[parsi]

After being par-broiled a few times entering my dark cargo van, I figured there had to be a fairly simple way to do ceiling insulation. Feel the roof of your van after a few hours in hot sun and it's almost too hot to touch and all that heat is radiating inside.

So, I needed something simple. Also something I didn't have to glue in place in case the whole thing didn't work or if I wanted access to the roof (permanence is a real pain sometimes). Did I mention inexpensive as well? No reason covering a van roof should cost a fortune.

Simple, flexible and cheap, love it.

First aha moment is realizing that the cable holders along the roof line sit about 1/2" below the roof line and have a convenient horizontal shelf on top. Off to the home improvement store and find this nifty stuff. Rigid, with pretty good flex and reasonably durable. Now we don't want this ugly construction finish messing up our pretty benz mobile, so how about facing the inside surface with this stuff? Which is also conveniently enough a sound deadener, and doubly convenient self adhesive.

It's not a real easy project. Lots of measuring, cutting, fitting, recutting and refitting. The tighter you keep the panels the better insulated and better stabilized it becomes. I used one panel for the back two roof sections and two smaller pieces for the front two sections. I trimmed off the tops of those two bolsters that stick out above and behind the seats for support and added mending brackets to the cross beams for mid-line support.

There's about a 3/4" air gap above the rear panel and about a 1/4"- 1/2" air gap above the front panels. The difference is huge and immediately noticable. The inside stays considerably cooler in the sun and the AC works much faster in cooling the interior down.

Two 4'x8' insulation panels, one roll of Noico Liner, a handful of hardware, and about 8-10 hours. Total cost- $100.00, a days work and I can have it removed in about 30 minutes if needed. Not too shabby.

 

[flacaproductions]

Nicely done....hmmmm....

 

[warren]

This should be part of a sticky since i'm sure there will be other members here that want to copy it and that might even have questions for you. Do you have anything else in the works for your Metris?

 

[parsi]

Thanks. I'm still working on finishing the side panel sound and temp insulation. I did Dynamat on the lower panel openings and wheel wells and while it helps it wasn't the panacea I was hoping for. I'm thinking of stuffing the openings with melamine acoustic foam and sealing them up, but still undecided. Another project is some sort of flexible, removable shelving system for the area behind the cargo doors. Something like Brian above shows in his van. Last, some sort of simple 3 bike upright storage rack and side loading system through the cargo doors.

I usually take things slow and mull over ideas for a bit until I'm pretty sure I've got the best solution. Why I'm a bit stymied on the panel insulation. Simple, cheap, effective and flexible are pretty much what I'm aiming for.

Some of my other ideas are in this thread. The floor material is great. Heavy, durable and helps with sound deadening quite a bit. The problem is it's too sticky so sliding cases is a bear. I topped that flooring material off with some indoor/outdoor carpet and it's definitely the bomb. I'm also still real happy with the cargo lighting and storage console system in that thread.

 

[kontur76]

Hi. I want to show mine. I used bubble foil insulation and corrugated plastic grey panels. They are more durable than people might think. Found some black L shaped rods at home Depot and cut them for middle support. Had same on Sprinter for 4 years and already year and a half on Metris. Holds aND looks well.