Orca Flotta

Oubaas @ the Skindoctor, Pt. III

Progress has been made …

Portholes welded close, barn doors partly primered
Obviously priming the whole body isn’t in fashion anymore, but Oubaas will still get a snow white base paint layer
They’ve ripped out the whole inside of the roof. Which was just some cheapo carpet anyway
One of the countless holes around the door cut out and welded shut. Now it’s waiting for the grinder and sander

I have a very good feeling now. All they showed me looks well-made and planned with some brain and executed with love and care. And that, believe you me, is a rarity in this town.

19 comments

    • Good idea. Same size, much more horsepower. Only one problem: I hate diesels. And Merc diesels are the wurst. Expensive to buy, overly complicated and impossible to repair. The old Ford Essex 3l V6 is simple and indestructible. And every bush mechanic can repair that thing with a teaspoon in a roadside trench.
      Perfection.

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      • My old 240D lasted for well over 720,000kms , all of which were trouble free. Ditto the 2 300Ds. I have seen Essex V6s with pistons hanging outside of engine blocks. Crazy thing when gudgeon pins break.

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        • Ok. You think I can get such a wonderdiesel squeezed into the engine bay? I have now already a huge doghouse in the driver’s cabin, that was never supposed to be there in the first place.

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              • And it is rated as the world’s very best engine with several endurance records behind its name. And it breathes water and harmless gases. No monoxides and dioxides. Water and harmless nitrogen.

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                    • Intelligent, freedom-loving, anti-corporation IT people don’t ever release the Google kraken. Instead we use Startpage, Duck Duck Go, or Yandex. And I know what a diesel engine is without searching for it. The way you describe it sounds more like friendly hydrogen … and I very much doubt we have the necessary fuel stations for that in SA.

                      A Ford engine makes sense in a Ford vehicle, doesn’t it? And particularly that one is very beloved by customizers from all over the Anglophile world … except America. Also it came with the van. How practical, a car with an engine in it to go vroom vroom. 🙂 Once it goes bøøm I’ll look for a new engine and all the mechas will prolly tell me to use an Essex V6 again. Or the Rover V8. But I know nobody will recommend a steenkeen dissel.

                      And anyway, how we speak here – in my fukn personal blog – is up to decide for the editrix. Oh, yes, that’s right, that would be me. 😉

                      🙂

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    • Of course 140 HP out of 3000 ccm is not much power, but I guess it has newtonmeters torque galore, which is important when I put a bed and a wall unit in. No, I just think it’s more or less just an empty tin can, not much weight by itself. I won’t put an ofen or fridge in. I’ll be just a camper, not a live-in vehicle. Anyway it’s always lots of fun spurting away from the green lights when everybody expects the acceleration of a lame-ass delivery van. 😉

      Also decided against the hi-top. Too much risque of fuking it all up. Instead I’ll try to put some transparent plastic panels in the roof. Or regular sunroofs. Will look and drive much better.

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      • Personally I avoid sun roofs as the interior gets bleached. Panel vans are far more stealthy. I have only ever read SA is unsafe, so the thought of sleeping in a van seems frightening to an outsider.

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        • The topic of safety is always discussed in van dwelling circles, and SA is still a bit terra incognita in that aspect. But I guess if you just follow your gut feeling it’ll be okay. That’s the tip most experienced women on the road give to newbies: “Doesn’t feel good? Leave!” And always have an exit strategy: Keys and weapons ready and a straight way out. If you need to maneuver a couple of times to get out of a tiny parking space, it’s no good.

          Generally I’d avoid parking close to townships, informal settlements and strip malls. Find a nice quiet residential area, just for sleeping. Find some save space, arrive late, don’t make a huge hullabaloo but go to bed immediately, In the morning do the same: Wake up, start the engine and away you go. Arrived at your day location you can start the day proper.

          That’s for urban dwelling. In the countryside it’s a bit different. If in doubt there are always established camp grounds to stay, or you ask at a backpackers hostel if they have a parking lot and if you can connect your electric shit to their office and use their wifi, shower and washing machine. Most experienced vanlifers will tell you it’s not important to sleep at a fantastic location, as long as it’s safe and you find peace and quiet.That’s why in America many vanners overnight at Walmart parking lots. Highway rest areas are always a safe tip, even if a bit noisy sometimes when a big rig parks right next to you and keeps the generator running the whole night. :/

          But again: You have 4 wheels, so if something is not cool for you … gentlemen start your engines!

          I guess I have enough experience from my youngling days when we spent whole summers on beaches and tourist resort towns (where the police often was a bit hostile). Because every vandweller is one less hotel bed booked, so we don’t create profit for the tourist industry. 😮

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        • “the interior gets bleached”

          What interior? The 2 front seats, 1 from a Ford Sierra, 1 from a VW Transporter, both super shabby. That interior?

          The seat bench in the back will be taken out now anyway and we need to start from zero again, insulation, furniture, everything. So right now there is nothing in it to bleach.

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            • Buy them. Ford Transits? Ya, I think so. It’s the best driving, sporty and luxurious of all the vans. Surely you can purchase them with sunroofs directly from Ford or any conversion shop. In an old panel van like mine, nobody even thought about using those dirty things as leisure vehicles and put sunroofs in. Well, I have 2 now and wanna put 2 more in the back. We’ll save some money now by not going hi top, so we should be able to afford 2 big sunroofs.

              It’s gonna be good!

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