I was curious, so I ran the numbers:
Dec. 7th, 2005 05:45 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
garote  1997 Ford E-350 V8 swing-door cargo van with thoroughly beat-up interior and 146,000 miles on it. Fleet Force USA, Irving, TX | ||
| $4309.00 | - | (1309.00 cashiers check + 3000.00 cashiers check on arrival) |
Transmission King, Arlington, TX | ||
| $0.00 | - | Completely rebuilt transmission with torque converter and transmission cooler ($1300.00, paid for by dealer) |
Wal-Mart, Big Spring, TX | ||
| $196.84 | - | two new "Liberator" tires |
| $0.00 | - | two new "Liberator" tires (paid for by dealer) |
| $16.02 | - | oil change |
| $16.02 | - | Wal-Mart "tire protection plan" |
Jiffy Lube, Santa Cruz, CA | ||
| $30.00 | - | another oil change (just to be safe), fluid check, and cosmetic cleaning |
| $18.00 | - | new air filter |
Total so far: 4585.88 Sportsmobile, Fresno, CA | ||
| $988.00 | - | New marine-vinyl-on-wood flooring for whole van excluding cab area. |
| $742.00 | - | Grey wooden walls with trim and fiberglass insulation |
| $991.00 | - | Dinette and folding bed system |
| $58.00 | - | "Ford Grey" velour for cushions and bed |
| $548.00 | - | Door panels and cabinets for all four rear doors |
| $700.00 | - | 110V Electrical system, with exterior inlet, cable, 60 amp battery charger, GFI, and six interior outlets. |
| $560.00 | - | Two 30" x 15" sliding tinted windows with sliding screens |
| $50.00 | - | Dinette table |
| $0.00 | - | Misc interior and exterior cosmetic repair |
Total cost of conversion: 4637.00 Total cost so far: 9222.88 Sears, Santa Cruz, CA | ||
| $80.00 | - | DieHard Gold oversize battery |
Pick N Pull Auto Dismantler, Sacramento, CA | ||
| $70.00 | - | two used rims, replacing the horribly bent rear rims on the van. Vibration problem decreased by 70%. |
Lithia Ford, Roseburg, OR | ||
| $320.00 | - | Fix leaking brake seal, clean rear brake assembly, new rear brake shoes. (Front brakes still having problems, but too poor to repair right now.) |
Tire Center, Portland, OR | ||
| $40.00 | - | Used rim to replace horribly bent right front rim (finally eliminating the vibration problem) |
Service shop in the Yukon, Canada | ||
| $15.00 | - | Oil change |
Radio Shack, Valdez, Alaska | ||
| $21.99 | - | Long USB2 cable for GPS unit |
Wal-Mart, Fairbanks, Alaska | ||
| $0.00 | - | Free blowout repair under tire protection plan |
Lithia Ford, Roseburg, OR | ||
| $0.00 | - | Fix leaking brake seal again (under warranty) |
River City Transmission, Rancho Cordova, CA | ||
| $40.00 | - | Diagnose engine sluggishness/vibration problem |
| $725.00 | - | Full tune-up, new spark plugs, replace broken coil pack, fix malfunctioning door handle, patch exhaust system leaks and linkage (van runs a hell of a lot better, fuel economy increased by about 40%!!!). |
Sundance Car Audio, Rancho Cordova, CA | ||
| $250.00 | - | Four new high-quality car stereo speakers |
River City Transmission, Rancho Cordova, CA | ||
| $847.49 | - | New brake assemblies for both front wheels, new brake shoes/pads and brake assembly cleaning for all four wheels. |
Circuit City, Santa Cruz, CA | ||
| $32.99 | - | Speaker wiring diagnosis and repair |
| $257.86 | - | New mp3-playing stereo with front panel line-in jack and remote control |
Jiffy Lube, Santa Cruz, CA | ||
| $30.00 | - | oil change + fluid/tire check (yes, it's a ripoff) |
Grand total: 11,953.21
(Some numbers are approximate.)
Good grief, vans cost a lot. But I can now confidently say that this one drives, stops, and sounds great. And what with the typical lifespan of a Ford E350, I can expect another 200,000 miles out of it.
Now if only gas weren't so freakin' expensive. :)
Oh and for the record, if anyone tells you "Newly repaired brakes squeak, it's nothing to worry about," they don't know what they're saying. Newly repaired brakes only squeak if the repairman cleaning out the brake drum has done a crappy job removing all the debris before he seals up the assembly. The squeak is the sound of a tiny piece of metal or sand, or a shard of the previous brake pad, caught under the shoe and carving a furrow into the wall of your drum ... reducing its effectiveness and eventually requiring that the whole thing be milled out and/or replaced. A squeak isn't a sign of "newness", it's a sign of a sloppy brake job, and the louder the noise the greater the damage. (Sure the squeak stops eventually, when the furrow is dug deep enough, but that's not a good sign either.)
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no subject
Date: 2005-12-08 07:58 am (UTC)includes: bench seating in the back, propane fridge and stove, sink w/water pump, 6-disc CD changer, and a sweet sweet pop-up top bed.
Uh-oh, steam in the exhaust... other problems, etc
Rebuilt long-block engine, new A/C, and plently of other stuff I'm not remembering at the moment: over $8,000. OUCH. At least the van was cheap to begin with.
New starter battery: oh, maybe $60 or so.
New deep-cycle battery for cabin power: another $60-something.
GPS dongle and software for the old laptop that magically fits perfectly in the dash center console (fits much better with the metal bracket I made for free at the Cal Poly machine shop): about $80
I know there was plenty more, but that's all I'm thinking of right now.
At this point, I list in San Francisco, which means there's nowhere good to put the van. Right now it's in storage down in the valley along with the other stuff that won't fit into my smaller-than-my-last-place apartment in San Francisco. I'm already paying for one parking space up here, and the big storage unit costs less than the parking space up here, so down there the van stays... for now.
Once I have two parking spaces and can start using the damn thing again: fuel injection kit: $1400 (screw carburetors and their crappy fuel dumping ways)
By the time I have some vacation time saved up and do some more stuff to it, I'll likely have spent more than you have. Amazing how much money a $1000 van can burn up. Just shows me I might have been better off with a newer van that cost a little more. But this one had that amazingly wonderful pop-up top.
It's really love/hate with the van. I can't wait to take another trip in it, though. That's the best.
no subject
Date: 2005-12-08 09:34 am (UTC)Could it get to the end of Baja and back? ;) Dan and La and I are taking a trip part-way in to next year...
no subject
Date: 2005-12-08 06:42 pm (UTC)