I should (finally) introduce myself

[alti2d]

I've been a long time user of Delica.ca and have never properly introduced myself, or posted too much of the goings on about my little van, Mitch, and I. This little van is finally starting to get into decent looking shape, I'm happy to share some photos, and tell you all a little about my two years (!) of ownership now.

As I'm living in the cold white of Alberta's north, there aren't too many other Delica owners around to share a coffee with and to talk about our rides. Fortunately, I have actually met a couple here in Fort Mac. I don't know who they are on this board, if they are on here. But, if you recognize my ride, see me around town, or are even driving through for a visit, speak up, let me know, and perhaps we'll meet over a coffee.

I first spotted a Delica L300 outside of Grande Prairie, charging down the highway. I'm not sure who's it was, and I've never gotten their name, but I found my way to this board and all the great photos and info on here convinced me that I would be able to buy and maintain an exotic little van like this without too many troubles.

So I began searching for a van to purchase and found one nearby in Golden.

Here I am just a few days after first seeing the van with a wad a cash and ready to buy. (Since I didn't ask for the lady's permission to post her photo, I tried to blank her out... I'm not sure if she is known on here). The van, since renamed Mitch, had 137,000km, WVO installed, blacked out bull bars on the front, crazy mag wheels with silver and aqua blue highlights, and a free dent in the sliding door, at no extra charge

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Once back in the great white north, I found that the 4x4 worked very well, the van needs to be plugged in to have any hope of starting, and trying to exceed 110km/h with the 5 speed manual is best done with ear plugs and a long downslope on the highway. But that doesn't matter, I am still loving Mitch.

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Soon after buying Mitch I started looking at all the extras I could buy and bolt on. This is my aluminium basket made by Andy in Parkville. My coworkers thought it looked a little empty...

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Around the same time, I also found a hitch, and started having a look at lift kits. Mmmmm... lift kits.
Eventually, and thanks to Delica.ca I bought one and there it sat in the back of the van for months. I was dreading doing it but finally got everything together and screwed up my courage... and was helpfully pushed along by a friend who also knew as little as I did about these vans.

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All done with that now, it didn't seem too much different, just a higher step in and a larger jump out. From some angles, it looked a little silly being up so much on such small wheels. But that's okay, I was taking the long view, researching my wheel options and choices, thinking about road tripping and then suddenly having to move to the other side of the province. Last summer was a busy summer...

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To those that would notice, there's a new sign up on the highway now. I think that I prefer the old one, but oh well. A few photos of my summer road trip.

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Mackenzie Highway ferry to Fort Simpson

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[alti2d]

(I think I'm limited to 7 pics per post, so, if you're not bored, keep reading)

Heading north on the Alaskan Highway past Muncho Lake

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Eventually, my road trip ended, I got back to work, then I made the move to Fort Mac, and even more time passed until I got around to a visit to Fountain Tire (downtown Edmonton location SHOUTOUT!) with my tire and wheel order. 31x10.5R15 Good Year Duratracs on KMC XD122 Enduro 15" wheels. Thanks again to Delica.ca, I found the sizing recommends and proper backspacing to fit these onto Mitch. I hadn't seen anyone else using this wheel and tire combo, but I gambled and had Fountain Tire put the tires on the wheels before heading home to do the necessary cutting to make them fit without rubbing. Got them mounted, and success!! The sliding door still had enough clearance... barely.

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Starting to look how I want Mitch to look.

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At the same time as the tire install, by the looks of it early fall, I brutally plagiarized the Dinoevo website and installed my snorkel and external power cord plug in... You can see it here. Thanks for the great writeup Felix!!!

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Mitch is starting to look good... I get lots of stares from around town as I'm driving though. Are there no Delicas in Newfoundland?? I'm just kidding!

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Of course, I've had the occasional problem... Here my clutch line ruptured. But, being in the Mac, you're never too far from a mechanic, or a welder. And my roommate happened to be a diesel mechanic. So, being somewhat of a novice to hydraulic clutches, or any hydraulics for that matter, it was very helpful.

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Another trip, and some time to visit some far-flung relatives of mine, and Mitch's as it turns out. Here is Mitch's Ukrainian cousin. Probably quite a distant cousin twice removed by the looks of it.

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[alti2d]

(and continued again, this is a very long intro, but clearly I just want to share...)

I can tell that this was taken last November... I'm not sure it is ever a good idea to wear a moustache and drive a van. The amount of 'creepy man in van' comments that I got was surprising. Perhaps not to be encouraged by the sign I put in the van window, but really, it was just for the photo and you probably can't quite make it out anyways.

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This has to be the beauty of the Delica. I can fit my motorcycle inside, comfortably, locked up tight, and somewhat away from prying eyes. :)

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At the beginning of summer, the ever prevelant rust on Mitch's front bumper cover was starting to bother me. So... I hatched a plan to take care of that, and eventually to paint the van. After shopping around for the best way to do this, I knew that a pro paint shop was out ($5-6000 or more for a 20 year old vehicle was a little out of my budget).

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Once again, the power of the internet and of Delica.ca came into play. I researched how hard it is to paint a vehicle, what colour, what product to use and where to go. I finally settled on an answer;
How: Rollerbrush
Color: Matte or Satin Black
Product: Tremclad
Location: Attached Garage

If you look it up, there are lots of great youtube videos with surprisingly good results to show for the effort.

But I dawdled. I wasn't happy yet with my choices or predicted outcomes. In the meantime, I went to work on the body work, sanding, cutting and welding. Don't judge my work too harshly (this wasn't taken when it was complete). I learned enough to do this about 3 days before, and was brave enough to cut out the rust plaguing the rear quarter panel.

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Things worked out pretty good, but I was definitely committed now. A half sanded vehicle doesn't look nearly as good as one with a nice glossy finish. Mitch was still drawing some attention as I drove around town, but I think it had changed to a, "what the heck...?" over the preferred, "wow that's cool...!". Winter was coming and time was running out.

In the meantime, I got some welders to put some light tabs on the rack, mounted some Hella 500FFs and got the rack Line-X'd. Line-X is a full service truck bed spray-in-liner franchised company. They did a great job and it came out good. Really good. So good, in fact, that I started to get a new idea about what to do with my paint. Since I had let things slide into winter, I had to get the bodywork finished and covered up as Mitch is still my daily driver.

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So finally, just a couple of weeks ago, I was decided, color choices were finalized, truck dropped off, and the wait for the work to be complete began. And finally, thanks to Alex and the guys at Line-X Fort McMurray, I came away with a great deal, and a unique vehicle.

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The actual color is a bit hard to fathom, here it has a sea green look to it. In the sunlight it's closer to a NATO or OD green (which was the goal). But whatever the photo result is, it is quite nice in person.

It's a great and ongoing project. I still have to put the snorkel back on, finish up the Bull Bar (and get THAT line-X'd too) figure out some subwoofers perhaps, and finalize my platform bed ideas. I'm not sure if this is an "introduction" post so much as a modification thread, but I trust the moderators will find a nice place for it. But the goal of these posts was to finally say hello and just give you an idea of what I've been doing with my little van. I've met some of you out and and around (usually during my parts purchasing side trips in BC), and I will hope to meet some more of you in the future.

[alti2d]

Before

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After


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[CREGAN]

Sweet write up and nice looking rig! I bet the military green gets you even more stares- probably people starting to think "Red Dawn" is a documentary. If ever in Edmonton be sure to give a shout out.

Craig

[lrp374]

Great mods! Where did you get the mirror upgrade? If your going through Kamloops stop by for a coffee. I'm just off the Yellowhead.

Larry

[tonydca]

Fantastic build thread! Nice work on a great looking van.

But I gotta say - When I saw that "after" picture near the end:

Wonder if a Swede had a one-night stand on a trip to Japan?

Cheers!

[thedjjack]

roller and tremclad only way to paint...

I have painted two jeeps a XJ and an FC170 with a roller...only way I paint now...

Looks good

[nxski]

Awesome write-up! I think I may go the roller route as well with painting in the future. I'm really liking the overall look of yours.

And now for something completely different... (looks similar to Mitch's Ukranian cousin)

[alti2d]

Hey, thanks for the positive feedback guys!! And the invites!! I'll have to take you up on that sometime (hopefully soon).


This is a photo of Mitch's Mongolian cousin. I think he resembles that one you've got there, with less bling. Oh, and that's my hot girlfriend there in case you're wondering....

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As for the other questions and such...
I bought cheap Chinese mirrors from that magical place called eBay. I know they're cheap because the left one broke within a week of purchase. (Cheers to Gorilla glue for making things alright again). I have since had the mirror glass crack (through abuse, not quality issues), so I'll be looking to replace that. Searching Mighty Max mirrors draws up a suspicious number of mirrors that look like they will fit without any trouble. There's even a Canadian company offering free shipping... If you're reluctant to gamble on a purchase, check back with me in awhile because I'll probably try it out in the not too distant future. It's a pity that it'll probably be cheaper to just replace both mirrors versus replacing the glass on one side. Such is life in a disposable society.

My plan to roller brush my van was a good one, but it never happened. I'm not sure if there's confusion about this or not. I wasn't too worried about the process so much as my personal motivation to properly complete the process and to find a (reasonably) clean environment to paint in. Regardless, I'm very pleased with the Line-X guys' work (http://www.linex.com), and, after seeing a guy in the US was charged much more (for an FJ cruiser that he pulled apart to prep himself, and to have service with the same company (try googling 'OD green FJ Cruiser' and it should come right up)) I am pretty satisfied that I got a good deal without totally bankrupting the Line-X franchisee.

And lastly, I think a Swede/Japanese cross creates a beautiful and lasting memory....

Again, thanks for the comments, always happy to peruse this great site and see what everyone is doing with their Mitsus.

[mararmeisto]

"Free puppies" - I love free puppies. Where are they? Just inside the door? Oh, step up, okay...

Yes, the mustachioed man in the van is always a tough image to live up to.

Love the paint job: flat colours are easier to manage. No waxing required.

Fort Mac - yup, it's probably just you and the other guy. The herd concentration thins out pretty quickly as one drives further and further from the Lower Mainland, but the great thing is there's always one somewhere. One of the things I love about traveling in my RHD is just who I'll see where.

Welcome, and well met. Come back often, we're a friendly bunch.