i went for it! still a bit nervous but in a good way!

[surferboy]

:D Hey everyone, i finnaly made the move and gave my deposit at VI custom car imports on a beautyfull delica exceed 1991, it even has a winch on the front push bars and a ladder in the back that will be perfect to access my surfboards!! the thing has 78,000 kms and looks mint, i decided to go for the automatic (witch i hope i won't regret..) and apparently, all modifications and certificates ar ready to go, sharon at VI told me that they can get all parts for them and that they actually carry a stock of them on premises.. they seem quite nice to deal with so far, and i can't wait to get off work so i can go try it out, to make sure its what i want. I'm currently stuck in bella-bella on the central coast for two more weeks, working at the canadian coast-guard station if not they will hold my deposit for another one coming in their next shipment (i held the last one they had on premises available..)
i want to thank everybody for all the precious infos that help me understand more what i was getting myself into and marc for this wicked site.. i will send photos of it as soon as i figure out how. i am planning on taking the rear seats off and taking the floor carpet out so i can replace it with bamboo laminate, (easier to sweep all the sand from the beach than having to vaccum the carpets all the time!) i want to build a bed and possibly inquire about camperising kits to install in it,(stove, fridge etc..) anybody with previous experiences on the matter are welcome to clue me in on some advise and tips.. that could also be an interesting new topic, on camperising those vans... anyways folks i will keep everyone posted on my new van as soon as i get back home and hopefully take possession of it if all seems o.k, so i can strap my boards on the roof and go ride the fall swells somewere on the coast! surferboy 8)

[mark]

Congrats on your new toy, Surferboy! We're all looking forward to some photos.

On the issue of installing a bed, you may not be aware that the Delica Exceed already has centre swivel buckets on extremely long slide-rails, such that that will slide right to the back in order to form a bed (i.e., they "mate" with the rear bench, which also flips right down once you remove all headrests).

:D
Mark

[BCDelica]

Congrats also, Surferboy!

I get the impression Mark never actually slept in his old van. The seats all fold 'flat' or something close to it (lumpy!); you had better have a good back with all the dips and dive the seats take when folded flat. I ran out of WVO on the highway north of Campbell River at 2 in the morning and decided to sleep in the van instead of purging the fuel lines or calling for help. It wasn't great, but better then the front seat of a car I guess. The 91's with the front bench seat supposedly fold flat .

Take out the back bench and leaving the front captain seats in leaves plenty of room on the floor, that'd be a nice flat spot after a late night on the swells. Though if you take out all the seats and build a camper, send me some pictures - I'd like to see it.

Kev

[Breadman]

i was thinking of getting a 3 or 4 inch piece of foam cut to cover the rear seats as a way of making it more comfortable. i used to have a small double futon in my westy and that worked like a charm. took up a lot of room though.
paul

[BCDelica]

We saw a sweet white Delica with a neat looking roof rack driving from Horseshoe Bay Oct 5th, around 2:45 pm.
Would I be guessing right that's yours Surferboy!!

Kevin

[surferboy]

my delica is a dark greenish blue over grey and it has a winch on the front push bars, i haven't got off the island with it yet, actually, it has revieled itself to be quite a pain in my but to deal with a bunch of small time issues that the van has, everything is an adventure with this thing which is great for some people and a headache for others... i can't honestly say that i would take the van down to mexico and feel secure that nothing is gonna go wrong with it and that someone down there is gonn abe able to get the parts for it and be able to fix it... its nice that it has all this room in the back once the seats are off, but what good is it if you have to carry the equivalent of another van with you for parts if something goes wrong and have to take a mechanic course do be able to deal with it! i mean don't get me wrong, i am pretty decent with basic stufff and some, but some things are just out of my league and require professional attention... the gas/mileage is horrible at about 460 km's per 50L tank on the highway and diesel being just as expensive as gas these days, i'm not all that impressed to be honnest, its nice to have something different but it has to be reliable and work without a constant research and adventure on the net to figure out why your feet are soaked or what kind of oil and filters to get and where to get this and that and oh man it just doesn't end! sorry to sound negative, but thats just my opinion from my experience so far... this site is great with lots of good people and good infos and all but everything is stil at an early stage and i read about people running into troubles that they didn't know they had when they got their van all the time, i guess time will tell if this was a good idea or not...
cheers everyone, i'll keep you posted on my adventure with bertha!

[BCDelica]

I'll keep my eye out for your van. I think time will tell, I have been where you are exactly one year ago. I thought what the hell did I get myself into when my wife fell in love with Mark's funky van. I have always been a lurker around the web forever, and enjoy the challenge of trying to find, for example, a head for a Delica (I don't need one, but have a links where they can fedx you one in no time). Living a small town I had to wait to get parts for my oh so common 98' Chev Astro and 97' Dodge Van! My parts store, that has learned much and can sources anything for me now (took some patience in the beginning), can get me timing belts in two days.

Also mileage can be improved, these van's sit for a long time, synthetic oil and the egr mod made the most difference for mine (I think). I have gotten between 400 to 590 plus on a tank, how and where I drive makes the difference. Also a van with a winch (cool, you got one) , glass roof, and 4 wheel drive powertrain ain't light and will never get outstanding mileage. Back in that short time I actually paid for fuel, my wife discovered that remembering her new rig isn't a power house changed her mileage for the better.+

I posted how to dry your feet - viewtopic.php?t=58

I hope Bertha turn's out to be a good mistress for ya.

Kev