2001 7.3 4" Ujoint to Overland America's Adventure Vehicle

[E350]

Why the white leather couch?

(Dude, you've already got one of the cutest van accessories ever.
I am not going to knock your color choices.)

[scummy]

Now I'm in the mood for some Now and Laters. Looks good though.

[JackTuppVan]

man hiding in car seat.

[JohnandMandi]

Originally Posted by E350

Why the white leather couch?

(Dude, you've already got one of the cutest van accessories ever.
I am not going to knock your color choices.)

It's really light gray, the best they had when we ordered it. When it was delivered it had several problems but we worked with the company and got them sorted by a local upholsterer. In hindsight, we would have been better served by pulling one from a junk yard and having it re-done to exactly our liking. We've had these before, we usually leave a sheet and blanket on it all the time. We already have purple and green, no surprise there.

Don't sweat any nay saying. We know it's not for everyone, all the ladies that have seen it love it , just sayin. I'd rather have a 4x4 van my woman loves than one I take out alone.

Upcoming:
There will be two stacked aluminum under body storage boxes on the platform next to the couch placed flush to the aisle. We'll be building additional storage behind them like in VWs. A bit of extra space will be at the back of the van between the boxes and the end of the platform. Probably some vertical or horizontal storage of things like hiking poles, tri-pod etc... We ordered some bungee tension retainers but I just remembered a cool PVC storage solution we saw at Expo East in an awesome 4x4 Ambo. The retainers could be used to secure our bins in the kitchenette. We've hit the most fun part of the build, 59 days until we start our trip so we gotta keep pounding it.

-John

[JohnandMandi]

Originally Posted by JackTuppVan

Haha... I'm sure they thought it was a good idea.

-John

[shenrie]

Originally Posted by JohnandMandi

... I'd rather have a 4x4 van my woman loves than one I take out alone.

smart man indeed

[pjpvi]

JohnandMandi wrote:
... I'd rather have a 4x4 van my woman loves than one I take out alone.


smart man indeed

X2
(Even though my wife did just suggest a van trip in May. Maybe I'm making progress on that front because I know I'm not getting more desirable to be around with age.)

Phil

[86Scotty]

There is no better feeling to me than the full-steam-ahead-close-to-the-end-of-a-build feeling, especially when the culmination will be hitting the road in it. I really love that, but I know not everyone does.

[JohnandMandi]

Originally Posted by 86Scotty

There is no better feeling to me than the full-steam-ahead-close-to-the-end-of-a-build feeling, especially when the culmination will be hitting the road in it. I really love that, but I know not everyone does.

This last part has been a lot of fun. All of our hard work and long discussions over placement are coming together as we hoped it would. I think building our own van before taking off on the Pan-Am is turning out to be one of our best ideas. I couldn't imagine just watching the calendar. A project of this size, while stressful, has really kept us focused and is helping us transition. Tuesday night we needed some measurements and ended up just hanging out in the van and talking about how we are so happy with what we have accomplished. We are extremely excited, and feverishly apprehensive over quitting our jobs to travel, a culmination of all things when making the change we are about to.

Thanks guys for the compliments, I wasn't so smart in the beginning. I can remember that time I owned a "fishing" boat. One of the best set-ups for flats fishing due to it's simplicity and functionality. It totally failed in the comfort department...lesson learned.

-John

[JohnandMandi]

Blog entry: Flooring and Electrical (Separate Blog entry on Electrical Install soon)



Blog entry: Storage and Table









Getting close to having it completed, we start our trip in less than 40 days!

-John