Narcotraficantes and Van Fun

It has been awhile since I have written anything. Not much has been going on as the surf has been next to flat for the past 2 weeks. Every surfer in town is starting to go nuts and if waves don’t show up soon, who knows what kinds of atrocities could aspire!

Lately Ive been working on my car and trying to get it fully ready for the upcoming parts of my trip. I have been working with a local welder about mounting my tanks under the van and this should be happening tomorrow afternoon. He is building a custom mount that will allow me to remove the tanks for refilling and inspection from the military and federales. By getting the tanks under the van I can start carrying a decent amount of water for cooking and cleaning which will be nice. Currently Im living out of water bottles and that is really starting to SUCK! I need to figure out some form of food storage because living out of plastic bags is just not working for me either. I was working on something in the van the other day and I sat on almost an entire loaf of good wheat bread and I smashed it to smithereens! Im thinking about getting a decent size cooler or a small bin to store food and other things I need when Im cooking.

Cooking is something I have been trying to do more of lately because its time I learn and its time that I get my spending back under control. Im not living horribly out of my means but I need to save cash and cut corners wherever I can and cooking is just too easy to not do this. I realize now that not having a table or some form of platform to cook on is a huge pain in the ass, so Ill be working to solve that problem very soon. I have only been cooking eggs and beans which is super easy but tomorrow Ill start hunting the internet for some good recipes to try out but I must build some type of a stable platform for cooking because right now working with vegetables or anything of the sort is just out of the question.

I have also been working on the van trying to solve my gas mileage problem. Currently Vanny is drinking gas like no other and Im not sure exactly why. I have been working hard on this problem but Im at a turning point where I can start buying unneeded parts or I can turn to a mechanic. I have put the car into diagnostic mode so Im watching the Open/Closed loop modes change and everything is ok. I have een testing sensors and so far they are all coming back ok save for my O2 sensor which is operating a little whacked. Right now that’s my main suspect but tomorrow I will work with a local mechanic who has an OBD1 reader and we can query individual sensors and get his opinion on what is wrong. This is one of the hardest problems I have ever had to tackle on a car and its tough to say the least without a good source of tools and information! Id like to possibly drop my gas tank and blow all the lines clean too but we shall see if I follow through with this.

The other night I was reading my buddy Tioga George’s blog and he mentioned he was heading to a place very near me and was going to leave his RV there while he flew back to the states for a few weeks. I dropped him an email but decided to go meet him on a whim and so I drove up to Penitas RV part in La Penita, about 1 hour north of me. He wasn’t due in until the next day so I stayed the night in the park and soon met some friends at the get-together all the RVers were having. I met the only 2 girls near my age in the entire park (32 &36) and we decided to head into town and check out a band that was playing bluegrass music. We had fun listening to them and I talked with the girls for a bit and figured out their stories which is always fun. One of the girls is from Canada and works seasonal work up there for 6 months and the other 6 months she comes with her parents and works in the RV park in Mexico. The other girl was from Germany and was just traveling Mexico for a few weeks alone and had seen some cool places.

We left the first bar and headed to a local karaoke place because the German girl wanted to sing. Listening to her sing in English was pretty funny but I gave her major credit for going for it. I couldn’t even imagine myself trying to sing some of my favorite Mexican songs in Spanish! There was another Mexican girl in the bar by herself and she was singing a few songs. I asked her if she would sing one of my favorite songs for me and she agreed and sang it pretty good. Later on she started talking to me and I asked her where she learned her English.

“I lived in Chicago and Los Angeles for awhile” she said.
“Ohh really? Why are you back in Mexico? Did you get deported?”
“Yes I did. I spent one year in jail in Chicago. I am a narcotraficante, so is my whole family”
“Mmmm, how interesting” I said feigning interest and scanning the exits.
“Yes… quieres una novia Mexicana? Eres muy guapo y quiero balair contigo!”. Which basically means ‘do you want a Mexican girlfriend? You are very cute and I want to dance with you!’.

We talked a little while longer and she wanted to come back to Punta Mita with me but I played it cool and avoided the topic. She was very pretty but messing around with girls who have a history in drug trafficking is not exactly my idea of fun. In fact I was beginning to wonder how in the world I could have such luck lately but that’s another story. I did think briefly about what could be the worst situation and I know tons of guys who would have gone for it anyways and just dealt with the problems as they come along. I figured this would be an excellent way for me to face my fears and try and regain some trust in myself and those around me, I mean… would they really want to kill a gringo just for hooking up with their sister? I left those questions unanswered and went back to the RV park with the girls I had come with. I went to bed as soon as we got back because I had to get up early and wait for George’s arrival!

I woke up the next morning and while walking around the van I noticed my left rear shock hanging by a thread. SHIT! The nut on the top mounting bolt had fallen off somewhere on the road and the shock let go but thank God the bolt was still hanging on. I unmounted the shock and threw it in the van figuring Id just deal with this later as my air bags were still supporting the rear end quite well. I took Chica for a walk on the beach where she made a new friend and they played for awhile chasing each other up and down the beach and through some of the waves until they both gave up in total exhaustion. Right about that time George pulls into the RV park and I let him get settled before I went to meet him.

I walked up the hill and saw the famous Tioga RV from his blog that I have been following for the past year. I introduced myself to George and I spent the morning chatting with him about his adventures through Mexico, life and the recent suicide of his son back in California. I knew he needed a ride back into Puerto Vallarta for the plane and offered him a ride back as I was headed that way anyway. He accepted and we left around 12:30pm just in case there was traffic on the bridge in Vallarta that recently collapsed due to heavy rains. We arrived at the airport right in time, shared a lunch of Carl’s Jr and went out separate ways. George is a very cool guy and Im glad I had the chance to meet and talk with him. You can follow his blog here.

Well its been an interesting couple of days but nothing more to write about, just the normal day to day life in Mexico. Ive been considering a new plan of settling in long term somewhere and getting a job and making it through the winter and saving my money for summer time. There has been little to no swell in the pacific so far and its getting old watching my bank account dwindle. I know Im down here living the dream and having fun but I need to get my spending back under control. I checked out a few numbers tonight and it looks like basically I have spent $3800 dollars in 3 months of living here and that’s just unacceptable. I need to get this back down to around $600 a month if I have any hopes of staying here long term.

More Great Surf and Car Troubles

Today I woke up on a mission to get in some surf so I took off around 10am to La Lancha with my longboard in tow. I didn’t make it very far before I realized I had left my board shorts back at the hotel as they were drying from a washing the previous day. I finally got back to the break and decided to gear up the camera and see if I could get some decent footage of some good drops and nice down the line surfing without all the whitewater washing over the tail of the board.


I got the camera mounted and secured and tied off its leash to my leash just in case it decides to go for a swim. The break was a little packed and there were a few boats out with students, my perfect type of surf. Even though it looks crowded, a close observation reveals that no one is really catching waves on their save for a few guys and the instructors. Perfect. I paddle out right into the thick of it getting some odd stares for the camera mounted on the tail end of my board but I held my ground. I got a wave pretty quickly but I fell off going backside. I took a few on the head but Im getting my turtle roll down pretty well and slowly letting go of my fear of being in decent size surf on a longboard. See, with a shortboard or a fish, which are normally what I ride, you can go down below the water when a breaking wave is in front of you. We call this move a “duckdive” after the ducks that do it so well in the ocean! Just watch them next time you have a chance, the birds will duck just in front of big waves and go right below them! A longboard is a totally different story. It is almost impossible to duckdive a longboard so surfers have come up with several other methods for not getting annihilated in breaking waves. Sometimes you can paddle through some of the whitewater but mostly we do a move called the “turtle-roll” and that’s pretty much what you do. You roll the board upside down with you below it under the water hanging on to the board. Your body effectively acts like an anchor and you can kind of hold your position. Today I learned to hang on a little in front of the board to force the nose down through the whitewater.

I got a few more good rides before I finally noticed my camera wasn’t taking video like it was supposed to because the batteries were dead. CRAP! I took a few more good waves and my last ride was basically what every surfer dreams of. I paddled in for a semi late drop and made it with a nice long bottom turn off the bottom and shot down the line. However La Lancha is easy to outrun so I had a nice long cutback to get back into the curl of the wave and here I did another long bottom turn and shot off the line again. I did another long cutback and really felt it this time. I extended my front leg to the max and forced the board with my back foot to turn back the other direction to the left and really cranked on it and boy was it fun! I did another good bottom turn and practiced my pumping Im learning off the bottom. Pumping is the way a surfer generates speed in slow or flat sections of the wave and it is a concept Im finally getting the hang of and its pretty fun too! I made a small cut back straight to let the wave catch up and I noticed Im nearing the beach rapidly. I watch the wave line up and get ready to explode into a close out so I turn back straight and laid down and rode the whitewater straight into the beach, terminating the ride in 1.5ft of water. I unleashed and walked up the sand and noticed these 3 guys sitting there with dumbfounded looks on their faces as I had just pulled off the move every surfer dreams of, to practically step off your board from a long good ride onto the beach. I was so damn happy about the ride I totally forgot about the camera batteries being dead but I really wish I would have gotten that one on video.

I went into Nuevo Vallarta to pick up a few things for Chica and me, namely dog food and rechargeable AAA batteries for my surfing camera. Then I grabbed a burger at Carls Jr. and it was pretty epic. I went over to Mar’s house and chatted with her for a bit and she seemed to be doing well. I haven’t talked to or seen her in over a week so I was wondering how she was doing. We talked for a while and she had to run to a quincenera, or a sweet 15 party so I headed back to Mita. I went over to Debo’s and chatted with her for a second and got invited to this new place just a couple of houses from her so I joined her and her friend Dianne and Alejandro. The food was pretty good and I spent my time talking with Alejandro and it wasn’t until the end of the meal that I finally figured out where I knew him from. Some weeks ago I was drunk with Paul and Mel and we were driving through the main street of Mita when we happened upon some friends drinking on the street corner so we bailed out, paid our mariachi friend to play some songs and drank with them in the street for a bit. Alejandro and I laughed about this for a while as we both remembered at once and it turns out I know his dad very well. He is the security for the place we have been camping for the past 4 years when we come here!

I then met up with Alvaro, a friend from the restaurant Si Senor. I told him the other day I would sell him my wettie (wetsuit) for a good price and I let it go for $400 pesos, about $35usd which is what I paid for it anyways. He is a spear fishermen and his suit was donated to him and its old and torn, letting in more and more of the cold pacific waters every day. I hope this new suit will be good for him and keep him warm. He’s a cool guy, down here working and looking for adventure from his native Argentina. II wish him all the best luck.

Tomorrow there is talk of possibly heading to the paradise beach north of here so we shall see how that goes. Dianne also knows a great welder (they call him Juan, the man of steel) so I will talk to him about mounting my water tanks under the van and maybe some type of freaking table on the door or something so I don’t have to cook on the floor anymore. Who knows… more adventure coming soon though. Mita is getting old and im getting an itching to hit the road so I will be headed south in a few days. Im also considering heading back to Florencia for a few days and having the guys take a look at my van because the gas mileage has totally gone to shit, like 11mpg shit. I replaced my fuel filter the other day and it was pretty clogged with black crap and Ill try resetting the computer for the engine just to make sure its not stuck on a high elevation fuel setting but I don’t have much faith it will work. Eh, just another day in paradise!

Im Loosing My Mind... In Mexico

Well, paradise is taking its effect on me slowly and Ive noticed that my mind is starting to go wild. Too much of a good thing can turn into a bad thing and that is exactly what is happening.

Boredom is starting to rear its ugly head and Im getting an itch to get on the move. The only problem is, the van is still in pieces. I had them check and work on all the basic maintinence which God only knows the last time it was done. They changed the breaks, repacked wheel bearings and checked the rear end and whammo we ran into problems. Upon checking the passenger side axle, they noticed it was leaking differential fluid through a faulty bearing. After a closer inspection the axle was also damaged and had been scored significantly from this faulty bearing so they went to Guadalajara for parts. Well the axle that came back was slightly different, maybe for a 1ton van/truck. It will work but they are determined to return my van to close to original as possible, so they are heading back to Guadalajara tomorrow to exchange the axle.

Yesterday I had a cool adventure all day though. I was super bored so I headed over to a friends restaraunt for a beer and chit chat. He has a big yard in the back and was mowing the whole thing with a weed-eater, so I helped with that process and I learned that it is very difficult to mow with a weedeater and make it all level, basically impossible.

The next adventure was a little later in the afternoon. Isidro, the husband of the family Im living with (also my main mechanic, along with his brother Pedro... all brothers of Medardo who I know from Texas) is building a house on the outside of town. The Mexican process at times to is build a little by little, until you can get all the money. Sometimes you will see 3/4 completed houses, missing furnishings and windows... waiting on money to come. Anyways, the project was to pour some concrete for the cistern. His cistern sits down in the ground and we had to pour concrete along the sides to keep it from shifting later.. eventually the sides will be higher than the tank and a lid will be put on to seal everything. So I learned how to mix concrete the hard way, or the Mexican way if you will. We cleared some ground and starting loading sand into the wheelbarrow. 3.5 loads... then we mixed the bag of cement into the sand, constantly  shoveling to get the proper mix.. moving the pile from side to side. Added a ton of water and mixed more... and we had concrete. We made 2 bags worth, so 7 loads of sand... tons of shoveling and moving buckets. It was quite an adventure and I actually liked it. I imaged that I was pouring the concrete for my own little casa here in Mexico, a nice day dream but I quickly put an end to that as it is dangerous for the roaming tribe in which I belong.

Today Im finding that Im getting angry.. angry at stupid things. This is a small town and sometimes I cannot get to the internet cafes because they are closed for random siestas. There is only 1 cafe in town which has the machines and the proper versions of internet explorer to chat and work efficiently on facebook to get messages out and he is closed all the time! Im also getting angry at spanish, I dont want to speak it or understand it. Its a phase I go through when Im down here on long trips and it will pass. I believe it has something to do with my mind just being overloaded with all of this stuff, new culture, false deadlines, spanish, new foods... crap where is the closest bathroom I have 30 seconds. Its been fun... but its starting to feel like a Tom Petty song, Im getting tired of this town. Ready to move on....

Vanny, Florencia and all that is Mexico

I got some new about my transmission yesterday afternoon when Pedro returned from neigboring Tlaltenango (sp?) and told me they decided it repair my transmission instead of swapping for a different one. They talked extensively about my trip and what my needs will be so they are putting some extra effort and parts into this one. The cost should be around $700 to $800 for the rebuild and right now they are quoting $150 for labor because I am a friend of the family. I will pay more for labor than this because indeed I am a friend but I want to help them as well. The transmission "might" be done today, but in Mexico that usually means tomorrow. They have a saying in spanish, mañana mañana, or tomorrows tomorrow.

Yesterday I was talking with the owner of the restaraunt and we were talking about my problem of paying for all of the work to the van at once. See I can only withdraw $300usd each day, so I need like 4 days to get all the damn money without going through some complicated scheme of someone sending me money in western union or something. He offered to front me the cash to pay but I declined. Later on he picked me up and drove me 20 minutes to the neighboring town that has a bank/ATM so I could begin the process. There are no banks or ATMs here in Florencia, just a cash society. After we got the money and a package he was waiting for we headed back into Florencia. I met up with Isidro (Medardo´s brother, who Im staying with) and we took a long walk out into the outskirts of town and he showed me his lot and his house that he is bulding for his family. Its a beautiful lot with a great view of the cerro (mountain, like a mesa) in the distance and surrounded by corn fields on all sides.... hidden. They are laying foundations right now and the cistern is already in the ground but the work is only being done as he has the cash, little by little. Thats how Mexico works, pay what you can right now, and we will put it on hold until you have a little more. The USA should take a lesson from this when it comes to homes that apparently no one can afford anymore.

Last night I went back to the restaraunt for some tacos and beers. Normally I eat on the street but here food is so affordable that sitting down and talking with friends is nice and Im choosing that option lately. So I had 4 steak tacos with 2 beers, total price? 50 pesos, or about $4.25usd. On the street, we will call it 30pesos. Joe and I discussed something about Mexico when he was here, you may be poor but you will almost never go hungry. Here food is extreamly important, and lots of it. It is the main focus of the day it seems and Im still trying to get used to that!!!

Well, I better get on back to the van. It was interesting sleeping in it last night with the front up on jackstands! I had a bed in a private room but sometimes when I return home kind of late (10:30 - 11) everyone is asleep and I dont want to wake them walking through the house with my dog etc. Well thats all for now, I will try to do something interesting today to starve off some boredom. Ive been noticing a heavy fact, without a project or work of some type in a man´s life... there is no need to wake up. I gotta find something to do....

Update... Never Gonna Finish!

Thats how Ive been feeling lately! Im not gonna finish the van in time!

Ive been rushing with projects but truthfully Im getting a little burned out. Right now is not the time to get this feeling but Im getting it nonetheless. I have a few major things to complete and then, well whatever. I need to finish up the electrical which is being worked on nightly. I just purchased my deep cycle and built a box for it and now I am choosing a location of said box and my fuse panel. I need to vent the box from the outside because my lead-acid battery puts off explosive hydrogen gas as it is charging (discharging?). Ugh! So much work to do!

The van still looks stripped inside, whatever... Im just gonna keep it basic. screw it. It feels a tad more comfortable with the carpet though...

this post is just an update. Ill write longer/better later.

Solar Mounted and Roof Vent Installed! Road test!

The last of the big projects is done! This one took some time and thought and frankly, some cajones! I was very nervous about cutting holes and drilling into my perfectly good fiberglass roof on my van but hey, it had to be done.

The roof vent has an exhaust fan that runs at around 200CFM @ 1.10 amps. Thats not too bad, a little more than I wanted but hey it is what it is. I tried emailing the company before I bought it to get an idea of power draw but they never responded and I ended up just measuring with my multimeter. So anyone out there looking at the Ventline Ventadome, it uses around 1.10amps @ 12vdc. I purchased mine from here Eastern Marine. I havent had much of a chance to test its effectiveness at expelling heat but Ill have plenty of time for that in the future.

The solar panels are the upgraded panels I snagged off of craigslist. I sold my old harborfrieght kit that produced 45watts and picked up these two 80watt panels producing a total of 160watts! Power shouldnt be an issue anymore especially coupled with the battery isolator I will be installing soon. The panel mounting was a little tricky with my roof because it is not flat but curved on the outer edges. So we decided to mount the L brackets to the outside which allowed them to conform with the roof curve but still held the panel flat. Ill try and post a close up soon!

Still a decent amount of work that needs to be done but most of this can now be accomplished in after work hours where solid daylight isnt that important. I also installed my shelving in the rear (pic coming soon) which will double as storage and a solid mount for my longboard to ride inside the van!

On a side note, I drove to Kemah saturday night to hang out with friends and sell my Hobie Cat sunday morning. I filled up the tank to try and get a mpg test with all the newly mounted roof equipment and round trip I did 137 miles by time I filled up again last night. Guess what?!?!?! I averaged 19.5MPG on the highway with a bit of stop and go city driving by keeping my speed around 55mph and not racing from stop light to stop light. Ive been working on my method of "hyper-miling" for awhile but this is the best I have been able to achieve. This gives me high hopes for the trip and I might save a bit on gas! I really hope so because when I was in Costa Rica back in 2005, we were paying $5usd a gallon for diesel, and we paid $4 a gallon for gasoline in Guatemala in 2007. Gas prices have since dropped globally and Im hoping they will continue to stay low!!! Gas prices will have a huge effect on my trip and Im constantly re working my figures and trying my best to guestimate just how much I will spend. Some rough numbers I did today come out as follows.

35,000 Miles
/ 15mpg
----------
2333 gallons of gas X $4.50/gallon = $10,498 just in gas!!!!!!! Sailboats dont look so bad after all!!!!

Im working to revamp this blog with some form of Google advertising and some donate buttons. We shall see how this pans out.

Stuff that needs to be done...

1) run all electrical, install lights
2) paint and pad shelves, rattle like hell
3) build mount for my breaker panel, run wiring
4) install isolator charging system and wiring
5) install switch to change electricity source for stereo
6) install car alarm
7) install multiple kill switches
8) install security cage over window where my head is when I sleep!
9) stove/kitchen work
10) build solid base for Wonderwash (portable washing machine, hand crank)

bleh... this list could go on :) what happened to simplicity David????? ugh!

Van Update... Bed Finished

Solar panels for the van

Frame sizing

Fiberglassing even more holes!


Frame installed

Bed in place! Look at the mess underneath!

My new dog Chica, enjoying her spot. Notice the walls???

Phew! Its been a while since I have last posted! I was reminded recently that I needed to update my blog and when I checked I saw the date of April 6th!!!!! That is just totally unacceptable! So much has happened since then that it is literally impossible to recount.

I picked up the solar panels on sale at Harbor Freight for $160. They provide 45 watts of power which is not very much but I figure like this.

Stereo @ 50 watts / 12volts = 4.16amps per hour x 5 hours = 20amps

Laptop @ 50 watts / 12volts = 4.16amps per hour x 3 hours = 12amps

Lights @ 80 watts / 12 volts = 6.66amps per hour x 2 hours = 13.3amps

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

= 45.3 amps/day

IF I run everything listed and for as long as I have estimated. Trust me there will be DAYS at a time I will not power on that laptop! Anyays, the panels will pump out 3.5amps X 8hours = 28amps if the conditions are right. I have metering setup on my battery to watch it closely as drawing it below 50% greatly reduces the number of cycles (times) it can be discharged and recharged. I know my panels are a little undersized and I have been considering selling them to pick up something larger (130watts = 7~8amps per hour roughly) but its very $$$. The average 130watt panel will cost you around $600 new but I have been able to source some used bulk panels for about $350. The problem is, you have to buy 2 most of the time and I DO NOT NEED 260watts of power and the roof space it will consume. ugh... decisions. The good news is I am installing a battery isolator which basically allows my "house" battery to be charged by the altinator as the engine is running WITHOUT affecting or drawing power from the main starting battery. If I run my house battery dead, I will still be able to start the engine with the main starting battery.

Enough battery/solar talk! The bed install went pretty smooth other than the bed being too close to the frame rails that run up the walls (check the pics closely). Basically, every drill we owned was too big to fit in this gap so I had to do a lot of hand screwing of 2.5" wood screws through 2x6s and that my friends was NOT fun. Ive been monitoring the temps inside the van with a little gadget I picked up and they are pretty close to ambient when I have the windows open during the day. I have seen her hit 117F inside with all the windows closed!!!!!!! I will be installing reflectix insulation on the ceiling and windows soon. Then I will install some new carpet over the reflectix in the ceiling and paint it black as it is not quite the color I want. Floor carpet is also coming in soon.

I also recently purchased a roof vent with a built in 12v exhaust van, RV shower head with a start/stop button on it to conserve water while soaping up and washing hair, and a DPDT switch. The switch will allow me to run power to my stereo in a special way. I can run power from the main starting battery (woops, I said no more battery talk didnt I?) and from the rear house battery to this switch. As Im driving I can tell the car stereo to run off of the starter battery but when Im parked/camped, I can switch the power source to the rear house battery so I wont draw from the main. The switch even has an OFF position to totally kill the radi o from any type of power draw!

Well thats been about it that I feel like typing. Ill keep you guys posted on my progress... just 70 more days to go! Wooo Hooo!!!

Air Bags Installed... Took her beach camping

Exhaust rerouted out the side to clear the bag

Bags installed

Well I got the airsprings installed! These have greatly improved the ride and the support in the rear. My leaf springs are old and worn and instead of replacing the springs, I got these adjustable bags for the same cost as a new set of leaf springs. They can support up to 5000lbs of weight at 100psi. I run them at 15psi under normal driving and I love they way they ride! They have also raised the rear ride height by about 1.5 - 2inches as well! I ran my air valves out the rear right next to the license plate so I can air up both bags in the same spot, however they are NOT tied together. So far I have been airing them up with a small handpump commonly used for footballs and the like and it works great!

I took the van down south to Kemah/Galveston this weekend for a surf and just to put some miles on her and see how she would drive. I have to admit, I was very nervous taking her back to the location she last broke down and subsequently stuck for 2.5 months but she performed flawlessly.

The surf was a little better than I expected and with the sun we had on saturday I was actually able to trunk it in 67F water. It was a little chilly but I just decided my hatred of wetsuits would motivate me to get over it and paddle out. This is only the 3rd time Ive been in the water in 2 years! Ive decided I need to get back in the water before I leave, mostly because I was VERY rusty! My surfing was seriously lacking and my paddling strength was nil. Ugh... I just shudder at the thought of starting all over again.

Well.. the Interior is Coming Out!

All the carpet gone!

Walls and insulation coming out!

Ceiling piece/headliner out and finally all the wiring exposed. My sted dad Wesley helps in this step as I needed it and so did my soul. I hate hurting vehicles like this.

Wall and window frame gone, Insulation stripped.

The pile of debris :)

This weekend I worked to get the van ready for her conversion. I had been going back and forth on this decision for a long time because I just couldnt bring myself to strip a perfectly good vehicle. I started with the carpet because it needed to come out anyways. It just was going to be way too smelly after years of living on the beach and with a dog at that!

I also started stripping the walls and the ceiling headliner as well and got most of it out. Im happy I went this route because I need to cut in a roof hatch for ventalation and I need to rewire everything and make it more accessible. As it was, wires were almost impossible to trace and repair.

Ill keep you guys posted as I move forward with this.

Another Long Weekend (Working on the Van)

Well it was yet another long weekend for me as I worked to get my van ready formy trip to the southern latitudes. As of this weekend, I have exactly 5 months until I hit the road, not much time for something that is going through a total overhaul.

We started saturday morning with getting the van off the jacks to get the rear wheels off to start mounting my airbag kit (thanks to those for the awesome recomendations). Well, we quickly found out the lug nuts were seized so I ran her over to a shop to have em busted loose. He had to bump the air gun to 1kft/lbs but we got em off without busting anything. Got her home and started dry fitting the airbag on the drivers side... no bueno. Exhaust pipe passed within 1/2 an inch of the bag and causing some concern from my stepdad and I... so bags delayed until exhaust is worked out. We removed all lug nuts and lubed them with axle greese to prevent future seizing.

We then turned out attention to the stuck window on passenger side as it would only go down half way before a horrible buzzing sound and same going back up. We quickly discovered the gears were stripped in the motor so I picked up are placement ($42 bux lifetime warrenty) and got her working great, especially after the silicon spray in the window tracks. The we fixed the power door lock too!

Sunday I tackled the heater control valve that was leaking a serious amount of coolant. I had suspicions that the heater core under the dash was out anyways from the strong antifreeze smells when heat was on, so I totally bypassed my heating system and just hooked the return line back up to the radiator (evenrear heat was bypassed)... problem solved for free! I took off down the road and thats when she started dying again... CRAP! I couldnt get her restarted and I assumed I was out of gas (after replacing the fuel pump, I only put 5 gallons or so back in and I had done some driving on that) so we dropped in 2 gallons.Problem is.. she started WAY too fast for a car out of gas, usually they take a few cranks. Nope she fired right up. So... I swung by the parts place and bought the last piece of a full tune up, the ignition coil, $20 bux... worth the piece of mind. Dropped it in, got to a gas station, 10 more gallons of premium with a fuel treatment and she is running fine.

This project is slowly moving forward but I feel like for every 3 steps forward I take 1 back (better than 2 and 1 right?? ahaha). I plan to take her out west before I hit the road so I can really test her limits, Im thinking Taos or something, good 2K miles round trip from me. I need to see what is going to break before I can trust her again.

Vanny Update

Carpeting going up to insulate and clean the look up a little

All of this came out! This is where the TV went. Good thing I HATE TV!

Tons of room in the back.. this board is 6'2"!

All... a semi blank canvas to work with. Now the fun starts

Look at all that room!

So a lot of work has been done to the van. I started ripping out the TV and all of that mess above the drivers area. There is a good amount of space that I freed up so Im pretty excited about that. I tried to hunt down a fabric that was the same type/color as the interior of my van and I quickly gave up. Its just incredibly hard for some reason to match this stuff! I optioned for the greyish outdoor carpet and now I have been laying it up on the roof of said storage area.

Ive also removed all the passenger seats and rear bench/bed so that I can build out what I want in the van. I was thinking hard about keeping the back bench so I wouldnt have to build a bed but after some long thought I decided building something I wanted vs. accepting what I had was a better option for me. The bed was just not long enough for me and I think it wasted a good deal of space in the van, especially underneath it with all of the metal bracketing involved.

I took a look at the suspension of the van and realized my rear leaf springs were a little flat and causing the rear of the van to sag. After looking around, I finally found a place on the net that sells new ones but they were $300 for a pair. I talked with some guys on the Yahoo VanDwellers group Im a member of and they turned me on to a long forgotten option... airbags! So I purchased a set of Firestone Riderites for $300 and they will arrive tomorrow at my house to be installed. They can support loads of up to 5000lbs and takea great deal of the load and weight off of the springs and place it back onto the axle. They also have the advantage of raising the ride height of the van!

I went ahead and bought a cd player for the van too as this tape deck was just killing me. I didnt go overboard and I only spent $100 bux, a number Im willing to accept as a loss when this unit gets stolen. I picked it for its ability to allow USB sticks to play through it, which is much easier than connecting a laptop to the AUX port on the front. Speakers will be coming too as mine are just too damn old.

Much work is about to be performed on the engine and brakes as well. Im looking to go ahead and flush the radiator and all the coolent, replace hoses (buy spares), replace all belts (buy spares), pick up a spare heavy duty water pump, resurface rotors and install new pads and replace the lower brake lines after a suggestion from my grandfather. Apparently Chevy/GMC trucks/vans from this year range have a bad habbit of their lower lines disolving in the brake fluid and eventually this will lock the piston down, possibly causing a bad situation if driving.

Work still to be done....

1) front air bags to stiffen and support the worn springs. Keep her from hitting the bump stops on the suspension of this beast so much!

2) design and build interior layout!

3) cut hole in roof for air/ventalation

4) work on cabin lighting! This is a huge one.

5) get battery banks worked out and isolators ordered and installed

6) get different rims if possible, and new tires.

7) get good used tires for dual spares, paint rims to match.

8) sand rust spots and paint

there is more im sure :)

Van Update...

First mounting hole drilled... a little nervewracking

Outside view of the mount

All finished! This is just a spare carrier flipped upside down

Dual spares! Yeaaa!

Ladder relocated to the side where it will be more useful

Last weekend I was able to get some work done on the van. I had been dreaming about this epic expedition style dual tire mount on the back that I had seen on a youtube video somewhere. The video had some VW Syncros (4x4 VW vans) somewhere in the desert in Africa and they were carrying dual spares and I really liked the look.

I took a look at the current spare carrier on there now and realized all I had to do was get another and flip it upside down and it would be the exact same thing. I priced them online and I found some for about $75 new. I decided to be resourceful and check out the local junkyard and there I was able to score the mount AND a rim for $35 total! Yeeaaa!!!!!!!

The mounting was pretty straight forward but after drilling the holes I realized they came a little close to the inside of the door and the bolts would likely have a problem. Nothing a little hammering couldnt fix. I used the back mounting bracket to act like a flat punch and with the help of a rubber mallet I knocked the inside of the door in just enough to give the bolts room. This is a super easy mod and took me maybe all of 1.5 hours with some serious jacking around.

As I was sitting on my porch and pondering what to do with my ladder I removed from the back door, it hit me that I could hang it off the rain gutter on the van. I mentioned this to my friend Rami and he said why not mount it on the side door, even better! So thats where she will be mounted this weekend. It ends up getting me near the roof in a much better place when it comes to strapping surfboards down.

Last night I started the process of removing the TV and tearing out of the interior of the van. This proved to be a little harder than I thought. Im not exactly "tearing" it out... just removing pieces and remodeling them for my purpose without damaging them, therefore removal is difficult. I was able to find a ton of extra space being wasted in the forward part of the van so thats good news. Tonight I will try and take some pictures of the work.

I am still going back and forth with the interior design. For the most part, I could stack and bungee some large plastic bins for my stuff and just leave it at that but what is the fun in that? My boredom and desire for a project is taking over and Im doing more work than is probably necessary.... is that insanity? Im also laying out some groundwork ideas for an awning system on the side... that should be fun. I dont feel like buying one for $300! Yikes!

Got the Van Running!

Well we got the van running! I had to drain some 21 gallons of gas from the tank to make it happen but that was pretty easy, just time consuming. After we finally emptied the tank my step dad and I dropped it from the back of the van. This was pretty straight forward and overall was not that complicated or hard. The inside of the tank wasn't too dirty so we just flushed it several times with fresh gas and decided to just replace the fuel pump. There was a hole in the pickup screen/strainer and the small piece of hose that connected the fuel pump to the line was totally corroded and even had a small hole in it!

After purchasing a new OEM Delphi pump and strainer for 90 bux and a few other misc items we returned home to reinstall the whole tank. We picked up 5 gallons of premium (93 octane here) and some fuel system cleaner to throw in there once we got it all hooked up. My step dad and I assaulted that tank and got everything reinstalled and hooked up within an hour! We put the 5 gallons in and the fuel system cleaner, lowered the van and started it.... VROOOOM! She started right up and purred the whole time... no sputtering and dying.

We took her around the block and to the store and she ran fantastic or VANtastic as I have been saying lately. I'm super excited to have my vanny back. For those that didn't know she had been broken down for over 2 months while I was trying to find a way to get her back to my house to work on and waiting on warmer weather. We've been having a pretty cold and wet winter this year in Texas and its pretty prohibitive to working on vehicles if your working outside.

Now.. as I am awaiting yet more warm weather, I'm trying to find projects for me to work on the van. I finally have her home in my driveway so I have time after work... Problem is.. I didn't know what to tackle next. Electrics? Stereo? Lights? Camping layout?? ugh...

The New Van

Well.. I did it; I bought my van! Im having major second thoughts right now but Im sure they will go away after awhile. Here she is in all her glory....

STATS:

make: GMC

model: 2500 Vandura

year: 1993

miles: 78,000

engine: Chevy 5.7l (350)

amount paid: $1900

Headed to Monterrey Mexico this weekend!

Yeaa! Im headed out to Monterrey to visit my friend Adriana. Im super pumped because I have never met her friends and family while she has met most of mine. She is a good friend I met on my first trip when I was on the bus from Monterrey back to Houston. We have kept in touch since that day and she usually visits me while on trips to Houston to visit her other friends.

I havent been to Mexico in 2 years almost to the day when I depart this weekend and I cant explain how excited I am! Ugh Ive just been feeling so damn stuck these past few months and Im ready to get outa here. It would have helped if my damn boss would have let me enjoy a few weeks of vacation but she blocked me on my 2 week request.... apparently I work with a bunch of workaholics. Ill be taking the bus thursday night from the southside of Houston and should arrive in Monterrey by 9am friday morning. Yea its a 12 hour long haul but the $41 ticket sure beats the $350 for a plane ticket... shiet.

I finally got my bike running too. I completely wore out the front tire because I had it a tad overinflated and there was no telling how many miles were on it anyways when I bought the bike. I also had to replace my flywheel gasket as I developed a bad oil leak here but she is running like a top now and Im glad to have her back on the road. Two weeks of being off of her just felt wierd and it was like starting all over again when I finally got to get back on.

I have been searching like a damn madman on craigslist lately for my van. Im looking hard but its tough when I have such a high standard and so many criteria. Im looking for a 90-95 Chevy Custom van with no more than 120K on the clock and less than $2500 bucks. I have found a few Dodges meeting that criteria but they both smoked heavily when running! WTF!?? Well the search continues but I have been pricing batteries and solar panels for the roof along with some roof hatches I plan to install for ventallation and lighting. This is going to be an awesome experiment and Im super excited about this project.

My Bday!

Today is my bday! Yeaaaaa!!!!!!

So I havent written in quite awhile yeta again and I hate that. I have been mobile blogging from my phone but when I just checked today its obvious the emails have not been making it, so now I get to figure out that mess. Yay.

Hahaha... so what has been going on you may ask? Well... nothing lol. Same shit! Riding the bike, working, saving money. thats about it.

I did goto Bandera again after the sailboat race that we lost. We had to withdraw along with 74 other boats, 1 boat sank and a trimaran lost its mast. It was a heck of a storm that nailed us out there, a very strong early season cold front.

Ive hit a new high in my savings and its looking AWESOME! Lets just say... half way there baby!

Ive been looking at vans for my trip and I almost bought one last weekend but I didnt like some of the things that were wrong with it. Ive kind of settled on a Chevy custom van from the 90s , early 90s. Think a-team almost but that was 80s, they all look the same. I want to strip the back and build it out the way I want. Im talking solar panels, mobile wind gen im trying to build and a nice place to live. Im really excited about this project and I feel like this whole thing, now 2 years in the making, is finally starting to come together.