HowTo ·Dec 03, 2025

From Factory to Fortress: Prepping Your Ford Transit for an AVC Interior Kit

Hey, welcome back to AVC Chronicles! Today we’re diving into the essential first steps for preparing a brand-new Ford Transit for one of our interior wall kits. Stripping down a new van can be nerve-wracking, but understanding the factory components and where you need to add mounting points is key to a professional, safe build.

We’re going to cover what needs to come out, how to modify the foam, and those crucial factory details you need to know about hardened steel and rivnuts. Let's get to work!

Phase 1: Removal and Trimming

The first step is stripping away everything you won't need that conflicts with the wall kit.

1. Remove Factory Plastics and Lights

You will remove almost all the factory plastic covers that hide the wiring harness. Don't worry about breaking the little clips—these pieces are going in the trash.

Wiring Harness Covers: Use a panel popping tool to remove the long plastic pieces running along the top rails. Pop out the clips securing the harness to the metal.
Lights: Remove the over-cab lights and the rear factory lights by depressing the clips and unplugging the harness. (You can save the harness if you want, but for our kit, it's considered trash.)
Mind the Connections: Be gentle with the harness connected to the satellite radio antenna and the rear view camera. Also, keep intact the factory zip ties securing the harness where the wires feed down into the walls—there's often not enough slack to pull these wires back out.

2. Remove Tie-Downs and Rear Door Trim

Factory Tie-Downs: Use a $\text{13mm}$ socket to remove any factory tie-down cleats ( $\text{8}$ to $\text{10}$ locations throughout the van). Our floor and wall systems cover these locations, so they aren't needed.
Rear Door Catches: This is tricky! To remove the plastic door catches, slide your panel popper tool into the back and apply gentle pressure to pop the pins down. These pins are fragile, so be careful.
Rear Door Brackets: Remove the large rear door metal brackets using a T-40 Torx bit. Once they are off, tape the hardware back to the bracket for safekeeping—you’ll put them back in after upholstery.
Plastic Covers: Pop off the plastic column covers in the rear for upholstery access. Save them in case a Ford tech ever needs access.
Spare Tire Access: Remove the plastic cover for the spare tire drop-down tool access. We provide a $\text{3D}$ -printed plug for this access point in our floor kit.

3. Sliding Door and Entry Step

Sliding Door Skin: Remove the plastic interior skin on the sliding door. Pop out all the plastic plugs (use the panel popper to depress the center pin first). The last few fasteners are small Torx screws at the bottom.
- Pro Tip for the last screw: Open the door so the screw lines up with the gap in the wheel well to allow clearance for your tool.
Entry Step: If you are using the AVC step trim (which we recommend), aggressively pull out the factory step. If you plan to reuse the factory step, you must carefully pop out the small plastic retainers and remove the internal Torx screws.

4. Cutting the Front Foam Blobs

The large foam "blobs" near the front B-pillars must be trimmed to allow our wall panels to sit flush. Do not pull these blocks down.

Safety First: Protect the wiring harness by sliding a scrap piece of aluminum stock or similar material behind the foam block.
Cut: Use a sharp utility knife to cut the foam block in plane with the edge of the block—this allows our wall kit to fit neatly.

Phase 2: Essential Factory Knowledge (Hardened Steel & Rivnuts)

There are specific locations on the Transit where you cannot drill or tap, and where you need to add your own mounting points.

Hardened Steel Locations (Do Not Screw Here!)

The small metal tab coming down below the side door.
The entire rear corner column (where the rear door hinges) is hardened steel up to the seam.
The metal plate behind the rear wheel well up to the factory spot welds.

Factory Rivnut Locations (All $\text{8mm}$ )

Ford provides several welded-in $\text{8mm}$ rivnuts throughout the van. These are important because they should dictate your hardware choices:

Lower Position: Along the van body, near the floor. We bolt Unistrut here for lower cabinet support.
Mid Position: A line of $\text{8mm}$ rivnuts runs along the middle of the wall where the upper cabinets meet.
Ceiling Edge: A line of $\text{8mm}$ rivnuts runs along the roof edge.

Phase 3: Adding New Rivnuts and Furring Strips

We need to add rivnuts in key spots where Ford left holes, especially where our wall and ceiling kits attach.

Wall Kit Attachment ( $\frac{1}{4}\text{-20}$ ): Mark and add $\frac{1}{4}\text{-20}$ rivnuts (which fit the existing holes easily) into the locations that line up with the mounting points on our upper wall panels. This secures the panels around the hardened steel sections.
Ceiling Rivnuts ( $\text{8mm}$ ): Our ceiling panel template guides you to add rivnuts in the ceiling near the factory $\text{8mm}$ line. We choose to open these holes to install $\text{8mm}$ rivnuts so all our structural hardware matches the factory specs.
Furring Strips (Ceiling): To provide consistent and reliable screw retention for your ceiling and cabinets, you must install wood furring strips on the roof.
- Screw $\frac{3}{8}\text{-inch}$ wood strips (about $\text{7 inches}$ wide) to the roof ribs using self-tapper metal screws.
- Run one strip down the center (around your vent fan hole) and one strip along the mid-line.
- Pro Tip: To get a clean line where the ceiling meets the wall, glue a $\frac{1}{2}\text{-inch}$ piece of Baltic birch strip along the factory $\text{8mm}$ rivnut line.

Phase 4: Securing and Blocking Wires

Secure the Harness: Gently zip-tie the main wiring harness along the top of the van, ensuring it has a gentle, loose curve. Use duct tape to stick the harness tight into the upper rear corners.
Foam Blocking: To prevent the wall kit from pressing on the harness, glue a $\text{1-inch}$ strip of Owens Corning pink foam below or above the harness line (depending on where the harness sits) all the way down the van. This provides a clean $\text{1-inch}$ spacer for the wall panel.

Your Transit is now prepped and ready for the next exciting step: insulation and wall kit installation! Thanks for reading!