The Transformation Begins

Ansel's previous life was as a work van, specifically for a property management company in Blissfield, MI (which, coincidentally, is where Mary Jo & I got engaged).  As such, he hauled around various parts, equipment and tools for the properties, both residential and commercial, that the company managed.  This was predominantly electrical and plumbing, but no doubt there was a wide range of services the company provided.

Not Ansel (I think this is a Ford Transit), but it's what the side looked like before they removed the decal.

 

Consequently, while the exterior and the mechanical aspects of the van are in amazingly good shape (you can still see the factory stickers on the shocks, unblemished), the cargo area of the van understandably showed signs of use.  There were two sets of steel shelves along the outside walls and a steel bulkhead separating the cargo area from the cab.  I didn't need these things, and the bulkhead chewed up about 6 inches of the usable floor space, which is significant.  My first plan was just to take these to the scrap yard and see what I could get for them, but I thought I would try selling on Facebook Marketplace first...who knows, right?  Well, within two days someone contacted me and a few days later I had sold the shelves and the bulkhead for my asking price!  (The guy is potentially interested in the tilt-own ladder rack as well, but so far we haven't finalized anything.)

Note T-track at bottom center of shelving.

Bulkhead...note rubber mat on floor

Getting the items out of the van was no small task.  A few of the floor bolts for the bulkhead were rusted in place, and I had to cut them off with an angle grinder.  There was a similar problem with the bolts used to secure the bottom T-tracks for the shelves.  However, these bolts were hardened steel and proved to to be quite stubborn.  We first tried to cut them out with a reciprocating saw, but after burning up a couple blades, we decided that wasn't going to cut it (pun intended).  Next we tried to drill the bolts out.  We went through a few drill bits, including a cobalt bit, with no luck.  Hmmmm, what to do?  Time to get the angle grinder out again!  I was able to grind the heads off with minimal damage to the T-tracks, allowing me to easily pop the tracks off the remaining bolt studs, which I then cut off.

Bolts for bulkhead before being cut off

Once the shelves and the bulkhead were out, I could pull up the rubber floor mat to see what was underneath.  OMG, what a mess!  There was oil, dirt and caked on mud that had managed to find its way underneath the mat.  

I don't need/want the rubber mat but I will save as a template for the floor insulation and floor underlayment...handy!!!

Once I cleaned all that up, which was quite a chore, I noticed some surface rust in some areas on the floor.  Nothing major, but it definitely needed to be addressed lest it continued to be a problem once insulation and the flooring was laid down.  So, out came the grinder again (boy, this was a good investment!), and I ground down all the affected areas.  I also decided that while I was at it, I might as well grind down all the areas on the walls and ceiling where there was major paint loss.  I wasn't  concerned about these areas as much, but there would always be some chance of condensation and in turn rust, so better safe than sorry.

Once I had everything ground down (except for the doors, which I'll discuss in a future post), I primed everything.  

Chose gray primer so I knew where I needed to top coat

Next step is to hit all the primed areas with white paint...I'm not concerned about matching the exact white (white is not always white) since everything will be covered up, so just plain white Rustoleum will do the trick!