2001 7.3 4" Ujoint to Overland America's Adventure Vehicle

[John and Mandi]

Been lurking here on and off while we've been feverishly building out our van. Our build is being documented on our website but we wanted to start a thread just in case anyone has questions regarding what we have done. Our van came to us as a Quigley and was converted by Chris and his crew to his Ujoint system (among many other things they did for us). The purpose of our build is for a Pan-American trip that will start no later than the beginning of this May. Our only scheduled stop is Expo West, the rest is up to weather, our whims and how far we can stretch the budget.

Where we are:

-John

 

[Skooter_Built]

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Been lurking here on and off while we've been feverishly building out our van. Our build is being documented on our website but we wanted to start a thread just in case anyone has questions regarding what we have done. Our van came to us as a Quigley and was converted by Chris and his crew to his Ujoint system (among many other things they did for us). The purpose of our build is for a Pan-American trip that will start no later than the beginning of this May. Our only scheduled stop is Expo West, the rest is up to weather, our whims and how far we can stretch the budget.

Where we are:

-John

That has to be one of the most "colorful" vehicles I've ever seen.

 

[volcomsurfer]

nice.. That's definitely yellow lol I haven't looked at your blog yet, if it doesn't go into detail of your electrical and water system, can you give an overview of that?

 

[John and Mandi]

We do like color.

We've only prewired the van to get the walls in and installed a 250 watt solar panel on the pop top. When we get to completing the electrical we will definitely write about it. Water will be simple, a Lifesaver Jerrycan with sprayer and two scepter jerry cans - one for grey and one for an additional 5 gallons of potable water.

-John

 

[ihatemybike]

Website added to my RSS feed.

 

[Jb1rd]

ABSOLUTELY love the color!!! Might as well feel like home!!

 

[John and Mandi]

Thanks guys! We know it's not for everyone. When we leave it will be all we own so we figured it'll be what we love.

-John

 

[tgreening]

I like the snot out of that. I had a '79 Ford 4x4 that was factory orange, and I painted the rockers/lower bedsides black just like your van. I wheeled that bugger from Cali to backwoods Maine before I let it go. Your van is like its long lost cousin or something, except for that acid trip interior.

 

[PoloTurbo]

I traveled to central america for more than 2 months and I would prefer a black plastidip.On the other hand looks great. Nice setup.

 

[workerdrone]

Nice first post, great van, more power to your plan - welcome

 

[John and Mandi]

Thanks again everyone.

The orange is plastidip so we'll see how well it'll hold up. We've always loved the photo of the orange SMB pulling the boat, it became our inspiration image. The interior is our own deranged interpretation of a VW camper van.

We bolted our MaxTrax to the Driver's side this past weekend among many other things:

-John

 

[volcomsurfer]

Can I ask where you sourced your side windows from? looking for the driver side one. Do you have a picture of them opened?

 

[John and Mandi]

I thought we had a good picture of one of them opened on our website, nope. I found this one on my phone:

They are the frame less crank out awning ones Sportsmobile uses by C.R. Laurence. We purchased both of them from Sportsmobile Texas and they were kind enough to also send us a template. There's a write up on our site about the install. It was the very first thing we did to the van. It came with two small windows so placement was already determined. Our suicide barn door could break the passenger side window if it is cranked all the way out and the door is swung hard. We probably would have moved it further back on the body if we got to choose its location. It is a great spot for cross ventilation though since we'll be installing a jack knife sofa under the drivers side window.

-John

 

[volcomsurfer]

Alright cool. I'll try to get in touch with SMB. I just want a window that will open. I was looking at the T section windows CRL has but the opening is so small. I'm a stickler for fresh air so the more open it can be the better. Thanks

 

[John and Mandi]

Forgot to add... these can also be opened when it's raining, a big plus for us.

-John