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Old 01-29-2014, 03:55 PM   #1
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And her name is Bivy...

As with most of us, it started when we saw a converted Sprinter - for us it was about five years ago in Tuolumne Meadows. We had to get one of those some day...

We visited SMB West a few months back and plunked down a deposit (for a March '14 build). So we are really doing this. Wow. But we didn't want to wait for SMB to order a Sprinter, sand we happen to be OK with Artic White, so off we went to find one.

I have a small plane so we flew off to San Jose CA and walked the short way over to Bershoff Motors to buy a Sprinter. My wife was also kind enough to drive it home while I flew. Hmmm, that may happen more than once.


As Henry Ford didn't say, you can have any color Sprinter you want, as long as it is Artic White.


Too much white for me, so I painted the front wheel well, the back quarter panel and the lower back end, among other stuff.


Continued...
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Old 01-29-2014, 04:36 PM   #2
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Re: And her name is Bivy...

We climb and my wife found a vector based graphic of a climbing rope knot, so I played around with Adobe Illustrator and came up with some graphics for the van. A strip of rope goes up the front, and hangs down the back with the knot. The knots also play down the lower side of the van.

My daughter helping with the vinyl wrap material. Scary having never done that, but it worked out.


Close up. You can see we already have "desert pin striping" (scratches) from doing approaches to some climbs we've already done with the van. Oh well.


The back:


Continued...
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Old 01-29-2014, 05:00 PM   #3
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Re: And her name is Bivy...

I wanted to work on the front end a little too. I flew my plane down to San Diego for a business trip and called Aluminess to see if they would meet me at Gillispie field airport with a light bar, thinking it would not fit in the rental car. They said to stop on by, it would surely fit in the rental car. It did, which was great since I was able to get a tour of their shop.


Which reminds me, I have to write and tell them the light bar actually doesn't fit a 2014 van, they need to make some adjustments. But with some wrangling and more black paint I made it fit. I added some LED lights too - nice. I even bought the $40 switch from my local Mercedes dealer so it would fit into one of the rocker switch sockets. I got the roof fan switch, since I knew it was on/off and not momentary. The graphics on the switch are so complex you can't tell what it is for anyway.


Its now waiting for some shocks and sprint assist kit from the Sprinter Store. At that time I'll powder coat the wheels black. Then we'll have to wait until March for the actual build at SMB. In the meantime, we are camping in the back in 20 degree weather. Brrrrrr.
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Old 01-29-2014, 05:14 PM   #4
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Re: And her name is Bivy...

It looks good! I like how the graphics and bumper break up the 'nuther white Sprinter' issue.

Congrats!

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Old 01-29-2014, 05:23 PM   #5
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Re: And her name is Bivy...

Quote:
Originally Posted by 86Scotty
It looks good! I like how the graphics and bumper break up the 'nuther white Sprinter' issue.

Congrats!

Yeah but after all that I went into the hardware store and the guy said, "nice Fedex van".

Nooooo! NOT a Fedex Van!!
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Old 01-29-2014, 05:37 PM   #6
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Re: And her name is Bivy...

congrats
great job on the add-ons. nice touch.
please share your floor plan and build ideas.
is the hanger the van's garage? that would be sweet.
I like the dogs too
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Old 01-29-2014, 06:00 PM   #7
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Re: And her name is Bivy...

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Originally Posted by windguy
congrats
great job on the add-ons. nice touch.
please share your floor plan and build ideas.
is the hanger the van's garage? that would be sweet.
I like the dogs too
I think our build would be a standard "climbers / outdoor" build. Platform bed in the back so that we have storage underneath for gear, skis, etc. We went for the Espar diesel heater since we'll be using it for ski mountaineering trips. We also went for the double insulation package, which I think means they use thin foil/rubber tape around everything before they put on the normal insulation.

We went light on the cabinets for weight and to keep the view open through the windows. Small fridge, small bath with no sink. Would have been nice to be full diesel, but the diesel cooktop was way expensive so propane cooktop. Propane should last a long time that way anyway.

We are going for the full Aluminess rack with solar, tv, and room for kayaks. I may put LED lights up there that spell out, "Not a FedEx van".

We are used to going light in the plane and backpacking/climbing, so I think we are going to be comfortable in the van. Here are some adventures we've done in the plane:

http://www.westcoastflyingadventures.com

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Old 01-29-2014, 08:03 PM   #8
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Re: And her name is Bivy...

Hi the graphics look great, along with the blackout of the grille logo - I have been thinking of doing that to my 2012. Curious what is the black band on the upper edge of the front fenders for?
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Old 01-31-2014, 10:15 AM   #9
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Re: And her name is Bivy...

Quote:
Originally Posted by Spenard
Curious what is the black band on the upper edge of the front fenders for?
Those are black plastic molded bumper strips. I got them for the back, but with my graphics they didn't fit. So I put them there. A little strange, but I like them.
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Old 02-02-2014, 12:04 AM   #10
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Re: And her name is Bivy...

GREAT videos! Looks like you're doing it right. I'm sure your Sprinter will keep the adventures coming.
Looking forward to seeing how your build-out goes and where you take it from there.
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