Mercy! Mercy! That Dang Nabed PERCY!

Getting On with my Stealth Van Conversion

Today my wife and I went to Marshfield WI, where I purchased last year, my used Ram Transit City Van. The reason I bought it was to carry my RC airplanes to the flying field. When I decided to embark on my thwarted mission to catch a Space A flight to Europe, I threw my stuff inside and set out on the grand adventure. Some might call what happened a fiasco but despite all the things that went wrong, I had a good time and learned plenty.

The reason Linda and I went to Marshfield today was two fold. First I had to get the van serviced. When the transmission pewked in Dover Delaware I was forced to use my trip time and resources to get it fixed. This meant staying in motels at an average rate of $150 a night for two weeks. The good news was that the transmission was still under warrenty and if I'd had to pay parts and labor the bill could have been in the 6K range. They say every dark cloud has a silver lining and despite the frustration, the calamity had this as a redeeming aspect.

The second reason was to go see my coin dealer friend in Tomahawk and sell some gold coins that I have been hoarding for a rainy day. My kids have more money than I do and I asked myself what I was saving them for? I had run up some credit card debt on the aborted journey and figured, what the heck, I can't take it with me.

In the periods between going to the Doctor for my annual physical and getting the van serviced I have been working on the benches for the van. They are not completed but do sit where they are supposed to go and even though they will need further attending to, having them in place shows me what I need to do in the next phase of the build.

On the roof of the van are bolt holes for a rack on top. I have used these holes to secure a retangular frame that will encapsulate the solar panels. At Harbor Freight I bought a simple system that should provide the electricity I'll be needing when the van engine is not operating.... you know to run the fans and interior lights when I'm overnighting inside. When we got home from Marshfield there was a Fantastic Air fan sitting on the porch, left by the FEDEX man. This weekend I will cut a hold in the roof and install it. It has three speeds, a thermostat, and a mode switch to draw air in or blow it out. How cool is that?

Tomorrow Linda and I are back on he road to take my two seater to Madison and get it a quarterly service.

On the way home today I stopped at Home Depot and got a sheet of plywood to make the seats for my benches. So now that step is done... Will keep everyone posted on how my Stealth van conversion is getting on.