Aero
12-24-2010, 05:18 PM
Hey everyone, hope you all are enjoying the holiday season.
This year for gifts I asked my parental units for some cash to upgrade my 2001 Honda Odyssey...and they agreed! Hence the following bits of mechanical mischief.
First let me explain. My previously owned cars list is short but well rounded. At 16 I owned a 2001 Firebird (V6, Auto), sold that to get a truck that I loved dearly, my 1991 Ford Bronco (351 W, Auto), and when that literally fell apart a month after I bought it I got whatever my parents dared give me. Which for the next year was a Honda Accord.
Now I drove the sports car like a truck going through corn fields and mud, drove the truck like a sports car racing everything in sight, and the accord like a soap box derby car because after the truck it felt like a go cart. Then as I was ready to go of to college, I was given the Odyssey when we realized there was to force on earth that could put all my crap into the Accord.
Enter my van.
I drove it out to Arizona where I used it to go offroading, camping and fishing. It has been through sand, mud, dust, snow, corn, and up to 14 inches of water. Needless to say I treat it like a low to the ground SUV. And as such I want people to know that it is more to me than a soccer mom mobile.
So after a few hours of work last year I worked up these bad boys:
http://img534.imageshack.us/img534/4360/tailguard1.jpg
http://img713.imageshack.us/img713/1792/tailguard2.jpg
I became the only minivan to have tail-light guards. They actually saved my lights from a box spring that fell off the roof, as well as countless basketballs and tree branches.
But alas, like all modders, I was left wanting more.
Now, I do have some limitations because my van is in fact a van. The first, is that a suspension lift is out of the question. Coil overs are a pain in the rump to deal with, especially the way the stick out over the tire on the van. However, I do have extra room for some bigger tires which I will be getting to next week.
Second, I want to preserve my gas milage as much as I can, so any roof rack must be fairly low profile compared to what you normally see. Beyond that, I must take into account I do have around 197,000 miles on her, so I shouldn't stress the engine TOO much.
That being said, here is the list of things I want to do.
1) Finish light guards to wrap around the side ($)
2) Paint Front and Rear Bumpers ($$)
3) Low Profile Roof Rack ($$)
4) Offroad Driving Lights ($$)
5) Fog Lights ($)
6) CB Radio ($$)
I have some other ideas using a small computer screen and a few cameras for IR nightvision and such, but due to funds that will have to wait (sadly). I have been looking into making my own off-road light bar with high output LED's. They sell some for about $400, when I'm pretty sure I could build one for about $80-$100.
Right now I'm working on the rear bumper, already gave it a few coats of black bumper paint and it looks wicked. I'll try to get some pics up ASAP. Also discovered some rust that needs to be fixed so thats another $70 I wasn't expecting. Not sure how much I will be able to do, but either way I should have the most badass minivan around.
This year for gifts I asked my parental units for some cash to upgrade my 2001 Honda Odyssey...and they agreed! Hence the following bits of mechanical mischief.
First let me explain. My previously owned cars list is short but well rounded. At 16 I owned a 2001 Firebird (V6, Auto), sold that to get a truck that I loved dearly, my 1991 Ford Bronco (351 W, Auto), and when that literally fell apart a month after I bought it I got whatever my parents dared give me. Which for the next year was a Honda Accord.
Now I drove the sports car like a truck going through corn fields and mud, drove the truck like a sports car racing everything in sight, and the accord like a soap box derby car because after the truck it felt like a go cart. Then as I was ready to go of to college, I was given the Odyssey when we realized there was to force on earth that could put all my crap into the Accord.
Enter my van.
I drove it out to Arizona where I used it to go offroading, camping and fishing. It has been through sand, mud, dust, snow, corn, and up to 14 inches of water. Needless to say I treat it like a low to the ground SUV. And as such I want people to know that it is more to me than a soccer mom mobile.
So after a few hours of work last year I worked up these bad boys:
http://img534.imageshack.us/img534/4360/tailguard1.jpg
http://img713.imageshack.us/img713/1792/tailguard2.jpg
I became the only minivan to have tail-light guards. They actually saved my lights from a box spring that fell off the roof, as well as countless basketballs and tree branches.
But alas, like all modders, I was left wanting more.
Now, I do have some limitations because my van is in fact a van. The first, is that a suspension lift is out of the question. Coil overs are a pain in the rump to deal with, especially the way the stick out over the tire on the van. However, I do have extra room for some bigger tires which I will be getting to next week.
Second, I want to preserve my gas milage as much as I can, so any roof rack must be fairly low profile compared to what you normally see. Beyond that, I must take into account I do have around 197,000 miles on her, so I shouldn't stress the engine TOO much.
That being said, here is the list of things I want to do.
1) Finish light guards to wrap around the side ($)
2) Paint Front and Rear Bumpers ($$)
3) Low Profile Roof Rack ($$)
4) Offroad Driving Lights ($$)
5) Fog Lights ($)
6) CB Radio ($$)
I have some other ideas using a small computer screen and a few cameras for IR nightvision and such, but due to funds that will have to wait (sadly). I have been looking into making my own off-road light bar with high output LED's. They sell some for about $400, when I'm pretty sure I could build one for about $80-$100.
Right now I'm working on the rear bumper, already gave it a few coats of black bumper paint and it looks wicked. I'll try to get some pics up ASAP. Also discovered some rust that needs to be fixed so thats another $70 I wasn't expecting. Not sure how much I will be able to do, but either way I should have the most badass minivan around.