TGTBT

[SCBrian]

Enjoying the videos! I've been to Brinkley several times but I've never been stuck there. We've done lot of duck hunting in the Brinkley area. Just by chance did you notice any of the Ivory Billed Woodpeckers for which Brinkley is famous for?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ivory-billed_Woodpecker

I Believe!

Thanks for taking the time to share your adventures with us.

[twogone]

SURPRISE!! NEW FILM!

In this little flick, we get another look at the many ways Christine and I have found to use the van.
It is short and moves quickly, but has some SMB footage, thus the link:

https://vimeo.com/43311782

As always, comments move her to make more moving movies

[Ultrasport12]

Marc,

Tell Christine that the Taylor Arts Movies ROCK. You guys make the best movies so even a work trip looks fun.

Camping in a warehouse is quite different, not many of us have done that, especially in Bamma.

As always thanks for the smiles and entertainment.

Jamie and Suzann

[Gnarvan]

Your videos always put a smile on my face. Keep em comin!

In this one I particularly liked the way Christine was comparing the size of your lumber to the size of your head.

[Ford_6L_E350]

Originally Posted by Gnarvan

Your videos always put a smile on my face. Keep em comin!

I couldn't have said it better!

Mike

[Chopperguy]

As we say in Mississippi...Marc and Christine are "good folk." Great getting to see y'all again this weekend. Tell Christine, to keep those movies coming. We love em!

[twogone]

My reply to a PM for those who may be interested:

Hey Robb,

Yep, remodel on the van interior is underway. I don't have a thread on the remodel, our reveal on that will come in the form of a video (I hope... so far nothing is funny or cute, so far, just one bigass mess). I assume you know about our videos from my thread "TGTBT"

Robb, we got along OK w/ the original SMB RV type interior for the first year of ownership. We even had a third bucket seat behind the drivers seat, which I pulled the first week I had it, no kids, wanted the "space". Then we pulled the big 3 burner, full-oven stove that sat in the side door entryway, back to Coleman, which I prefer. Then we began to realize that our van was crammed full of highly inefficient and WAAAAY heavy cabinetry and there was no real utility in having them. I got no use whatsoever from the dinette/short bed system in the back, as I am 6'3" and none of that fit me in any way. Everything is 17 yrs old and "dated" and a bit ragged, as is the rest of the interior. My van was upholstered in what I refer to as Rigor Mortis blue/gray/pink cheap mid 90's rv fabric.

Soooo, with the help of my incredibly skilled, polymath, allstar fab/mechanic/upholstery/rv systems expert dude and friend Ray (see him in the video "Sportsmobill$" on TGTBT), we started at the front and stripped every single thing out except the dashboard and firewall mounted equip. and anything above the steel plates that the PH bed sits on. New everything is going back in with a bent toward black metal, black rubber flooring, black leather upholstery, black aluminum cabinetry. Insulate throughout (SMB didn't), replace furnace, space efficient water systems, Engel horizontal fridge (60 combi), Molle systems and mounted netting, etc. We are really changing everything about the "feel" of the interior and should be lighter by about 1000 lbs to boot. The list is loooong and really expensive, but I only will do this once in my lifetime, so we are reaching for everything on the wishlist. This a complete redo, replacing ALL of SMB install. Dude, they should be a bit embarrassed at the lack of quality workmanship. Around my region, if you put out the product that they did (and some say still do), and got found out, you'd get your jaw broken on the street. Enough about that, I guess. Some months from now, I'd like to have a CCV PH top replacement as mine is showing it's age a little. After that my van won't have a single SMB element except the stickers on the sides. I ain't mad at SMB, I love 'em, warts and all, but I'll have a better product when I am complete.

The budget is something I hide my head in the sand about, as it is hindsight, and I prefer to live in-the-day and look forward to tomorrow. That said, my guess on the rundown is like this: Original cost plus total front-to back-drivetrain and suspension freshening w/ a few toys like bushwackers and Toyo MT's comes to about $28,000. Interior rebuild will put me over $42,000, but we are cutting no corners on this. By doing it in phases, I don't have any debt on it. I've said from early on that we wanted to bring this particular van up to like-new condition over time, and, we'll get there over the course of about 2 1/2 - 3 years total time of ownership and about $50,000. So, I'll have a van done my way, w/ 7.3 and F350 Quigley frontend, I hope to get another 17 years out of it. I'm not sure if I fully answered your questions, but will take calls if you have specific questions. All of the info I have came from the forum.

I'm gonna post this reply on TGTBT so that others can read what's happening. I hope that is OK with you.
Best,
Marc

[Gnarvan]

Marc

It would be nice if you would shoot us a few teaser pictures of your remodel. I sure hope you aren't going to leave the Forum in suspense till the project is finished and you come out with a video.

[twogone]

Aw John (and all you fabulous forum members), y'all might have noticed that I never post pix... 'cause I never take pix, only video. And then, of course, Christine has to do her magic on the editing side. Now if I hadn't posted about the remodel, y'all wouldn't have even known it was going on, so no suspense, right?

I have 19 available days to get to a STOPPING POINT on the redo before leaving to deliver a dining table to NYC (I haven't started the table yet... omg) and make a 3 week summer-in-New England tour and down the Eastern Seaboard to home. So, after all that, Christine can roll us a film that will include info on the redo. Then we finish up whatever didn't get done before the STOPPING POINT.

I am also anxious to get a film from this, but right now, it is sort of depressing. Jage told me time and again to not open the walls, so, naturally we tore it all out. It is frikkin insane behind the walls. We are going back in with stuff now, after Ray redid all of the behind-the-walls disasters.

So if I had pix, at this point all you would see is (1) a dumpster totally full (really) of debris... not parts, not used gear, not recyclable, just absolute garbage. Then (2) a pic of a totally stripped-out van shell up to the dashboard... no wires, no flooring, seats, no nothing. Then (3) a pic of Ray (he rebuilds wrecked racecars and the like, does all sorts of highend/hightech fabrication, and rv work and HAS SEEN IT ALL) who would be scratching his head and wondering why, just why?

You know, I try to behave on the forum, as I am given to hyperbole and pottymouth ( I just love to cuss, not sure why). So, as calmly as I can, I will try to describe just one of a ream of behind-the-walls insanities... just one, not even the most insane one. And I'm not gonna go away from this experience ranting about the insanities, y'all just do like Jage said, and don't open the walls.

At some point, SMB put in a seatbelt anchored behind the driver's side rear fenderwell to use with the dinette seats. A picture, no matter how good, can't describe this. The installer, using at least a 4 pound maul, pounded a blunt steel rod through the carpet, padding, OSB subfloor, and double thickness body steel floor, The floor metal caved in about 1 inch deep and a "cup" about 6 inches in diameter and was peeled back underneath as though a 12 guage slug had passed through. Then, huge washer about 3 inches across with the belt bolt through. Then about 7 layers of duct tape over the whole mess to cover it up, underneath. Dude coulda called me and I'd have explained the new technology known as "drill bits"... no e-nets in '95. Why, just why?

Now, I'm through bitchin' on the keyboard, me and Ray gonna beat this thing and it's gonna be great when completed!

[Gnarvan]

Marc

Time to expand your horizons to photography. No one on the forum is going to hit their foe button if you post a few naked van pictures.