The first step was to get the right tools.
I found these panel removing tools pretty cheaply online and,
as you'll soon see, I even opted for this bent fork.
Along with a pair of long nose pliers,
I gently tried to ease the panel clips off however they wouldn't come out that easily.
Eventually I managed to remove one clip but there were over 70 of these in the van.
The clips I'm pulling out are the ones that came with the van and this is how
they looked after a few attempts at removing some.
Quite a few of them broke when removed,
so I ordered a few other varieties to try and find a better solution.
The head of this first one pushes in to fit and unscrews to release.
The problem I've found is they don't understand
just end up turning in place without catching the thread.
Next was the screw in and screw out variety.
These were a bit better, although as before they didn't always catch the thread when unscrewing it.
As with both of these plastic screw heads, it was easy to damage them when screwing them in and out.
Finally, I tried some fir tree clips.
These were easy to install, but I really struggled getting them
out and when they did finally come out they were mangled and unusable.
By this point I'd realised that brute force was the only way to remove the panel clips,
so I set about finishing this panel and then removing the five other panels in the van.
On the two side doors there was a plastic film,
which I removed as I be sealing this up again at a later stage.
I also removed the metal u-shaped brackets as I'd need to access under them.
Once everything was fully removed I noticed that water and dirt had been
getting in through the bottom of the door handle.
It looks like an intentional thing that Nissan had planned for,
as there were small drainage holes in the bottom of the door,
but I needed to sort this out as I didn't want my insulation getting wet every time it rained.
First I cleaned up the door and then I set about sealing the
door from the inside with an automotive sealant.
I did this to both left and right sides of the van and then started on the insulation.
Using Thermawrap, I cut sections that would fit inside the door and
first placed and then glued them in using Trimfix.
This was to provide a layer between the main insulation and the metal door,
and hopefully stop some condensation.
After this, I could then cut my loft insulation to size and put it in the door.
I'm using a recycled bottle insulation for the van build.
Next, I cut a large piece of foil insulation to the size of the panel
and taped it in place replacing the plastic sheet that is there previously.
After the brackets went back on I was finished and ready for the next step
of my van build; insulating the rest of the van.
If you haven't already please,
subscribe to my channel for more videos in my NV200 van build series.
Thanks for watching!