windguy

George - Welcome to the forum and congrats on your new to you TC. We'd all love to see pics of your new van. Wagon or Cargo model? There are a few other musicians on this forum. One posted recently but can't remember who it was. The load height on the TC is great. Also for sitting on the back tailgating or in my case changing into a wetsuit. Sure beats scrambling up on a pick-up tailgate. Enjoy!

Thanks Fifty150 - that's a good testimonial for Noco products. I decided to order a Noco GB40 with 1,000 amps, bumping up from the the GB20 with 400 amps, so I have extra power just in case. $100 at Amazon. PDF Spec sheet attached. I'll pick up a second one for my wife's car if this first one works out okay. The Noco GB40 does not come with a wall charger, only uses USB or 12VDC from the car battery. At first I really wanted to have a wall charger, but maybe that's just another part to fail, so I'm okay with using my phone's wall to USB adapter instead and a USB cable. Supposed to charge the battery pack in 2-4 hours with the Samsung charger. I'll report back after I get the unit. Appreciate everyone's input! Noco Genius GB40.pdf

Thanks GBL - appreciate your sage advise, as always.

@mike - great video, thanks for sharing. You're making good progress. What's next?

@fifty150 - thanks for all the info. Very helpful. Both car and van are 4-cylinder vehicles so I don't think I need a super heavy duty starter. A light-duty model should do the job. The Jump-N-Carry starters from Clore Industries look like decent products. They caught my eye earlier when searching around. I think the JNC311 model (500amp) will be robust enough for my needs. It's still beefier in size compared to smaller foot print models like the DBPower 600A starter but closer to the Noco Genius Boost line (400amp). Also has longer cables at 17" compared to 4-6" for the other models. Noco has 14" cables. Regarding questionable reviews on Amazon, when I can remember, I'll go to Fakespot.com to sniff out product reviews on Amazon. A few starter models got F grades, but most got B grades and a few got A grades, like the Jump-N-Carry and Noco Genius Boost models. Fakespot also shows you how many reviews were deleted by Amazon, which is very interesting in how they manipulate the perception of the product. Thanks!

Thanks Jiquay, good to know. My van use is in pretty mild climates. No sub freezing temps.

Anyone have a favorite battery jump starter they like? I have no experience in using something like this so I'm buying one blind. I'd like to get one for each car in case of a dead battery, more so if I'm in a remote location away from AAA type service or don't want to wait around for them for just a jumpstart. For the van it would be convenient to have a portable 12v source. I like the concept of having this available but at the same time it's got to work when I need it. I checked Amazon's offerings and it seems the Antigravity models (AG-XP-10 is $180) are pitched as being one of the original sources of these. Others are knock-offs and much less expensive, less than half that amount. None of them got stellar reviews. Battery cable clamp failures seem to be a common fault or just not working at all. The DBPower 600A model at $70 seems okay. Nice and compact. There are a bunch of other ones at the $70 price point with similar specs and ratings. Another poster recently showed a pic of a Noco Genius Boost GB40 and that's $100 and about twice the depth and weight of the DBPower model with a higher amp rating at 1,000 vs 600-800. Thanks!

Thanks Don. I searched on your part number and it's hard to find. The adhesive on the rear door plastic covers is clear and it seems very similar to some two sided tape I've worked with recently. High-tack but removable.

Thanks Guys! Appreciate the quick replies and advice. I'll let you know how it works out.

My sound proofing project is coming along nicely. So far the cargo area roof is done and the cargo floor area from behind the front seats to the back doors. Also added a little bit to the rear side panel as I had a small amount of 80mil Noico material left. The rest will be done with the remaining 50mil Kilmat. The van seems to be riding much quieter, or at least now I can hear where the noise is coming from where before it was just a big box of noise. I'm hoping once the doors are done it will reduce more road noise. I need a consult on how to sound proof the sliding doors. I thought they would be open like the rears doors, which had a plastic material glued on 3 of the 4 openings. Those plastic panels peeled off easily leaving some residue on the door. But when I removed the masonite panels for the sliders, there is a light foam cover on the major opening and it appears to have a pretty strong black adhesive/sealant around the edges. See the pic below. Should I take that off to gain access to the door skin to sound proof? I don't think this can be removed cleanly like the rear panels because the material seems like it would ripe very easily and the heavy duty sealant/adhesive used. I also don't think the foam material is doing a lot in terms of sound proofing but I could be wrong. It's a large surface area that maybe adding a lot of road noise. For the rear doors, I plan to use the 50mil butyl material and the second layer of 150mil foam pad cover. I also had a thought of making a few insulation bags using regular wall fiberglass insulation and stuffing it in a ziplock gallon size plastic bag like a small pillow and fitting that in the cavity to add extra sound proofing. I wouldn't add the insulation by itself due to moisture concerns. Any thoughts on doing something like that? Lastly, I'd like to put the rear door plastic covers back when I'm done to help keep it waterproof. I would need to apply some type of brush on adhesive. Any suggestions on an adhesive for that? The only adhesive I can think of is something like Weldon's contact cement. Thanks for the help!

You're getting close. You can almost smell the new car smell. I have the same configuration for my 2015. What color is yours? I thought the port of entry used to be in Maryland. Perhaps Ford moved operations to the port of Newark instead. I would image that there is some added delay in grouping the vehicles for rail transportation to regional hubs. For my order, it took exactly two months from the time it shipped from Spain until it arrived at the local dispatch in Los Angeles. Total wait from order to delivery was six months. It's worth the wait. Good luck!

That looks like the tow or recovery hook. My Gen 2 didn't come with one so I bought it from Ford parts. Your Gen 1 may be different. See the two threads linked below for more info: http://fordtransitconnectforum.com/topic/3188-towing-the-transit-connect/?tab=comments#comment-10317 http://fordtransitconnectforum.com/topic/5785-recoverytow-hook/?tab=comments#comment-17215

Your memory is better than mine. Please post some pics of your mods when you get a chance. Would love to see them. Do you recline the driver's seat or passenger? I tried my driver's seat today when I was working on the flooring and partition and the driver's seat never touches the partition when it's reclined to the max. Didn't think to try the passenger side so was curious which one you recline. It's great the partition is a modular design so you can chose with pieces to leave in or take out. I removed all the pieces today to do some sound proofing on the open floor area. I need to pick up the pace to keep up with Mike's work.

Thanks for another interesting video. You're making progress. Slow down the pace though cause you're making me look lazy.

Congrats on your new TC. That's a cool pic and design. Good concept. Sorry about your loss of a leg. You seem to have a good perspective on life and that's great to see. Looking forward to seeing what you can do with your van.

@Mike - welcome to the forum and congrats on your new TC. To make it official we need to see a pic of the van.

All sounds good. Sounds like you spend a lot of time behind the wheel. It's a very nice van to cruise in except for the road noise, which I'm hoping to reduce with sound proofing.

My 2015 Cargo Van built end of October 2014 and delivered Jan 2015 came in as a wagon model. Visible proof where the seat belts were attached and touched up with paint, not very well.

@mike chell Nice work so far. Great videos. Thanks for sharing. Regarding the cargo mat issues, I started a thread on that after I got my van in Jan 2015. http://fordtransitconnectforum.com/topic/3154-cargo-mat-for-van-models/?tab=comments#comment-9363 I too found the mat had this strange tack to it and it was too spongy for my needs. I ended up adding a 5/8" sheet of plywood as an overlay and covered that with grey carpet from Home Depot, sold off of their bulk roll selection. Worked out pretty nice so far. I also discovered this "hidden cavity" early on and there wasn't much info on the forum about it. Since then, many forumites have recaptured this storage area both on wagon and cargo van models customizing it for their particular needs. Some of that discussion is in the same cargo mat thread. Not sure if you are aware that the cargo van is shipped to the port of entry in Maryland as a wagon model with seats/belts, windows, etc to avoid the chicken tax on commercial vehicles. Processing center strips that all away and converts it to a cargo van. That's why you have such a modular shelf added to extend the cargo area above where the passenger seat and foot well would go. Easy to put in and remove. It's a very sturdy solution since the van is spec'd to carry a decent load. Shame that the van doesn't have adequate storage compartments and this area is wasted for the sake of a modular design by Ford. Same for the rear panels on the sides. Not optimized for storage. I recently started making mods to my van after dwelling and discussing it for three years. You're moving a lot fast than I am. Interesting that you have vinyl flooring and I have carpet in mine that extended all the way back as your did. How you use this area is very much based on how you use your van. Your design is similar to another poster. Link below. He did a great job in customizing his van. Check out his awesome videos. http://fordtransitconnectforum.com/topic/6110-2016-tc-xlt-lwb-wagon-project-mtn-bikerdog-haulercamper/ For my needs, I need to have an level flooring area front to back for windsurf boards and loading trash cans for hauling wood chips and gardening items. My tentative plan is to keep the original framing except for the flat cover. This will provide a robust level flooring that I need but give me access to the storage area for items I rarely use but need to travel with. I will add some type of door for access and possible LED lights in the well so I can see what's down there. So far I have removed all the decking, cut back the carpet to the trailing edge of those foam inserts that level off the floor under the seats, and then I put the decking back except for the shelf piece. I'll add sound proofing material next, soon I hope. I need to keep the van usable most of the time so right now the plywood deck was put back but that can be pulled back to work on the storage area. Please keep us posted on your progress.

Welcome to the forum and congrats on your new TC. I'll address your cargo mat question in your other post.

Thanks Don. I don't see an AJB in my cargo van. Pic below. After GBL's comment, I did some checking and it appears there is a consensus that tap-splice connectors have some level of being unreliable. I will make a solder connection instead and keep it simple. Thanks for the help!

Thanks mrtn. I best fire up the solder iron to make sure it's still working.

Okay, thanks GBL.

Yes, that was my initial thought, but I will follow your advise and use a tap-splice fitting. Never considered the vibration part - good point. For my other connections, I bought a crimper/stripper tool and a set of crimp terminals and some heat shrinking. Tried out a few and they seem to work nicely. Thanks for the consult.

Thanks for the help Don. Will pull the fuse to do the electrical work. I noticed that Home Depot stocks a tap-splice solution that looks like it will do the same job and costs a little less. Using these is probably better than my original thought of cutting the wire and using a standard twist wire connector to join all three wires together. I have plenty of those available but it's kind of crude and not as clean looking, if that matters. https://www.homedepot.com/p/Gardner-Bender-22-10-AWG-Tap-Splice-Assortment-5-Case-15-2210/202522123 I bought the 12VDC outlet linked below. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B018WZI0P6/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 I must have spent hours looking at all the combo outlet and switch options but couldn't find exactly what I wanted. My preference is to have the outlet mounted like the other side, on top of the side panel but a little further back perhaps. The switches I'm adding will be near the rear door, driver's side, above the opening in the panel for the jack. I bought the 3 switch panel shown below. https://www.rvupgradestore.com/Multi-Purpose-Single-Rocker-Triple-Switch-Black-p/19-0160.htm Spent hours looking at all those options too. Crazy. One switch is for the outlet, the other for the rear lights and the third for the lights in the middle area. I also got a single switch that will be mounted just inside the driver's side slider on the edge of the panel to control the middle area lights. Both switches will control the same middle set of lights but not in a 3-way configuration, which isn't really necessary for this install. I'll make a separate post showing all this at some point with other mods I'm making. Just trying to work out some details so I can round up all the necessary parts.