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Old 03-20-2018, 11:46 AM   #21
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Grand Junction CO

In April of 2017 I was sent to Grand Junction CO for work. By trade I am a Field Engineer in the Broadcast Television business. It is about a 4 hour drive from my house to Grand Junction. I was going to get a rental car to put the miles on it but I woke up to a big snow storm and I had to head over 11,000 foot pass with the storm coming head on. I decided to cancel my rental and take the van on its first really long distance run. I loaded up and headed over the pass. Weather was mostly wet until the Eisenhower/Johnson Tunnel which is over a mile long and goes through the top of the mountain on I-70. Once through I came out to about 8 inches of fresh snow on the other side. There wasn't anyone in front of me so I dropped her into second and just coasted about 30 mph all the way down the very steep grade. I think it is like 8% for 8 straight miles and not a plow in site. I figured people would be passing me. Usually this spot is a race track for Subaru's. This time everyone just lined up behind me and we all coasted down together. I must have looked like I knew what I was doing because not a single person passed me on the way down. Just after Silverthorne the road quickly turned into a parking lot as a tractor trailer up ahead had wrecked on Vail Pass and closed down the road.



Sat there for about 2 hours while they reopened the road. Chilled on my bench and played on my phone. Cell service is usually pretty good around major highways.

After work each day I headed over to the Kokopelli trail system near Fruita for some evening biking. The vans are the best base camp ever.



Beautiful views and a nice respite from the long winters at my house.



I truly love the desert.


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Old 03-20-2018, 11:53 AM   #22
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No Garage

When you have no garage you improvise. I have a very uneven gravel driveway so my equipment needs to be able to handle the rough terrain. I was sick of it taking 3-5 trips each time to get my welding rig out so I paused my build and quickly modified a Harbor Freight dolly into a welding cart. Quick and dirty build on the cart. It will get me by for now. I have more importing things (van) to spend my time on.



I have a 100 foot 220 extension cord that hooks into a spot in my wife's office. Her office was a pottery studio for my landlord when they lived here and they had a kiln so it came with a 50 amp 220 outlet.

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Old 03-20-2018, 12:11 PM   #23
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Onboard Air

Preparing for a trip to Moab and decided I wanted to add onboard air to the van. We frequently take roads and trails that we need to air down for. Especially deep sand and rocky climbs. I purchase the Viair constant duty onboard air system.



I have always had little cheapies for air compressors and it takes an hour or longer to air back up after a trail. I decided it was time to splurge. I never build a vehicle with the intention of selling it so I build it up for me how I want it. This isn't the best but also not the worst. Works well for me and airs up my 35's in less than 10 minutes. Also I can air up my buddies rigs as well.

This is my favorite part of the box.



Basically covers everything while still making great advertising.

I picked the spot just between the frame rail and body on the drivers side. Fabbed up a bracket and bolted it to the body reinforcements underneath. It would be a long time for someone to steal it. Wouldn't be easy the way I did it.



Added air chucks front and rear.



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Old 03-20-2018, 12:30 PM   #24
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More Lights

I had a couple of LED lights hanging around that I decided to install into the grill. I didn't take pictures of the mount but I used angle iron and built a mount to the radiator core supports. The lights poke through the grill but are not actually attached to the grill in any way. Here is my helper for the project showing off our good work.

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Old 03-20-2018, 12:44 PM   #25
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Moab trip one in May 2017 Family Reunion time.

In early May of 2017 we headed to the first of two trips to Moab this month. This was a family reunion that we had organized for my family. We threw in an extra bench seat so we could haul people on the trails that don't have cars that can handle said trails. We didn't do anything crazy but most of my family while living only 3-4 hours from Moab, had never been before. We wanted to give them a taste of the desert that we love so much.



Seating for 8 by day.



Fold out queen sized bed by night.



I modified the rear bench to fold forward flat using some hinges from a mini van at the local pick-n-pull. Bed cantilevered out over the top of the seat. I made a little cushion for the center console that made a bed out of the two front seats and my other daughter slept on the unfolded bench. The dog slept between my wife and I on the bed. Previously we had 3 smaller dogs. They slept in the double sleeping back with us usually. The saying a 3 dog night comes from sleeping with dogs on a cold night. They make great heaters. In fact I find that with 4 people and 3 dogs we would heat up the inside of our previous van quite well. This pooch is a bit bigger and he doesn't like being under the covers. He will take a blanket when it's cold and we have a coat for him.



Here is the drawer system I built for the back of the van under the bed. Drawers are 48" long.



We were certainly loaded for a good time.

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Old 03-20-2018, 01:01 PM   #26
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Dog is my co-pilot

My wife and kids left for the weekend and I was home with the pooch. He loves riding in the van. He knows that a ride in the van means an adventure. We decided to go for a hike in this case.



Us on the trail. He is only about a year old in this picture.

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Old 03-20-2018, 02:51 PM   #27
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Moab trip two in May 2017 Syncro Solstice

Ten years ago I had another van that I was obsessed with. It was a 1987 VW Vanagon Syncro. I had it almost 10 years and had done a lot of work to in including an engine swap to a 2008 Zetec motor out of a Ford Focus. It was my baby and I put thousands of hours into it. This picture below was my nephew and I in November of 2012 on the White Rim Road in Canyonlands National Park. In November Canyonlands is empty. We didn't see another vehicle for almost 2 full days. Still one of the best off road adventures I have had to date. Not super technical but beautiful. 100 miles of 8 mph. We slept at White Crack which points directly at the confluence of the Colorado and the Green rivers and you are surrounded by the most epic desert views everywhere you look. If you haven't done it you should.



As part of that love I got together with a few local enthusiasts Back in 2010 and we established an annual Syncro event in Moab UT. It is now on it's 8th year having over 100 vans attend annually. Because of my pioneer status the VW crowd tends to look the other way when my big Ford rolls into camp. There are a couple of other founding members that have switched to something else as well usually some form of Ford transit or E-series. Couple FJ cruisers as well. Such a fun crew that we make an effort to go every year. The VW crowd is full of good peeps. I also am in love with the Moab area in general so any opportunity to go is one I will jump at.

We basically take over a group camp area at Lone Mesa off Hwy 313.



We do lots of trails. Nothing crazy but Syncros are actually quite capable and we do a variety of trails that are definitely 4x4 van worthy. I didn't take a ton of trail pictures. Here are a few of Long Canyon. Normally Long Canyon is an easy trail but many of the easy trails have been savaged by the RZR crowd so obstacles that would normally be easy to pass are often way worse than usual. The park service does come out and rebuild the trails some. Also water and wind can really effect some of the trails. This time Long Canyon was a bit rougher and we had to stack rocks at Pucker Pass. The pictures don't do it justice. The Syncros all made it down with only one van getting mirror damage as it tipped toward the cliff face wall. They don't call it Pucker Pass for nothing. We had one 2wd vanagon running a rear locker that was a challenge to get through but experienced drivers got er done and my van just walked right down the stacked rocks. For some reason driving was more important to me this trip and the pictures were left to suffer. We went up Potash Road to the Shafer Switchbacks after heading down Long Canyon. We also headed out toward Tusher Tunnel and lead a group of newbies to check out the tunnel. Nothing crazy but really fun. The next day we did Hurrah Pass to Chicken Corners and stopped at the Wind Caves on the way back down. In the two full days we were there we did quite a bit of driving and also spent some time off Power House Road to swim in the creek. Moab is a blast.

Pucker Pass


Steeper than it looks. Biggest issue is tipping toward the canyon wall as you come down. It's a decent challenge for the VW guys.



Van coming down Long Canyon. Narrow walls and steep grades headed down toward the pass.



Pucker Pass



Stacking or in this case un-stacking a big rock at the bottom.



Famous spot under the rock just after Pucker Pass on the way down.



This picture is at the bottom of the Shafer Switchbacks. Right at where the White Rim Road splits off. One of my favorite pics of the trip.



This picture is from the top of The Shafer Switchbacks just before you round the corner where they filmed the Thelma and Louise movie. Pictures shows the split at the bottom where one side goes to the White Rim Road and the other goes off through Potash Road. You can follow the Potash road from Dead Horse Point on the top side.



We had a crazy but brief rainstorm come through which gave way to a spectacular double rainbow.



Lasted for a long time. I am not sure how long but felt like 45 minutes or so.



I can't take credit for this picture but I grabbed it from another member (Josiah Q. Roe Photography). Moab is one of the darker spots in the country and can be an excellent spot for night photography.

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Old 03-20-2018, 03:09 PM   #28
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Gashole.

I guess someone decided my paint looked a little too nice. I parked at the end of the lot with no cars around me and had been there only a few minutes. I am pretty sure I didn't cut anybody off on the way as I took quiet backroads almost the entire way to the store. You can clearly see in the reflection that I didn't even park close to anyone.



Nothing worse than what I will do to it on the trail but still. You have to be a special kind of ******* to key someones car for no reason. My family speculated that it was someone who thinks my environmental footprint is larger than necessary. I feel like it should count for something that I took a 20+ year old vehicle and gave it a second life. Really pisses me off.

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Old 03-20-2018, 07:07 PM   #29
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Caribou CO

My younger daughter and I decided to head up to Caribou Colorado. It is an old mining site that is only a few miles from our house. Caribou townsite was established in 1859 when two big silver veins were discovered. At the old townsite there are several trailheads heading off in many directions. We were hoping to drive down a couple but they were gated for the season. Town was a big silver mine and is located at about 10,500 feet just above Nederland and near Eldora ski resort.



Here is one shell of an old building. I believe this used to be the bunk house for the miners.



I believe this one used to be the mines main office.



Inside the admin building



Still a live working mine right below the old townsite. I believe it is mining Tungsten these days. The silver and gold mine days are long past in this part of Colorado.



Saw this dude checking us out on the way back down. Decent rack all covered in velvet.

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Old 03-20-2018, 08:37 PM   #30
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Van grew overnight.

I had been debating for quite some time about doing a pop top or a high roof. I have 2 kids and wanted to add the extra sleeping space. I also think being able to stand up in the van is a game changer for camping. With the van already 8 feet tall a pop top would have been nice. In the end with the price of a pop top and the convenience of the high top I chose to go high top. At 8 feet tall I might as well add 20" as I already can't park in garages and I am still lower than most delivery vans.

This project started off with modifying my shop crane to lift the top. My helpers are my 9 and 12 year old daughters and the top weighs in at about 150 lbs. Couple that with needing to lift the top 8 feet high to the top of the van, and I figured it might as well utilize the tools I have. I added a 12 foot length of .120 wall square tube and bolted it in. I also added a couple of sand bags hanging off the back and my spare tire strapped to the new rig. Even with all of this the .120 wall tubing bent considerably under the weight of the top. This isn't something I would want to do regularly.



I also made a wood frame to help with lifting and give it something to sit on on the roof once it lands.



Let the cutting begin. There is no turning back now.



Fully convertible now. I forgot to mention it is January in the mountains in CO. I am racing against the weather with very short days.



Lift worked like a charm.



At this stage I laid down the Glue. Sikaflex 221. I also have a flange that will get screwed down as well as some heavy J-bolts to ensure it won't every go anywhere.



You can see the boards I used to compress the flange. I ran a few dozen self tapping sheet metal screws down with large fender washers. You can also see a couple of the J-bolts I added for good measure. Six J-bolts in total. I don't think they are needed but they make me feel better.



Windows were the worst part by far. It's cold outside and I can't be in two places at once. My 12 year old was a champ and held the windows tight while we got them started. I then followed up with a bead of 221 all around the windows and the top edge. So far in the few months I have had it we have seen some major storms and no leaks.

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