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How to Install Dometic SmartStart for Your AC
We are in the middle of a van conversion with LOKI our Ford E250 Econoline extended van. Most van conversions I see on the internet don’t include air conditioners on the roof, but where we live, you either install one, or you just don’t use the van—there’s really no other option. This actually wasn’t our…
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Any View is Good From the Van
We try to take short trips in LOKI, our 2000 Ford E250 XL van conversion in progress, just as we would long journeys. Although we’re still halfway to being ready for overnight trips in Loki, we’ve made good use of him for grocery runs and date nights. Groceries Loki is an extended van, which means…
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Finishing Wave Decals on the Van
One of the things we needed to change about Loki was its exterior appearance. The van was purchased locally, and every so often, someone would mistake it for being driven by its previous owner—a homeschooling mother of twelve. To truly make Loki ours, we had to alter its look and feel both inside and out.…
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Adding More Wave Decals to the Van
To give the van a new look without spending a lot of money on a new paint job or vinyl wrap, we decided to apply vinyl decals to the blue stripe that runs almost entirely around the van. You can also see the first post Adding Waves to the Side of the Van which is…
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Building a Bed Frame in the Van
The walls were covered and installed, and now it was time to build the bed frame. The hardest part of installing the bed was deciding on the orientation of the mattress. We had an extra queen-sized memory foam mattress from our glass sunroom patio that we designated for use in the van. The Mattress If…
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Adding Waves to the Side of the Van
Every van or boat owner likes to add something to their vehicle to make it feel unique and different from all the others. This can be done with a new paint job, a vinyl wrap, or, in our case, vinyl decals that we made ourselves. Background We purchased Loki from Scott’s sister when her growing…
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Recovering Front Door Panels on the Van
The last panels to be taken off and completely remade were the front driver and passenger doors. These were probably the most difficult of the doors because of the pockets and different materials used to combine into the door panel itself. We began by removing the panels from the doors. As always, YouTube was a…
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Van Trip to Downtown Opelika
We recently took a quick dinner trip down to Opelika to take some photos and have dinner. I have a companion post to these images on my website, but this is focused on the van.
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Trip to Dallas in the Van
Sometimes you have to take non-fun trips and it’s great to have a van. It was a super super early morning so I was able to get some really cool reflections shots through a window of Deborah and the van leaving for Dallas.
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Adding Driver Side Panel to the Van
It probably took a year to build this panel for the van. It had to be completely rebuilt from scratch using the old one as a template.
Shanty Travelers
Road Trips and Beach Adventures
