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Originally the plan was to spend the best part of this year travelling Europe full time. Unfortunately covid became a problem round about the time I quit my job and bought the van. With brexit also happening at the end of this year (and no idea what travel restrictions that may lead to, the UK is a dumb loving country jfc) it's not clear when we'll be making that trip. Maybe 2021, maybe 2022, maybe never. e; to expand on this slightly: it's been a fairly big mental struggle at times to give a poo poo about the build because I know that it won't be used for it's intended purpose for some time. I've been wanting to do some proper travelling for a while and really don't mesh well with 9-5 office life (actually I loving hate it) and this was The Opportunity. Now it's kind of all in the shitter, same as everyone else's plans, and I'm back doing software engineering full time but now contracting so I don't even get any annual leave. Honestly, I just try not to think about it too much and hope that maybe next year a big trip will be viable again. Blacknose fucked around with this message at 18:32 on Sep 21, 2020 |
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Sep 21, 2020 17:38
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Blacknose posted:Originally the plan was to spend the best part of this year travelling Europe full time. Unfortunately covid became a problem round about the time I quit my job and bought the van. With brexit also happening at the end of this year (and no idea what travel restrictions that may lead to, the UK is a dumb loving country jfc) it's not clear when we'll be making that trip. Maybe 2021, maybe 2022, maybe never. That's a dilemma all too understandable. Don't get too discouraged over something outside of your power, at the end of the day you still have a kickass van. Right now is a great time to keep doing trials to get it all the wrinkles ironed out for the future Europe trip. Is it possible for you to remotely perform contracting work?
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Sep 21, 2020 18:09
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Yeah I'm in a fully WFH contract at the moment, and would pretty much only look for those in the future if possible. I also am only taking relatively short (~6 month) contracts and have a bunch of savings, so when the time comes it's going to be super easy to drop everything.
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Sep 21, 2020 18:49
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Blacknose posted:Yeah I'm in a fully WFH contract at the moment, and would pretty much only look for those in the future if possible. I also am only taking relatively short (~6 month) contracts and have a bunch of savings, so when the time comes it's going to be super easy to drop everything. Oooooooor you could get some kind of decent* internet in the van and gently caress off now and WFV (work from van) contracting and building your nest egg ever higher because you're not paying rent/utilities. 
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Sep 21, 2020 19:30
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an old coworker or mine did exactly that, now he tours the PNW doing software testing from his van. Seems pretty sweet to be honest, at least a great way to spend a summer.
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Sep 21, 2020 19:45
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beep-beep car is go posted:Oooooooor you could get some kind of decent* internet in the van and gently caress off now and WFV (work from van) contracting and building your nest egg ever higher because you're not paying rent/utilities. Covid lockdowns across Europe make this basically impossible sadly. On the plus side I have a mortgage not rent so hopefully that money isn't lost forever. I'd actually prefer to save travelling for when I can do it without a job because I really cannot stress how much I dislike working. Maybe that makes me lazy or a layabout or something, but I'm completely at peace with it. Blacknose fucked around with this message at 19:57 on Sep 21, 2020 |
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Sep 21, 2020 19:53
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Blacknose posted:Covid lockdowns across Europe make this basically impossible sadly. On the plus side I have a mortgage not rent so hopefully that money isn't lost forever. Nah I get you. I hate working too. I went with a job in an industry that basically met my requirements: "I want to make as much money as I can doing as least amount of work as I can"
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Sep 21, 2020 20:21
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Yeah I mean that's basically why I went into software engineering, it's easy money by any relative standards. It just turns out that desk jobs suit me pretty badly. First World problems at their finest.
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Sep 21, 2020 20:28
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Blacknose posted:Covid lockdowns across Europe make this basically impossible sadly. On the plus side I have a mortgage not rent so hopefully that money isn't lost forever. Yeah so lazy that you built out an entire van, pretty quickly too. You should be at peace with it. The truly lazy are sitting back watching TV all day.
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Sep 21, 2020 20:36
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Yeah, I'm lazy in the sense of disliking 'work', but have done work I'm very proud of in my spare time for free - coordinator/mechanic at a bike co-op, ran a community space used by loads of left/arts groups, animal rights stuff, trained at a left wing boxing club and helped with workshops, Cool stuff I'm not gonna discuss. Shame I've never made a penny off any of it and never will. I unironically blame capitalism. We aren't wired up to enjoy wage slavery. And that's why I want to spend a few months/years bumming around in a van in Europe, possibly again in NZ and seeing more of the US (if y'all can stop with the fascism) and Canada. But covid can't last forever, and the world is likely to still be there afterwards.
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Sep 21, 2020 20:43
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Blacknose posted:Yeah, I'm lazy in the sense of disliking 'work', but have done work I'm very proud of in my spare time for free - coordinator/mechanic at a bike co-op, ran a community space used by loads of left/arts groups, animal rights stuff, trained at a left wing boxing club and helped with workshops, Cool stuff I'm not gonna discuss. Shame I've never made a penny off any of it and never will. We would get along.
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Sep 21, 2020 21:08
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StormDrain posted:We would get along.  
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Sep 21, 2020 22:51
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Blacknose posted:Yeah, I'm lazy in the sense of disliking 'work', but have done work I'm very proud of in my spare time for free - coordinator/mechanic at a bike co-op, ran a community space used by loads of left/arts groups, animal rights stuff, trained at a left wing boxing club and helped with workshops, Cool stuff I'm not gonna discuss. Shame I've never made a penny off any of it and never will. You're cool and good. beep-beep car is go posted:Oooooooor you could get some kind of decent* internet in the van and gently caress off now and WFV (work from van) contracting and building your nest egg ever higher because you're not paying rent/utilities. I was kinda darting around this. Add in a little extra bit. Stationary for 14 days, C19 test, then find a new place to drop anchor. If the van can boondock for 14 days solid, you'll be alright in this hellscape. Blacknose posted:Yeah I mean that's basically why I went into software engineering, it's easy money by any relative standards. It just turns out that desk jobs suit me pretty badly. First World problems at their finest. Deskjobs haven't been kind to my physical body, I kind of long for the days of crawling around diesel engines 10 times my weight. However it translates to this kind of lifestyle oh-so-good.
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Sep 22, 2020 01:17
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Blacknose posted:and seeing more of the US (if y'all can stop with the fascism)
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Sep 22, 2020 02:04
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cursedshitbox posted:I was kinda darting around this. Add in a little extra bit. Stationary for 14 days, C19 test, then find a new place to drop anchor. If the van can boondock for 14 days solid, you'll be alright in this hellscape. Not quite sadly. With two of us it'd be a push to get past a week due to water and poop storage + fridge size. There's also the issue of my partner, who is a workaholic accountant, needing to take a career break sabbatical for us to travel and obviously her not wanting to do that currently. Longer term? Yeah it may be an option to take the odd contract on the road to keep money rolling in, but that's a question for future me. Slugworth posted:Narrator: They couldn't Yeah init. My dad has lived in the bay area for 20 years and is currently in the process of bailing back to France. It was always the long term plan but they've really rushed to bring it forwards given the current climate. It's a shame for me because it means no more base in the US plus no more cool backcountry 4x4 trips in his land cruiser, but it does mean I'll have friendly faces on the Mediterranean so not a bad trade. I really hope the US settles over the next few years because there's so much rough backcountry stuff there I want to do, plus I find the traveller anarchist scene there interesting and would like to meet some of those guys irl some day *cough* and ride a freight train *cough*, but it isn't worth risking my safety for.
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Sep 22, 2020 14:32
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Blacknose posted:Yeah, I'm lazy in the sense of disliking 'work', but have done work I'm very proud of in my spare time for free - coordinator/mechanic at a bike co-op, ran a community space used by loads of left/arts groups, animal rights stuff, trained at a left wing boxing club and helped with workshops, Cool stuff I'm not gonna discuss. Shame I've never made a penny off any of it and never will. Seconding the 'cool dude' thing. Hopefully you get a chance to gently caress off somewhere and use the van for its intended purpose, sooner rather than later. I know that doesn't exactly seem likely when you look at the fuckery of the government here...
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Sep 22, 2020 15:15
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It's nice of you all to say kind things. I'm sure we'll be back to business as usual within a year or two and it'll be fine to travel freely again. Until then I'll keep putting money in the bank. Speaking of money in the bank, I was checking the van over after last weekends trip and found that at least 2 of the vans tyres have failing sidewalls. They're a complete mishmash of different no brand hedgefinder winter tyres anyway so time to replace them. I did some research and figured there were two options. Get some mid range AS or winter tyres for 100 notes a corner. I want AS or winters for the chunkier tread when on dirt or grass (campsites etc) and because the van will definitely be seeing mountains eventually, but it seems like most have a big compromise on wet grip or longevity. The other option was to get the new Michelin Agilis Crossclimates, which seem like a great compromise for all weathers and supposedly work great on grass or unpaved roads. But they cost 150 a corner.  I did not spend hundreds of hours on this van to stuff it into a ditch because I wanted to save £150 on tyres, so I went for the gold standard. Some people seem to run BFG a/ts on their vans but c'mon, fwd, weight in the back, no lsd, poo poo ground clearance? Don't kid yourself that it makes sense to buy those. Any situation where you need that traction is a situation no lwb 2wd van should be in. e; what happened to the AI slack? Blacknose fucked around with this message at 18:52 on Sep 22, 2020 |
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Sep 22, 2020 16:21
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Tires look great! Good choice
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Sep 22, 2020 19:25
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I've done gently caress all this week but I did get a delivery of safety stuff. Nothing very exciting, just alarms and extinguishers for each compartment, chocks and window blinds. Oh, also a long lighter cos I burned my hand lighting the grill.
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Sep 25, 2020 18:22
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You’d be surprised where a Master on OEM tyres will get you, better than most FWDs cars and vans somehow. Of course it’s heavy at so it’ll dig in and sink on anything soft, but it’s great on loose hard stuff. My wife’s Pug has the car versions of those tyres and they are very good, I’m tempted to put them on my Freelander if I don’t fit ATs.
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Sep 27, 2020 17:37
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stump posted:You’d be surprised where a Master on OEM tyres will get you, better than most FWDs cars and vans somehow. Of course it’s heavy at so it’ll dig in and sink on anything soft, but it’s great on loose hard stuff. Yeah I'd gladly take it down a dryish unpaved road or whatever, but I wouldn't take it anywhere that all terrains became necessary. Not least because if it does get stuck that's a pretty bad situation.
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Sep 28, 2020 17:56
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Hi. I've only done really small jobs lately. Putting a strip light in the garage space, finally wiring in the reverse camera, installing the water tank filler, putting some storage crates in the back. Managed to get out for another night though, with some friends in their converted Master (that I don't have any photos of).  I also made one of the most important improvements of the build. Pure class. 
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Nov 2, 2020 22:57
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Finally fitted the 3D printed bike fork mount a mate and fellow goon made for me in the back. 
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Nov 15, 2020 15:17
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Hey that's neat
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Nov 15, 2020 16:26
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Probably a whole load cheaper than the £40+ those are selling for elsewhere too. Bolt through forks are such a great invention, especially when you can use them to secure them places.
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Nov 16, 2020 14:59
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Olympic Mathlete posted:Probably a whole load cheaper than the £40+ those are selling for elsewhere too. Bolt through forks are such a great invention, especially when you can use them to secure them places. Too say nothing of the torsional rigidity. I miss my old Marzocchi Bomber DJ1 QR20... The old days of 20kg downhill/freeride bikes.
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Nov 16, 2020 15:08
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I remember when Maverick release those SC32 single crown upside downies and they were saying the amount of flex in them actually helped and the bike mags jizzed their collective pants over them. They were worse than Rock Shox Sids from the late 90s, full on noodle tech despite the through axle. And yeah I definitely don't miss my playbike (much). That was about 22KG in full DH attire and a complete nightmare to pedal anywhere.
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Nov 16, 2020 15:34
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Olympic Mathlete posted:Probably a whole load cheaper than the £40+ those are selling for elsewhere too. Bolt through forks are such a great invention, especially when you can use them to secure them places. I think it cost about 2 quid in plastic and power.
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Nov 16, 2020 15:52
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Olympic Mathlete posted:That was about 22KG in full DH attire and a complete nightmare to pedal anywhere. Except downhill, at speed!
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Nov 16, 2020 21:00
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I'm seriously considering roller painting this heap with either military paint or rustoleum come spring. Anyone want to talk me in/out of it?
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Jan 12, 2021 19:10
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Well, I'd say that it's worth it to try spraying, but I have the luxury of having an air compressor that can handle spray guns. Spraying is actually easier and yields a better finish, at the expense of being potentially messier, and of course more costly. Maybe one of the electric sprayers? The technique for making a roller job look good is pretty finicky. Or involves a lot of sanding afterward. Less so with a low-gloss paint, though.
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Jan 12, 2021 19:23
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by a $20 electric paint sprayer on aliexpress. it's only got to work a few times and will still look better than a roller
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Jan 12, 2021 19:44
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Blacknose posted:I'm seriously considering roller painting this heap with either military paint or rustoleum come spring. Anyone want to talk me in/out of it? Do it! My truck is holding up well and still looks good 7 months later!. I found roller & brush painting to be really enjoyable compared to the stress and hard work of spraying! I'm probably going to roller an old car at some point. you can get a great finish - especially on flat panels like your van or a landrover. I used Satin nato green from here https://marcusglenn.com/military-vehicle-paint/5-x-litres-nato-green-satin This places does the synthetic coach enamel in a load of different colours - https://paintman.co.uk/product-category/coach-enamel-paint/ and have a good reputation for landrover paint. If you go matt finish bear in mind that it will apparently fade pretty quick. My mates nato matt green landrover definitely did fade after just a couple of years. hoping my satin finish lasts for longer. Darchangel posted:Spraying is actually easier and yields a better finish, at the expense of being potentially messier, and of course more costly. PokeJoe posted:by a $20 electric paint sprayer on aliexpress. it's only got to work a few times and will still look better than a roller Anybody not sure about the finish you can get from roller painting, check my thread - https://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3913452&userid=0&perpage=40&pagenumber=3#post505530141 Rollering is easier than spraying, needs less surface prep and doesnt need any sanding afterwards (with Satin paint anyway!) Also - no $20 aliexpress poo poo for us in the UK now as we now have customs charges, import tax and customs payment fees 
Tomarse fucked around with this message at 19:58 on Jan 12, 2021 |
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Jan 12, 2021 19:52
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that does look pretty good for a roller, i'd be happy with that finish for a home built camper. did you clear coat it? a coat of UV resistant clear would probably keep it from fading so much. i personally find roller painting to be kind of annoying and spraying to be satisfying but if you can't get a cheapo sprayer it's probably not worth it to buy one to use once. do you guys have tool libraries over there that will let you check one out?
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Jan 12, 2021 20:07
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I was leaning away from spraying because I've no indoor space to work in, plus the masking etc seems much easier for rolling. The current trend in the VW world is getting graffiti cans made up with rustoleum and spraying with that which apparently works very well but same problem as using a spray gun. I'm not totally closed to the idea of spraying but it definitely seems less friendly to the novice. From looking on the various fb groups and forums people are getting incredible gloss finishes with rollers if they do the prep right, but I'm just interested in a satin finish without too much orange peel or runs. Thinking of a shade/finish this like:  And a similar shade on the shorter wheelbase version of the same van:  e; tomarse yeah your wagon was one of the examples that made me think its something I can accomplish.
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Jan 12, 2021 20:54
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Yeah, masking for a roller isn't as critical as for spraying. You are mainly doing it to stop drips/splashes on stuff rather than because every tiny uncovered bit means overspray. Kinda like painting in the house! I found it was easier to paint round edges carefully with the small brush than it was to mask it carefully and paint up to the masking. i just masked roughly. Spraying proper paint with a compressor takes a lot of practise to get good at it and you need to spend proper money on the gear (and get PPE). Doing a large panel van outside is not the best thing to start on imo. I've done 2 entire cars and odd repairs and am still not great at it. If you are costing it, I used: a small amount of body filler to remove some of the dents and rivet holes i didn't like a bit of sandpaper. You will need more to key your old paint - get 10 packs of wet and dry from screwfix and order some coarse scotch-brite (green washing up scouring pad -like stuff) off ebay. a couple of rolls of masking tape and some paper for covering the windows 9-10 aerosol cans of etch primer (I was going over bare metal and this was the cheapest/easiest way to do it). You probably want normal primer instead and could roller that too. 5L top coat (I had about 0.25L left over at the end and did 2 coats) 1 small tin of the correct thinners (buy with the paint) 25 foam rollers and 3 or 4 handles (the glue dissolves so you only get 25 mins out of each one - you can buy them in 5 packs) 4 x fine tip 1/4" hand brushes for the edges (decent ones with synthetic bristles not lovely ones) You don't need any PPE other than gloves for synthetic paint The paint i used was best applied around 10-12C and out of direct sunlight. when it got up to 15C or i did panels that had warmed in the sun it dried to quick and the finish was not as good. Insects don't seem to be attracted as much to synthetic paint as to spray paint that has more thinners in. My biggest issue was tree blossom blowing into it! runs are easy to avoid. I only got them around my guttering and fiddly bits like protruding brackets and the fuel filler. The way you roller the paint is that you put it on, then roll over it again multiple times to gradually remove any bubbles (I think this is called "laying off" but by roller rather than brush). This deals with most possible runs too. I think I only spent around £150 all in to do mine and the etch primer was a big part of this. 5l Top coat and some thinners was £80
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Jan 12, 2021 21:51
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That lines up pretty much with what I was expecting. I'm hoping to get away with just flatting back the current paint and going straight onto that with top coat, rather than priming. Red is poo poo to cover so it might mean an extra coat but it saves a step. Either way if I go ahead I'll be scrounging up a practice panel, ideally in a similar colour, so I can see what works.
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Jan 12, 2021 22:13
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I think rolling on a bed liner or similar rubber coating might look decent, if your going for an off-road kind of look. If cars work anything like goofballs, the dimples might even improve the speed, range and/or flight path. 
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Jan 12, 2021 22:22
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Blacknose posted:That lines up pretty much with what I was expecting. I'm hoping to get away with just flatting back the current paint and going straight onto that with top coat, rather than priming. Red is poo poo to cover so it might mean an extra coat but it saves a step. you will need 2 top coats but the second one is much easier. you could use cheap aerosol primers over your old paint. buying in bulk off ebay can make it cheaper. Check how well it covers without if you are testing  .I found that the paint goes off in the tin really quick once opened - so either buy a small tin for your test or if you buy a big tin, don't keep it open for long and use a cup or something to decant it rather than pouring it so you don't get paint all over the rim and end up losing the ability to close the lid tight so it seals properly. store it somewhere sensible and cool. I have a load of really cheap plastic beakers (they were 4 for £1 from ikea or something similar) which are great for decanting paint without pouring it.
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Jan 12, 2021 22:24
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This was an outdoor spray job using a low voc paint and a turbine sprayer. Most of the paint went on the truck and I don't have little orange flecks all over the driveway and house, the overspray really is less on turbines. https://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3864300&pagenumber=8&perpage=40&userid=0#post510307462 And I definitely don't hate it. If I was just respraying I bet I could have knocked it out in a couple weekends. I could bring it down to one long weekend with single stage paint if you can get it. The clear really did add a lot of sanding and polishing plus the clean and spray time. Of course a van is a lot more square footage, so each step is going to take time. The actual spraying time is probably very close to the rolling time. Just like inside the house, all the time is in prep.
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Jan 13, 2021 00:06
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