Good point Ken. I think he would need to insulate at the very least if he were to start from a cargo van. I live in the South, so air conditioning concerns are important to me but I can remember cold days driving a cargo van that was parked outside, having a wave of cold air wash over me every time I stoped untill it warmed up. In the summer I keep the first two air conditioning vents in the roof pointed forward so, as you said, the practicality of his plan may depend on his local climate.

Gene

 

Thanks a ton for all the good advice! Yes, if I did a Quigley conversion I'd probably do a new one, since then I could get all my desired options. The use of this van would be primarily personal, though some pro use might happen at some point depending on what I'm involved in. Glad to know the V10 gets close to the same mileage as the V8, as I was hoping so and hoping to get that power level. I don't expect to be able to make a diesel worthwhile.

The bulkhead idea is a really great one, thanks! I was thinking in terms of decking out the inside with easy access spaces for equipment and such.

 

Another point to add about the rear seat(s).

One thing I wish conversion vans had that passenger vans generally do is easily removable seats. The seats in my van are bolted through the floor of course, but only the rear bench can (somewhat) be easily swapped out as needed because I can get to the bolts from top and bottom. The middle captain's chairs however, require the gas tank the exhaust to be dropped to access the underside bolts. So naturally, once removed (I had to use a grinder to grind off the bolt heads) they aren't going back in anytime soon...

I bring this up because it's ocassionally nice to have the full length of the interior to haul stuff. Even with my standard van, I have 10' clear to the front seats and can fit a 12' board up to the doghouse when needed. Were I to be starting more from scratch, I'd make sure the center seat is easily removed and reinstalled without having to do major surgery... If I was getting an extended van, I'd even look into making the front passenger seat removable as then a 16' long board might just fit and still be able to shut the rear doors.

Additionally, for this reason I'd be wary of installing a bulkhead... IMO, the A/C in these vans is pretty good. Some years ago (when the a/c actually worked) I was doing a bike ride in full DH gear (kinda like full moto leathers) at a local resort in 100 degree heat. Dripping with sweat after the ride, I got into the van, started it up turned on the a/c full-blast and the whole van was cooled down within a few minutes (also helps I swear by my windshield heat deflector).

Just some more food for thought... If I can't have the van that I want, I may as well attempt to live vicariously through you.

 

Re; the seats, yes, my conversion van quad buckets never came out, even though I wanted them to. So I bot a trailer. But my SD Clubwagon has quick release seat hold downs on all 4 rows of bench seats. But good GAWD man those seat weigh a ton each, and then there's still a big metal cleat sticking up in the floor X4 for each row. So a $8 star wrench bit later, and I had the front row mounts out. I wanted to move the rear 4 wide bench up, but every seat has a different mounting pattern, so they go in order, or not at all. You can't make your 15 pass into a 12 pass, only an 11 pass with the rearmost seat out (like all the rollover experts suggest), or a 12 pass with no front row bench (which all the rollover experts say to not do). Which actually I like pretty well, since I haul 3 soccer teams around and the space is great for soccer bags, pillows and other things teenaged girls have to take everywhere. It also gave room to access the roof mounted TV and X-Box and DVD player mounted under the drivers seat. The front bench is pretty close normally, the TV was 6" in front of the left passengers face in that bench. When I say soccer teams I'm talking about 5 to 10 max girls, aged 11, or 13 or sometimes 18, but 18 year olds are 110 pounds, and normally drive themselves so we would never risk loading up the weight capacity of our van. I have seen all the videos, I have read all the stuff, I bet I can flip any car built. I've had my 15 pass sideways in a 4 wheel drift, it didn't roll. But I am darned careful with kids, my kids, your kids, any kids.

I'm an ex-mx'er, what is DH gear ? I was privileged enough to race the old Barstow to Vegas hare and hound many years ago. In those days the organizers would light a giant pile of tires as a marker across the desert, then use lime to mark the course. I went Barstow to Husqvarna WR in a big cloud of dust, and we were both out before the smoke marker, but man it was fun. I had a Falcon van in those days, pre-econoline model, Ken

 

I used to race downhill mountain bikes, now semi-retired (got tired of getting hurt). Usually held at ski resorts during the off-season - courses are usually run through the woods between slopes. Steep, techincal riding: drops, rock gardens, roots, etc. The bike has nearly as much in common with a MX than a bicycle - 7" to 8" of travel is typical, some as much as 12" - and can costs about as much as a MX too... I wear a lot of protective clothing. I wore armor made by Dainese underneath MX pants and jersey. Some guys wear MX roost gear. I bought my van to use for toting around the bikes and camping at races.

 

You can make your 15 pass into a 12 pass. I did it by moving the 4 seat bench up one row. I am utilizing the existing driver side brackets for row 3 for that side, and I repositioned the Passenger side brackets out board to line up with the 4 seater benches attach point. I used a Thick steel plate (available at any hone improvment place) as a floor doubler to make sure I had a solid mount. The holes for the two Passenger side brackets were easy to drill and easily accessible from below. Now I ahve 12 pas capacity and storage in the rear. If you are concerned about the 4 seat bench needing to use the monster brackets that are stock, you can reposition those forward as an alternative. I think some of teh mounting holes on the driver side actually line up with that bracket as well except there are six bolts holding each of those brackets in.

 

I thought about doing all that, but my kids are little, and few. So I pulled out the first row for space, when I do haul 7 or 8 they're usually 11 year olds, and no more than two in the back row. What I really want is recaro's all the way back, but buying 10-12 recaros may be a little expensive ? Ken

 

There's a guy in California on eBay regularly selling vans with center aisle and 10 captain's chairs. I don't know what kind on miles are on them or how much he's asking but I have seen them listed on there more than once