So my fortress is finally falling! My trusted van, which became my refuge at break times while dealing with people at work, has started (a while ago) with all the collection of noises a vehicle can have, and leaking anything that can flow, and is usually found in a car.
It is no wonder that my beloved van is dying, mostly because it is 300,000 miles and a lot of hard work. Many times it was loaded with a ton of newspaper, rocks, bricks, cement bags, wood, trees, you name it, everything that can be loaded up in a vehicle.
So a hard working life, together with a long distance traveled throughout the years, finally are winning the game and my poor van is all rusted and worn out.
I could fix it since I have restored many cars, but with the really low prices of similar units in great condition, it really doesn’t make any sense to spend money and time on it, and better just get another one that is already running and in a lot better shape.
With this in mind, I’ve been searching for a van like mine that could be bought for a low price. Quick searches in Craigslists finally led me to a sweet machine like mine. It is 3 years older, but with less than half the mileage. A combination of red and grey can establish the identities between both machines, and a definite better shape can make all the difference!!
At a very low price of $600 due to a non properly working transmission I just couldn’t resist, and simply took it home with me. Now I have to fix the transmission though!! But the good thing is that I need to work in only one thing: the transmission, and the one in the green van is working properly, so most probably it’ll be just a transmissions swap. While my original, dark green van, requires work in everything it has (except the transmission, LOL)
You can see in the pictures they are basically the same type of machines, and only the color makes the difference.
Now, since this red van was located in Estes Park, some 50 miles up in the mountains from where I live, and the problem with the transmission is that it only runs forward in first gear (reverse works fine), I had to drive it all the way to home in first gear accelerating and coasting in neutral, accelerating and coasting in neutral, all in a cycle of about 3 minutes…for three hours, and in traffic!!
But the van is finally at home (after an about 3 hours drive), and just waiting for me to have free time to fix it.
As soon as I get it fixed and ready to become my number one vehicle and new fortress, I’ll let you know.
Raul
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