New stainless exhaust

My exhaust tail pipe developed holes, and finally broke just beside the rear mud flap. It must have been getting sprayed with water there as everywhere else it's solid. Just shows you how the rust can get a grip and destroy things.
After a couple of days with it held together with a tin can and two exhaust clamps I headed up to Dee's Exhausts in Newtownabbey. Dee is a Powerflow supplier, specialising in custom stainless steel exhaust systems. I've had work done there before and always been more than satisfied.
I finished my nightshift, had breakfast, and coffee in hand, called round to show him the van and arrange a date. As it turned out I was there at a good time so a price was agreed and the guys got to work right away. I stayed to watch and learn from the proceedings (I'd nowhere arranged to go during the couple of hours it would take).
Here's my old exhaust once they'd cut it off the van:




They made the cut just in front of the flexi pipe as the downpipe from the engine is rock solid and well protected. Here's the remains of the old tailpipe:




It's in two pieces due to the original break. As you can see there are lots of twists and turns in it so the operator was looking forward to the challenge of making up that section. First they got to work on the main pipe and silencers. Dee suggested two boxes to cut down on noise. After a short time this was the result:





This done the guys stopped for a cigarette and coffee, and meanwhile managed to help out an old lady with a flat tyre, and weld up a builders thrashed wheelbarrow (there was a site next door). I had a good inspection of the underside of my van for damage/rust and its looking good. I noted a couple of places that I missed with the waxoyl, so I'll get to that asap.
Next it was time to set to work on that complex tailpipe. Working mostly by eye, and with much reference to the broken pieces he skillfully handled the machine and the pipe began to take shape:




We decided to make it in two pieces and step up the diameter from 2" to 2 1/4" at the rear to improve the look of the visible tail pipe. I browsed the selection of end pieces in the storeroom but we finally decided that leaving the plain pipe and adding an angled slash cut would be most in keeping with the simplicity and Japanese origin of the vehicle.




Going out for my first drive, I was really pleased with the exhausts sound and there is definitely a noticeable improved performance under acceleration, due to the less restrictive flow of the design. When idling the engine now produces a pleasing throaty rumble which is an added bonus.
To celebrate I headed off for a bit off greenlaning further along the coast at a location I'd picked out on google maps the night before.
Link to Dee's Exhausts coming soon on the links page.

The Rain and the Sea

I woke up by the sea this morning, and the sounds outside, mingling with memories of a conversation with a friend, brought this story alive in my mind..

Two monks stood by the sea.
A light shower was falling.
One monk asked, 'When the rain falls on the sea, does it get less salty?'
His elder did not reply, but stood gazing out to sea.
The rain kept on falling on the sea..

Winterising the van ~ part deux

You've probably all seen those silver window insulators that many motorhomers have in their front windows at night? Well, with all the glass in my bus, its going to be losing a lot of heat through the windows. I recently found out about aluminium foil bubble wrap insulation that can be bought from hardware and DIY centres, and decided to do some much needed window insulation in the back of the van. It turned out that a 6 metre roll of this stuff costs less than £10 at B&Q at the minute, so I got to work yesterday evening.

I decided to do all the rear windows, except for half of the sliding door window and the rear gate window - this gives me enough light during the day, along with the skylight, and leaves me good visibility while driving. It ended up being a simple job to fit it flush within all the window frames, cutting with a craft knife, and easing it into place with a teaspoon; no glue or taping required. There was enough left on the roll to put a second layer, loose, behind the curtains on the two biggest windows.

It turns out to have 4 main advantages:

1. Helps keep the van warmer.

2. Stops condensation forming on the windows.

3. Makes the van quieter on the inside.

4. Makes things more private (people can't see the lights on from outside).

I didn't realize about 3 & 4, they were an added bonus for me - I noticed after fitting it.

I made a video showing you the windows all insulated - also look out for the damage done by some idiot with too much to drink on Christmas eve..

Winter Living in the Van

So its been getting pretty cold out recently, especially at night, so no bare feet for a while. I've actually been looking forward to it, since the whole thing is a real adventure to me, but when it gets down to below freezing every night, it does become a real matter of survival. I have a diesel heater in the van, but it has turned out to be pretty useless - it uses up the house battery far too quickly and I'm not driving far enough to charge it, nor is there enough solar power in the winter to keep it charged up. As you know - I am opting not to charge from mains electricity, nor do I often have access to it. I do have enough power for all my other needs though.

Instead I have gone for a small propane heater. I've linked it up to my cooking 6kg propane cylinder using a small 3 way valve, and a quick release coupling, with rubber tubing. The 3 way valve has a control knob, allowing me to reduce the flow of gas to the heater, and also to shut off the gas flow to that hose completely. If I pop the quick release the heater can be removed and stored away in the summer months. I have used enough rubber hose to enable me to position the heater in a few useful locations in the van. So far, one 6kg bottle of propane is lasting me 1 month in the winter weather - One bottle lasted me 5 months over the summer.

I've also now purchased a good 4 season sleeping bag. A Mountain Hardware Lamina 0, which is good down to -15 deg C (0 deg F). I found it to be very warm, roomy and comfortable, and I've been using it with a liner so it won't have to be washed so often, important with a bag that will be used every night. For extremely cold nights (below 0), or when I have a head cold I don't want to be breathing freezing air, so I do need heat to be on in the van throughout the night in order to stay healthy. I have installed a carbon monoxide detector so I can leave the heater on safely all night if needed. With good ventilation from the sky light, there is a good flow of fresh air, without the van getting cold inside. I only intend to do this when the outside temp drops below zero, in order to save fuel.

Another addition for winter is an Indoor/Outdoor temp gauge which I have fitted alongside my electrical sockets, plainly visible form my sofa/bed. I routed the outside sensor though an existing hole in the floor and attached it to the van's chassis. I can now keep an eye on the actual temp where I am parked and see the difference inside and outside. It is actually very cosy sitting in the van on a winter evening by the heater, watching TV on the laptop, reading or listening to music, and its not draughty - I've even found that some friends houses are colder!

I made this video in which I show you some of the things I've talked about here and show my heater running, enjoy, and keep warm and safe this winter:

Alone

“God has to nearly kill us sometimes, to teach us lessons.”
― John Muir

I discovered this video recently, and although its quite long (the entire season is in one video), its well worth watching start to finish if you're interested in the harsh reality of trying to survive alone in the wild. This gives one the chance to become more immersed in the adventurer's world as he struggles to survive, and find enough food, in an environment that we might expect to find  natural sustenance in abundance. Cooking my simple dinner on my propane stove that evening, just after watching this, I appreciated it more than ever, and considered the time, and hardships I may have had to endure to obtain my meal if I were in a survival situation..

More camping videos..

“The grand show is eternal. It is always sunrise somewhere; the dew is never dried all at once; a shower is forever falling; vapor is ever rising. Eternal sunrise, eternal dawn and gloaming, on sea and continents and islands, each in its turn, as the round earth rolls. ”
― John Muir

Here are a few videos from the camping trip. It was a quiet time, just sitting around the fire, watching the sun go down, and then the amazing moon and stars, the smoke drifting through the trees.. I’ll let the pictures do the talking..

A look at the camping spot 

After dark 

Tending the fire

Moonlight

…through the trees

Star gazing

This is a video of the track that we had to go up to get to the camping spot. I shot this the next day as we went back down the track in the rain, though it had been a beautiful sunny day on the way up. There were a lot of ruts and rocks in the track, and I was really quite amazed how easily the van climbed the steep sections, it was pretty much a smooth ride too. Its great to be able to get to places that are inaccessible in a car or 2wd van, more peace and quiet and its fun getting there too.