It’s time to go beyond thoughts and philosophy. I have purchased a new step van project. I found a 1993 Freightliner M35 with a four cylinder Cummins diesel engine on craigslist for $3000. This was a lighter duty bread truck owned and fleet maintained by Sara Lee. It has a four-speed manual transmission and is SO MUCH fun to drive! It came with a folder of the maintenance records going back 20 years. At the end of its service life with Sara Lee this van was purchased by the fleet mechanic who had taken care of it all those years. He had planned to turn it into a toy hauler motorhome but never got around to it. The van has high miles (345,000). Commercial vehicles are a little different though. I have heard of well maintained diesel engines going up to a million miles. But I suspect there may be a costly engine replacement sometime in the future for this van and I am mentally prepared for that. Many of the step vans that I have looked at up to this point with diesel engines have been over $10,000. Someday down the road I may be into it for that much when I go to replace the engine. But it is running and driving good right now. The transmission has been rebuilt and the truck starts right up every time without hesitation. The tires seem to still have plenty of tread on them although there are some cracks in the side walls. Other problems include the sending unit in the fuel tank is not working so I cannot tell how much fuel is in the tank. The seller provided me with a new sending unit however. Lastly, This van has a rollup rear garage door which is something that I never wanted in a step van. Roll up doors take up interior space, so I am planning on removing it and framing it in.
Disclaimer: Getting into a project like this is not for the timid. I am well qualified for a task like this because I do home construction and remodeling. A young person may want to employ the help of their father or grandfather to do some of the things I’m about to do. It’s best to keep things simple and not over complicate the task. Though a tiny home or a van remodel is a much smaller project compared to building a regular house, it still takes some effort. Don’t complicate things so much that you get overwhelmed and can’t see it through to completion!
