Stitebunny
Adventurer
Really nice work!
I love those trim panels inside of the back doors! Looks sharp!
I love those trim panels inside of the back doors! Looks sharp!
Gnarvan AWD Express build.
- Thread starter TeleSteve
- Start date
The van has been working great and my wife and I used it a lot this last winter. I spent over 60 nights in it traveling for skiing and I have put over 15k miles traveling in it. During February and early March I lived out of it for a month, 2 weeks with my wife. This trip took us through seven states, British Columbia and Alberta. We hit twelve ski resorts, spent several days backcountry skiing, and got some heli skiing in BC. The best part was between the Powder Alliance and Mountain Collective passes I only paid for one $25 industry ticket at Whitefish.
We really had no agenda except for hitting Grand Targhee so I could compete at the Telemark Big Mountain Freeride Comp. We originally set out to hit some Northwest resorts, but by the time we got to Oregon most of them were getting rained on, so we headed inland through Idaho up to interior BC. We then went east to Lake Louise and then back down through Montana, Idaho, Wyoming, and Utah. My wife flew home from SLC and I went back up to Montana and spent a week around the Bozeman area before heading down to Grand Targhee for the comp. Then I spent a few days in Tahoe before heading back home. Pretty much we just went where the forecasts looked the best.
There was several nights below zero and I think the coldest was around -15F. The heater and insulation kept us nice and warm and I was able to keep the water system filled the entire time.
Gas prices were great compared to Calif. especially around Idaho
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We really had no agenda except for hitting Grand Targhee so I could compete at the Telemark Big Mountain Freeride Comp. We originally set out to hit some Northwest resorts, but by the time we got to Oregon most of them were getting rained on, so we headed inland through Idaho up to interior BC. We then went east to Lake Louise and then back down through Montana, Idaho, Wyoming, and Utah. My wife flew home from SLC and I went back up to Montana and spent a week around the Bozeman area before heading down to Grand Targhee for the comp. Then I spent a few days in Tahoe before heading back home. Pretty much we just went where the forecasts looked the best.
There was several nights below zero and I think the coldest was around -15F. The heater and insulation kept us nice and warm and I was able to keep the water system filled the entire time.
Gas prices were great compared to Calif. especially around Idaho
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There was a few problems along the way. I was having some issues with the webasto gasoline heater. It would work for a while but it build up a bunch of carbon and eventually fail to ignite. I have made the altitude adjustments, but it still seems to plug up after about 4 weeks use. I first had issues with it in Tahoe in December so I cleaned it out and leaned it some more for higher altitudes. This lasted until early March towards the end of my long trip, fortunately it was warm enough to get by with out it until I got home. I cleaned it out again and leaned it out some more and it seems to be working since then. I think it tends to plug up when I set the thermostat to really low temps while I am away from the van. At these low temps it runs for such short intervals that it never really gets hot enough to run clean. If I only set it at higher temps it runs for longer periods of time and stays clean
Here is what the inside looks like before cleaning it out.
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Here is what the inside looks like before cleaning it out.
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The other issue I had and I still can't explain. A few times through the winter the van would flash a service engine light and go into reduced power mode. It would list 20 different codes that really had no correlation. I have the Bullydog tuner so I could read the codes and clear them and it would work fine again. This happened maybe 3-4 times over a month. Then while heading south to Jackson Hole it started happening more and more frequently. I went over every thing and couldn't find anything that would cause it. With the tuner I could clear it pretty quickly and keep moving so we setup an appointment at the Chevy dealer in JH but couldn't get in until the next day. They were nice enough to let us camp in there parking lot for the night. The next day we left it with them and took the shuttle to ski at JH. When we got back they couldn't get it to do it again and it hasn't happened again over several thousand miles and 5 months.
My best guess is it had a bad ground or connection somewhere, maybe some water where it shouldn't be, but nothing I could find. I even removed the tuner and restored the factory tune with no change. Maybe the dealer did something to fix it and didn't tell me, they didn't charge me anything.
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My best guess is it had a bad ground or connection somewhere, maybe some water where it shouldn't be, but nothing I could find. I even removed the tuner and restored the factory tune with no change. Maybe the dealer did something to fix it and didn't tell me, they didn't charge me anything.
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I am looking forward to another great winter traveling in the van and have several additions I hope to get done this fall. I plan to build a full roof rack and install the 200 watt solar system I picked up. I have an exterior ladder to put on and I would like to finish the sink cabinet and the last trim panel inside. I purchased a Hellwig rear sway bar that needs to go in and I would like to add a transmission cooler.
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Slapmackie
Observer
DUDE!!!! I'm totally gonna geek out on this thread for a while...I just bought an AWD 07 with 39k miles on it, I'm ready to dive in and get this pro-ject going! Thanks for the inspiration, hope to catch you around the way some day...Cheers
When the switch is toggled between the positions, doesn't the memory (clock, settings, etc.) reset? I assume the memory is tied to the constant power. I'd like to do the same, but don't want the stereo to reset it's memory every time I switch to a different source.
No the memory stays, it takes a several seconds for memory loss the very brief time it takes to flip the switch isn't an issue.
boardrider247
Weekend warrior anarchist
I got the heat exchanger all plumbed up with silicone heater hose so the hot water is working. I used an ACDelco 15-5533 Heater bypass valve tapped into the heater hoses to control the coolant flow through the heat exchanger.
This valve is controlled by a switch on the dash.
Is the bypass valve completely electric actuation? Or is it electric over vacuum?
Currently my exchanger runs wide open all of the time and I'm thinking I should add some sort of valving to close it off when not in use.
Electric over vacuum, I am using this Dorman vacuum actuator
I did find some electric bypass valves, but they were more expensive than going electric over vacuum. Plus these parts are available at most auto parts stores.
All the parts I used are listed back in post #50.
boardrider247
Weekend warrior anarchist
Oops I missed that. Thanks
Slapmackie
Observer
You mind walking me through on how you modified your swivel seat base? I just installed mine and it's pretty awkward, sits too high and I can only get the door shut with the seat more than 10 degrees past 180....
The seat base mod was pretty straight forward. I cut out a 1-5/8" strip out of the middle horizontally and then welded it back together. I used a 4-1/2" cut off wheel in a grinder to cut it. I was able to bend the frame a little bit to make the tapers match up when shortened. After welding I used a flap disc to clean up the visible welds on the outside. Then paint and install.
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I had to spend a few days over in Bishop, CA to recert my WFR (wilderness first responder). Since I had to be there in classes for three days I figured we would make a van trip out of it. My wife spent the days I was in class roaming about the area around Bishop and went up to make some turns at Mammoth. The conditions were pretty thin firm snow. We had planned to do some more skiing after my classes were done but the conditions were not inviting.
So instead we went up to the White Mountains and stayed for a couple days and checked out the ancient bristlecone pines. We enjoyed the high desert and views of the Sierra crest from the side we don't see from our home on the west side.
Since a trip was planned I was motivated to get some more projects completed on the van. Funny how that works. So I finished up the last ceiling trim panel over the counter. I made it a small shelf and installed the inverter control panel and solar charge controller display on each end. I am hoping to get the roof rack built so the panels can go on soon.
I also got most of the door galley sink cabinet done, I didn't have enough time or parts to get the door on, but the cabinet is installed and the sink is mostly plumbed. I need a P-trap and have to run the drain back through the door and under the van. To make the cabinet fit tight I ended up cutting the middle out of the factory door panel I picked up. I rebuilt the middle section out of birch plywood and covered it with grey vinyl. This allowed me to put the cabinet closer to the door and bolt directly to the sheet metal. The plastic door panel sat a few inches off the door.
The 3/8" water supply passes from the body to the door using two 1/2" wire strain reliefs and is wrapped in split loom. The water comes from the shower mixer valve so it can be mixed hot and cold. This was to minimize the number of tubes passing out to the door. The faucet is a Watts drinking water faucet used on filtered water systems. The cabinet and counters are the same Alder wood and laminate as the rest of the interior. The door, when I get to it, will match the others with Alder rails and styles wrapping black King Starboard. It will hinge down to create a outside counter for using a single burner stove. I will likely laminate the back of the door with the same laminate as the counters.
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So instead we went up to the White Mountains and stayed for a couple days and checked out the ancient bristlecone pines. We enjoyed the high desert and views of the Sierra crest from the side we don't see from our home on the west side.
Since a trip was planned I was motivated to get some more projects completed on the van. Funny how that works. So I finished up the last ceiling trim panel over the counter. I made it a small shelf and installed the inverter control panel and solar charge controller display on each end. I am hoping to get the roof rack built so the panels can go on soon.
I also got most of the door galley sink cabinet done, I didn't have enough time or parts to get the door on, but the cabinet is installed and the sink is mostly plumbed. I need a P-trap and have to run the drain back through the door and under the van. To make the cabinet fit tight I ended up cutting the middle out of the factory door panel I picked up. I rebuilt the middle section out of birch plywood and covered it with grey vinyl. This allowed me to put the cabinet closer to the door and bolt directly to the sheet metal. The plastic door panel sat a few inches off the door.
The 3/8" water supply passes from the body to the door using two 1/2" wire strain reliefs and is wrapped in split loom. The water comes from the shower mixer valve so it can be mixed hot and cold. This was to minimize the number of tubes passing out to the door. The faucet is a Watts drinking water faucet used on filtered water systems. The cabinet and counters are the same Alder wood and laminate as the rest of the interior. The door, when I get to it, will match the others with Alder rails and styles wrapping black King Starboard. It will hinge down to create a outside counter for using a single burner stove. I will likely laminate the back of the door with the same laminate as the counters.
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