THE VAN:
I got this crazy Van for FREE last year in Ohio. 98K Miles. 5 Liter v-8. It sat in a friend's parents driveway for years undriven. For the price of installing a few outlets and switches in their house, they signed over the title of the van. It was rough. I had to replace a side window, battery, and cut the AC belt off because the compressor was frozen. Some towing, an oil change, and she was running... barely. I didn't use it for much except hauling stuff around town until I started making plans to move across the country. It was gonna cost $2500 to rent a moving truck one way, so I decided to put it into the Van and see what happened. I had a mechanic friend of mine start looking into the van's innards. WE replaced the plugs, wires, distributor car, tie rod ends, shocks, pitman arm, and prolly some other stuff. Now I've got a real van! I started to like this van. It had a class 3 hitch that had prolly never been used, 7 pin RV hookup, spare tire, and everything worked. I knew I needed a better rack on the roof, so I bought and installer a roof rack off a '93 Jimmy ($45) from Ebay and some Off Road halogen driving lights ($12 Clearance) for the front bumper. It needed sound, So I had a reasonable Kenwood CD/MP3 player ($130) installed with the existing panasonic aftermarket speakers. Sounds OK. I can't stand using door keys, so we threw in remote door locks ($50). I picked up a 15,000lb ball mount ($49) and electrical adapter ($15) for a car carrier, Malone Kayak Wings from Ebay ($73), borrowed a pair of Thule Bike mounts (brother-in-law) and we were ready to go.

THE TRIP:
We were finally ready to make the trip. Roughly 2400 miles from Ohio to Seattle down RT 90 with my landcruiser on the back. (landcruiser page forthcoming) We loaded all my belongings into the van, Kayak and 2 bikes on top, landcruiser on Uhaul Auto transport (with modifications) on back. This is when we decided to name it the Safarimobile. Either that or Gypsymobile. Time to roll. We headed West at a slow grind. It felt like something was gonna give any minute. Somewhere in Montana, we ran across a truck stop with a scale and convinced them to let us weight the Safarimobile for free. Holy shit! 12,600 Lbs. 6.3 Tons. I'm VERY sure this poor van was NEVER made to carry that kind of weight, but it was hanging in there. Somewhere in South Dakota we rolled 100,000 Miles.

Spent the Night in Kadoka, SD.

Landcruiser was covered in Transmission fluid from it spraying out from under the van. In the morning, we rolled through the Badlands, Wall Drug, and Rapid City, SD.

By evening, we headed west again and ran 26 hours straight into Seattle. The Safarimobile never gave out. 7 miles per gallon for 2300 miles; not bad for over 6 tons.

THE SAFARIMOBILE:
So Now, after that amazing performance, The Safarimobile has earned a spot in my heart. We have decided it will be well taken care of and never left to rot again. Now it lives in Georgetown in Seattle. It's already gone on a Duck Hunting trip (see page 2) and will get tons more use for camping, exploring, fishing, and other semi-off road stuff.

THE FUTURE:
I realize now that adjustable air shocks would have been nice for towing. We are looking at a suspension lift and some bigger tires. Maybe a light Bar and Cargo Rack. I'd also like a brushguard front bumper, but cant seem to find one that will fit. At some point the funny feathers graphics have to go too, but I don't know what to do with it.

Anyone have info or reviews for:

Hooker Competition Header Part# 2454HKR (G20 Van)
Edelbrock #1406 600 CFM Carb

Anyone have ideas? Let me know.

Some pics of what I'm going for; Good stance for the Safarimobile...