New Floor Mats!

One of the recent upgrades that I got was a set of heavy-duty rubber mats from GoWesty. I got a three part set for the front and a one piece mat for the galley area. Yesterday, after I did the fuel pump and filter, I got the mats in place. I really like the new look. In fact, I think I'm now just going to stick with the old carpet. It is almost covered completely by the mats so why bother replacing it. The areas that are exposed are low-wear areas so the carpet there is in really good shape.

I also replaced the rubber shifting boot. The old one was brown and rotting so I bought a new black one to match the mats. Putting the new boot on was a real chore. I had to take the shifting knob off of the shifter to do this replacement. It looked straight forward. There was a tiny hex bolt holding the thing to the shaft. I took that off and expected it to just rotate off. Sadly it did not. There was some really old adhesive on there that made it almost impossible to twist off. After much grunting and straining I was able to get the knob off and was finally able to get the new boot on.

Next I removed the emergency brake boot and used a couple of Armor All products on it to clean it up. I used some cleaning wipes to remove most of the dirt and kept scrubbing at it until it looked nice. Once I got it looking as good as I thought I could I used regular Armor All wipes to shine and protect the boot. It really cleaned up nicely.

Install Complete!

The operation was a success! Don't be fooled by the time either people, it really didn't take me all that long to do the work. Everything actually went quite smoothly. First and foremost, I managed to avoid blowing up myself and the van. I didn't even spill gallons of fuel all over the parking deck. The hoses were in great condition (I'm guessing they weren't original) and the clamps were reusable so the whole job was really straight forward. Even as an unexperienced mechanic I'd say the job is quite easy and there really isn't any reason that any dude with some wrenches can't do the work.

The way I did it was to unhook the electrical from the old fuel pump and remove the mounting hardware to get the pump unbolted from the frame. This was a good thing because it allowed me to put my head directly under the fuel pump and be gentle removing the electrical connections. This was particularly good for removing the rubber surrounding the terminals because it was old.

With that out of the way I wanted to just jump into the thick of the thing and remove the fuel tank side of the line from the old fuel filter. I had a bucket ready to catch any fuel in the line and then started the process of taking the hose off the old filter. This was actually the hardest physical challenge. That hose was hard to get off. I held on to a rubber cap that shipped on the new fuel pump that I was planning to use to stopper the line. Being careful to keep the old filter higher than the gas tank, I pulled the hose, and inserted the stopper. Once that was done the hard part was over.

Next I removed the old fuel pump, brought it out from under the vehicle, and removed the connecting hose so I could attach my new fuel pump to my new filter. With that assembly done, I went ahead and reattached the hose to the new fuel filter which made the fuel delivery system complete again.

Finallly I mounted the new fuel filter. With everything back in its right place I attached the electrical to the new pump. At that point I cleaned everything up and went inside to wash my hands so I could give any spilled fuel the chance to evaporate. After about 10 minutes I reinstalled the battery and tried cranking the car. Luckily it started right up and idled perfectly. Now the new pump isn't exactly silent but it is a dramatic improvement over the old one.

I drove the van around the neighborhood a bit and it sounded better than ever. I was actually impressed that I think it sounds better than my Tacoma does right now. That may just be bad news for my Tacoma but the van certainly sounds good. So the job was a success and once I finish repainting the front grills for the van I think I'll use it as my daily driver for a while just to see how its doing.

Today is Fuel Pump Day

Today is the day that I change my fuel filter and pump. I have high hopes that this won't be to hard of a job but at the same time I'm nervous that I will blow up myself and the van. The picture that I attached to this post is of my current filter and pump. Hopefully my next post will be of the new stuff.

The good news from my preliminary investigation is that gravity is on my side. The hose attachment point to the fuel pump is lower than where it attaches to the filter. My plan is to unbolt the current pump, disconnect all of the wires, mount the new pump, attach the wiring, unhook the engine side of the line and attach it, and then work my way towards the gas tank. I'll post when I am done to let you know how it turns out.

Painting Experiment

Last night I decided to try something that I have been thinking about doing for a while now. The front grill pieces on the van were horribly faded black plastic. I've wanted to paint them but I was concerned that it either wouldn't look right or wouldn't last long and I'd just end up ruining the parts. Well after an inspiring post along with several encouraging replys on the Vanagon mailing list I decided that as long as I spent a good bit of time prepping the pieces and I used a good outdoor paint designed for plastic then it was worth a shot.

Last night I decided to try the smaller radiator cover first to see how it would turn out. I used a 220 grit sand paper all over and made sure that the entire surface was equally roughed up and that I had gotten rid of as much grime as possible. After that I took some 409 and a plastic brilo pad and gave it a good scrubbing. Once the piece was dry I used Rustolium black textured plastic spray paint for outdoor use. I used broad sweeping motions from about a foot and a half away to layer on several passes from several angles. After letting it dry overnight I put it next to the untouched gril piece as a comparison.

While it isn't absolutely perfect it does have the look of a new part. The subtle texture keeps it from feeling spray painted and I'm sure helps to hide any imperfections. I'm happy with the results so far. I might have to paint them again in a couple of years but I'm not too put off by that. Here's to hoping that it holds up well.

Sliding Door Handle Installed!

I finally got that sliding door handle installed. I ended up having to remove the door panel to get the job done. The bad news is that I ended up cracking the panel while I was removing it. That really isn't the end of the world though because it is just a piece of thin plywood wood and I should be able to make a replacement without too much pain. I'd kind of like to do that anyway because I wanted to replace the fabric glued to the face. The original Vanagon interior has this plastic fabric sprayed to the plywood mounted over the body. I was thinking that it'd be cool to remove all of my panels and come up with something else to cover it with. The only problem is that I'm not sure what I should replace it with. I guess I'll have to go to a fabic store and just see what I can find.

In other news I am still thinking about that paint job. Seeing the original van color on the interior frame makes me hate the current paint job even more. It would look so nice in that cream. Plus I am really wondering why they repainted the van in the first place. I have fears that it has something to do with rust. If that is the case then I'd rather POR15 over it now, get the rest of the body work done, and get a new paint job. I'll probably end up doing something like that eventually but it will take me a while to come up with the cash for that.

Tomorrow I'm planning to pull both batteries from the van. I am able to jump the van off just fine but I can't seem to get that battery to hold charge by just charging it off the alternator. Before I replace it I am going to try pulling it and plugging it into my battery charger. Then I'll know for sure if that thing can hold charge. I'm also going to start the process of moving the second battery back to the bench seat in the rear.

Bad Battery Location

This is where I've had my second battery since last summer. Normally I keep a large plastic cover over the top of it. The thing that sucks about it is that it keeps me from being able to slide the driver's seat back. Whenever I get the chance I'm going to move all that stuff to the back and put it under the seat. I think Im going to try to find a good deal on a solar controller to base the new setup around. I'm not willing to buy a nice panel right now but I'd like to keep my options open forlater.

Oh and I haven't switched the fuel pump yet because my fuel filter never came. I'll have to get that sorted out next week and then I'll give the install another go next weekend. I did find a friend with a good set of hex wrenches though so I might be able the get that door handle installed tomorrow.

first attempt to replace the door handle

Today I attempted to replace the broken slidin dor handle on my van. In short it was a total failure. Who wuld have guessed the Volkswagen people would have decided to use a hex head bolt to hold the door together? I guess I'l have to head down to the depot and pick up some wrenches. This little adventure has made me wonder how many more tools I'm going to need to replace that fuel pump this weekend..

I'm Blogging from the Future!

I just got a fancy new smart phone that will let me take photos and post from anywhere. I bailed on installing that door handle in favor of playing with my new toy. The phone is an AT&T Tilt and it is the closest thing to my dream device that I have ever seen. Not only do I have fast access always on Internet, a 3MP camera, and email/office connectivitybut I've also go GPS navigation. I can finally ask my phone where the closest whatever is and get step by step driving directions. This thing is amazing!

Part Are Here

I got my fuel pump and replacement sliding door handle in yesterday. After reading the fuel pump instructions I decided to go ahead and replace the fuel filter as well. It's a $2.95 part so I might as well put in a new one. The more I get in to this thing though the more I wonder if this isn't the original fuel pump. The gas tank has obviously been replace in the fairly recent past. I'd think that if you were going to bother with replacing that then you might as well replace the pump and filter as well. That could explain why my fuel pump makes so much noise. Maybe it isn't broken so much as just its a crappy after market part. The Bosche one that I'm going to install claims "virtually silent operation" so hopefully there will at least be a sound improvement.

Today though will be a door handle kind of day. I'm going to see if I can get it installed during my lunch break. I'm really not sure how the handle is going to be attached to the door but how hard could it be? Should be fun. I'm supposed to get a new camera phone today in the mail so maybe I'll even have some pictures of this operation.

I'm Not Dead!

Today I started the Vanagon successfully. I realized that I had left the stereo face plate on which means the stereo was slowly draining my battery over the past month looking for the wireless remote. I wasn't able to jump the van using the second battery and instead I had to jump it using my Tacoma. I then drove the van for about half an hour at low speeds to recharge the battery and get a feel for its condition.

I did not experience the power loss that I had previously but I wasn't exactly pushing the van either. The fuel pump was louder than ever though. Since my last post I've been reading in my factory manual about the fuel pump and I was able to verify that the fuel pump is in fact what is making all of the noise. Even if it isn't completely busted I'm happy to replace it if it means even a little reduction in noise. The pump looks really old so hopefully the new one (set to arrive tomorrow by the way) will fix the noise and potentially fix all of my problems. I'm hoping to get some time this weekend to actually do the replacement. While I'm mucking around down there I'll clean out my fuel filter as well.

In other news I just ordered a few fixer-upper parts for the van that I'm really looking forward to. I ordered rubber mats for the whole floor. Hopefully these mats will make it easier to clean up the dog hair/mud and debris that gets tracked all over the van. I'm hoping these mats end up covering enough of the floor that I don't care about the condition of the carpet any more as well. I also ordered a replacement shifter boot and emergency brake handle just to round out the new hotness. My old ones were really cracked and sun damaged. Plus the new ones will add some more black to the interior so I can take the overwhelming levels of brown down a notch up front.

Once that stuff comes and I get it placed in the van I should finally be able to make a decision on the seat covers from SewFine. There is talk of a car camping trip next month so I'm eager to get everything ready in time for the trip. I'm really looking forward to getting back out in the van and camping it up.

Wonder What is Wrong...

I posted a question about my van troubles to the usually helpful Vanagon mailing list. I got a few useful tidbits like how I need to check my battery connections, clean out my fuel filter, and how to test my fuel injection system. The down side was that I received this rant from a guy bashing me for just guessing at the problem. The funny thing was that after ranting and ranting how stupid it was to just guess at what is wrong rather than actually diagnose the problem he suggested I replace my fuel pump with another to see if that was the problem. So in spite of the ranting about not following proper diagnostic procedures he was suggesting that I just keep replacing parts until something works. Ahh the irony.

I'd be all for doing the right thing but without multiple vans, any diagnostic tools, any spare parts, or even a garage to work in I don't think that will be such an effective strategy. Its not that I don't understand the merits of proper diagnostic procedures. I'm a computer scientist professionally - a good bit of my job is to diagnose and solve problems in systems that aren't working. I know the right way to approach a system that isn't doing what it should be but for some reason I'm just not interested in doing this the right way. I'd rather throw parts and or dollars at this thing until it just works. I want to just ask a mailing list and be told that my whatchamacallit is busted so I better stick in a new one. I want to call up CarTalk and have those guys laugh and tell me I should replace a hose after they've finished their chuckle about my old van. Basically, I'm looking for easy here - this is a project that is supposed to be fun.

I'm not sure I'm going to turn to that list much more. It isn't the bashing, it's more that I am very susceptible to the siren song of the people who populate such lists. One minute I'm just a guy with a van who likes to take it camping and the next I am suddenly believing that in order to own one van I need to own several, rent a garage space, replace my own engine with a Subaru, and buy thousands of dollars worth of tools. Its all just too intense. This morning I found myself wondering if I should buy a shifter rebuild kit as preventative care to avoid my shifter crapping out on me and leaving me unable to shift gears. That doesn't sound like something all that unreasonable to do but I know myself well enough to know that it is the first sign of a sickness. I've been down this rabbit hole before.

Nope, I think I'll just stick to what I know and focus on making the camper the greatest camper ever. I don't really want to get absorbed in the mechanical. I'll try fixing the parts that break in the interest of saving a few bucks but I don't need to become a mechanic. What I need is a good reliable shop that I can take this thing to when it breaks. If I buy anything maybe it should just be a car dolly so I can use my Tacoma to tow this thing to the shop when I can't drive it. Still, I can't shake the feeling that I'm acting like an alcoholic trying to rationalize having a few glasses of champagne at a wedding. Part of me wants to jump in there, understand everything, fix it all on my own and part of me just wants to remain a blissfully ignorant guy with a sweet van that breaks down sometimes.

Current status: sitting on the edge of a deep dark hole with a van that won't turn over hoping everything works out just fine.

More Fun With Wiring

By the way, I tried to start my van at lunch and all it does is click. It has battery power just fine but won't turn over. This concerns me because that makes me think that more is wrong than just a fuel pump. Maybe I am wrong but I would have expected the engine to turn over but fail to start due to a lack of fuel rather than not turn over at all. Hopefully I am just wrong and gas is required to turn an engine over. Time will tell. Regardless, I can't start the van. I really hope my engine isn't dead. Loss of power while driving could be a lot worse than just a bad fuel pump.

In happier news, I finally found the plans/software for something I've been wanting to add to the van since day one. I've found a site that describes how to setup a wireless access point that automatically connects to and amplifies the strongest wireless signal available. That will give me Internet access on any number of devices wirelessly from within the van. I'm hoping this makes it possible to do things like go park outside of a Starbucks or McDonalds and get nice wireless Internet from the comforts of my van. I might even have to sit out there and brew some coffee or grill up a burger while I surf. The site I found is http://www.nyetech.com/services/rv-wireless-repeater.htm and it is the good stuff. This will be available in my van at some point.

The thing that got me thinking about that wireless repeater again was that I'm reevaluating all of the electronics that I'd like to put in the van so I can plan my version two power system. This time around I'm getting some sort of solar panel and possibly multiple batteries. I'm also going to make sure that the stereo is running off of my power setup rather than the starter battery.

I'm also gung-ho to get built in water capacity. I keep having to haul these five gallon bladders on every trip and I'd like that to stop. I think it might be time to pull my reservoir, clean it up, and possibly rig some sort of a faucet. I'm not really a fan of the "sink" that is in there. Since I don't have a grey water tank I just don't think having a "sink" is a good idea. To me, a water faucet would be a lot more useful. I'm looking into what I could do to reroute the faucet to a more reasonable location. I'm also tempted to just remove all of the built in stuff. I've already got a replacement stove and I was considered removing the fridge. I might as well remove the stove, sink, and fridge in favor of more storage. Another way would be to remove the original equipment and replace it with my removable stuff. Like have a stove mount or a place to mount a cooler - you know, stuff like that.

Fun With Wiring

I've been thinking more about how to revamp the wiring for my auxilary battery. The issues that I have with my current setup are that:

A) I really need shore power to actually charge the system and I rarely have access to such.

B) I don't like having to keep my seat so far forward just so I can put a battery behind the driver's seat.

C) I'd like to be able to support more than one battery.

D) It would be nice to have better access to my electrical system as well as equipment for monitoring usage, charge level, charge rate, etc.

So the route I'm thinking of going to to start using an existing design and see what I can do to improve it. I'm a fan of what the dude over at Vanagon for All Seasons (http://home.earthlink.net/~johndolsen/index.html) is doing - here is a diagram of his setup.


This at least gives me a starting point for a safe setup. I'll add more as I think of it.

OK So I Didn't Call Them Yet

I still haven't called SewFine. Selecting a color has been harder than I thought it would be. Today I'm leaning towards just plain brown. Keep things nice and simple. Sure the van will be a little boring but there will be plenty of other places for color. Maybe I'll call them tomorrow.

I found a really nice Vanagon site today. Actually, I may have already found it but at the very least I rediscovered a fine site. To be completely accurate, the site isn't all that spectacular but the services offered are amazing. The site is http://www.vanaru.com/ and its a Vanagon only shop up in Pennsylvania that specializes in Vanagon to Subaru conversions. They will even track down the Subaru engine of your choice and do the complete conversion for a total cost of around $10k depending on the engine you pick. That sounds like a ton of money but we're talking about basically making your Vanagon run pretty much like a new car. In addition to the engine they convert the transmission and cooling system to be good as new. In the end your van ends up with WAY more power and torque than you had originally and yet your gas mileage actually goes up. I'm going to have to start saving up now so that when my engine finally kicks it I can get one of these. The thought of having real car power in a Vanagon gets me so excited that my head may explode.

There are a lot of other engine conversions available out there but I'm fairly sold on this Subaru conversion idea. I've always heard great things about their engines and they just happen to fit perfectly in the Vanagan. Even if you get a 3.3L 230hp 6 cylinder you'll won't have to modify the engine compartment and you'll actually get better gas millage than what I get now (which is pretty good at around 20mpg). That is spectacular! Now I just need to find $10k that I'm not already spending on my house, saving, or devoting to other hobbies. Sadly, I think that is going to take a while :)

In other news, I find myself considering a paint job for the van lately. If I'm honest, I've got to admit that I actually don't really like the color of my van and would far prefer the original stock cream color. The issue is that I'm not convinced I can get a decent paint job for what I would be willing to pay. It seems that the only way to get a nice one is if your fully strip down the van. That isn't something I would pay somebody to do and without owning a garage it isn't something that I can do either. So unless I can find some space to at least strip out the interior myself then I guess I'll just have to live with it.

I can live with it just fine but at some point I'm going to need to address some of the body issues. There is a fair amount of body damage here and there and the real issue is rust. I need to get that stuff taken care of since it will only get worse. When I start thinking about that I start thinking about how it might be smarter just to get a different van. When I start thinking about that my head starts to hurt thinking about how I could possibly sell that idea on the home front. Basically I've got what I've got - this leads me back to the start of my circle where I start thinking about paint jobs again. The cycle will never end.

By the way, if you'd like to see some really cool vans then you need to check out what they've got for sale at http://www.gowesty.com. Those guys do these sick restoration jobs. They basically replace every part in the van for you. Their work looks amazing but cost a fortune. Even though I can't imagine spending $80k for a vehicle, typically such overwhelming expressions of wealth repulse me, part of me is really happy to know that there are people out there who have $80k that they are willing to spend on transportation and choose to spend it on a Vanagon.

I'm Calling SewFine

Today is going to be the day that I finally do something about the seats in the Vanagon. I'm planning to order replacement foam and vinyl covers for the front seats in the van. I'm thinking I'll go with black and brown using brown as the dominant color. Hope installation won't be too painful.

In other news, I've decide my second battery setup sucks. There just isn't enough room for my second battery under the driver's seat and plus it makes me keep my chair really close to the steering wheel. I'm tired of that and ready to try something new. Down the road I want to get a solar pannel for the roof so I'm going to at least need to install a controller as well as the second battery. To me it makes sense to be able to see all of the battery equipment in one area so I'm planning to move it all to the left side of the passenger bench. Plus I'm hoping that putting a battery or two on the left side will help to further counter weight the weight of the stover, sink, fridge.

This weekend I also picked up a new toy for the van. I got a nice Coleman two burner propane stove. The price was too low to resist and I had good experience with these stoves in the past so I picked one up. I suppose this means that I won't be messing with the built in stove any time soon. To me the portable stove is just a smarter deal than a built it. The Coleman stove is just as good at cooking, can be moved outside if I want, and is a lot easier to fix if something goes wrong with it. I may even want to think about removing my stove, sink, fridge unit entirely and replacing it with a more useful set of cabinents. I'm going to have to think on that.

Here is my stove:

Replacement Parts In Route!

I just ordered a new Bosche fuel pump and a replacement sliding door handle from the Bus Depot. I can't remember if I mentioned it but a few weeks ago on a really cold day I went to open the sliding door and just sheared the handle right off. I hear that's a relatively common thing to happen with Vanagons but it was still strange to see. I'm hoping the replacement process won't be too tough.

Also, I've been doing some reading online and I've read that you don't need to drain your fuel tank to replace your fuel pump but that you do need something to stop up the hoses as you take them off. This still seems dubious to me but I guess once I find something to plug those hoses then I'll just give it a go. I better keep some sort of bucket around just in case all the same. Should be fun.

Getting Closer to a Decision

After doing some more price comparisons and thinking about what I really need on the van, I'm thinking the seats have got to be my first purchase. Riding comfortably is a big part of enjoying a long drive so it should be the thing I address first. Plus I found this amazing sewing shop called SewFine (http://www.sewfineproducts.com/) that specialized in creating new interiors for Volkswagens. They offer a couple of options. I can either get completely new bucket seats that are similar to the original ones or I can just get the replacement fabric and/or foam for my original seats. Due to the cost of the new seats I'm thinking I'll just get covers and foam for the seats I have. They still won't be the greatest seats ever made but they'll look nice and feel a lot better.

The thing I'm most excited about with the new seat covers is that they offer a lot of different fabrics. When I'm using the van I'm often really dirty and in the company of dogs. Those two things don't really mix well with the normal car upholstry. SewFine offers vinyl and leather options for their covers though. I'm leaning towards the vinyl - its relative cheap, should be easy to keep clean, and will wipe right off. My only concern with the vinyl is my dog's nails. I'm not positive that he won't just poke a hole right through that stuff. I guess it will depend on the vinyl but its a concern.

Beyond the seat covers I'm going to pick up some rubber mats for the interior. I've found some at GoWesty (www.gowesty.com) that will cover just about every surface that gets any traffic in the van. I've been using something similar in my Tacoma pickup for years and am a firm believer. Its nice to be able to just hop in the truck covered in mud and not have to worry about any challenging cleanups. I need that same sort of thing for the van. Every trip I've taken it on I just get dirt and all sorts of other filth all over the place. If I covered the thing in rubber I think I'd be able to keep things a lot cleaner.

That should do it for the first round of upgrades. I've just got to pick my colors and then place my order. I'm leaning towards black and brown or brown and tan for the seats and black for the mats. Nice simple colors. It might make things a bit dark but those colors are easy to match and hide the filth well.

My attention has returned!

After pretty much hanging up my Vanagon hat for the winter my attention is finally returning to the greatest vehicle ever made. I needed to take a detour to sort out some gear for my cycling obsession. I've only got so much disposable income so I had to give the bikes the priority for a bit. Now that I've got that whole bike thing all set I'm ready to get back to the van. By the way, I got a sweet Cervelo Dual TT bike and a Felt F55 road bike thanks to the magic of eBay and craigslist + selling some gear from older hobbies - I know, I know - I have a sickness. Regardless, spring is in the air now and its time to start thinking about fixing up the rig for the coming season.

First on the list is my first real mechanical problem. At some point in early January I was out driving the van and slowly started loosing power. The van didn't stop completely it just slowed to a crawl. I was able to limp to my office to take a look and my hunch is that my fuel pump has finally gone out. The thing has been making a terrible noise since I bought the van so I guess its about time for the thing to finally die. I say this as if I know what I'm talking about but the truth is that I know a buzzing noise was emminating from the general area of the fuel pump and that now the buzzing is gone. That coupled with the fact that if that fuel pump wasn't delivering adequate fuel then the car would loose power makes me think that I should replace the fuel pump if I want the van to work again. Other than that I am basically guessing.

In spite of my general lack of knowledge, I'm compelled to attempt to fix this thing myself. I located a new Bosche fuel pump for just north of $130 online the other day so I'm thinking I'll just buy it and try my hand at installing it myself. I'm smart enough to realize that this could be a challenge to actually do but I'm not smart enough to convince myself that I need a trained professional. I'll admit that I am curious about how I'm going to avoid dumping fuel all over the place as soon as I unhook the old one but for some reason I'm optimistic that the answer will present itself in due time. I suppose I could check with the local shop just to get an estimate on what they would charge me if I had the part in hand but what would be the fun in that?

Other than that I've started a bit of a master list of all the things that I could possibly do to "pimp my ride". So far I've focused on replacing existing parts with working, ususally better looking, replacements via the smattering of Vanagon online offerings. Once I'm happy with my list then I'll go through and priortize how useful each option is and start to weight its importance to me. What I've learned so far is that I can pretty much spend as much as I would like making this van nice. It appears that there is always something else that you can buy so I'm trying to just focus on what would really add value.

My basic plan is to just focus on cosmetic issues and continue patching the mechnical until I hit the point of complete engine failure. Hopefully this failure point will be several years away and I will have time to address most of the cosmetic issues in the meanwhile. Eventually I'd like to replace the engine and transmission with something new and non-Volkswagen. The van is just plain underpowered as is and the transmission really limits your highway speed. The reality is that if I'm ever going to convince my wife that the Vanagon is the greatest all purpose road vehicle ever then I'm going to need to be able to drive faster than 65 mph. Now there are several places that will do engine replacements for you but the catch is that I think I'm looking at a minimum of $10k to get it done. Personally I'm thrilled to do that but the fact is that doing the replacement is basically going to be the cost of a new car and I'll need to approach it as such. So its best if I just focus on what I can do - which is cosmetics.

Now there are two approaches I could take here - interior first or exterior first. The exterior is overall a lot less expensive to deal with and it does actually add a lot to the vehicle. One of the most important upgrades I want to do is to replace the front headlights and grill with a South African setup that gives me four headlights and should make driving at night a lot more pleasant. Another thing I'd like to do is replace the bumpers with aftermarket bumpers that include a 2" rear hitch. That would give me the ability to add a bike rack to the rear or one of those sweet tow hitch grills. It might actually be quite nice to not have to keep bikes inside the van. I haul mine around a lot and it really takes up quite a bit of room.

The downside to the exterior first approach is that it will make the van look nicer to thieves while not actually make it feel nicer to the driver/passengers. That really sucks.

If I went with the interior first approach then I could also add a ton of value to the van. My wife and my biggest complaint is how crappy the seats are that are in the van now. I'm also really not happy with how well the carpets, seats, and everything else are able to trap and hold every single hair that falls off my dog. Replacing that stuff with something more durable and good looking would really make the van feel nice but wouldn't really increase its appeal to the casual thief since I usually keep the curtains drawn.

Right now I'm leaning towards the interior approach but I'm going to need to finish sorting out pricing and how I plan to pay for all of this stuff. I may have to sacrifice a few things but making the van more comfortable will make travelling a lot easier in the future.

A few other random thoughts:
- I'm leaning further towards removing the fridge. It only really works when plugged in, its not efficient at all, it doesn't really keep drinks all that cold, and I don't have shore power to plug into all that often in practice. Plus, I'd love to get some more storage. I'm also considering moving my aux battery and cleaning up my power stuff in general. Honestly a cooler is usually enough for my needs so why waste all that space and weight with the fridge?

- I need to get more off the grid with my power setup. It find it quite hard to actually plug the van in and it wrecks my second battery. I think I need to bump up my solar panel priority so I can get reliable power from the van.

- I need a real gague for checking how much charge is left in my batteries. Right now I am just guessing and it leaves me without coffee some morning.

- I'm leaning towards wanting my stove to work. I'm only going to do it if I replace my LP tank. The cost of doing that is a bit of a hangup though especially considering I can just get a coleman stove or use my backpacking stove for the exact same thing at far less cost.

Enough for now.