I was reminiscing on some stories about the Vansion today and my thoughtful mother hounded me: "You have GOT to write this stuff down." She's right, as always; I cannot allow these memories fade as virtually everything else in my memory seems to. You'll find some are funny; some are sad; and some are entirely uninteresting. Please enjoy the first of my Vansion Volumes.
September, 2016 I was talking to my roommate about how cool it would be to live in a van. I had been thinking about this for a long time. The next week I told him: "Dude, I bought a van." I will not write his response verbatim...he was fairly surprised. October, 2016 I found a fellow selling a cheap grinder on Craigslist. I was going to wait until the next day to come pick it up, but the stoke factor was running high. "I've got to get it tonight," I told him. He gave me his address but my GPS was not functioning right. Additionally, this was back before my regular headlights worked, so I had to run them on bright all the time. So here I was, in an unfamiliar neighborhood, driving my nine foot tall plain white cargo van around very slowly in an unfamiliar neighborhood...with my brights on, nonetheless. I was looking for the house numbers! I found out through some unconventional interactions with parents that it was Halloween night. November, 2016 I drove "the Vansion," as I affectionally call it, to Ector, Texas for Thanksgiving. Here my mom, dad, and brother helped me install Thinsulation (from 3M), sub flooring, and the vinyl floor. My mom also rocked some detail work on the outside of the van. My dad's best buddy, Richey, (apparently known as "Mr. Wiring" in high school) showed up and fixed my fantastic fan. December, 2016 I worked at my colleague Angel's house for many weekends to install the 160W GoPower solar panel, 30A controller, 100 AH AGM battery, and 1500W inverter, as well as the Espar D2 Diesel Heater. Angel's husband, Ken, was extremely helpful, particularly in brainstorming an adjustable stand for my solar panel. January, 2017 I installed velcro on the edges of my windows and cut black felt pieces to fit each window. I then installed velcro on custom-cut Reflectix pieces for additional insulation. At this point, the Espar D2 can maintain 72F inside as low as about 15F outside. I built and installed the overhead shelf (above the cab) at my colleague Angel's house. I installed the Battery Isolator. This handy device allows my auxiliary battery to charge from the alternator when the car is running. When the car is not running the device isolates the starter and auxiliary battery to avoid getting stranded. February, 2017 I worked with my buddy Cody to install tongue-in-groove pine wood paneling throughout the interior of the cabin. We worked and drank happily for three days to get the basics done, then finished trim work the next weekend. This whole process cost about $150. During this process, we experienced a small electrical fire. Somehow a short circuit developed in my vent wiring. I first felt the heat on my foot (I was wearing Chacos, naturally), then watched as the sheathing burned right off to expose the red hot copper underneath. I proceeded to open the sliding door and throw the battery out. The enormous weight of the battery was plenty enough to break the wire and thus discontinue the circuit. After this I disconnected all electronics for a while. Also noteworthy was the profound crappiness of our economy pine paneling. Cody and I bought this at Lowes because it was the cheapest available. Unfortunately we had to scrap a fair bit (~1/4) of the wood we bought due to bowing, knots, or tongue-in-groove defects. March, 2017 I spent about five hours in the parking lot of Advance Auto Parts building a fuse system for every electronic device connected to the auxiliary battery. I also rewired the fantastic fans with heavier gauge wire.
3 Comments
Shelley
3/23/2017 07:25:03 pm
Our neighbor has said you can return any wood that bows, etc and get your money back. Not sure if you tried it or not but FYI. Love reading the updates and can't wait to see the finished product. Very inspiring!
Reply
Leave a Reply. |
PAUL EDGAR CRANFILL- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Archives
August 2023
Categories |
Contact:
PaulEdgarCranfill@gmail.com (919) 454-0352 Call or text anytime. |
|