Project Van: Adding Pop-Out Windows

We’re working on turning this $2000 van into a do-it-all machine that can tow a car to the track, then serve as a mobile workshop and hotel room for the weekend. Up next: Making the windows open. 

This van, like most cargo vans, doesn't have much airflow compared to a tent. That's because only the front windows open. Most people would be content with that, but most people aren't camping in them–-but we are. To the workshop!

While most Econolines have fixed windows like so:

Some had pop-out windows all around. The internet seems to think Ford stopped making pop-out rear windows after about 1994 because people were driving around with them open and inhaling exhaust, but we couldn't find anything definitive to support that. Either way, junkyards are so full of these things that it wasn't hard to find a full set of pop-out windows and all of their associated hardware. Total cost? About $100 for a set of four windows and the associated hardware from our local LKQ. Next step: Installing them.

Step 1: Cut the old butyl tape holding the windows in.

 

And after unscrewing a few nuts, we'd successfully liberated the old windows. 

One problem: The tape remained.

We cleaned that off with an eraser wheel and Prep-Sol (not at once!), and were left with a nice, clean surface.

Next, we'll prepare our new window/frame combos.

These have old tape on them from the junkyard, so use a screwdriver and more Prep-Sol to clean them, too. Don't scrimp on the prep work–they'll leak or rust or fall off if you do.

Then, put new butyl tape on the window (we sourced a roll from our local body supply shop), pop it in, bolt it down, and you're done!

We repeated the same process for our side windows:

After we finished installing the new windows, we turned our attention to curtains: After all, nobody likes changing in public, and most paddocks don't afford much privacy.

Here were our priorities for our window shades:

1. Be cheap. 
2. Be easy to install. 
3. Be easy to store in the van. 
4. Be durable. 
5. Be easy to remove (nobody wants curtains while they're towing their race car). 

That ruled out any off-the-shelf options meant for traditional RVs… TO THE LINEN CLOSET!

We grabbed some old sheets, then bought some magnets from our local home improvement store. We used 16 strong bricks, and two little hook magnets. We bought a wooden dowel, too.

We attached the hook magnets behind the front seats, then cut the dowel to length to sit on top of them:

Then, we started cutting up our sheets. 

Rather than break out the sewing machine to create a pocket for our wooden dowel to ride in, we simply removed the elastic band from a fitted sheet and used the pocket left behind.

Just like that, we'd created a privacy curtain for the rear of our van.

For the side windows, we kept things real simple: Cut squares of cloth, stick on with four magents, done!

Ta-dah! We'd made a set of cheap, durable, rattle-free curtains that stow in a small bag when we're driving.

So, what's it like camping in our van? Here's the basic layout. These were taken after the long weekend, so things are a bit of a mess, but you get the general idea. Up front we have a chair, 12V fridge, blue bin of food and kitchen stuff, bucket, fan, light, etc. Rear has a bed, trash can, tie-downs, life jackets, water, umbrella, shovel, axe, and a tool box on top of a pelican case that acts as a table and stores more tools and supplies. It's not fancy, but it's super easy to reconfigure and dirt cheap. It works well enough that we don't have any immediate plans to build a "real" interior for the van.

When we're not sleeping, we fold the futon up into a couch, like so:

 

 

 

 

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