Donor Van Aquired

[leety]

2011 Ford E350 Super Duty Extended Cargo Fan with 30" fiberglass high-top v10 Quigley 4x4. Had 1014 miles on it, when we picked it up, not kidding. Just put about 3K miles on it driving it across the America.

Doing some research considering taking it to Sportsmobile to build it out, if they will do it.

Otherwise I'll will find another way.

Will build with a design program focused on issues of cold weather & high altitude for snowboarding rolling igloo. Will work for all other seasons as well.

Looking forward to reading all your great stories, comments, advice and info.

[larrie]

Looking forward to photos of the build. Welcome and congrats on the van.

[leety]

Thanks it's a fun adventure so far no doubt!

[arctictraveller]

Do you have an insulation and heat stratagy formed yet? Diesel, gas or propane heat?

[leety]

Hi thanks for the replay. I'm still researching. It's a gas motor v10, but I'm not a fan of propane. Thinking about using an aux diesel tank to run my heat, hot water and a cook top.

Or perhaps heat up the space and water with gas and diesel for cooking. Marine stoves look kind of cool.

Need to figure out the insulation for sure.

I'm open to all ideas and suggestions.

[gcvt]

Welcome to the forum.

SMB will build it out for you but it might take a while. Where are you located? The guy I just bought my van from is having a new one built at the Austin plant and doesn't expect to have it until August or September at the earliest.

[arctictraveller]

I have a standard Suburban propane forced air heater, but I find it marginal for temps much below freezing. More insulation would help, but my interior is already built out, so I'm considering a new diesel heater, feeding from one of the three 5 gallon fuel cans I carry on top of my Alumines box. 5 gallons should be plenty enough, and diesel is easy to find almost everywhere. I used a similar set up on my boat one winter and heated half of a 50ft boat for a trip from Juneau to Seattle on one 7 gallon tank. It won't take much to heat the van, and the more insulation you have the less you will use. Heck, with enough insulation, you could heat it with a candle, but the people space would be pretty small. I'm not a fan of gasoline fired heaters, not really sure why, but they make me uneasy.

[leety]

Los Angeles CA I've called Fresno. As soon as I get some time I'll take the donor up there and show it to them to see what they think.

[leety]

Yea I'm not a big fan of propane and it gets sketchy at high altitude, I've already dealt with that one.

Been using a gas powered Webasto Airtop 2000 with the Eurovan, which is good, you just have to adjust the mixture richer for altitude. There are way more appliances for heating water air and cooking in diesel though so I may just put a small 5-10 gallon diesel tank on board to run them all. They are less expensive and more common than the gasoline unites and there are far more options, like marine stuff you probably know about. That's the direction I'm leaning in based on current info. I have to find a way to keep the diesel from hitting gel point in the serious cold though. I should be able to insulate the tank or something or perhaps even vent it warm from the heater to keep it from getting too cold. Perhaps I can use hot water, radient heating in pex tubes to keep that tank warm enough.

[arctictraveller]

Originally Posted by leety

I have to find a way to keep the diesel from hitting gel point in the serious cold though.

If you frequent places that get cold enough to gel diesel, simply buy your fuel localy. Most fuel sold in cold climates is "winter diesel" It's formulated to prevent gelling, and usually goes on sale in the late fall. Without it, a million trucks would be stalled on the side of the road in cold weather.