Those grab handles look really good!

Working down the walls, I started making panels covered in headliner to finish out the pillars between windows. Starting at the rear of the van, the rear left pillar has a cut-out for a rear storage area charging panel.


Rear left pillar panel


The rear right pillar has some extra space since it doesn't have HVAC ducting running through it unlike the left side, so this panel would get a storage cubby built in. The framing for the cubby admittingly looks rather ugly, but it just needs to form a shape for the panel to conform to.

Rear right panel framing

Rear right panel ready for cubby cabinet insert


Now with both rear pillars complete, I could install the headliner panel over the rear storage area. This panel would hide the rear sound bar speaker and include two cabin lights.


Rear ready for headliner panel

Rear headliner panel with lights installed


Moving on to the middle c-pillars. These pillars would have flexible reading lights mounted to them. All the panel would need in preparation for these lights would be a hole large enough for the wiring, with their terminals, to fit through. The lights mount to the panel with hidden screws.





I only needed to make a b-pillar panel for the left side since the side doors are on the right side and the factory trim was all that was needed for that side. The left side b-pillar snugs up to the factory trim that hides the driver's seat belt and it also hides a lot of vertical wiring, so this panel can be removed with a few visible screws in case any future work needs to be done.



All pillar panels installed

 

Before I would continue moving down the van walls, I had exposed upper cubby framing to hide, plus those upper cubbies would not be very useful without doors to keep their content in while driving.

I first made a face frame out of maple for each bank of cubbies. It took a little work to get the frame to conform to the sloping ceiling. I test fit them until I was happy with the fitment, then I took them back into the shop to make doors and stain and finish them.



Upper cubby face frames dry fit (only left side shown)


I used leather pulls for the cubby doors since I didn't want something hard sticking out of the walls at head height, plus I think they looks pretty good with the stained wood. The middle cubby doesn't get a door, but a fixed panel to hide the wiring. A switch in this panel operates the cubby lights for that bank of cubbies.


Finished upper cubby frames and doors




The cubby lights turned on

 

At this time I was almost done with the upper parts of the interior with the exception of the front and rear cabinet face frames and doors.
Starting with the rear cabinet, I made a headliner-wrapped box to give the interior of the rear cabinet a finished look. I left access ports for the rear brake lights and reverse camera and ports on either side for HVAC ducting and wiring access. There are a few of those small LED lights built in that would get wired up to a magnetic reed switch, so when the door to the cabinet was opened, the lights would come on.



Upper rear cabinet's interior finished

The door and face frame installed. I used the same leather handle pulls. This storage cubby is large enough for a couple of pillows or life vests (examples from experience).

Rear cabinet finished


The front cabinet would get a similar treatment but would have two doors instead of one and include a mounting bracket for the 20" monitor/TV.

Front upper cabinet finished


I made the door on the left for the electronic cabinet with louvers to facilitate airflow and ventilation. Also, this cabinet does not get lights which come on with the door opening.
The right cabinet gets a solid door and lights controlled by magnetic reed switch.
I used a simple TV wall-mount bracket for the monitor and made some custom brackets for the soundbar speaker.

 

Taking a break from the interior and moving back to the exterior.

This conversion van, like most I've seen, originally came with composite running boards that covered the entire bottom of the van. A previous owner had removed these running boards which I was fine with since I'm not a huge fan of how those looked, however, I could see the benefit of having some sort of step to help getting in and out of the van.

I did some searching and found a set of aftermarket running boards that I liked. It was the perfect time to install since I still had full access to the floor pans and foot wells. These running boards could be installed entirely from underneath, but having access from above would make it that much easier.
I didn't get any photos of the install. but it was straight forward following the included instructions.




These running boards work really well and look better than the standard conversion van composite boards (IMHO)

 

All this time working inside the van on the uneven metal floor was getting a little old, especially when kneeling or sitting, so I was eager to move on to finishing the floor.
I already had heavy adhesive-backed aluminum placed throughout the van's floor, inside door panels, and sides. The thought behind these is that they deaden the "tinny" sound of the sheet metal. The next step is covering the floor with a thicker sound and thermal deadening material. I ended up getting some Siless Liner 157 mil (4 mm) material off Amazon and started covering all of the floor, inside door panels, and wherever I could reach the outer shell.



Pressing the material to conform to the metal was surprisingly satisfying and even with just this layer of material down, the floor was already feeling softer and was noticeably quieter. With the new step bars in place, I could also cover the foot well areas with this material.




The sound deadening and thermal insulation was a great start to making the van's interior more comfortable, but now it was time to lay down a layer of foam. I had kept the foam that I tore out and decided there was no reason not to reuse it. A benefit was that this foam already accounted for the ribbed floor and provided a nice flat surface.

The final component of the floor is the carpet. My wife and I had discussed a few different floor types and she wanted a nice plush carpet, something she could run her bare feet through and feel comfy with, so it was time to go shopping. We found a carpet that we liked that had an integrated foam backing, so I purchased a 14 foot long (by 12 feet wide) section and brought it home. I used the old carpet as a template, but cut the new one extra large - leaving a few extra inches on each side.


Foam underlayment down, now fitting the carpet


It didn't take long to fit the carpet and had it secured down in little time. A little carpet adhesive sprayed here and there would hold it down enough before the seat bases and wall panels would lock it in place. I added carpet over the wheel wells, but the new carpet was thicker than the old, so I had some difficulty having it conform to the rounded shape without showing seams. Eventually, I thought it was "good enough" (I needed to get this van finished after all) and these would be mostly hidden under the rear bench seat.


Most of the carpet in place


I also had enough carpet left over to make a few floor mats. I used a roll of rug border fabric to finish the mats and keep the edges from fraying.
Finally, at this point I had decided that I wouldn't be using the oem center console, so I had removed it from the dog house, wrapped the dog house with lots of the Siless insulation, and finally covered it with carpet. All these layers definitely helped reduce the amount of engine noise in the cabin.


Carpet and floor mats installed

 

With the carpet in place, I could now finish the lower wall panels. I first used some cardboard to create templates to fit around the wheel humps and to mark the locations of the cubbies and I/O panels.


Using cardboard for templates


These bottom walls are made from maple plywood stained with the same mahogany gel stain as the rest of wood work.


Lower wall panels in place, now to work on the cubbies and seat I/O panels


Out of the four primary lower cubbies, I started with the rear right cubby. This one would hold emergency tools (jack, tire iron, etc). This particular cubby has a hidden extension that goes above the wheel hump to accommodate the long tire iron and jack handle. In order to get the cubby unit to fit, I had to trim away some of the lower wall panel, but this was not an issue since some trim will cover it.



Rear cubby with jack, jack handle, and tire iron


The next cubby to tackle would be the "trickiest," the media center. This cubby would not really have much storage, but would house the HDMI switch, media PC, a cooling fan, and several more audio/visual and electrical components. Most of these components would be hidden behind the cubby enclosure, but the HDMI switch and Media PC needed to be easily accessed and within line of sight for remote control.



Media cabinet done (except door for lower portion)


The other two lower wall cubbies were strictly for storage and are behind the middle seats.
The last parts to finish are the "window sills" which cap the lower walls and provide cup holders and a little bit of additional storage. I pre-made each sill unit, once again out of maple, and test fit them before removing, staining, sealing, and installing.


Unit ready for stain and finish



Right side window sill unit with unique I/O panel for middle right seat

 

The build at this point has come a long way with the interior inching closer to completion and most mechanical issues and maintenance items had been successfully addressed. There was one nagging issue though, the vague steering and "wandering van syndrome." It was about this time that I decided to take a break from working on the interior and try to find a solution for this.

After a lot of research, it became apparent that tackling the front-end alignment would be necessary. Before working on alignment, though, I also wanted to address one more component of the front-end suspension: the coil springs. The current springs seemed tired and worn, so I purchased some higher-rated springs (Moog CC81370) and swapped those out. Then, I purchased some adjustable camber/caster bushings and installed those and dialed those in.


Old and new coil springs side-by-side

Camber/caster bushing


I won't do an extensive write up of this since I made a post about it a year ago. Full details can be found in that post
https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...ing-issue.html

I can provide an update a year after these updates. For the most part, everything is working great. Fixing the alignment and providing slightly stiffer springs really helped with how the van drives, especially on the interstate. I can now "keep up with the flow of traffic" and feel comfortable at those speeds, even when the speed limit is 80. The one thing that has not been perfect and will require future attention is that those adjustable bushings seem to slowly re-adjust on their own, even with the pinch bolt torqued down over spec.

I think I will end up removing those bushings and weld them so that they are no longer adjustable. Then weld a little tab on the side that fits in the slot in the spindle so that the outer bushing cannot rotate within the spindle.

 

Thank you for posting this.
Your van is turning out spectacular.
I "converted" an E250 several years ago, was a plumbing cargo.
Much effort to just clean it.
New motor, tranny, tons of break and suspension work later...
It works, but I am jealous and thrilled with your build.

In a couple of years, I may attempt to do something as nice.

Keep up the good work.

 

Wow, sounds like you had quite the project with all the work you've done. I'm kind of jealous of your E250 platform, would love the beefier suspension and more ground clearance.

 

The van's interior has been coming along quite nicely, but the lack of center console was getting tiresome, especially when looking for a place to put a cup when in the driver's seat. It was time to make a center console.
I made a mental checklist of what features I wanted in a center console:

1. Fit between the front seats much like a traditional center console found in trucks and SUVs
2. Have at least 4 cup holders so each front occupant would have 2 available to them
3. Plenty of storage in a main console bin
4. Additional storage in smaller areas with the hope that items would have basic sorting so that everything isn't just thrown in one chaotic pile
5. Some sort of lighting
6. Power and I/O ports similar to the rest of the seats
7. It needs to be easy to remove for when access to the dog house is needed

I started by taking some measurements, then started making a 3D cardboard mock-up. When I got the cardboard template fitting nicely in the van, I started drawing on it, to scale, the way the console would be constructed.


Cardboard template


The center console's structure would be made from plywood which would then be covered with either headliner fabric, foam rubber, or finished maple.



Console plywood structure


This console would attach to the metal base which I had previously installed in the van floor. Four star bolts secure the console to the base plate. I had to do something about all the wiring that would connect to the console through this base plate, so I terminated all of them in a 12 pin plug wiring harness so everything could be unplugged with one harness when the console needs to be removed. The one cable I couldn't include in the wiring harness was the HDMI cable, so that has its own plug next to the harness.


Base with wiring


The top of the center console is made of 2 layers, the first is plywood which has a few small LED lights and grooves cut into it to accommodate the necessary wiring. The top layer is maple.


The 2 layers of the console top


Finally, I made a small I/O panel at the front of the center console that has a 12V receptacle, 120V AC receptacle, an HDMI input, a USB A and USB C charger with voltmeter (shows voltage of the leisure battery) and an on/off switch, and finally, a headphone jack (on the side towards passenger seat). I also made two phone holders that allow a phone to be supported while plugged in. The foam rubber backing does a fantastic job of providing enough friction to hold a phone even when the van is going down a really rough road.



Console ready to be installed


And here is the center console installed. I have yet to make a lid for the main bin and add some padding on the arm rest portions, but I really like how the console turned out and it has been incredibly handy, especially compared with the console that originally came with the van.




Center console installed!

 

Summer of 2024 was nearly over and I wanted to make use of the heat for a preventative maintenance project I had put off: undercoating the van. I had purchased am undercoating kit from Woolwax that included 5 gallons of their product (in black), a spray gun, and various nozzles and extensions. The summer heat helps keep the product from thickening so it sprays easier.

A day before I pressure washed underneath the van the best I could. Then I drove it up on ramps and used compressed air to blow any remaining loose debris out. I did my best to spray the oily product inside any enclosed body panels or frame members. I had a couple cans of Fluid Film for areas like the seams at the bottom of doors and anywhere else where the slightly thinner Fluid Film would flow better.

It was an incredibly messy job but well worth it. Rust is one of my biggest worries about my vehicles ever since my 2005 F150's body started rusting away. Since the van was relatively rust-free, I wanted to keep it that way. I'll have to reapply every year, but checking the van out now, there are only a few minor spots that will need retouching, the vast majority of the undercarriage is still covered by the Woolwax.

Before

After

I didn't spray exhaust or transmission

 

Little work was done on the van for the rest of 2024 and the first couple of months of 2025, but a planned summer road trip spurred me to finish a few projects that needed completion. My short list of projects included:

• Door panels
• Rear upper cubby
• Sun visors
• Puddle lamps
• "Spare tire" storage box
• Radiator replacement
• Painting hood and fiberglass high top

The last main interior work that needed done was finishing the door panels. I did not touch the 2 front doors, though at some time it would be nice to update the OEM panels so they match the rest of the interior. So the side and rear barn doors would get custom panels. The plan was to use maple plywood, stained to match the rest of the interior maple, and incorporate some of the following, depending on door:

1. Built-in storage
2. Additional door handles
3. Convenience features

Rear Doors
The rear left door would have a storage pocket and a cup holder which slides out. I also added a pull handle to help close the door from the inside.
The rear right door also got a handle and a flip-up table. The table has proven extremely useful and I would do again in a heartbeat.


Rear door panels


Side Doors
The primary side door gets a storage cubby that conforms to the oddly shaped door cavity. It's big enough to store a couple pairs of shoes which is handy after hiking or playing in the sand and you don't want the interior to get nasty.






The secondary door gets a storage bin, a tethered magnet that can be used to "prop" the door open, and a surface-mounted cup holder and cubby unit that gives the middle right seat occupant some much-needed space to store their stuff. Once again, I added a handle to this door to aid in closing it from within.

 

One of the first things I purchased after bringing the van home was a spare tire carrier that installs on one of the rear doors. The van did not come with a spare tire and I did not think one would fit with the aftermarket hitch in the way. When I got new tires for the van and now had a full-size spare, I was surprised to find that the spare did in fact fit in the stock spare tire carrier under the van. So now I had a spare tire rack mounted to the rear left door, what to do with it?

I decided to turn my mistake into an opportunity for more storage space. I was waffling between making a custom circular storage box or purchasing a more traditional rectangular one, but my wife chimed in and expressed her dislike of how the rectangular boxes looked, so the custom circular box won out.

I planned to make the box a similar size as a wheel with tire, so about 29" in diameter. This way it would fit on the rear door without restricting the door operating, it would visually match the size of the tires on the van, and it could be covered by a spare cover.

I had a couple of scrapped iPad carts I saved from the dumpster at work, and their shelves were nearly perfect for the box's sides. I used a metal cutting blade in a circular saw to rip the shelves down to about 8" width. Then cut a circle out of an old air handler cabinet for the box's back. I could then hand bend the sides to match the back and tack weld them together. I left a small gap at the bottom to allow any water that would inevitably get inside the box to drain.

Welding the sheet metal was a bit tricky and it took a little while before it was going smoothly without burning through the metal. I was happy with how it was turning out, but keep in mind I am not a welder, but nevertheless, the box was structurally sound. Once the walls were bent and welded to the back, I cut a piece of 1/2" plywood to reinforce the back and to give something to mount things to.



So far the box has cost nothing as it this was all scrap!


I used 4 u-bolts to mount the box to the tire carrier and test mounted it before making the front of the box. This way I had full access to the inside of the box to fine-tune the mounting hardware placement.



Test fitting the box to ensure it did not hit the tail lamps with door open


Now onto the front of the box. My plan was to weld in a bottom section that covers about 1/3 of the circle, then a smaller top section which would provide more structural rigidity and a place for the lock to engage. I used some extra strips of metal to reinforce these areas. Finally, I welded 3 hinges onto the bottom section.



Front of box ready for door


Finally, I made a door by cutting a section of old shelving to fit the opening, then welded sides onto it that overlap the sides of the box. I drilled a hole for a file cabinet style lock, then first bolted, then welded the door to the hinges. When everything was working well, I cleaned it all up, primed it, and painted it two tone. The green is the same as the van and I chose Ford's Harvest Gold B2 for the secondary color: trying it out for a possible color change for the van's two tone scheme.





Hiding in plain sight: most people will never know that this is a storage box and not a spare tire


I then added some chains to retain the door in the open position and added some more foam-backed rubber to provide a no-slip surface.




I consider the storage box a big success. It's first use was on our summer road trip where it held mostly camping equipment, including a butane stove, several butane canisters, some folding stools, jumper cables, an extension cord to plug the van in to use the 120v AC outlets while parked, a camping cooking and dining set, and tent poles and stakes.


Just some of the stuff stored in the box on its maiden voyage

 

Now that tire carrier storage is fantastic, I always hated carrying the stove and fuel inside.

 

When I wired up the van, I included a lighting circuit controlled by the door switches. So far, all I had were terminal ends under all the doors, so it was time to finish the "Puddle Lamps" circuit by adding the lights.

The first problem to solve was where to mount the lights. For the front and side doors, the running boards offered a convenient mounting location. For the rear doors, I would have to create a custom bracket to mount the lights to. With the locations settled on, I then had to come up with how I would mount the lights to the underside of the running boards. I came up with some simple metal plates. At first, I tried mounting these plates directly to the metal step bars but I found that the stainless steel of the step bars was incredibly hard to drill pilot holes into, so I ended up using some blocks of wood which would clamp the metal brackets to the underside of the running boards.


Puddle lamps mounted to right side running board

Rear puddle lamp bracket ready to mount


These lights come on anytime any door is open. They cast a nice soft yellow light (the photos make it look a lot more orange than it really is). The only thing I would change if doing it again would be add a delay relay to keep the lights on for ~30 seconds or so after the doors are closed, but that's a pretty minor thing. It would also be nice to tie it in with the remote lock circuit so that the lights would come on if the door locks were remotely unlocked, but once again, that's a minor point and at this time not worth the work to implement.


Rear bracket installed

View of rear puddle lamps