for the ambient temperature sensor for the furnace thermostat.

One point worth highlighting: all of the wires are intended to serve a single consumer except the dome lights. The pink wire will support the pop-top light and the original dome light when only that light is turned on, which has moved above the slider. I moved it because the most frequent need for light is when we enter that door, so having a switched light right there will be very useful. Why share? Neither light will draw much, and even if they are both on at the same time, the draw will be well below the limit for the size wire. The same goes for the other position (white wire), since those dome lights draw so little. Besides, that B-pillar pass-thru hole was getting crowded and the number of isolated wires is probably already overkill. When I think of how many fuses there are for the entire electrical system for Oliver (1978 MGB), this plan really feels like over kill.

At this point, I have not yet tied the wiring into the fuse box. Since I will be addressing the fuse box, luxury battery and, maybe, the old fridge circuitry later on, simply having the wires snaked from their termination points was sufficient. Let's call this the "electrical rough-in".

Well, that's it for today. This took me an entire weekend day just to get this far, though I also removed all of the old luxury wiring and that takes a little time too. I accept that I move slow and quality... well, snaking wires... takes time. Thanks, as always, for following along-