Vanna White DD/Campervan

Captains Log
Stardate July 09, 2024 (I'm too lazy to convert)
North Carolina Quadrant

I have acquired a new vessel, The Kia is now gone.  2019 Transit Connect.  2.0, 8spd.  118k miles.  I honestly wanted one year older with the 2.5/6spd, but this one was a good deal and in great condition.  Also it happens to have the window combination I wanted, which isn't super common (glass on rear cargo doors, glass on passenger sliding door)  Pretty extensive service history and no damage.  Drives great.

Honestly, when reading up I was a little shocked to see Ford has stopped selling these.  I see these everywhere.  Its a (very) basic appliance, but very good at what it does.  Drives so much better than larger minivans or trucks.  The only thing I really wish Ford would do (maybe this is in the long term plan?) is build one with a Maverick hybrid drivetrain.

The plan is that this will be my daily driver as well as a weekend adventure vehicle.  "Adventure" in this context means going places, mountain biking, hiking, etc. and sleeping in the back of the van.

I've had it for 2 days, so of course I have a list of upgrades/issues to address:

1. Currently does not have any floormats, and vinyl floor is slick.
2. Need to remove & sell all of the fleet vehicle equipment.  Cargo/driver compartment bulkhead, shelves, toolboxes, and especially the ladder roof rack, which likely has a big impact on gas mileage.  Hopefully I can get a few bucks out of this.
3. Need to upgrade the radio to something with Carplay / AA.  Its been a long time since I've upgraded a radio, so I have to make a call to Crutchfield and reacquaint myself with this process.
4. The windshield is large and untinted.  A tint strip at the top would go a long way.
5. General camping build out:  I'll address this in a separate post.
6. The mirrors are... manual?  Not move-the-little-stick-by-the-mirror manual.  Like roll down the window and push on the glass with your hand manual.  Its not ideal, but I can deal with it.  If its a simple upgrade to replace with power mirrors, I'd like to snag the parts and do that.

Things I need to think on some more:
 

1. Where the hell do I get a CAD model or drawing package?  I'm blown away that there are serious threaded mounting holes pretty much everywhere, but I can't seem to find any manual with dimensions.  Its insane that so many people upfit these, and they are designed for fleet use, yet they don't have CAD or drawings available?  Maybe I'm just not looking in the right spot.
2. Do I need some sort of silly graphics?
3. Do I mess with the suspension, wheels and tires?  I absolutely do not need to do this, but it could be fun.

1- I thought for a moment that Pat Sajak retiring really did a number...

2- cool van

3- I'm sure there are some sick suspension mods pioneered by someone who is happy to tell you about it but not field questions and then delete everything.

NY Nick said:

1- I thought for a moment that Pat Sajak retiring really did a number...

Good point.  Can a mod please add "(DD/Campervan)" to the title?

Selling a vehicle with these mirrors should be illegal.

prodarwin said:

NY Nick said:

1- I thought for a moment that Pat Sajak retiring really did a number...

Good point.  Can a mod please add "(DD/Campervan)" to the title?

Done.  

I have a Ram Promaster City as a company provided vehicle.  It's got some quirks and is rather basic but I enjoy the vehicle more than I thought I ever would.  

This Transit, local to me, is riding on 19" Ford Escape Titanium trim level wheels and I think they look good.  Focus ST wheels look good also. 

Oh, how I agree than a Maverick Hybrid drivetrain in this van package would be the near ideal vehicle for my job.  

manual mirrors are just fine!

in fact, get rid of all the screens and cross-tied systems, start/stop. cyl shutdown, everything

ac, power windows, and a double din radio that can be upgraded with a $100 part every 2 years is all we need!

Adding a few more mental notes to myself:
 

1. Seats are vinyl... they do not breathe well.  Even though the A/C works quite well, my mid back is damp when getting out of the car, especially when its upper 90s & humid.  Might want to get a beaded seat cover.
2. Windshield sun shade would probably be a good idea
3. I wonder if there is a door handle that can open the rear doors from the inside (besides sticking a finger between them)

prodarwin said:

<snip>
The only thing I really wish Ford would do (maybe this is in the long term plan?) is build one with a Maverick hybrid drivetrain.
</snip>

+100.  Or even better, Toyota, are you listening?  How bout a city van on the RAV4 platform? 

(Nice score, OP)

Updates:

• Utility vehicle stuff removed.  Going to put it up for sale shortly.  My highway mileage immediately jumped by like 4.5mpg, which doesn't surprise me as that ladder rack could catch a lot of wind.
• Weathertech mats ordered
• Trying to resolve the stereo situation, but that is going on the backburner for a bit because its a pain in the ass.
• Did some test fitting with my bike... its a tight squeeze with both wheels on and the partition in place.

Not sure what the plan is with the partition.  I want to have one for typical daily duties as it makes it a lot quicker to cool down, and reduces cabin noise.  But I would like to remove when in camping mode for a variety of reasons.  I might try and make something removeable.  A curtain might work, however it is nice to be able to see through the rear windows.

Here's what the back looks like now:

Here is the basic layout I'm shooting for.  The blue areas just represent shelves for miscellaneous stuff.  LH will probably be biking/hiking/etc. related stuff, RH will probably be a place to charge a phone, empty pockets, etc.

One thing not shown in this terrible paint drawing is where I will put a cooler, and thats partly because I haven't figured it out yet.

Solo travel:

2 person travel:

I can also utilize the backside of the doors for storage as well when I have a better idea of what my needs are.  They both look like they have panels I could easily replace and make more functional.

Well, its going slower than I'd like it to, but its going.

I pulled the floor out yesterday so I could take a photo and digitize it today:



Hopefully I'll be doing a test fit tomorrow of this (just a paper test).



The vinyl is pretty heavy, but definitely has significant sound deadening properties.  I'm going to try to keep it in place and put the wood floor over top of it.

Also found while the floor was out that the front section is just a false floor in the cargo version.  You can see in the vinyl floor below it the cutouts for installing the passenger seats in the "wagon" version of the van.  I haven't 100% resolved how I'm going to approach this, but I think my plan is to keep these areas accessible (although maybe not rapidly), and use the space for an extra battery as well as maybe another tiny cubby or even lockable/hidden storage on one side.



 

Been a while, but again slow progress.  Now I am 99% confident in my floor layout, so the pressure is on me to get the design done in CAD so I can cut it.

Test fit of rev4 (1-3 were paper):



And rev 3 of my phone mount, soon to be replaced with a more robust (PET-CF or similar) material:

I'm currently building out a Transit Connect as a touring vehicle. I won't be living in it, mainly just need a bed on wheels instead of having to be in and out of hotels on the road. So for my situation, fuel mileage was the biggest factor, so that's why I went the micro camper route.

I'm 6'2" and it is cramped. It's tight quarter's no matter your size. I prioritized having a really comfortable bed and a nice sized fridge, so those two things eat up most of the space. It's a bit of a pain to change clothes in and I spend a lot of time moving stuff around to get to other stuff or to transition the bed to a bench. But it gets much better mileage and drives like a car, which is nice in the city and when parking. It's a great road trip vehicle.

However, if you're considering vans to live in permanently or for extended camping, and fuel mileage isn't a top priority, you'll be much more comfortable in a full-size cargo van with extra storage.

Progress continues to be painfully slow, but I'm getting there.  I located some scrap bins that happen to be a perfect fit.  Bachelor layout test fit and cad model:

I also made templates for the insulation panels and the rear storage cubbies (which will be cargo net/soft material of some sort).  Hoping to knock some of that out later this week.  Would love to have this model far enough along to cut and build next week.  I think my plans for a first test in 2 weeks are off track, but hopefully I can still squeeze in a day or two.

 

The grind continues:

CAD status.  Its probably at 80%.  Lots of little details to finalize

A coworker that is a master of soft-goods helped me out today and taught me little of everything - pattern making, lamination, surging, sewing, etc.  Only completed 2 panels (mirror of each other), but they are the hardest of the bunch and the other 3 should go pretty quickly.

before:

before install:

installed:

Also knocked out an easy-access mount for my bike pump.  3D printed, plust some bungees with balls on the end.  Going to test it for a bit, finalize, and print out of something stronger than PLA.  Might replace the E36 M3ty MDF panels its attached to with something more premium, but thats not a right-now problem.

Sweet Santa Cruz!

One cool think I figured out is that I can flip the bike around on the fork mount for some easy trailside service:

The van got some body mods this past wednesday courtesy of someone not paying enough attention :(

Inside (wrinkles in the D pillar near floor, and that big vertical crack are not supposed to be there)

I dont know much about body repair, so I'm curious to see how this shakes out.  Hoping to take it for some quotes this week & next.  I dont want a big respray job.  Hoping they can straighting the body work, replace the door, and just do a tiny touch up where the pain is gone on the outside.  I'd happily just throw a sticker over it afterward.