Hodakaguy's 4wd Sprinter Build - Pic Heavy!

[Hodakaguy]

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Next we left Wallace and headed about 7 miles out of town to the ghost town of Burke ID. Burke was one of the largest producers of silver, zinc and lead. Look up Burke on youtube for some really cool history.

Burke back in the day.....

Today little is left except small ruins, you would never know how massive this place really was.

Massive head frame in the background.

What's left of the Frisco Mill. During a battle between the miners and the mill owners the miners placed explosives in a mine cart above the mill and sent the cart down the tracks into the mill, completely destroying the mill.

Shot from the Drone

Stopped at the 50,000 silver dollar store in Montana. Just cheap tourist stuff here but kinda cool to check out.

Using the Biolite grill to cook up some steaks for dinner...yummm

My wife enjoying the trip....

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[Hodakaguy]

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Dad setting up camp...takes all of about 2 minutes. The Vagabond Drifter is a slick setup!

Next we stopped in Missoula MT....Ehh...just a big city and we weren't to impressed so didn't spend much time here.

Back on the road and heading south towards the Salmon river. Several cool towns to stop and explore along the way.

Stickers on entering state signs must be a thing now

Lots of beautiful scenery along the way.

Found a great free camp site right on the Salmon river...soooo nice! While we were camped here a park ranger stopped by to chat and we told him that we were heading to the Yankee Fork gold dredge and the ghost town of Custer ID. He told us that there is a historic dirt road called the Custer Motorway that would take us right to Custer and avoid paved roads, heads up over the mountains at 9k feet.... just turn at Challis and follow the dirt road. Awesome! Custer Motorway it will be!

Kiddo got a lot of play time in the river

Camp from above

Doesn't get much better than this!

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[Hodakaguy]

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If anyone has ever watched Lucy and the long long trailer you will get this...my wife started collecting rocks to bring home lol.

Heading out again....more amazing scenery

Heading up into the mountains on the Custer Motorway.

Time to get the drone out again for another perspective.

Continuing down the trail.

Kiddo cruising on the bed

More history. This was once a toll road and whats left of the toll cabins are still here at 9k feet. Very cool!

Wild strawberries...yummmm

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[Hodakaguy]

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Didn't take long to find the old dump site.

A little photography along the way

Next we visited the ghost town of Custer. Another great piece of history. But first up...breakfast

In a small remote ghost town in the mountains of ID we ran into Chad with Adventure Wagon! Chad is an awesome guy and makes some really cool Sprinter gear. We are running his Mule bags and basically patterned a lot of our interior off his kits. Great to chat with you Chad!

Showing Chad our build.

Chad even placed a Hodakaguy sticker on his van

Custer from the Air

And checking out the old buildings.

Next we explored the abandoned Yankee Fork gold dredge. Unlike the Sumpter dredge that we explored last trip the Yankee dredge is completely intact with all the original equipment...plus they let you climb and explore on all levels!! Such a cool piece of mining history.

Heading into the dredge, people provide a good reference and show the scale of the bucket line.

I spy a Sprinter

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[Hodakaguy]

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Massive electric powered winches. These were used to position the dredge and raise/lower the bucket line.

Resistor banks used as speed controls for the motors

Thats it...just a little further

Upper axle on the bucket line

Grizzly bars to reject large rocks before they get to the trommel.

Bull gear that drives the bucket line. This is the weakest spot on the dredge, the large bull gear was replaced 3 times while this dredge was in operation.

Trommel from above

Checking out the sluice runs

Gold recovery area, the pot on the lower right was used to burn off the mercury and recover the gold.

The dredge made its own power via two 1940 Ingersol Rand Diesel engines running two generators.

Got the drone back out for a few shots of the dredge

Great shot of the tailings left behind from the dredge

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[Hodakaguy]

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Wife got in a little panning while we were there...didn't get anything but more cool rocks to pack in the van

Sawtooth Mountains as we head south and home

Hot springs along the hwy....gonna have to come back here!

Restaurant along the road lol.

Stopped for ice cream and had to leave a sticker

Next morning all that was left was to make coffee and roll into home.

Hodakaguy

 

[Hodakaguy]

Back to the Build out....

On the last trip we liked the Mule bags so well that we ordered a third bag while we were on the road. These bags are very well thought out and really help organize the van and keep clutter off the floor. Here I'm getting ready to install the two missing panels and install the 3rd Mule bag.

Sealing the screw hole with a soldering iron to ensure the tweed can't start fraying.

Panels installed

Mule bag out of the box.

Installing the mounting hardware onto the L-track.

And installed. Lots-0-Storage space

The crank for the Fiamma awning fits perfectly in the loops on the bottom of the bag.

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[Hodakaguy]

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Next up it's time to seal this van up and make it weather proof. There is a glaring over site on Mercedes part when they designed the clips for the plastic side panels. Water can easily run behind the clips and into the walls during rain storms or when washing the van....not good. Now that I have my walls insulated the last thing I want is water getting trapped in with the insulation, time to fix this issue.

THIS IS A MUST DO FOR ANY SPRINTER

Note: For 2019 Mercedes finally decided to address this issue by adding a little rubber lip around each retaining clip to keep water out. I've heard that the seal is marginal at best and it's recommended that you still remove & seal these clips as well for a reliable waterproof seal.

Time to start removing the trim

The rear edges of the front doors and both ends of the slider doors have screws that need to be removed.

I purchased a cheap set of plastic body panel removal tools from Harbor Freight to remove the trim panels, they worked great. Note: Make sure the fulcrum of the tool is below the edge of the body panel so you don't leave any small dimple dents as you remove the panels. While pulling on the panel from the end work the tool down the trim piece and pop loose each trim clip.

Some clips will stay with the trim piece and some will stay in the body....either way not a big deal.

Next I removed the clips from the body using another one of the HF tools. You can use a screw driver here as well to reach in and compress/release each side of the clips, the HF tool makes it a quick process. The only thing keeping water out is the plastic contact against the body, and it's not a very good seal. Go slow and you won't break and of the clips, I managed to remove all the clips without breaking any in the process.

Next I used a bent pair of needle nose pliers to release the clips that were still attached to the side panels. I just reached in with the pliers and slightly compressed the tabs until the clip released.

Clips and Panels Removed.

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[Hodakaguy]

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I first cleaned the body surfaces a couple times with Windex then went over the clip locations with some wax/de-greaser.

HodakaDad helping me clean the clips

I'll be using Sikaflex 221 to seal the clips to the body.

Sika applied to the clips

The clip is installed vertically, I installed them slightly off vertical then rotated them into position for a good seal.

With all the clips sealed in place just line up the panels to the tabs and use your palm to snap the panels back into place. Nice and waterproof now, I'll sleep easier when it rains now

Next up I started the install of the Switch Pro SP9100. The Switch Pro is a programmable 8 position switch panel that you can use to control your accessories (Lights, Air compressors, etc). The unit is fully programmable with the phone app...you can tie switches together, make a switch start stop with the engine, tie aux lights to your high beams etc. I had one on my last build and loved it, very versatile and a super clean way to add a bunch of switches. The head unit/switch assembly is very thin and robust, the brains of the unit is all solid state and has it's own over current protection. The unit comes with stickers that you place on each switch location to mark your intended use for that switch, the lighting is dim-able and you can change it to any color.

The switch panel.

I decided to place the unit in the headliner above the dome light assembly. It's within easy reach here and I don't have to look at the lighting while driving at night.

Marking out the hole location.

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[Hodakaguy]

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Used a razor knife to cut the tweed.

Then used a soldering iron to burn the edges of the tweed to keep the fabric from fraying.

Next up I used an ultrasonic tool to cut out the headliner

Preparing the switch unit for install by inserting the studs on the rear of the unit that hold the retaining clips in place

Switch unit installed.

The brains of the unit will be installed soon.

More to come soon....

Hodakaguy

 

[Hodakaguy]

Time to get the electronics installed. Pic Heavy Post...Lots of work this weekend.

Started off by installing the Victron battery monitor remote display. The Victron unit has Bluetooth capabilities but I like to have the dedicated display as well.

Hmmmm...Right about here on the upper front panel should work nicely.

Panel removed from the van and installation of the display under way.

And back in the van

Next up I decided to fabricate a bracket to hold the Blue Sea fuse holder that will be connected to the Aux battery. This plastic door on the passenger side seat base will be perfect for accessing the fuses if needed without having to pull the seat off to get to them.

Laying out the bracket on a sketch pad

Off to use a brake and sheer to cut and bend the fuse holder bracket along with a couple other brackets that I will be using shortly. Man I wish I had these at home.

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[Hodakaguy]

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And installing the fuse panel into position.

Aux Battery Install: This morning I took a look at placing the aux battery under the passenger side seat area. I want to keep all the electronics out of the cargo area in case I want to quickly convert the van from camper mode into cargo mode, that way I'll have the whole cargo bay available. I was lacking about 1/2" of clearance because of my Espar heater that I previously installed under the passenger side base and I really don't want to move the heater so time to look for somewhere else to mount the battery.

After looking a bit under the drivers side seat there is plenty of room for the Aux batt (100ah Battleborn LI) and a few other components as well (Redarc DC/DC charger/MPPT Solar Charge Controller, 75A Bosch Relay for the BD Lights on the roof rack, Victron Shunt for the battery monitor system).

The factory setup under the drivers side seat

There was only a couple items attached to the rear plastic relay bar........Time to remove it and yard that baby out of there!

Cutting some aluminum. These non-ferrus blades are the only way to cut aluminum!

Fabricating the battery base and mounts.

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[Hodakaguy]

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Marking out the mounting holes for the base

Removing the factory mounting studs on the rear of the seat base as they will interfere with the battery placement. Here a reinforced cutoff wheel on a Dremel makes quick work of removing the studs. I place painters tape around the area to catch metal bits and use a vacuum as well. I use the painters tape to trap shavings when drilling as well.

Test fitting the battery.....perfect.

Next up I fabricated the mounting bracket for the Redarc DC/DC Converter.

The Redarc will be installed in this open space at the front of the seat base.

Creating a beveled notch on the front and rear underside edge of the base plates for the battery hold down strap.

Crappy picture but there is a smooth rounded "notch" here.

Better view of the drivers side mount, you can see it clears the studs on the floor.

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[Hodakaguy]

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Never Seize is your friend when working with Stainless Steel hardware, keeps them from galling together.

Had a couple hard to reach bolts....a little electrical tape and you have a go go gadget nut installation tool for reaching back into holes lol.

Battery mount base installed.

This factory tab on the back side of the E-brake will work perfectly as a brace to lock the battery into position.

Piece of aluminum angle installed.

Time to add some felt to ensure there are no wear points on the battery.

Cutting some relief holes in the felt to go over the remains of the studs on the rear of the seat base.

And some added to the side brace as well.

Felt in position, now I'm drilling and tapping a couple holes for the drivers side battery brace.

Installing a Bosch 75A Relay. This relay will be controlled from the Switch Pro and will carry the load to the 6 LP-9 Lights on the roof rack.

Open spot on the drivers rear of the seat base should work nicely.

Battery hold down bracket completed.

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[Hodakaguy]

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Battery Installed.

I decided to install the Victron Shunt in the front drivers side corner of the drivers seat base.

The transmission ECU was mounted on the bottom of the seat base, right where the battery is now. There was enough slack in the cables to re-locate it to the front right of the base using the factory mounting bracket. I was able to use one factory hole and had to drill one new hole. Fits like a glove.

More to come.....

Hodakaguy

 

[lmwilco1]

Nice looking job. Do you need to cut any ventilation holes for the DC-DC converter?

 

[billharr]

Great build. I am always surprised how such a small amount of Never-Seez can spread all over everything I touch. ;-)

 

[Hodakaguy]

Nice looking job. Do you need to cut any ventilation holes for the DC-DC converter?

Thanks Mate. There will be vent holes in the upper cover, I'll keep an eye on the DC/DC charger to make sure its not running to hot.

Hodakaguy

 

[Hodakaguy]

Great build. I am always surprised how such a small amount of Never-Seez can spread all over everything I touch. ;-)

Lol...oh yes, one drop is enough to cover a whole person

Hodakaguy

 

[Hodakaguy]

Starting the layout for the Switch Pro mount.

I'm using Rivet Nuts on the bottom support mount since I can't get behind them to install lock nuts.

Mount going in

Wiring the Switch Pro to the terminal strip.

Terminating wires.

Making heat shrink labels....so handy to have wiring clearly labeled for future trouble shooting etc.

Installing a master disconnect that will kill all power from the aux battery. This is a great safety feature as you can quickly kill all electrical power if a short was ever to develop in the system. There is a nice our of the way spot on the front passenger seat base to locate the disconnect.

Some tape and a magnet helps keep the metal shavings as bay.

Cleaning up the edges of the hole with the deburring tool.

Painting the edges

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