Recent content by Imnosaint

4dr Station Wagon 4x4 8-cyl. 360cid/175hp 2bbl VIN: J9A15NN103657 85,207 Miles $19,000 OBO (Offers pending) This second-owner original Wagoneer was the star of the Utah Office of Tourism’s 2010 Life Elevated marketing campaign. The only modification made to the vehicle was its red paint and...

Interior Tech Three electronic items have been added to the Vanadium’s interior to give me more data, make navigation and entertainment easier to see and access and to provide a bit of a safety net with an inclinometer, an upgraded head unit, and a satellite messenger. The first is a multi...

Spare Tire Swing Arm: A Cautionary Tale (Tail?) This is more a cautionary tale than a DIY how-to since there were a number of issues to solve in this modification, this being the second swing arm I’ve used in an overland build. Driving this was one the need to find a new home for the spare...

The rack mod was one of the first mods done, so I had no baseline to compare to, nor do I really care. After all my previous overland builds, the fact that this one started with an EPA rating of 22mpg was enough for me. : )

Thank you. And thanks for wondering. Life is good.

Six thousand miles on the build and some images from the journey.

Some images from the Vanadium's adventures: from Bryce Canyon, to Mt. Rainer, to Ocean Shores.

Thank you. It's been an adjustment, but a good one, like being able to park in small spaces. I did a flush, refresh and check on all its systems and with a few thousand miles under its beltline, it's been running very well, and living very comfortably. Kona is beautiful. Non-dog folks don't...

The Platform Insert This has been the biggest challenge on this build, given the length of the rear cargo space comes up short to stretch out my 5′ 11″ frame, so objective number one was to buy some more length which was accomplished with the Eletent 5D from Rain Dean (even signed by him) at...

OVS Nomadic 180 Degree Awning One of many takeaways in home ownership is appreciating how much a deck or gazebo can add to the space of living and given the Vanadium’s limited square footage, creating some usable space outside the vehicle has expanded its livability. Overland Vehicle Systems...

The Eletent A couple of priorities are driving this build, one of which is I don’t want to do a lot of shuffling, lifting and arranging of stuff and boards to settle in. I want to park and crash. Looking at a number of aftermarket camping inserts I concluded that to reach this end I’d have to...

Hiro's Swivel Seat Twenty five square feet of living space requires some innovation, especially when dialing in a bit of feng shui, or in this case, just some basic practicality. Since the Vanadium already has two comfortable seats, why not use one for a spot to relax and write and edit...

The Aerogenics Element Full Length Roof Rack Making the most of the limited space inside the Vanadium means creating some storage outside, in this case a roof rack from Aerogenics, their full size rack made exclusively for the Honda Element. It ships bare aluminum, unassembled and goes together...

The first mod is a greenhouse blackout. I never cared for the paint scheme of carrying the body colour to the full frame of the doors, so while waiting for parts to show, I did a little rattle-canning. I think I'll blackout the hood as well.