Before I could start covering the inside of my 2023 Ford Transit 250 High Roof Extended, I had a lot of preparation to get through. The floor and walls had collected dust, dirt, paint and bedliner from working on the van in the desert. I also had rivet nuts to finish, door trim to remove, and openings to plan for the equipment going through the body.
My insulation plan brought together KILMAT sound-deadening mats, 3M Thinsulate, foam insulation and interior paneling. Getting the metal clean and the early fabrication jobs organized was the work immediately in front of me. Here is how I approached that stage of the build.
My Insulation Prep At A Glance
| Build Detail | My Project |
|---|---|
| Van | 2023 Ford Transit 250 High Roof Extended |
| Day 86 | Seven hours preparing and cleaning the cargo floor and walls |
| Day 87 | Rivet nuts, door-trim removal, bed-capsule work and planning body openings |
| Selected materials | KILMAT mats, 3M Thinsulate SM600L and SmartSHIELD reflective foam |
Day 86: Cleaning Out The Desert Dust
On Day 86, I spent seven hours preparing the floor for KILMAT. Up to that point, I had been taking the van into the desert to work on it, packing and unpacking my tools and materials each time. By then, quite a bit of dirt and residue had accumulated inside.
I started by sweeping the cargo area, then used a mop and floor-cleaner spray on the floor. I worked on the cargo walls with a towel and Simple Green. For the stubborn material stuck to the floor, I used a wire-brush attachment on the drill, followed by nylon brush attachments for the remaining dirt and grime. I finished by drying the floor with a towel.
This was one of those days where the progress was mostly preparation. I was waiting for the remaining M6 rivet nuts to arrive, so I used the time to clean the surfaces I would be covering later. The tools in that day's list included a heavy-duty broom, a wire-wheel cup-brush set, drill-brush attachments and Simple Green.
Watch my Day 86 floor-preparation video.
Day 87: Getting Behind The Trim
On Day 87, I continued preparing the interior. I removed plastic trim from the sliding and rear doors as part of the plan for KILMAT, Thinsulate, foam insulation and wood paneling. I also removed the foam piece at the passenger-side A-pillar.
The remaining M6 rivet nuts went into the cargo area that day. My aim was to prepare potential framing attachment locations while I could still reach the bare body easily. Rivet-nut work had already brought its own frustrations: one tool failed during the larger-size work, and an M3 mandrel snapped during installation.
At the bed capsules, I ground away excess fiberglass and sanded the metal and fiberglass around the openings. I had observed rain leakage at the capsule joints, so applying more sealant was also on the day's project list. Cleaning, attachment preparation and the capsule work were all competing for time before I moved on to the interior layers.
Why I Kept The Metal Accessible
I wanted to finish the jobs that needed holes in the body before installing the framing, flooring and wall panels. My list included roof wiring for solar panels, LED lights and cameras, the heater beneath the passenger seat, and the planned shower and water-tank connections.
In my Day 87 update, I talked about how drilling later would get newly installed components dirty and make the surrounding metal harder to reach. Filing, sanding, priming and painting were easier to organize while that area was open. It was tempting to start installing the more exciting parts, but I was trying to keep the sequence logical.
The Insulation Materials I Selected
I treated sound deadening, insulation and the interior finish as separate parts of the project. My Day 86 entry focused on preparing for KILMAT, while the Day 87 notes named Thinsulate, foam insulation and wood paneling for the doors. My selected materials included the following products.
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KILMAT Sound-Deadening Mats
These KILMAT butyl-and-foil mats damp vibration in suitable camper-van body panels. They are a sound-treatment layer rather than a replacement for the van's thermal insulation.
View On Amazon: KILMAT Sound-Deadening Mats
3M Thinsulate SM600L
This Amazon listing offers SM600L insulation for camper thermal and acoustic lining. Confirm the selected thirty-foot length and sixty-inch width before comparing coverage with the original order.
View On Amazon: 3M Thinsulate SM600L
SmartSHIELD Reflective Foam
This reflective insulation roll combines a closed-cell polyethylene foam core with foil faces. It can be cut for a camper-van insulation assembly, but its thermal benefit depends on the installation rather than a blanket advertised R-value.
View On Amazon: SmartSHIELD Reflective FoamWhat This Stage Taught Me
The preparation took more time than the finished interior would eventually show. Seven hours went into the Day 86 cleaning alone, and the following day still involved trim, rivet nuts, fiberglass, sealant and planning. Working in the desert had given me room to tackle the van, but it also meant extra cleaning before I could start covering surfaces.
I used SketchUp to think through where components and framing would go. Keeping that plan in view helped me decide which body openings and attachment jobs to tackle first. The heater was the next major project, and the insulation preparation sat within that larger sequence.
For the original notes and videos, read Day 86: Floor Preparation and Day 87: Interior Preparation. You can also follow the build diary or browse tools and materials by project.