Jb1rd
Explorer
So I drove what was supposed to be 16 hours from Central Florida to NJ 18 miles directly west of NYC, well thanks to the worst roads I have been on in our nations capitol the trip was more than 20 hours. The Mini Cooper drove/rode surprisingly well, well except for that Washington DC part, total bone shaker. After arriving late the owners and I got along great from the start, whew, you just never know, so they watched in amazement as I unloaded the Mini stuffed like a clown car, I am truly impressed with my packing skills:sombrero: After checking things out, we went and had dinner and I spent my first night in the van, it was on a pretty steep slope but I was so tired it didn't matter, sleep like a rock. Lucky for me the DMV is open on Saturdays and per usual it was nearly 3 hours trying to get a temporary tag so I could get on the road. If you ever find yourself in the same situation save yourself the headache and just ask for a supervisor right from the start. Got back to the house said our goodbyes and of I went. NOTE TO SELF, check the tire pressure before leaving, they looked full:Wow1: These things are squirrelly anyway and with only 35-40 pounds of the 80 even more so!!! The first 2 hours were nerve racking, every sound was potential disaster and the wobbling was insane. I noticed that the van had a weird "hiccup" at cruising speed, nothing sever just a slight surge type of feeling, after a call to my brother he suggested that I put ISO HEET in the tank that maybe it had condensation from sitting for 8 months, didn't work 
so on we went for 1075ish miles like that, and this is where we got Henrys name, Henry the Hiccuping Hippo, or Triple H for short or just Henry At mile 1075ish my buddy suggests that I dump SeaFoam in the tank, 5 minutes later, the hiccup is gone *slaps palm to forehead and says DOH!! I have to say after getting the right air pressure in 500 miles later, repeat palm to forehead, he drove like a champ. I averaged 12.5 MPG when driving 60-65 and between 10 and 11 when going over 70, not to bad for such a wind catcher. The first victory happened when I got home and the second one when the wife gave it not only the thumbs up but 2!!!! Talking with the wifey we came up a priority list for the camper itself, the mechanical stuff is all for me to figure out We decided that the "shower/tub" was useless and the toilet is in the way, so out they came, I am trying to figure out if I can reuse the existing black water tank and put the toilet where the tub was or if we are just going to get a Theford Compact like the on Mike put in the Sprinter????? The shower is getting reborn as an outside "shower box" and moved to the closet space in the rear passenger cabinet, facing the rear doors, I need to figure out a shower curtain and will build a teak platform to stand on. I need to figure our what to do with the shore power, it is currently just a cord hard wired into a junction box with the cord sticking out of the van and then you pull out however much cord you need, I think I would rather have an outlet wired to the outside then plug the cord in and leave the excess coiled up, any thoughts on this would be appreciated. The front carpet is getting yanked and new Ford replacement is coming, need to get the front seats and the couch reupholstered and the windows in the fiberglass top need to be addressed, the PO had them "professionally sealed" before his 2 years ago but apparently professional does not mean much in Jersey Contemplating whether or not I should pull the entire headliner out, someone put up office type carpet in place of the original white vinyl, which makes me wonder why? Going to sit on that one for awhile, it will turn into a major project of that I am certain!!! Sorry for the pictures, not sure why some are sideways, they were straight when i uploaded them and I will try to get some better quality but I only have my iPad or iPhone to take pictures with.
so on we went for 1075ish miles like that, and this is where we got Henrys name, Henry the Hiccuping Hippo, or Triple H for short or just Henry At mile 1075ish my buddy suggests that I dump SeaFoam in the tank, 5 minutes later, the hiccup is gone *slaps palm to forehead and says DOH!! I have to say after getting the right air pressure in 500 miles later, repeat palm to forehead, he drove like a champ. I averaged 12.5 MPG when driving 60-65 and between 10 and 11 when going over 70, not to bad for such a wind catcher. The first victory happened when I got home and the second one when the wife gave it not only the thumbs up but 2!!!! Talking with the wifey we came up a priority list for the camper itself, the mechanical stuff is all for me to figure out We decided that the "shower/tub" was useless and the toilet is in the way, so out they came, I am trying to figure out if I can reuse the existing black water tank and put the toilet where the tub was or if we are just going to get a Theford Compact like the on Mike put in the Sprinter????? The shower is getting reborn as an outside "shower box" and moved to the closet space in the rear passenger cabinet, facing the rear doors, I need to figure out a shower curtain and will build a teak platform to stand on. I need to figure our what to do with the shore power, it is currently just a cord hard wired into a junction box with the cord sticking out of the van and then you pull out however much cord you need, I think I would rather have an outlet wired to the outside then plug the cord in and leave the excess coiled up, any thoughts on this would be appreciated. The front carpet is getting yanked and new Ford replacement is coming, need to get the front seats and the couch reupholstered and the windows in the fiberglass top need to be addressed, the PO had them "professionally sealed" before his 2 years ago but apparently professional does not mean much in Jersey Contemplating whether or not I should pull the entire headliner out, someone put up office type carpet in place of the original white vinyl, which makes me wonder why? Going to sit on that one for awhile, it will turn into a major project of that I am certain!!! Sorry for the pictures, not sure why some are sideways, they were straight when i uploaded them and I will try to get some better quality but I only have my iPad or iPhone to take pictures with.
