by edfields Sun Jan 03, 2016 7:21 pm
Made it home last night from the trip. Did about 1500 miles in total. Not bad for a 52 year old metal can!
Had tons of fun and learned a lot about what could be improved for future trips, here is my short list:
- Weather proofness. A good amount of water comes in around the doors in heavy rain. All of the door seals look pretty old, so I will research some of the replacement seals out there. I'm also annoyed with the large floor openings for the pedals, particularly the gas pedal. Not sure if I have the correct body plug there - A pic of known factory-style or improved version would help!
Also would like to plug up the little bit of wind that comes in through the air vents.
- Sound insulation. My interior is just painted metal. Which I like for a lot of other reasons, but I'm going to consider doing some minor things for freeway comfort, such as a localized headliner with insulation in the drivers cabin. May do it inside the front doors as well. The only annoying sound was wind at freeway speed for hours at a time.
- Heater. Mine is in apart in a box. Need to clean that up and install it. Not sure if the blower works.
- Shocks. It's time to replace them. Are there any preferred brands or styles? Think I used Monroe before when I had a Valiant.
- Disc brakes. I did a dual master conversion a few months ago after experiencing complete failure, but still drums all around, not the best for california freeways that go from 70 to stopped in a snap.
- Steering. I can hold freeway speed easily, but I don't feel comfortable with the handling after 70mph. Any bit of wind pushes me all over the road. Pretty expected for short wheel base metal box, but open to any simple suspension or steering improvements that address this.
- Head rests. More for safety than comfort. A friend of mine was recently rear-ended in his BMW 1600 and he mentioned how glad he was to have headrests that minimized the whiplash. The issue is that I don't want to put modern seats in it. I want to look into alternative bucket seats from any 60s dodge passenger car that have headrests, or maybe some vintage VW seats. Open to anything that is still vintage...
That being said, my ass hurts from my current seats!
- Tunes. Yep, need em. Want to install it where it can't be seen, and don't want to cut any holes for speakers.
- Accessory charging. Want to install some simple USB ports for keeping phones charged while camping. I picked up a 400W 120V inverter for larger devices, but don't like the idea of driving around with these little clamps that feel like can come loose. Any experiences using these things?
Overall, I'm pumped that a short wheel base van makes a practical camp and surf wagon so far!
