1997 Mitsubishi Delica - Be Old Later

jschillcomps

New member
I've been browsing around for awhile now and figured I'd post what we're up to on here to finally share a bit back with the community...

My wife Candice and I, Jordan, have been slowly camperizing our 1997 Mitsubishi Delica Space Gear Chamonix for about a year now, figuring out how we'd best like to set everything up for an extended trip. Now that we've set our focus on a departure date of May to make it down to the Overland Expo in Flagstaff, we've started to kick things into high gear. The plan is to take the van down to the Expo, drive back up to the top of Alaska, then down the Pan-American Highway to the bottom of South America. We think the journey will take a year and some change, and along the way we want to (along with the normal exploration) focus our attention on highlighting National and Provincial Parks in need of funding/love, find and interview local artists and artisans in the communities we travel through and learn more about sustainable and responsible agriculture... And of course get off the beaten path in the 4x4 and climb some peaks by human power.

We chose the Delica as a platform due to the availability in B.C., the robust (enough) 4x4 capabilities, and our familiarity with a similar van -- the Nissan Largo Super Saloon we owned while we lived in New Zealand. We've wanted a Delica for years now, and followed along with builds on Expedition Portal and of course the Dino Evo. So far, the Delica -- Vincent -- has been a great weekend warrior, taking us deep into the back country and helping us explore the Pacific Northwest.

I'll add photos, build progress and general info below and you can also follow along on http://beoldlater.com where we'll eventually have a blog going for the trip along with the current sections of our past trips. So far we've done the floor and insulation, sleeping platform, 2" body lift, fan, cabinet and are digging into the electrical/solar setup now (these posts to follow). Soon to come will be the snorkel install, front and rear bumpers, water filtration, and whatever else we can cram in before we take off.

A few images from our first day with the van:
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And a few more from some of our first camping trips in the van last winter:
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And one from our wedding in Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming last summer:
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Thanks for having a look!
 

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