Taking the plunge--under the cargo deck

[Chip]

Inspired by Mike Chell's 2018 thread, and coveting the more than 6 cubic feet of storage space Ford hid under the cargo deck, I took the plunge and removed the deck hiding the second row foot well. I'm looking for ideas on how best to finish off the hole. One thought is to build a new deck that is level with the existing deck and add hatches to get to the under storage. I may end up doing that, but it seems I'll want insulation and a neater bottom than just the bare metal, so a floor seems imperative.

 

An aside: I had read that the Government changed their import tariffs that motivated Ford to import Connects as passenger vans, and that Ford no longer did this. Below is a photo of the front matting that extends to the second row. This mat is under the deck. You can clearly see there are threaded holes with the paint gone, and scratch marks near the locator holes, so it is obvious this 2021 van, purchased new as a cargo van, once had a second row of seats. Does Ford just throw those second row seats away? Or perhaps they are shipped back to Europe to put into the next shipment of "cargo" vans.

 

Back to the topic: Now that I've got that hole, I'm trying to figure out what to do next. My current thinking is to just install a floor on top of the lateral beam (the side-to-center pieces with multiple sets of three holes). I'm going to cut the mat further forward, to where the threaded, bolt hole is at the forward edge of the door opening, so I can secure a wood beam to those threaded bolt holes. I can bolt my new floors to the top of the lateral beam using the bolt holes for the second-row seat mounts. I think I need to add some blocks at the rear wall, either just on the floor or glued to the wall. I think the floor and wall are exterior under surfaces, so don't want to drill.

 

I'll bend the current floor mat, which has about an inch of foam under it, down to cover the front-facing wall. My thought it that will help with noise and thermal insulation. Seems like glue will be the way to attach the matting. Hope it doesn't dissolve the foam under the matt.

 

Speaking of insulation, I'm going to want some insulation under the new floor boards. Was considering using spray foam but I understand that stuff needs air to  cure and it doesn't seem like it will get much air down in that pan with a wood floor over it. I guess I can just stuff the cavity with fiberglass, building insulation. Would you consider using sawdust? Custom cut the jig-saw style foam flooring? Any recommendations?

 

 

 

[windguy]

@chip - there are a bunch of different threads on this forum regarding this type of mod.

Just a question of how you want to customize it for your needs.

 

Below is a link where I posted some pics of what I did to capture this space.

It's a great project and you'll have fun with it. Well worth the effort.

 

I have a sheet of plywood covering the deck, which is carpeted.

I removed the foam insulation sheet that was glued to the underside of the vinyl mat and put that under the plywood for both noise abatement and to smooth out the valleys in the deck.

 

 

Edited September 2, 2022 by windguy

[JackGrimshaw]

Like Wind guy,I also used the foam for insulation and installed a piece of angle cross ways behind the seats(using existing holes) and 2 hinged plywood doors to create a (not so) secret compartment.

This created an area right behind the seat for my permenant collection of stuff and I built a plywood box in the rear for temporary hauling.

 

The hinged plywood piece to the right serves as a head board and can be folded down for a sleeping platform

[Chip]

JackG, I like the way you recaptured that curved depression next to the rear door post. You took a largely useless space and made something out of it.

 

I see you reused the door threshold/step-in. I've been thinking of replacing the threshold with a 5" wide board, but might end up with pieces of the original threshold, like you did.

 

I'm shooting to put in a floor such as yours. I've got some boards cut to length that I will join to make the deck. The deck will be bolted to the holes for the seat mounts, if I can ever score some M10 bolts of proper length, and will rest on pieces of foam salvaged from the foam pads that fit under the seats. Those 4" thick rigid pads extend almost all the way back to the second row. I'd be interesting in hearing from anybody who has been under the floor mats of a second row passenger seats. It looks to me like the factory pad, with the inch layer of foam under it, lies right on top of the foam pads the extend from under the front seats. So all passengers stand on, as much as they stand, is the pad/foam on a block of foam. I'm assuming that the blocks of foam are okay for weight bearing. I'm salvaging chunks of that foam to fit under, and support, my floor boards. Seems flimsy. We'll see. At least it provides more sound insulation, too.

 

The original, cargo-van deck is supported in front by a bridge beam that runs side-to-side, immediately behind the front seats. I go back and forth between reusing that beam or building a wood replacement beam. To reuse the beam, I'd have to cut off the 10-12" of decking attached to the top, and that would leave an ugly metal flange (it's spot welded on the flange, so you need it) sticking rearward about an inch. It might be easier and I think will provide a better result to use the original support beam as a pattern for a wood replacement, and I think I will move in that direction. With a wood build, can add in a recessed lip to catch a deck/hatch piece that extends to the original deck. There are only two bolts holding in the bridge beam.

 

[windguy]

5 hours ago, LostnTransit said:

This type of home made installation of plywood looks like shit. I hope you're planning on keeping the van a long time, because if you trade it in, you're not going to get anything for it. may as well take it to salvage yard for scrap..

 

That's not a very charitable comment to make and you couldn't be anymore wrong.

 

Some TC owners actually believe their cargo van should be used for its intended purpose, to carry cargo for work, hobbies and pleasure like camping. I'm in this group.

It's a utilitarian vehicle and how you customize it to fit your particular needs is both unique and practical. To some it doesn't matter how pretty it looks. It's all about function.

The next owner will appreciate that it's a cargo van and can customize it to fit their own needs. The value isn't affected as long as the vehicle is mechanically sound. It's ridiculous to think otherwise.

 

 

 

Edited September 7, 2022 by windguy
GRAMMAR - changed OWNER'S to OWNERS, IT'S to ITS

[JackGrimshaw]

On 9/7/2022 at 9:47 AM, LostnTransit said:

This type of home made installation of plywood looks like shit. I hope you're planning on keeping the van a long time, because if you trade it in, you're not going to get anything for it. may as well take it to salvage yard for scrap..

Odd comment from one who deletes his own posts.Whatever floats your boat.

 

Heres a shot of my rear window after a few dozen honey bees shit on the inside of the glass after my last load of honey supers.

It's a work truck.

Over 1200 lbs of pure,local honey so far this year.

[windguy]

6 hours ago, JackGrimshaw said:

Heres a shot of my rear window after a few dozen honey bees shit on the inside of the glass after my last load of honey supers.

It's a work truck. Over 1200 lbs of pure,local honey so far this year.

 

Thanks for sharing. Didn't know we had an apiarist among the ranks. That is so cool raising bees for honey.

1200 POUNDS - That's a massive amount of honey. Well done!

Do you have to wear protective clothing when driving the supers around?

 

WORK TRUCK = WORK VAN = CARGO VAN = UTILITY = TRANSIT CONNECT

[Fifty150]

Did you set up a screen to keep the bees out of the cockpit?   

[JackGrimshaw]

Honey bees are very rarely aggressive and only become defensive if you are careless.

The only thing between me and the bees is the headboard, which,as seen in the above photo,is just a bit higher than the headrest so I am out of sight.

I wear no protection driving other than long pants.

All of my bee yards are South of me and I generally work S to N. Bees are attracted to light so most of the time they cluster on the rear windows.There has been times when I will pull over to open the doors and brush them off of the windows.

Unlike the person in this picture,I ride with the window open so any stragglers up front can be tossed out.You can tell she/he is driving west because the bees are on the sunny window.

(To me this is stupidity,not because of the bees on the windows,but because the hive is not secured. In the case of an accident,I would not want to be anywhere near that car.)

[Chip]

There's a reason to build with plywood. It's fast and very efficient. I might be done my project by now if I'd used plywood. Instead, I'm working with walnut lumber I had milled from a tree over 20 years ago. It takes a little longer when you start with rough-cut lumber and need to join boards to form a panel you could have just cut from plywood. 

 

I cut off about five inches of the big foam blocks that are under the seats. Near as I can figure the foam made up the support for the second row passenger's feet, so it must have some structural value. I sliced the foam to match the profile of the side-to-side beam and laid it on the bottom to support my floor boards. I'm going to stuff the empty spaces with foam peeled off the floor padding. With sound deadening mat, it's already getting quieter.

 

I debated reusing the front-of-deck beam. I would have had to cut off the deck flooring and would be left with a jagged metal edge flange. The way Ford spot welded that beam, I would have needed to retain a one inch flange, because that's where the welds are. I decided to build a wood beam instead. It should look nice if I ever get around to varnishing it. I sandwiched a piece of oak lumber I had around between two pieces of walnut. That oak was very heavy, which is why the beam weighed 22 pounds!

 

So, I am progressing, slowly. I left 3/4" lips on the beam and the rear side of my foot-well, so that I can add sheets of wood to span the opening. That way, if I want a full deck, I can have it, and I'll build in some grips for picking up the lid and getting to the under storage.

 

I was planning to reuse a piece of the floor mat to cover the center hump (exhaust pipe tunnel), but found that the material was hard to work with. I ended up just putting a layer of 10mm insulation and carpet over the hump.

 

Photos:

1. joining pieces of walnut to for the new floor

2. the opening with sound-deadening mat installed

3. Ford's beam and attached flooring were fabricated in a way that would have left an unwanted flange

4. Glueing up wood for a replacement beam

5. Current status

 

Work remains to install a footstep entry and finish from the floor to the footstep. Also, make pieces to form hatches over the top.

 

Edited September 10, 2022 by Chip