I’m not what you would describe as an “in shape” guy. I am thin, but that is one hundred percent due to my metabolism. I have the diet and exercise regime of a three hundred pound man. Perhaps I could run a short ways, if there were say a bear or a jealous husband chasing me. You know, say half a block or so. Obviously I need to steer clear of both of those hazards. I am however flexible. I stretch most nights and have no difficultly at all bending at the waist and putting my palms on the floor. It’s just part of the nightly routine. I was in just such a position last November. Bent over in front of our fireplace. But, I was a touch too close. It was getting a *bit* too warm on the back side. Foolishly, rather than raise back up, I took a step forward while bent over. When my right heel touched the floor I felt an actual ripping/tearing pain in the back of my foot.
Well of course I am not 27 any more. This has been taking a while to heal on up. I was doing pretty good but then this week after a heavy day of walking around the city, the next day I slipped on the ice. I have been paying for that a little bit. At ten in the morning I was sitting at Advil maximum. I decided to use up some sick days I had built up so took a couple of days off. Now, in hind site, coming home to a woman whose husband is only home two days in a week and has a honey-do list about a mile long wasn’t the best idea. I might be able to better stay off my foot by staying at work.
Thinking about van stuff, I realized I forgotten one step along the path to get us here. We go camping every summer to a festival campground. Let me tell you what, there is an eclectic mix of vehicles that show up at something like that. One in particular caught my eye and come to think of it, might have been the starting point of this whole project. Someone had purchased a used U-Haul truck and they are in the process of converting it over to a camper. Imagine this, roll up the back door of the U-Haul and it is one big window screen. I thought that was the coolest thing I have ever seen on any camper at any price. These folks had the area inside the screen their living room. Along the truck body, closer to the cab they had a side door installed. Also on that side they had a window installed, another ready to be. On the other side they had one drawn in pencil. Toward the front they had one partition wall and a bedroom behind it. The rest of it was under construction with a long way to go.
Cool idea though. I checked into the price of trucks as soon as I got home. They seemed to be buyable in my six to eight thousand dollar price range. They all seemed it really great shape. They had a huge number of miles, 300k and up but again diesel engines would likely have quite a few miles left in them. Body-wise they all seemed pretty much perfect. I think the trucks must get washed most every time they come in. There are a few resources and pictures out on the net of people making some pretty slick rigs out of them.
The advantage of something like this is floor space. The longest UHaul truck is 27ft long and wide bodied. There is plenty of space under them for grey water and waste tanks if you want to go that route. They have a really strong frame for battery racks or other heavy things. From what this couple were doing and from other pictures I saw on the net it seemed like you could mount windows pretty much anywhere. There is considerable strength in the box construction so mounting a window is as easy as cutting a hole. People are shimming the walls out to put two inch foam insulation in the walls. I even saw one where they used expanding spray foam in 2x4 metal stud walls for really sealing up good for cold weather.
The disadvantage is you are driving a frickin’ truck. It isn’t going to be cheap to roll down the road. It isn’t stealthily, particularly if you cut a bunch of windows in it. When you buy it from UHaul, they strip all their logos and paint schemes from it. Those are all applied via stickers these days, it isn’t a paint job. So, they just pull all that stuff off and you are buying a white truck. Meaning you can’t even stealth out behind the UHaul shops. They sit up tall so you are mounting a set of stairs to go up to a side door. Or, like the one I saw, they had the ramp extended off the back going up to a screen door.
Cool idea, just not for me.
I use the program Adobe Illustrator for my design work. There are lots of easier things to use out there but I spent a year in college thinking I would grow up to be a computer graphics geek. Illustrator was just the software I learned the best. If I had the time to learn new software, like maybe you do, I would look into Blender. It would be amazing for a project like this. Blender is a 3D design program, available free on the net. Once you have it installed, you can download other peoples’ projects from a central repository. When I spent an afternoon playing with it, I downloaded someone else’s Ford extended van 3D model. Theoretically, had I been able to figure it all out, I could designed my whole van project inside this drawing, saving me all the mistakes of taking measurements.
Learning new software, and new terms, and designing for the first time in 3D, seemed like too sharp of learning curve and I feel like I have a deadline. So in Illustrator I designed a 2D floor plan for an extended model van. I print out the paper, take to it with a pencil almost immediately and start marking it up. After a few generations of this I was ready to present it to Herself. I like to have my ducks pretty well lined up when we reach this point.
It was literally within a week of this point when the Craigslist came up for the van.
A few emails to the seller didn't raise any red flags so I took a Friday off and arranged to look at it.
I was happy as soon as we arrived. I knew the business that was selling the van. I hadn’t recognized them by name on the emails but once we got there, I knew them by location. These guys were great! Among may other things they do power tool repair. Three years ago I took them my Makita worm drive saw when, after 15 years of use, I accidentally cut the power cord off. I took it to ‘em again two weeks later when I cut off the new cord. They didn’t say a thing. Great guys!
They had the van parked inside in a dry heated garage. I couldn’t believe it when I saw it. Pretty much perfect condition. There was a small amount of rust showing up on the bottom of the side doors. The driver seat shows heavy wear. Otherwise it was perfectly clean. I popped the hood and had a look around. I have no idea what I am looking for. I pulled the dipstick and the oil looked pretty clean. Under the hood looked as tidy as the outside. Looking inside there were metal shelves bolted into the floor on both sides with a corridor down the middle. The floor was clean. I pulled up the rubber flooring in the four corners and didn’t see any rust. On the driver side I got down on my knees and looked at the underbody. Virtually no rust.
While the owner was off to the front The Wife and I had a quick whispered confab near the back. She: “This seems really clean doesn’t it?” I’m like, “Uh, yeah, wow.” Small town America, the owner gave us the keys and told us to take it for a drive. I don’t know a great deal about mechanics but I feel like I have a pretty good handle on physics. I feel like most of what you need to know about a vehicle can be delivered to you via your ass. How does it feel to drive? Do you feel more vibration than you feel you should? Are there extra knocks or bumps? The ears didn’t provide any obstacles either, this thing drove like a dream.
I had found my van.
I apologize to the former owner, should he ever stop by here and read of this blog. I apologize for even that lame thirty seconds of haggling I did. I was about to kiss his feet for providing the base that could actually make this project happen.
I just paid six thousand dollars for sixty four square feet. My project begins.
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