Pete & Teri’s Next Big Adventure

Finally installed the solar charge controller in the van, with a fuse block for accessories running off the second battery, which at the moment is small 10ah one from an uninterruptable power supply. I salvaged a plug from an old phone charger to fit the 12v dc in on my flourescent light and it worked great. Put the solar panels on the roof and they pivot perfectly on the u-clamps:

Also finished another curtain rod and covered the old Zbed armrest in blue fabric. It’s almost too narrow to be useful, but until the side cabinets happen it’s something.

This is one of those days that test one’s determination to keep the vehicle essentially stock and intact underneath the improvements. For the solar panel wires, 120v hookup, and maybe water, I’ll be making an insert for the sliding window, but it’d sure be nice to just get some rubber grommets and drill a few holes. Then I’d like to put a couple of vents in the roof, and westy-style utility ports…just screw the darn solar panel hinges to the roof itself…bolt that playground ladder I dumpstered onto the rear hatch for rack access and a place to hang bikes…

But it’s still 99% O.G….Even the curtain rods are mounted to utilize/hide whatever TF the previous owner had screwed on there.

Next weekend I’ll try it all out on a 3 day camping trip with a bunch of friends…

Before:

After:

Now if someone has one of these, I’ll have whole doors:

And finally, the obligatory dog photo. Twilight at the dog beach in Prospect Park

Replaced both upper ball joints today. I was a little worried, not having done this job before, but the most difficult part was finding a 24mm combo wrench. Three local hardware stores didn’t have one that big, and Home Labyrinth only had it in a $70 set of a dozen wrenches. Strauss Auto ended up being the place wit’ da goods.

Time for first one, including F-ups, research, and tool hunt: 3 hours
Time for second one (ie, once I knew what I was doing): 30 minutes
Time quoted by local mechanic to do both: 4 hours(!) labor @ $69/hr

Mechanic quoted something like $75 each for the BJs. Busdepot provided them for 19.95 each.

Here’s the procedure I followed – this guy describes it perfectly except for a few small things: -

• the nuts on my old and new ball joints were 24mm, not 22 as stated at the link above
• even with the 12 point wrench, you must turn the wheels all the way toward the side you’re working on to reach the nut on the bottom of the ball joints.
• any time after you remove the bottom nut, the whole brake/hub/knuckle assembly may decide to make a rapid descent toward your crotch; prop it up or you may end up sounding like Danish heavy metal singer King Diamond.

The wheelcovers were bothering me since I got the van – horrid generic ones trying to look like alloy wheels and failing miserably:

…and of course the lack of curtains can be bothersome when camping, but I got what is basically a toy sewing machine from Target and cobbled together the first set…they need some tweaking and retaining straps, but I’m pleased. Wild purple on the inside:

…and a less conspicuous blue on the outside (you can also see the proper chrome hubcaps here…sortof):

Some day, maybe I’ll paint the van purple and reverse the curtains, since the interior is already blue.

Finally, the previous owner tragedy of the week…the same guy who sold me the wheelcovers sold me some proper Vanagon front speakers, which matters because non-stock ones protrude and interfere with the glovebox and window crank. The VW speakers were brown, but I used Forever Black plastic dye and they looked perfect. YAY! Outside with a screwdriver to remove the old ones, which had already drawn blood.

Whatever genius put the wrong speakers in accomplished it by enlarging the holes in the door panel with a saw.

The VW speakers, which should snap into place and sit perfectly flush, go through the hole and fall into the door. I’ll need to find some door panels in the boneyard or invent something. Sonofa….

Just stuck this together with iron-on “fusing web”. Tried it in the van, fits perfectly. Now I just need to do some sewing, and find long-ass springs or something for the bottom straps. The blue faces out, to match the van and be discreet, and the wild irridescent purple goes inside where the party’s at