New home on wheels

[Saskwatchian]

I am going to be in New Zealand for 6 months so one of my first orders of business was to buy a car/van to be my base of operations. I have done the living out of a small car thing and it can be done quite comfortably. I was considering going the car route again but I had a bigger unicycle with me this time and was planning on spending most if not all my time here living out of the vehicle. When I saw this Fargo for sale I knew that it was the right vehicle for me.

So far I only have maybe 400 km on it but things are looking good so far. The fuel gage doesn't work so I filled it up as soon as I got it then topped it off 207km later to see what the consumption and range would be like. 19.7 L in 207 km of moderately hilly driving so 9.5 L/100km or 25 US mpg, not bad for a big old van.



One of the best parts is it holds my alternate transportation quite neatly out of the way against the front cage.



Obviously I would like to improve the economy of the van but first I am going to focus on the interior. It is pretty good so far but I would like to add another cupboard to keep the dishes and utensils organized better, add some long under-bed drawers where the red and green bags are, re-do the curtains, replace the fake tile with real vinyl flooring etc.

For the ecomod stuff what do you suggest? skirts and air dam? Belly pan? The engine is under the floor and the radiator is actually mounted atop the IFS cross member so I don't want to restrict the air too much underneath.

I don't want to go too low either as it's not going to be a pavement princess and I still want to get to the interesting places.


I am also trying to think of a name for this thing, it might just come to me one day but for the moment I think I am just going to call it "My House"

[War_Wagon]

If you are looking for some ideas for storage etc, find your nearest Wicked Campers depot, they have a few in New Zealand, and go have a look at how they set their vans up inside. They have it pretty scienced out.

As for the name? Vanessa? I-Van The Terribly Efficient? Cripes, ok ok I am putting the van puns down and backing away slowly ha ha

[Saskwatchian]

Thanks for the suggestions

I checked out the Wicked vans. Nice setups for small spaces but they all seem to centre around the convertible bed concept. This thing has a sealy mattress which is the best thing I slept on since leaving Canada (and for a while before then too) so I am not messing with that, besides there is room for a bed and room to sit in a camping chair if needed.

I was doing more thinking last night and a big rolling under-bed drawer is definitely going to be built, an old skate-board will donate it's wheels, and I am thinking if I can find the right cupboard/pantry I would replace the green file cabinet since it isn't a very good use of space.

I can't really do a multi-day rebuild since I am living in it besides I only have basic tools. My budget will be very much limited until I have money coming in again.


Your puns aren't so bad, believe me I have heard worse.

[elhigh]

I don't think the Isuzu was sold in the States, but Toyota's TownAce/MasterAce ("Van" in the US) and the Mitsubishi Delica ("Wagon" in the States) are virtual clones. I think they were designed to a specification set down by the Japanese gov't, you see similar things in the kei car class, where the cars have lots of specifications in common, trying to make as big/powerful a car as possible under the restrictive rules of Japan's Ministry of Transportation (guessing as to the exact name of the governing body).

I wouldn't want to give up a real mattress for a folder, either. I've had a brilliant night on a futon. Read that again, count up how many nights: one. I used to sleep on a futon, but only the one I installed in the upstairs sitting room was any good, and that was one night only. So wanting to retain the real mattress is totally reasonable in my opinion.

My current bed I built myself, a plywood platform atop several ladder frames, and I make use of the space below with large totes with lids. The totes are tied together with short rope so you can grab one and pull, and they all come out. Pushing with a little body English is all it takes to get the entire stack shoved in again, so no rigid connection is no problem.

[Saskwatchian]

They are about as similar as any two North American half-tons, but a somewhat more practical design.

I really like the tied together totes idea, How my bed is supported is a bit problematic though. It's made out of 1" square tubing welded with pieces going left/right and fore/aft both top and bottom then Plywood ontop with hinges in the middle, so you can lift half the mattress at a time to get whatever is underneath.

The hinged lifting plywood thing is not real usefull but if I put in the drawers the will form a dead/hard to get to spot beside the green file cabinet. I need to get some new struts for the back door so the old ones might get re-purposed to help lift up the foot of the bed to get to this spot when wanted.


If I had time, money and tools I would make a new cupboard/pantry to replace the wooden thing and file cabinet. It would be about 13" wide which corresponds nicely with the wheel well width.

Next would be a custom bed frame a couple inches shorter so I can sit on the bed without hitting my head on the ceiling, with two large drawers and a hollow for an esky in the front. A 15-20L water-tank would occupy the dead space on the right side between pantry and wheel-well. The back end would be basically the same with general storage under the bed.

But I will settle for one or two drawers and something to replace the file cabinet if I find something cheep and suitable. Also thinking of adding some peg-board to the divider cage but I'm not sure what it would hold, perhaps pots and pans freeing up the ugly green thing for food. Either way if I live in this thing full time it is going to need a better organizing system. I am sure it will evolve over the summer.

So no ecomodding ideas?

Oh and i am going to re-do the curtains for sure. Do you guys think it would make a big difference if there is a light colour or a dark one facing the window? It would be nice if it stayed a little cooler in the sun.

[UltArc]

Air up those tires, grille block, rear wheel skirts.

Later on, a boat tail. I love a good underbody, but the age of the vehicle concerns me. (Efficiency of cooling the system, and the heat maintained underneath.)

I am not sure about which curtain is the best.

[elhigh]

Well, I wouldn't take this thing on anything rougher than a firm dirt road, but how far afield you're willing to go is a personal decision. But belly pans are never a bad idea, and if you attach them with cable ties, accidentally losing one on a trail is a simple matter of a few new cable ties for reinstallation. As I recall with the Van, the underside is a nightmare of greeblies and bits in the wind, so you could achieve quite a bit with a belly pan and not alter the appearance at all.

The engine is under the front seats - which made me raise my eyebrows when you described the vehicles as "practical," but I'm judging that statement from a maintenance perspective - so you don't want to belly pan the whole thing. But everything from the bellhousing aft is probably a good place to add some smoothing work, and there's also quite a bit you could do ahead of the front axles, closing in areas that don't need circulation. Just so long as the radiator can breathe, you're good.

Adding a minimal boat tail is completely feasible; I can't remember the member but his Previa is called "The Golden Egg," he added some small kammback additions to his ride (in stainless steel if I recall correctly) and he's getting better mileage than I am. The blockier van you're using may respond more positively with any aero improvements.

This would require some A-B-A testing, but I wonder about adding a bit of a forehead to the top of the van, so you could bring in some taper to the roof as the roofline moves to the rear. That's just spitballing, the added frontal area may completely offset any wake drag gains.

[cRiPpLe_rOoStEr]

Curtains with a light-colored side facing the outside and the darkest one inside are better to keep the privacy while not overheating the interior so much. And working into a camper van to improve the space optimization is quite a hard task...

Originally Posted by War_Wagon

As for the name? Vanessa?

Vanessa is the name of my dog

[Saskwatchian]

Tires are 45/65 PSI F/R, I could pump them up further I guess since they are rated for 80.

I am now considering adding a spring under the accelerator to give me a bit of resistance before the angry hamsters under the seat crack open a pack of Marlboros each. I just noticed today how much black smoke comes out of the pipe at WOT, which you can spend a lot of time in with this van. I am not sure how much diesel this thing burns when the smoke starts billowing out but it can't be a sign of high efficiency.

I have pretty much decided the curtains will be light both inside and outside with a dark layer in-between. Better light blocking and privacy while not seeming as small when lit from within.



As far as a name I think I settled on Humphrey, though the name Boris was considered.