So, ummm, I'm going to Seattle?? (Dajiban Content)

Moving along, under the hood was relatively tidy, and no surprises were found.  

Not sure what year this battery was, and didn't want to check very close, as it seemed to start the van without any trouble. 

Will have to check the codes on the "fender" tag later. 

I unscrewed one of the caps off A/C charge ports to verify that it is indeed R134A.  (t3h intrawebz were very unclear on this)

Brake fluid looks good, as well. 

Tires?

Well, all the ones touching the ground were Goodyear Wrangler RS/A, with similar amounts of tread left on them, and all aired up to about 31-33lbs.  

Except for the right rear, which, inexplicably, has RWOL facing out. 

I probably should have gotten date codes off of them, and checked max pressure on the sidewall, but there weren't any cracks in the tread, and that writing is really small. 

Spare is a Michelin that had both tread AND air, but it was facing the wrong way and under a cover, so I decided not to disturb it from its slumber. 

Goodnight, sweet prince.  We'll wake you if you're needed...

But wait.

Remember when I was under the hood ̶w̶a̶s̶t̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶t̶i̶m̶e̶ Doing Important Safety Checks?

Well, I snapped a pic of the Equipment ID sticker on the underside of the hood.

Now, the fact that it has a 3.5 geared 9 1/4 is all well and good, but that KZMA2(?)  "License Plate-MILITARY"

Youga Base, here I come!!

I tried to super zoom in on the tire build dates.  Not much help.  The last number might be 3, 6, or 7 for '13, '16, or '17.  Either way, they look very good.  

Battery seems to have #1 and #3 removed implying 2013.  But being a marine battery, it is likely good overkill.  

So where were we?

Oh, yeah.  STILL in Lynnwood.  (Sorry)

So, the next step was to drive back to the motel, grab my CPAP, check out, and find my 3 day trip permit. 

Now, this is a little foreign to me.  You go into a random location (in this case, a Fred Meyers), give them $33, and walk out with a blank form to put in the rear window of your vehicle.  That's it.  You fill out the days you want the 3 consecutive days that permit will cover.  It was "suggested" that if one were to buy the permit in the evening that it may me a good idea to fill it out to start the next day to get the most value out of it.  As I was picking up my permit as early in the morning as possible, I filled mine out for the same day.   I was also encouraged to buy more than one three day permit, in case I wanted to travel longer on the permit(s).  I am only 2052 miles from home.  3 days will be more than enough!  Right??

Aforementioned permit.  The instructions clearly stated that I was supposed to use a thick black marker, and any corrections would void the permit.  Well, I blame lack of sleep, but somehow I started to write the ending date based on the day I planned on leaving, as opposed to the day I ended up leaving due to the unexpected 4 hour layover in Detroit and subsequent unplanned overnight stay in a motel before picking up the Dajiban. 

And I didn't have a thick black marker, or any marker at all, but I did have a black pen that I could scribble over and over again to make it kinda look like a marker, as well as kinda correct my mistake on the date. That should be okay... Right??

Oh, and though I refused to go back into Fred Meyer and waste more time looking for a black marker, I was perfectly fine wasting time photographing this car parked 3 spots away from the van for you. 

You're welcome. 

In reply to Russian Warship, Go Berkeley Yourself :

That poor Toyota is probably wondering what it did in it's lifetime to deserve the Flamingo treatment 

What would happen to your Dodge if you left it at the Flamingo ladies house for a week .

Thats a big blank canvas :)

hrm...

Heading towards the highway from Fred Meyer I had my first "issue" with the brakes.

Heading down a fairly steep hill, it just. didn't. want. to. STOP.  
It almost felt like brake fade.   I decided to keep an eye on it.   So to speak.  

Later, on the 405, there was a traffic backup, and although I left plenty of room, things were a little hairy in the braking department.    At this point, I realized it was intermittent, and thought there may be an issue with the engine staying at high idle, possibly and AIC issue.    


This "issue" was figured out later when I realized that the gas pedal was closer to the brake than any of the other 5 Dodge vans I have owned over the years, resulting in the edge of my foot hitting the gas pedal while applying the brakes.

DogeVan for comparison-

This also led to a very uncomfortable driving position over long distances, since the Dajiban doesn't have cruise control.   I solved that issue by driving with my left foot. 

The long term fix will involve some custom metal reshaping and the addition of factory cruise control.

hunter47 said:

hrm...

Doioioioioioinnngggg

In reply to RandolphCarter :

A flamingo in the hand is worth two in the ....

I'll let myself out.

That's what folks in Seattle (everywhere??) call an "art car" -- someone in my neighborhood has something similar (lots of plastic toy animals glued all over it), and I used to occasionally see one that had been fully plastered with CDs.

hunter47 said:

hrm...

Another way to "flip the bird".... 

In reply to RandolphCarter :

You havent had a flamingo perch on your boner before? I guess thats just a Florida thing. 

TJL (Forum Supporter) said:

In reply to RandolphCarter :

You havent had a flamingo perch on your boner before? I guess thats just a Florida Man thing. 

FTFY

Russian Warship, Go Berkeley Yourself said:

TJL (Forum Supporter) said:

In reply to RandolphCarter :

You havent had a flamingo perch on your boner before? I guess thats just a Florida Man thing. 

FTFY

Not yet.

And Florida Man is the worst superhero ever.

Oops

Wrong thread. 

(Will update later)

Full size or GTFO.

I keep telling my self my next family car is going to be a dajiban build. It looks like you got a good starting ram. 

I recently found out an acquaintance has a dajiban. He has no idea what a dajiban is...

Just a little update-
The Ram Wagon is running great.   Need to figure a pair of shocks for the front that will work with the drop I have planned.



And speaking of drops, here's a quick and nasty preview of what I have in mind.

DogeVan lookin' a little jealous here...

But there will be a few upgrades for her, as well.

Maybe not the upgrade we all wanted,





But the upgrade we deserve.

I guess I have neglected this thread.   Been driving the wheels o...

Well not completely "off," but that time is drawing nearer.   



(Felt cute- might strip the paint later)





Also upgraded the stereo to a period correct Din and a Half Pioneer I had laying around for another project.

FINALLY got around to masking the last two wheels for paint.   (Garbage bags make this sooo much easier)

But one coat into my multicoat Burl Ives process I decided I like the gold paint I just laid down.

Now I have to decide which I like better.  (Originally I was trying for a near match to the Dow process used on Magnesium wheels BItD)




Sigh...