The camper van will have basic acoustic and thermal insulation. This article will be expanded during the build.
Acoustic & thermal insulation: walls
A lot of noise is transferred through the vehicle by vibrations. The most effective way to reduce vibrations is to add mass to the panels. I’ve used 2mm thick Caliber DM 33 sound deadening mats. My nephew had a bunch of these lying around and donated these to the project. When I run out of these mats, I will find something low cost because these car audio brands are way to expensive. Fortunately, you don’t have to cover a complete panel to have effective noise reduction. 25% to 50% coverage is enough. The mats are self adhesive. After degreasing and cleaning the car panels, you can stick them on and use a roller to press it thoroughly to the metal.
Thermal insulation is provided by a layer of 10mm thick X-trem. It’s glued on with Permacol contact tix.
Finally, a 5mm thick plywood panel covers the side panels. Because the side panels are curved in the vertical plane, I added a 10mm thick support on the backside of the plywood. It fills the gap between the plywood and the body work and makes the panel a lot stronger. The panel is fastened to the wall with glue and some screws. The plywood panels will help a little with the insulation but they are there mainly for ecstatic reasons. After lining the walls with grey felt, it looks great. The felt is glued on with Bison sprayon glue.
Thermal insulation: floor
There is not enough space between the ribs to accommodate both acoustic and thermal insulation. Only a minimal amount of sound deadening is applied to the outer edges of the floor. The floor is curved a little downwards, so the extra 2mm of the Caliber pads are no problem on those locations. I cut strips out of 10mm X-trem at an angle so they fit nicely between the ribs in the floorpan. I didn’t bother to completely cover the floor because I expect the bed will supply enough insulation on it’s won.
