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Crazy rear end Goon Monologue Intro Awww yeah, finally doing this poo poo. Roomates? Rent? THE MAN?!?. Nah, done. Out of it. Returned from the Caucasus with a cultural awakening, bitches. Tired of paying a quarter of my paycheque to split a rotting dive with four other assholes. Tired of being tied down to one city for work unless I slay myself packing and unpacking a mountain of boxes while scrambling to find some dive to rent in the worst rental market in North America. Considered a boat for a few years, but boats are bloody expensive. And damp, very very damp. I'm not rich or patient enough for that poo poo, and while I can't drive a boat up a mountain I can certainly mount a kayak on a van. So, fed up with the suffocating decline of western society and fliff with mountains of cash: I'm buying a van and building the most baller mobile hippy space that I can dream up inside it. Then I'm going to live in it, on the mean streets of British Columbia, for at least three years. I considered posting this in GBS, but since it's a multi-month project to get this poo poo built I figured it would end up archived or drowned in pages of one-word shitposts before it ever got finished. The Inspiration:    Each of those is a hyperlink to the respective builds. You can see that my ideology here follows build it like a yacht inside and you won't hate living in van. The Bare Platform: Coming Soon! Off to a wrecking yard to get a feel for various vans this week. Goal is to have some rolling deathtrap that I can start slicing up and welding back together by the start of October. Preferably 4x4. Lol, U gon poop in a bucket / get stabbed / rape van IDGAF what you have to say and I'll be updating this on the reg. Come at me. 
Rime fucked around with this message at 22:21 on Aug 30, 2015 |
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Aug 30, 2015 22:19
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You're living my dream man (the van part, not the living in it part). Being in FL I need to camp with a/c so tents don't loving cut it, a van conversion is the next best affordable option. The roof in the middle pic looks interesting, seems like a good cheaper alternative to pop up roofs which are loving expensive. Add an enclosed trailer to carry extra camp gear and bikes/scooters and you have the perfect rig. Gonna be following this thread to learn from your mistakes 
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Aug 30, 2015 22:34
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Rime posted:Preferably 4x4. Look into early 70's-mid 90's 3rd-generation Chevy's, that was the longest running platform of any of the manufacturers and I believe were available 4wd from the factory. Fords never came factory 4x4, they were intermediate-modified by companies like Quigley and Pathfinder(  ). and then sold at dealers. Dodges I don't know poo poo about except the mid 90's-2000's are super roomy but relatively expensive. What are you going to do about toilet/showers? Cheap 24 hour gym membership? It may be in your interests to find a cheap Toyota Dolphin and gut/redo the inside to fit your yacht motif.
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Aug 30, 2015 22:35
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Chevys could be had with AWD (astrovan) but I don't think they came with 4wd. Ford Econolines are the ones usually chosen for 4x4 conversion.
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Aug 30, 2015 22:39
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Dannywilson posted:What are you going to do about toilet/showers? Cheap 24 hour gym membership? It may be in your interests to find a cheap Toyota Dolphin and gut/redo the inside to fit your yacht motif. I'll put a little QA in the opening post with those common questions but yeah, basically a community gym pass does the job when you're in civilization. Living out of a backpack made me realize how flexibly you can work around things if you're savvy enough. Walk into any hotel like you own it and the bathrooms are yours for the taking. Dolphins are exorbitantly too large. Frankly the extended GMC Savanah in that first link is too large for my tastes, as is your usual Class-B conversion by GetAway. The VW Transporter in the third link is my ideal size and layout, despite the sliding rather than suicide doors, but I don't think any were ever imported to Canada alas. I'm going light, minimal, something that has enough room for my hobby gear and which I can winch out of some decades-abandoned logging road that I should never have driven up in the first place. I'd happily build up inside an 8-seat Delica if they weren't close to 20k here.
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Aug 30, 2015 22:52
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Rime posted:Lol, U gon poop in a bucket / get stabbed / rape van Just be sure to have the good candy.
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Aug 30, 2015 23:48
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As long as you have a PO box to receive parts at I don't see a problem with this. Carry on.
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Aug 31, 2015 00:54
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What's your budget? There's a van in ritchie bros with half the hard work already done. the 2 valve 5.4 is a pile of dogshit, but something like this won't leave you on the side of the road for at least another 30,000kms and you'll be able to buy parts for it anywhere. a couple like it went for about $16,000 in the RB auction in alaska a few months ago, but the canadian market is very different and i'm not sure what the dollar is gonna do to all of this. It has the added benefit of looking like every other van in the city, so you could put a sign on the side like "flowers by irene" and it would suddenly turn invisible. some municipalities are going after parking lot camping. https://www.rbauction.com/2012-FORD-E350-XLT-12-Passenger-4x4?invId=8584251&id=ci&auction=EDMONTON-AB-2015162 The express came in AWD, but only in the short wheelbase, which is going to be super tight. A lot of them were also made with the 4.8 which destroys fuel like nobody's business. pretty much anything else awd/4x4 is either going to be a lot of work, or a potentially sketchy conversion.
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Aug 31, 2015 01:50
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Dude, if you've got the cash for an extra welder's helmet and a GoPro, put that welding on Youtube. People love watching other people weld. See: Discovery Channel. I'll bet you'd get rich from ad money.
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Aug 31, 2015 03:11
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I wonder if Harper's home renovation credit will count for van mods?
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Aug 31, 2015 03:15
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Oh boy. Nah, 22ft is a bit longer wheelbase than I'd like to be handling in the bush and that 5.4 gets rough milage. Right now an early-2000's Astro with a custom mid-top & sleeping platform is my ideal in terms of price, size, and versatility, preferably with dutch doors (although those seem extremely rare up here for some reason). The goal is to keep van + outfitting under $8k max, which puts me at about $6k for the vehicle tops. Thankfully I am a member of an industrial wood & metal makerspace, so doing everything myself is only limited by my own skill level and free time. Advertising on Youtube was my career for six years, trust me, ain't nobody getting rich off welding tutorials on there. Seat Safety Switch posted:I wonder if Harper's home renovation credit will count for van mods? With the number of well paid, sane, and clean-cut professionals I know making this same move because they can no longer justify the ludicrous cost of living in Canada, it'd drat well better. 
Rime fucked around with this message at 03:36 on Aug 31, 2015 |
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Aug 31, 2015 03:34
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Rime posted:Oh boy. Nah, 22ft is a bit longer wheelbase than I'd like to be handling in the bush and that 5.4 gets rough milage. Right now an early-2000's Astro with a custom mid-top & sleeping platform is my ideal in terms of price, size, and versatility, preferably with dutch doors (although those seem extremely rare up here for some reason). An AWD astro would be nice, but they're all getting pretty well worn out. The big problem with a mid-top is that it's the universal sign for "i'm camping here" which is illegal and enforced in a lot of places. Reseaching this stuff for my own means a while back, i came upon this company called flip pac that makes these campers. you could probably make your own with a cheap tonneau cover off kijiji and a 6 man tent from walmart. just make 2 or 3 ribs and have it open like an accordian when you flip the top over. a couple bars on the bumper to support the top at full open and a large hinge at the front, and you're set. you do lose the roof as any kind of storage option though. 
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Aug 31, 2015 03:54
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Wasn't the AWD on the Astros lovely to begin with though? There's plenty of them around Florida that are rust free, fly down and pick one up. http://ocala.craigslist.org/cto/5175316633.html
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Aug 31, 2015 04:09
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Oh man, there's a couple hundred people living in downtown Vancouver in just the rattiest RV's and high-tops you could possibly imagine. Rust and moss and haven't moved in all the years I've been riding past them. The VPD just truly does not care for some reason.
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Aug 31, 2015 04:09
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Van prices can only go up!
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Aug 31, 2015 04:29
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Which failing Canadian industry do you work in right now anyway? Is it:
Jumpingmanjim posted:Van prices can only go up! 
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Aug 31, 2015 04:33
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Being a visionary and the creative voice of a generation, I'm ahead of the game right now and leading the pack towards the work future of most Canadians: perpetual unemployment. I groundfloored and subsequently cashed out of a tech startup so absurd that it makes JPOD look banal, played a long-con for a year and a half until they had no choice but to lay me off, and am now cruising on that sweet sweet severance and waiting for my EI to kick in. Had I not been on the losing end of office politics early in the companies career, I'd be moving onto a Nor'Sea 27 rather than building a hippy wagon.  Jumpingmanjim posted:Van prices can only go up! You joke, but Westfalias and Delicas increase in value YoY for no reason beyond hipsters. 
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Aug 31, 2015 04:43
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I've recently been thinking about how nice a van would be for going on bike and ski trips. Last week I almost loaded up my car with bikes and a tent to go to utah or something and escape this wildfire smoke. This one seems nice: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Chevrolet-Express-Completely-serviced-highway-miles-New-Tires-/111755750498
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Aug 31, 2015 05:07
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I keep telling my partner that my dream car is a ford transit connect.
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Aug 31, 2015 05:23
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You know, going all over the downtrodden parts of the former Soviet Block between the Black and Caspian was probably cathartic as gently caress but paying a bunch of money to reno a van, IDK man. Maybe buy yourself a used pickup with a slide in camper and try it out for a while before you go building a tiny home on wheels.
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Aug 31, 2015 06:13
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If you do build a tiny home on wheels, make sure the sewage is piped out the back into traffic. For maximum Vancouver metaphor.
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Aug 31, 2015 06:20
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EvilJoven posted:You know, going all over the downtrodden parts of the former Soviet Block between the Black and Caspian was probably cathartic as gently caress but paying a bunch of money to reno a van, IDK man. If he does it right, he could actually be increasing it's value. Prepare to be bamboozled by prices. http://www.sportsmobile.com/preowned-sportsmobile-west-inc/ He could then roll that money into a larger van and do it again. Eventually he could own vans all over the city, paying for themselves with rental income.
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Aug 31, 2015 06:54
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I thought you wanted to live on a boat. Will the van be equipped to at least cross rivers?
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Aug 31, 2015 06:58
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All you'd need is a snorkel intake, and maybe floor drains and an interior you can hose off.
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Aug 31, 2015 07:03
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Baronjutter posted:I thought you wanted to live on a boat. Will the van be equipped to at least cross rivers? i've looked up the boat thing too. If you're living and working somewhere, you have pay for mooring at a marina somewhere. you might as well be paying rent. If you're sailing, you really need somebody to sail with. you need somebody else with nothing to do, who you're fine with being confined in a small box with for a few weeks at a time. a cellmate. You COULD sail solo, but there's a lot of risk there, and it turns a few days into a week pretty easily. you still need transportation in land in a lot of places too.
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Aug 31, 2015 07:13
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There is a bunch of peeps on youtube living in vans. The cheaper guys seem to enjoy the mid 80's motorhomes. Obviously this doesnt work If you want have an actual Van but you know... One guy went from a Tioga to a van and back to a tioga.
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Aug 31, 2015 10:23
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Where are you gonna park it? Native reserves seem to tolerate it on the north shore. My high school class had two dudes who lived in a boat/van, everyone made fun of them for being poor. They are now multi-millionaire internet spam lords, and one was an Olympic gold medal winning skiier (Dale and Jason Begg-Smith).
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Aug 31, 2015 11:28
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Reverse Centaur posted:They are now multi-millionaire internet spam lords That's a title that will win you some praise at your high school reunion.
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Aug 31, 2015 15:25
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Oh hey, this is good timing because I just bought a van. Mine's gonna be for motorcycle hauling and camping vs full-time living, so I went... big. Real big. 1999 E350 extended wheelbase with the V10... bad mileage but it should last forever, and it's a hell of a lot cheaper than finding a 7.3 diesel.
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Sep 1, 2015 04:09
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Man_of_Teflon posted:Oh hey, this is good timing because I just bought a van. Mine's gonna be for motorcycle hauling and camping vs full-time living, so I went... big. I had an ex who lived in her van, she built a fully functioning mini shower and nautical head in the back of like that and slept/lived in a tiny teardrop trailer towed behind it. She insulated everything with scrap foamcore lifted from the back of Michaels stores and those shiny plastic survival blankets, poo poo was toasty warm in the winter.
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Sep 1, 2015 04:41
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Yeah, don't use pink panther/ fiberglass insulation like that first link in the OP unless you put up a perfect vapor barrier+perfect insulation layout. Any spot significantly cooler than any other is going to form condensation from your breath and then get trapped in the fiberglass, never to dry out until you venture into Arizona. Meanwhile: RUST! Neoprene closed-cell foam plus 3M type 90 is your friend for sound/road-noise deadening and general insulation.
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Sep 1, 2015 06:03
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Man_of_Teflon posted:Oh hey, this is good timing because I just bought a van. Mine's gonna be for motorcycle hauling and camping vs full-time living, so I went... big. I thought the V10's were lovely for some reason, are they good enough to warrant the lovely mileage? I always thought I'd go with an Express van just because the Chevy's seem to be the most bullet proof, but somebody correct me if I'm wrong. Also do portable a/c units do ok in vans?
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Sep 1, 2015 06:20
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leica posted:I thought the V10's were lovely for some reason, are they good enough to warrant the lovely mileage? All the problems of the 5.4 with two extra cylinders! gently caress every single Ford mod motor ever.
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Sep 1, 2015 15:02
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It can spit out spark plugs if they aren't changed for a long time since they are attached with like 2 threads, but other than that everyone on the FORDTRUCKS DOT COM FORUMS seems to report them lasting 200-300k without any major problems. So, I asked them to do the plugs before purchasing. It also came with 400 amps @ 12v worth of deep cycle golf cart batteries new in 2015  .OP, did they ever get Toyota Siennas in Canada with the AWD? I've read about some cool conversions that take advantage of the extra space gained by removing the hiding folding seats. Having done some sailing myself I think that the nautical wood aesthetic would be great for a liveaboard scenario on land. Would you keep something like a Thetford portapotty in the van? Any plumbing for water? I'm looking at doing something like this: http://www.stealthsprinter.com/van-build/water/
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Sep 1, 2015 15:42
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Tighclops posted:I had an ex who lived in her van, she built a fully functioning mini shower and nautical head in the back of like that and slept/lived in a tiny teardrop trailer towed behind it. She insulated everything with scrap foamcore lifted from the back of Michaels stores and those shiny plastic survival blankets, poo poo was toasty warm in the winter. I would really like to hear the story about the breakup because I bet it involves thermal scopes.
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Sep 1, 2015 17:59
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Man_of_Teflon posted:Having done some sailing myself I think that the nautical wood aesthetic would be great for a liveaboard scenario on land. Would you keep something like a Thetford portapotty in the van? Any plumbing for water? I'm looking at doing something like this: I'm not big on the bulk and hassle of installing sewage, however down the road if I can get my hands on a Dometic/Cramer/SMEV sink & stove combo then I'll do some minimal plumbing to facilitate the use of it. Like so:  The problem is that these seemingly do not exist in North America in any model, period, so the price will be excessive to acquire and I don't like that at all. As such I'll build around the dimensions of the one I want but leave it as a slot-in upgrade down the road as finances allow for.
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Sep 2, 2015 00:12
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Guys, I do not know what crack is being smoked by the van market in the lower mainland. What I do know is that 380k and 290k are both at the upper operational bounds for diesel and gasoline engines (respectively) before major work is probably required, and thus asking $10k for a 15-20 year old RWD cargo van is pretty much insane.
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Sep 3, 2015 23:59
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Rime posted:Guys, I do not know what crack is being smoked by the van market in the lower mainland. What I do know is that 380k and 290k are both at the upper operational bounds for diesel and gasoline engines (respectively) before major work is probably required, and thus asking $10k for a 15-20 year old RWD cargo van is pretty much insane. Check FL. I remember seeing lots of them cheap that way. Have you thought about box trucks?
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Sep 4, 2015 00:06
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Hahaha 10k for a loving van
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Sep 4, 2015 00:09
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Van prices can only go up, it's not like they're making new parking spots! You missed the ground floor on van equity dude.
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Sep 4, 2015 00:53
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