Cummins Canoe (A Stepvan Story)

[PlethoraOfGuns]

I would need new engine mounts, different transmission, adapters, new driveshaft, might need to regear the axle. This is a 10k lb brick, so mpg would definitely be single digits. And this is my home. I have nowhere else to go...

 

[shortbus4x4]

I gagged a bit reading and seeing pictures of your chicken nightmare.

 

[joeblack5]

On our last winter trip out west we took out chickens along. 3 months.. even laid eggs.

 

[PlethoraOfGuns]

Yay for an update! Been settling into the new home location lately. Did some more cleaning and fully moved back into the van.


Finished cleaning and scrubbing. Opened every compartment. Placed an ozone generator pack into the living space and closed it up for 24 hours.


These things create ozone and cleanse the space. It started bubbling as soon as we mixed all the chemicals and it did work! The interior is like a morgue now, void of all life with no odors, good or bad. Need to start cooking in it and stuff to make it smell like people live here.


We wanted to relocate the van to more level place to do the engine swap. The tilted front yard was not going to work. The van "runs", but it does not have much power and is stuck in 1st gear. So we got the old work truck fired up and it pulled it off the lawn with ease.


We did start the van engine so it would have powered brakes just in case. Just needed to sit in cab with foot on the clutch in order to be pulled in reverse. The driveway is very steep down towards the garage with a retaining wall at the end with a six foot drop, so we really wanted to stay in control for this maneuver. It was indeed a three person job! But we got the rig into a permanent location and leveled it all out and stuff.

 

[llamalander]

Welcome home! Good news about the chicken death killer--I didn't imagine it was actually possible to get rid of that smell.
When will you start the LS swap?

 

[PlethoraOfGuns]

I'm super paranoid about the fridge now. Like I do not want to leave it for weeks at a time with stuff in it. But yes, very impressed that the smells are gone. I literally almost gave up and threw a molotov cocktail into the thing when I first opened up the van to the chicken fiasco. Haha, no engines until I work more and save money for a new one.

 

[ITTOG]

I forgot about the chicken death scene. Now the ozone cleaner makes more sense.

Sent from my Pixel 7 Pro using Tapatalk

 

[PlethoraOfGuns]

Living in the van while stationary is going pretty well. Been working and saving money and just trying to enjoy life while I got it.


Yes, many things are broken. But, we still maintain our priorities.


Staying in one place without driving and charging the batteries with the alternator has made it very difficult to run necessities like the fridge and the hot tub. And being the dead of winter in WV we do not get enough sun for the solar to keep up. So I opted to get a 15amp a/c to d/c charger. I wired it in before the rest of the fancy transfer switches and other dodads so this switched outlet always has power when the van is plugged into shore power. So far, it has been working great! It is just enough to stay ahead of all the hot tub stuff when it is running.

 

[PlethoraOfGuns]

Oh boy, taking this engine out this time was with record time despite the less than desirable circumstances!


It's been quite snowy up here in the WV mountains. Waited for it all to melt and let the ground dry out a bit.


Finally got a nice day to take the engine out! But we're lifting 1000 pounds on a few small steel wheels. We assumed it wouldn't work without trying. What we did try is putting down hardwood flooring under the van for the engine hoist to roll around on!


It was strange laying down on hardwood flooring while working on the drive train. But hey, it was comfortable and kept us out of the mud!


It was very strange to look down and see. Has anyone else done auto mechanics on hardwood flooring before? Are we going to start a trend? Is this how Jay Leno works on his fleet of collectibles?


Although super heavy, the wheels rolled just fine any which way we needed to go! Better than expected. Highly recommended. Labor to remove engine this time was down to about 6 hours with 3 of us. Unfortunately, getting really good at this...

 

[Bikersmurf]

I can relate… much like drywall work, some things I don’t want to get good at… even if I could get good at it.

 

[94-RUNNER]

So.
How are things goin ?

 

[94-RUNNER]

So, the summer is gone and we hope that y'all have made some progress and are looking forward to your upcoming adventures and reports..
Happy Trails ;-)

 

[94-RUNNER]

Well the New Year is here and time has passed. Hopefully there are new and good things on y'alls horizon. We hope that there's been success in all of your efforts to return to your travels. Best of all to you all. Miss ya !