The Ride (Ele)

How can one fathom what they might need for a year of camping and medium-height adventure?  Thank goodness I had plenty of time to work out the details.

This all started with a trip out to Aspen to visit friends in August 2014.  We we only able to secure a couch for some of the trip (thanks Jon), and therefore had to find campsites all of the other nights.  We had all of our camping crap and a rented mini cooper.  The thought occurred to us that this would be much easier, and could be done for a longer term, if you could just sleep in the car comfortably.  The search began.  Wagons, vans, vanagons.  Nothing quite fit the bill.  But Honda Elements kept coming up for "bed in car" searches.  I casually searched for the Element that fit my needs, while discussing logistics with the woman.

I was just about to drive 13 hours to look at a potential candidate when up popped the exact one I wanted 8 miles from home as a dealer trade in.  A 2004 EX 4WD with a manual and only 63xxx on the clock.  I went to pick her up as soon as I could, and the build began.  My early todo list covered routine maintenance and upgrades.  And thanks to the Element Owners Club (EOC) for many how-to's.  

So the big plan was:

[x] RearWindow storage [x] Sleeping shelf [x] 6sp (EOC)[x] Deep cycle battery (EOC)[x] Fog and Bull bar lights [x] Aggressive Tires (EOC)[x] Tow kit and tools [x] Privacy curtain [x] Roof rack storage.

There were many other minor things changed, repaired or installed:

[x] Airbag recall [x] Alignment [x] Brakes [x] Fire extinguisher [x] Bugflector [x] Vent visors [x] Sunroof drain tubes (EOC) [x] Auxiliary lighting [x] Front 12v outlet and glovebox lighting [x] Side flashers mod (EOC)[x] PS doorlock switch (EOC)[x] Shifter bushings (EOC)[x] Brake fluid [x] Clutch fluid [x] MT fluid [x] Rear diff fluid [x] Hatch lift struts (EOC)[x] Cabin air filter [x] Hvac lights [x] Spark plugs [x] Rear carpet [x] Mudflaps [x] Coolant flush [x] Remove rust, undercoat bottom [x] Interior hatch release (EOC)[x] Mod remote to open all doors and hatch (EOC)[x] Dome light sync (EOC) [x] Rear 12v outlet always on (EOC) [x] AC light on setting defrost (EOC)[x] Sunroof shade [x] Fog switch [x] Lower control arms [x] Grill guard mesh (EOC)[x] Sway bar bushings [x] Sway bar end links [x] Replace motor mounts

So lots of work.  The first major thing was the 6sp swap for better mileage, thanks to EOC for the walk through.  Then I designed the shelf during my lunches at work.  I wanted something that had completely floating space underneath and was super light.  None of the existing designs accomplished this.  The shelf build can be found on the EOC with lots more pictures.  Next came the interior lighting and rear window storage from Ikea, as well as the curtains. During the down time in between, I worked on the small things, replacement parts, and fluids. The final touches were the auxiliary lighting up front, and some up sized meaty tires.  Oh and we have Thule roof rack 57" load bars which mate with the bumps on the roof not mounted, but secured underneath the passenger floorboards to save on aerodynamic profile. During all of this time (about a year), we did many test trips for 2-5 days to see how living in a car felt.

So far, she has been great, my only complaint is a squeak from the motor mounts that I can't seem to find.  I'll follow this with captioned pics of most of the custom mods.  Feel free to email me with any questions about the build.

-K

The Bed.  See above links for details,

Lower radiator mesh

Kumho AT51 235/70/16

Glove box and Aux socket lighting (2 red LEDs)

KC HiLites added behind grill (tight fit). These are sourced from the fog light power/switch on a switching relay that triggers with the highbeams.  PA reqm't...

2.5# Fire Extinguisher under PS seat (had to remove slider bar)

Thule MOAB net attached to hard points for roof storage

Blackout curtains for rear doors, all curtains are Ron-loc fabric painted black.  These ones are magnetized to the door.  The hatch curtain rolls down from the ceiling liner.  3rd window curtains are 'permanent' lined panels.  See below.

Blackout panel and storage net hung in 3rd windows (Ikea Kusiner)

Interior lighting (Ikea Dioder, already 12v)

Interior hatch release (Autocraft 74300 mounted behind panel)