[xeres]

Winter is coming so I have been gathering the parts necessary to convert the Eurovan GLS to an MV (and someday, I hope, a Weekender).  We pulled out the rear seat/bed, frame including every bolt plus the rails and supporting cargo boxes from a 1993 MV. I also pulled the side trim panel for the table and the trim around the window as well.

The rails & frame have been sanded, primed and painted. The plastic back of the trim panel was a bit cracked so that required some repair also. Parts are now sitting in the cabin and I await the wonderful CaveVan flooring (just ordered it tonight!).

He has a question – he was reading somewhere on the interwebs that when the bed is in the down position there is hardware to lock the bed in place. Is this true and if so, what is it? Does any one have a picture? We pulled everything we could (including the longer rear catches).

My question is how much of the '93 interior can I use in the '02 – specifically, can the rear left interior panel (around the wheel well) be swapped in? (the non AC side).  I can see that the rear AC unit would interfere on the right side. Can the rear door/hatch panel be swapped in? Would the front passenger door panel work?  I confess it is a bit OCD to want the interior to be uniform (I know it will function no matter what color). Parts vans are hard enough to find much less vans with tan interiors (and I like the grey better).

I did mention this van was a salvage title? 

[Itsamoto]

Awesome - love this type of thread! Please take lots of pictures and share the knowledge! 

[Cole]

The rear driver's side trim panel will swap in fine. This way you don't end up with the GLS parcel shelf mounts.

Here is a GLS to Weekender before the panel was swapped. You can see the GLS shelf mounts on the left.



The front door panels will not swap. They look the same, but they are not.

The table needs the metal support bar and table leg mount to be cut free from the donor van.

The rear bed just hits bump stops and latches at the end of this rails to hold it in place.

You will need to drill holes for the new seat/bed rails and weld nuts to the underside of the chassis. This way the rails are secure and can be removed later by one person if needed. The spots for the holes are already punched in the floor.

You will need to make a wood subfloor for the bed to roll on easily. The wood floor from the donor van won't work. The 1993 door opening is a different size.(larger).

Here you can see a front MV/Weekender wood floor stripped of its top thin carpet layer. Notice the rear seat mounts out by the edges.

The rear section here still had the thick all carpet GLS flooring. You can see the seat mount cut outs for the GLS rear seat.



Just take out your existing carpet and use it as a pattern on some 1/4" plywood to make a wood subfloor. The CaveVan vinyl can then be glued down to that. I can leave all the seat mount holes uncut at the moment so that you can fine tune it to your floor and swap.

Good luck! Sounds like a fun project! Post pictures.

This van was a GLS to Weekender conversion FWIW

[xeres]

@ Itsamoto
I am taking pictures of all the prep work. Once we begin working on the van itself, I'll start another thread. No doubt we'll make some mistakes along the way and help others avoid them!

@ cole
That's good to know about the passenger door (I was sorely tempted to pull it when we were at the salvage yard). Of course, It was a very hot day, time was short and >smacking self on forehead< and it just didn't register when I took this photo of the donor van:

[Cole]

The bottom bracket (circled in red) is only about 8" long. It's basically just 1" angle iron. So I wouldn't really take the effort to cut it out since the wood floor prevents full access.

What I wold cut out is the "U" shaped piece on that bracket that holds the table. Weld that piece to a new piece of angle iron welded to that spot in the van with the appropriate measurements.

The area  circled in green is a mounting bar that is about 3' long. It's painted the color of the van body and easy to miss. Its welded in at each end. You will have to drill out these welds to get the bar out.

Good luck! Enjoy.

[chrslws]

Pardon me for bringing this from the dead. Cole, I know you have done the GLS to MV conversion with the table install without having the donor support bracket for the top of the table. Did you take measurements of the positioning of the hinge bits you installed? I'm at this step on my GL to MV conversion and don't have the donor brackets. I could try to source some, I guess, but am tempted to at least attempt with some homemade brackets.

[Cole]

I could sell you the bracket 😜



I didn’t keep any measurements. I just fabricated and welded  it on the fly when installing the panel.

[chrslws]

How much for the table brackets, Cole?

[chrslws]

I ended up just winging it and welding in some L brackets from home improvement big box to use as hinges. It's almost perfect, but the table hangs just a little off and the wall latch doesn't quite catch. I'm gonna adjust the hinges a touch and try to get it perfect, but overall, I'm happy with it.

[mark burgin]

Good luck with your project. Could you or someone else post closeup pictures of curtains. Especially where the curtain hooks are attached to the curtains. My 2002 weekender did not have curtains when I bought it. i have the sliders and have hooks on order from bus depot. The seamstress from the place I"m buying fabric wants me to show him closeup pictures thanks