Seat Box Mods......

[jerryd]

I've been having trouble with the transfer box in the dormobile and on my last off road day out, it decided to jam itself and is now stuck in 4wd high I've taken out the seat box and floor sections to have a good look at it, but I think it's serious and is probably long overdue a rebuild.

So while I'm debating what to do with the gearbox I decided I'd upgrade the seat box. I've removed the original locker from under the passenger seat and made a new box which is big enough to take two batteries and the air con fuses / relays etc. This is a bit of forward planning too for when I fit the 300tdi motor in.
On the driver's side where there was no locker, I've made a shallower box with a removable side to get access to the handbrake.I also want to fit a water tank under this box where the gas bottles were fitted.The original center tray has been retained but slightly modified.

I've made the new boxes out of mdf and have cut and glued aluminium sheet to the exterior faces. The insides will be covered in carpet. I've also made a new top with lids for the seat box, again out of mdf which will be carpeted. This does raise the driving position slightly but I find it better as I'm only little

I did a similar modification to my "Isuzu County" mainly as a soundproofing modification and was surprised how well it worked, so I'm hoping this will quieten down the dormobile too.

Here's a couple of work in progress prototype pics. I'll post a couple of the finished item when it's painted etc.

[jonjeans]

Neat idea. My concern would be the pong of damp when the MDF inevitably gets damp? My 6 pot Dormobile has underseat tank (ex mil) and center cubby holds Webasto heater. The 2.25 Diesel Dormobile will have the LPG gas cylinder cradle fitted. But - your work will be very much quieter!

[jerryd]

I've wet proofed the mdf prior to fitting the aluminium and have also done inside the boxes, under the seat top etc. so I shouldn't get any damp smells or suffer from the mdf swelling when we go wading through rivers and creeks :-)

Before the final fit of new to old, I will seal all joints and then seal seat box back into vehicle.

[jerryd]

A quick update on the seat box modifications, I completed the storage boxes and I also fixed foam sound insulation to the under sides of the seat box. I sealed all edges and have painted the underside in a black underbody spray. I also fixed sound insulation material under the removable floor sections and have sealed and painted these too.

I re fitted everything mainly to make sure everything still fitted, which it does I then took vehicle out for a test drive and was really surprised how quiet the vehicle has become It's hard to describe but the soundproofing seems to have pushed the noise forward into the engine bay :? I no longer hear the gearbox / overdrive screaming either and it's actually quite civilized to drive.

As this has worked better than I could have hoped for, I'm going to fix this material to the doors, rear floor areas,behind roof lining, bulkhead, under bonnet etc. etc. Hopefully I'll end up with a reasonably quite drive.

Here's a couple more pics of work in progress, I didn't take any of finished item

[kevanf1]

Bloody brilliant mate It's a similiar sort of thing I hope to do to mine at some future point. I want to try using cork floor tiles under the removable floor plates though. I don't know if it will work but it certainly won't hurt to try. I am also toying with the idea of completely removing the centre part of the seat box. Bearing in mind I have a Marshall ambulance I'm thinking that by removing that centre bit I'll be able to swing sideways (to the left as it's right hand drive and avoiding the handbrake lever of course) to get into the back. Again, this is just an idea at the moment..

[RMS]

Another soundproofing mod which is well worth doing is a 'lead' blanket over the gearbox.

You can get 'lead' blankets from the usual soundproofing companies, usually to lay over engines, generators etc, but you can rip some underbonnet stuff from a scrapped car (the Disco donors we've had have underbonnet soundproofing).

If you've got the floor panels up anyway, lift out the tunnel and lay some soundproofing over the gearbox, with holes/slits cut out for the levers.

We've done that on our two Carawagons and it really does make a difference

[kevanf1]

It is always best to stop sound from source if possible. So, rather than putting soundproofing on top of the floor plates it's better to put it under them. This way the sound waves hit the barrier rather than hitting the plates first. I don't know the science behind it all but I did some extensive research on soundproofing in general a couple of years ago. It's heady stuff but the basic principles apply to anything you are trying to proof.

[jerryd]

I laid some very thick carpet underlay over the gearbox, I remembered after reading in one of your earlier posts
I have fitted the soundproofing to the underside of the vehicle, having watched this link and thought it worth a try.
Quite an interesting link - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oS9G7bHH6Tk

The problem with the transfer box was a jammed linkage rod, I cleaned it all up and oiled it and it now works perfectly.