2006 Ford E-250: Ex-GRM Van's New Life

rob_lewis wrote: You might realize it after a trip to Austin, but the one thing I'd recommend is sound deadening. There's about 40 different ways to do it, from cheap foil back mastic to Home Depot foam boards to full of Dynamat (expensive). Pick one that matches your budget. Your ears will thank me after a long trip. -Rob

He's young - he can just crank the stereo!!

Petrolburner wrote: H22A!

Ding ding ding! Now I want a prelude, too!

NGTD wrote:

rob_lewis wrote: You might realize it after a trip to Austin, but the one thing I'd recommend is sound deadening. There's about 40 different ways to do it, from cheap foil back mastic to Home Depot foam boards to full of Dynamat (expensive). Pick one that matches your budget. Your ears will thank me after a long trip. -Rob

He's young - he can just crank the stereo!!

Don't worry, I have plans for both.

In reply to Tom Suddard:

Shag carpet all the way around

Side pipes? Water bed? Mural of an Aztec warrior in space?

Chadeux wrote: Side pipes? Water bed? Mural of an Aztec warrior in space?

Don't forget the 8-track as well.

MrChaos wrote: In reply to Tom Suddard: Shag carpet all the way around

Shag carpeting is a good sound deadner too.

That's not shag, that's just carpet.

So, what's the best roof vent fan? Any strong opinions? I always thought there was just one kind, but I'm seeing different brands/features.

Tom Suddard wrote: So, what's the best roof vent fan? Any strong opinions? I always thought there was just one kind, but I'm seeing different brands/features.

Ooh, yes, info please.

Marjorie Suddard wrote: Mainly, though, I just stopped in to ask you guys to stop encouraging Tom's project creep... OMG, I can't believe I even said that. Tom, what the hell: long as you're doing it, add a sauna. And a kegerator. Margie

He's going to need some extra wheels to carry all that awesome

Tom Suddard wrote: So, what's the best roof vent fan? Any strong opinions? I always thought there was just one kind, but I'm seeing different brands/features.

Absolutely, 100% the Maxx Air fan. Ten speeds, works while driving, remote control, thermostat, forward and reverse, ceiling fan mode, useable in the rain, etc....

I'd be more than a little worried about ordering ANYTHING from "STICKY DUDE's Thailands Finest"

Made more progress! Finally had some free time to climb up on the roof and throw some POR-15 on the surface rust spots. This stuff is awesome–just wire brush rust, paint it on, and it fixes it forever.

Not too bad: This scared me, but turned out to be nothing to worry about. Solid metal! I kept brushing and scraping paint bubbles (if you're going to do this, you might as well do the whole roof). That's when I found this: AHHHHHHHHHHH I assumed that spot of bad paint was just surface rust, but I was wrong. Fortunately, this is just a work van, so I threw some fiberglass patch material on it and called it a night.

Hah! Just kidding! I'm obsessive and love overbuilding everything!

Time to fire up the welder. I headed over to my dad's (my tools/workspace is a mess with the new garage getting built).

Cut metal out: Apply rust converter to the surface rust where water was leaking: Apply POR-15 to all the other surface rust while the converter converts (I'll sand and paint all this white later, so I wasn't too worried about my brush strokes showing). Find a broken box fan for patch material: Weld: (I'm not happy with the way those welds look, but I was exhausted and I've always struggled using my dad's MIG for sheetmetal work). And bondo:

That's the way I left it tonight. Hopefully tomorrow afternoon I'll have time to finish it up. Talk about project creep!

I had another hour or so to work the night before the last autocross, and I decided that while I had everything out, I might as well fix the flaking paint near the gutter:

This was the only spot on the van like this, so it was bothering me.

And primer: I didn't have time, tools, or materials to properly blend the repair, so I broke it on the body line and will either ignore it or blend it later.

Blocking the roof patches:

Time to replace all the sealant I ground out! Ready for paint! Not pictured: all of the POR-15 patches, which I also scuffed and painted. Done! That's four coats of paint and two coats of clear. It looked perfect when I put the can down, then it kicked and gained that slightly suntanned look. Either I didn't spray enough, or the combination of 100% humidity/ Florida heat/ lack of time caused some weirdness. Whatever, it's barely noticeable from a few feet away. Another finished shot: Overall, I'd give myself a 9/10 for straightness, a 7/10 for spray pattern (hey, it's just a parts-store rattlecan), and a 5/10 for color match. Well, the white is the right color, but it has red in it.

That didn't matter, though. It was autocrossing time! The van performed admirably, and was definitely the center of the party.

Stance, y0!

Oh, and Martin Van Buren got an oil change, too!

Oh, and I ordered a radio for it. What features did I want? Every single one a modern car has, of course. Mainly, though, I wanted bluetooth, a backup camera, and a physical volume knob. Oh, and I wasn't willing to pay $500 for a "real" radio.

China to the rescue!

$128 shipped with a backup camera, remote, GPS map, GPS receiver, etc. It will either be complete and utter crap, or totally decent–all I can do now is wait and hope. This is cheaper than anything I found on Craigslist, though, and has free returns. Unless it literally sets my van on fire, I don't think I can really lose.

In reply to Tom Suddard:

Gotta link for that radio? I've been casually looking for a new radio for the man-van since the CD player stopped working. A back-up camera would be nice too. Does it have an aux input? Or is that apparently "replaced" by the BT connectivity?

Yeah, there's an aux jack, too (I think on the back). Here's the link:

Radio Link

Seems like about 10000 people on eBay and Amazon selling these Chinese radios, so take your pick based on the description/price.

+1 for using the Harbor Freight ad for masking paper

In reply to Tom Suddard:

Those are some interesting ramps under the front wheels...

Heh, my grandfather screwed & glued those together years ago to level out his motorhome. I still use them for stuff like this, because they're stronger than a parts store ramp and easier to drive up on.

In reply to Tom Suddard:

They're a really cool idea. I can't tell from the pic, but I presume/hope there's a lip to prevent you from driving too far forward?

Unfortunately, there's no lip. Fortunately, after you drive off them once, it's easy to remember not to do it again!

Ran a few errands today. One was to the body shop, where I picked up some missing trim clips from the spares bin. Hashtag VanLife!

Tonight was radio night!

Out with the old, broken, lame radio: The manual wasn't really in English, and the wiring diagram had a heading, but no actual diagram. Fortunately, this wasn't my first rodeo, and this installation isn't exactly a complicated one. The backup camera shipped separately and hasn't arrived yet, so I'll be back in the dash next week to add that.

Step One: Make an Adapter!

Step Two: Find a place for the GPS antenna that will look factory enough.

I love Florida sun.... On the bright side, Ford makes changing vacuum actuators much easier than Mercedes does. Done! (I glued that panel back together, I'll grab a fresh one next time I'm in the junkyard). Step Three: This radio only has an auxiliary input on the back, because bluetooth, y0! My friends all like taking a turn with the Aux cord, so that wouldn't do. So I found a clear spot on the dash and drilled a hole:

Time for a little testing! I set the boot photo first: GPS: iPod Controls: DVD Player: Satisfied, I buttoned everything up. That one barely noticable wire between the dash and the doghouse is the rear USB cable, and I'm mad that it isn't perfect. I think I'll swap my Aux input on the dash for a combination Aux/USB port in a few days.

Success! I can honestly say I'm blown away by this thing. Every feature works as well or better than any OEM or aftermarket radio I've ever used. Seriously–I'd buy this before I bought an Alpine any day of the week. It sounds fine, the interface is great, calls sound awesome, there's remarkably little Chingrish (only in a few settings pages), and it seems totally bug-free so far. Even the bluetooth start/stop/in/out/pairing that so many radios struggle with is absolutely perfect. I wish more of my cars had holes in the dash this big–I'd put one in everything I own, especially since they're so darn cheap.

*Note: It may break tomorrow, because China.