Back from the ashes.... literally!

[dg]

Hey all, I posted on here a couple years back when I was first toying with the idea of the mobile lifestyle as an adventurous yet efficient way to lodge myself though university. Long story short, the concept was camper van + diesel engine + WVO conversion (as an engineering course project and for guilt-free/cheap fuel, 2 birds with one stone). After many months of searching I found myself a beautiful 1992 van with a 6.2 diesel. I lived in it for a month and couldn't have been happier. By the end of the term I'd have a bachelor pad on wheels running on free fuel.

All was fine and dandy until an underqualified gas jockey turned it into a ball of fire in a propane flling mishap (september 2012)...

I was pretty discouraged after the incident... I was filling up propane in preparation for a nice Vancouver Island road trip with my girlfriend (well... ex girlfriend) so I had all of my important belongings in there... laptop, textbooks, notes, clothes, hiking gear, etc. School was also in full swing and I no longer had a capstone engineering project after months of planning. I dropped the project course and started hunting for another candidate to do the conversion in the spring term. Finding a camper van in decent shape was hard enough, a diesel makes it even trickier.

This homemade 1990 Ford 7.3 diesel camper came up for great price so I jumped on it, it quickly became known as "The Phoenix". Unfortunately, trying to cram the project into my already packed second term was a recipe for disaster, so a few weeks in I dropped the course. The curriculum has since changed and project choices are less flexible, so I'm now working on something completely unrelated to vans or WVO. I decided to sell The Phoenix (turned a profit which was a bonus) and wiped my hands clean of it all. I started researching WVO conversions on VW TDIs because a commuter car seemed like the "safe choice" after all that had happened. I moved in with some roomies and started making those dreaded rent payments every month as a "normal" young man should.

As of October 2013, after 13 months of navigating the bureaucracy of our lovely legal system I won my lawsuit against Super Save Gas for negligence and decided to treat myself... I just picked Big Brown up TODAY, 1988 Ford with 122,000 original KMs, plus a shower and toilet... for $4600 I couldn't stop myself It's not a diesel unfortunately so no WVO this time around. Maybe someday I'll look into swapping in a 7.3...

If anything, this journey has taught me to fight for what drives you as an individual. As cliche as it sounds, living the life you want is about persistence and not growing complacent. There are too many intangibles to this crazy human experience to live it solely based on logic...

Happy Holidays everyone!

 

[sparky1]

Congratulations on the new "home" glad things turned out ok.
take care stay warm.
sparky1.

 

[Patrick46]

WOW....whadda journey!!

Kudos to you for keeping your head up through all that, and for going for what you really want in life. (alotta folks could learn from your lessons.)


LOVE the new van!! That woodwork makes it nice & cozy inside!
(could we get a few more interior shots please??) THANX!

 

[rvwandering]

Wow- glad nobody was hurt! Do you know what caused the fire so that all of us can avoid having this happen to us?

 

[WheelEstate USA]

Wow, that's some story.
Glad you didn't get blown up during the propane incident.
I hope that soon you can realize your dream in full.

Take care and best of luck in the future.

 

[papas34]

I'm so impressed......not one cool van, not two cool vans.....three!!!!
Glad nobody was hurt.

 

[dg]

Thanks everyone, it would've been much worse of someone would've gotten hurt. The only casualty was singed leg hairs. Basically, the attendant opened the relief valve all the way as he was pumping propane (this is only supposed to be opened to bleed the air off and shut immediately once gaseous propane is seen). For about 15 seconds a cloud of propane was spewing from the valve, and he wasn't able to close it back up (it likely froze open). Eventually, a source of ignition was found (undetermined, the van's system was all off so it was likely static). It was quite the ordeal, the hose from the propane pump exploded into traffic shutting down a major street right in the middle of rush hour. The kicker was the gas station didn't have a proper isolation valve in place so they couldn't shut off the propane from the main supply! The fire dept. had to break into a grate and shut off a manual valve, and the attendants couldn't speak english well enough to figure out directions from their own head office. By this time, the fire had been burning for almost half an hour and all was lost.

Here's a few more pictures of Big Brown from the craigslist ad:

And here's a little reno I have in mind, adding a bed platform:

Here's to hoping third time's a charm...

 

[rvwandering]

Thanks for the detailed explanation. It sounds like everything that could go wrong did. You and the incompetent attendants were very lucky. The new van is really nice though!

 

[Unchained]

Just... wow. As others have said, so glad no one was hurt in that rather horrific accident. That said, I greatly admire you for continuing to follow your dream! Big Brown is awesome, very homey inside

 

[Patrick46]

WOW....I can't believe that you've got a full tub/shower in there!!!

On your sleeping platform design...are you going to be sleeping lengthwise (front to back) up there, and if so, are you chopping that back wall shorter? (it looks that way)
Also, will this be permanently mounted, or will it flip-up out of the way so you can still walk around in there???


VAN-envy!!

 

[jonthebru]

I like the mirror instead of the television above the drivers area, if thats what it is.
Propane stories are always scary glad you made it through the mess.

 

[dg]

On your sleeping platform design...are you going to be sleeping lengthwise (front to back) up there, and if so, are you chopping that back wall shorter? (it looks that way)
Also, will this be permanently mounted, or will it flip-up out of the way so you can still walk around in there???

I'll be cutting the existing back wall and extending the platform back into the washroom area. It'll sit on the existing closet, so I'll lose the top part of the closet but keep the clothes rack. The walls will isolate the shower stall nicely too, I'm going to put in an electric fan to control the moisture. The whole sleeping length is a few inches over 6 feet.

I'll probably do the platform in two pieces so I can expose half the dinette for more standing room during the day.

Step 1... my Hydroflame FA7912DF furnace blows cold, the burners aren't igniting (I was aware of this at purchase). It seems the common solutions are replacement "sail switches" or piezoelectric igniters. I'll be tinkering with it over the holidays.

 

[WheelEstate USA]

Those furnaces waste propane and the fan sucks power. I'd consider a catalytic heater and low amp pancake fan for circulation.

 

[dg]

True, but the whole oxygen / possible CO and condensation worries me a bit. Too bad these vented cat heaters don't seem to be made anymore... I've tried calling and emailing.

 

[WheelEstate USA]

There are several threads here about the Buddy and other cat heaters and the easy methods of venting the space. These are actually very safe, with moisture produced by them being the main vent issue.

 

[Duck]

True, but the whole oxygen / possible CO and condensation worries me a bit. Too bad these vented cat heaters don't seem to be made anymore... I've tried calling and emailing.

There are definitely other catalytic heaters available, though I'm really curious about the alcohol fireplace ones, and do prefer the vented propane ones. Often the cat and vented ones come up for sale inexpensively at marine scrap yards as they get upgraded(many are going to diesel hydronic these days).

 

[blkjak]

welcome from s.w. florida .... blkjak

 

[sassypickins]

Hi dg, I look forward to seeing photos of your sleeping platform and 'moving around' space. It is an innovative idea! Merry Christmas!

 

[Johnny Utah]

Wow, your rig looks awesome! the inside appears deceptively spacious given the size.

 

[dg]

Hey guys, much has happened, here's an update for my good pals at cheaprvlivingforums!

I decided the 10 MPG of the 351/3-speed auto was unacceptable and deviated too far from my original plan of combining off-the-grid mobile living with WVO (for the environment and the wallet). I'm swapping a 4-cylinder 4BT Cummins turbo diesel in it's place. I'll be running a two-tank waste veggie oil conversion on this engine.
 
I’ll be plumbing coolant to not only heat the veggie oil system with waste engine heat, but also a radiant floor inside the van and domestic hot water for the shower. In the coolant loop, I’ll be adding a Webasto (or similar) coolant heater to keep the cabin, engine (for quicker veggie switchovers), and domestic water hot while parked. This removes the need for a propane furnace and water heater, and the circulating pump for the hydronic system is low-current. I’ll be using a 220 amp alternator on the Cummins to charge a large battery bank while driving on veggie, and solar for trickle charging while parked. With the amount of commuting I do weekly, I shouldn't need shore power.

This project is a proof-of-concept towards sustainable and mobile off-the-grid living fuelled STRICTLY by renewable energy. All in all, I only want to have to put veggie oil in one tank, biodiesel in the other, and have a rig I can take around the continent and live in without any fossil fuel dependence.

If you’re interested in checking out my build thread for the 4BT swap (all the details along the way), you can find it here

And finally... some pics, because who doesn't love those.

Interior Renos:


Reminiscent of my first van, except retracting. When retracted you get more headroom in the dinette and a storage shelf up top.

And when pulled out you get a bed up top (two if you lower the table in the dinette).

The stand-up shower is retained, the closet gets cut in half but still functional, and there's still headroom for the toilet.

Engine Swap:

Pulling the 351 was a little scary...

And here's where I'm at now, painted the 4BT green (for obvious reasons), next step is to fab motor mounts.